Boy or Girl? Can Your Symptoms Tell You?

by Meredith Ethington | More from this Blogger

29 Jan 2011 08:13 AM

All the time you hear people say things like, "I can tell you're having a girl by the way you are carrying." or "Heartburn? Oh it must be a boy!" Can you really guess the sex of your baby based on your symptoms?

I have had a girl and a boy. My pregnancy with my daughter was pretty uneventful, but uncomfortable nonetheless. I had nausea during the first trimester, but no vomiting. My sickness always came on during late afternoon. Never in the morning. I was starving when I woke up in the morning, and had no problem eating breakfast, although I had some food aversions. The worst symptom of my pregnancy was at 20 weeks I became swollen. Extremely swollen. My legs looked like sausages and I was swollen all the way up to the knee. Forget the ankles, I had an entire leg that was swollen!

When I got pregnant the second time around, I did notice some subtle differences in the two pregnancies. With my second (the boy) I felt the symptoms come on more quickly. I was actually worried I was pregnant with twins or something because my symptoms were so strong! My breasts were already hurting, and I was literally starving from the moment that boy was conceived. I took a test about 6 days before my period because I just knew. The only other differences in my pregnancy with a boy was that I had heartburn with him, which I had never had before. I also felt like he was more active in the womb. Other than that, my symptoms were basically the same.

Some people say they were a lot sicker with a girl than boy, or that they only had heartburn with their girl. I don't think there is a universal law like if you have heartburn, you will have a boy, but the best bet in guessing the sex is based on your past experience. Because every person is different. I suspected a boy the second time around because I had been pregnant before, but even past pregnancies is not 100% guarantee that you will be able to guess the sex of the baby. Babies are great that way, they always surprise us!

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The Birth of my Firstborn

Learn more about Meredith Ethington

Meredith is a native Texan who is currently living in Salt Lake City, UT. She graduated from the University of Utah in 2002 with a B.A.

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