Girl or boy? (according to old wives tales)

I have been loving keeping the mystery as to the gender of this baby.  Of course though it is fun to discuss and ponder.  At work this is a MAJOR topic; apparently I am really torturing people!  Here are some of the old wives tales on the subject:

1.  Chinese Gender Chart: Based on mom’s age and conception month this apparently long lived chart boasts over a 75% accuracy rate – GIRL (At least according to the one I found online at thebump.com. which seems a strange way to access wisdom found in an ancient tomb near Bejing.)

2.  Beating Heart Test:  If the heart rate is above 140bpm it is a girl, below it is a boy - GIRL (Started in the 160s—though they used to have a VERY hard time finding it since this little bean moved around so much.  Now he/she is much more crowded and it is easier to get a reading.  I have had readings in the 140s and 150s lately.)

3.  Sweet vs Sour Cravings:  Sugar and spice means girl while salty and sour is a boy – ???  I like sweet, sour, spicy, and salty . . .

4.  Even or Odd?:  Apparently if the year of conception and the mother's age are both even or odd it is a girl, if one is even and the other odd it is a boy – BOY (29 and 2012).

5.  The Breakout - Acne equals a girl because she steals her mother's beauty - GIRL (ugh).

6.  The Wedding Band Test - Circling over the belly means a son while back and forth points to a daughter – yet to try . . . 

7.  Morning sickness - Sick as a dog points to a girl, while easy-peasy makes little boys - BOY (Though I felt more sick then last time—when I didn’t even realize I was pregnant.)

8.  Dry Hands?:  Drier than normal hands means boy - BOY (all my skin is super dry. )

9.  Hairy legs - Extra hair now must mean extra hair later for a little fellow – weird.  GIRL (I guess, since this has luckily not been a problem).

10.  The Spouse Test - Who's the pregnant one here?  If dad packs on pounds it's a girl, if he stays the same then you've got a boy on the way – GIRL Although Brad hasn’t exactly packed on the pounds, he has gained a bit and can’t figure out why.  Maybe this is the reason? 

11.  How you are carrying – high=girl, low=boy – BOY.  This is one I actually somewhat believe in, but I don’t seem to be carrying particularly high or low, kind of in the middle.  However, if I had to say I think I seem similar to last time, though I never took a side view picture last time so I cant really compare.

12. Mom’s intuition – said to be the most statistically reliable predictor!  However, I don’t have any strong feeling towards one gender or another. 

13. Similarity to previous pregnancy: if a second pregnancy is similar to a first they will produce the same gender – Not quite sure about this one.  In the beginning this pregnancy seemed pretty different, since I was somewhat (though not horribly sick) and knew right from the get go I was pregnant (last time not sick at all and didn’t know I was pregnant for a very long time), but now things seem mostly similar.  So I’ll go with BOY.

Sometimes I feel like a bad mom, because there is a big huge baby of one gender or the other in there, but I don’t have any idea which!  Other women are always telling me how they just knew what they were having.  Some days I lean one way, sometimes the other.  Before I had Joseph I used to picture myself with a curly blond haired girl, since having Joseph I have felt much better suited as a boy mom and have pictured another boy.  My dreams are inconclusive as well—the baby is just baby in my dreams, not a boy or a girl.  This is really my favorite part of not knowing: not projecting all sorts of societal crap on an unborn-just enjoying being pregnant and getting ready for a baby.

Less then two weeks till I am full term, and that’s a conservative estimate.  What!?!?!