And the old wives say...

Yesterday we went to hear our babies' heartbeats. I've seen them a couple of times before, (at the 7 and 9 week ultrasounds) but this time was especially exciting, because it's the 12 week heartbeat appointment, and according to an old wives tale, it's one indication of gender.

Now, I know all these old wives tales are unreliable, and give you a hint rather than anything solid. About the only solid indication of gender you can get is when you look at the baby (usually via ultrasound, though sometimes at birth) and it does or doesn't have man parts.

But, I've seen some really good old wives tales for predicting gender - the two best being the heartbeats and how you're carrying the baby, high or low.

I remember a friend of mine once told me in no uncertain terms that she was having a boy. She was about 8 months along, and while I didn't ask about an ultrasound, my thought was that she must not have gotten one. Her torso looked more like a barrel than a bump. She was carrying that baby so high, it must have been sitting on her lungs.

Surprise! A month later, she popped out a girl.

A few years later, I was visiting home and saw a lady in my parents' ward who was basically carrying the baby between her thighs. I had never seen a bump so low before. I immediately assumed boy.

A month or so later, the announcement popped up on Facebook - Baby boy!

Now, those were extreme cases, but I've usually been able to guess gender by how the baby is carried, unless it's smack dab in the center. And it's usually not obvious until quite a lot farther along in the pregnancy.

In my case, it's a bit tougher, because there are two babies. If I have one of each (fingers crossed!), well, I doubt anything is going to look like anything. Also, it's not like there's going to be any space in there for the babies to sit high or low. They'll sit wherever they can squeeze in.

But, that said, when I look at my miniscule bump in the mirror, it does look pretty high. Extremely high, in fact. Maybe, just maybe, they're still small enough that I can use the old wives tale and say, "I think we're dealing with 2 girls here."

But then came the heartbeats.

Now, heartbeats have a little bit of accuracy - typically over 140 bpm is a girl while under 140 is a boy. But, if the baby is moving around a lot, their heart rate will increase, and a boy can totally fool you into thinking he's a girl.

Baby A had a heart rate of 165. I think it's safe to say Baby A is probably a girl.

Baby B's heart rate was 155. Girl? Or active boy?

Impossible to say, I suppose. But from the looks of things, I'm definitely having at least one girl!

So here's to the ultrasound in 8 weeks. I have 8 more weeks to resist buying little dresses and hair bows and girl shoes and hats and and and and ...