Old Wives Tales

As you know from the previous post, we made the decision not to find out the baby's sex.  This has created all sorts of buzz and speculation about whether we will be having a boy or girl.  I don't have an overwhelming feeling one way or the other, and so far guesses seem to be split pretty evenly.  I did find a pretty humorous online quiz consisting of about 20 Old Wives Tales that calculated the odds of having a boy versus girl.  In case you're interested, the quiz indicated that there is a 67% chance we're having a boy!  For whatever that's worth.

Part of my job is to visit my clients in their homes every 3 months.  As you might imagine, I look pretty different now than I did 3 months ago when I last saw the group I'm visiting this month.  Most of them didn't even know I was pregnant 3 months ago, and generally I try to keep the amount of personal information I share with them to a minimum.  But old ladies just gush over the thought of a baby, and most of them are not shy about sharing advice and experiences of their own.

Today, I walked in to see a lady that I rather like and she wanted to inspect me from the front and from the side and then boldly declared, "You're having a girl."  She went on to say that she has "never been wrong" when making such a statement, and felt confident that her record would not be blemished with this declaration.  I asked her how she was so certain.  She said, "Well, it's easy.  When you're having a boy, you carry him way up high, like this (and she demonstrated).  When you have a girl, you get real wide.  Just look at yourself, it's obvious you're having a girl."  Wide?!  Real wide?!  Uh, I'm not sure what planet she's been living on, but calling a pregnant woman real wide is not advisable.

I spent the rest of my visit with her mildly upset by her comments.  She then asked if I would bring the baby with me on my next visit.  Definitely, definitely not.  Under no circumstances would that ever happen.  But, I didn't tell her that, instead I made an excuse about it being February and flu season, but promised pictures.  She said, "It's ok, I already know the baby is going to have blonde hair and blue eyes, just like you."  Instantly I felt relieved.  Clearly she has a visual impairment since I have neither blonde hair, nor blue eyes.  Maybe she is mistaken about my width too.

On a lighter note, tomorrow officially marks 31 weeks.  I have a check up and am now to be seen by the doctor every 2 weeks until, at some point, I think they want me to come weekly.  I'm not really sure, to be honest.  What I am sure about is that we have a full November, with 2 showers in our honor, as well as a tour of the hospital maternity unit, and in a mere month we are scheduled to attend birthing class.  I also plan to write a heated letter to those Old Wives; they really know how to make a girl feel good...