Pregnancy with a boy and a girl - differences. Toxicosis during pregnancy - boy or girl. Girl or boy, signs

After the test shows a double line and the gynecologist confirms the pregnancy, the woman begins to wonder who will be born to her.
The sex of the child is most accurately determined by ultrasound starting from the 12th week. But early on, mistakes are sometimes possible. Although there are situations when the child turns his back to the ultrasound specialist, and there is no opportunity to examine the genitals until the end of pregnancy. For our grandmothers, medical examination was not available. Therefore, signs arose to determine who to expect: a boy or a girl. The shape of the abdomen, the appearance of age spots, taste preferences, the well-being of the expectant mother and many other nuances of the course of pregnancy were taken into account. Let's try to figure out how much truth there is in this.

If there is no morning sickness, will it be a boy or a girl?

It is a very common belief that if a mother-to-be does not have nausea in the early stages of pregnancy, she is probably having a boy. Of course, no one can guarantee this, and yet some people still believe in such a sign.

Several large studies have shown that women who suffer from a severe condition called hyperemesis are more likely to carry a girl in the first trimester. Doctors who complete one test "can confidently tell a woman who has hyperemesis that she has a 55.7 percent chance of having a girl." The more severe the morning sickness, the greater the odds: A 2004 study by University of Washington epidemiologists found that women who were very unwell (hospitalized for three days or more) were 80 percent more likely to give birth to a girl than those who were not. severe nausea. A hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) may be responsible: female fetuses produce more of it than male fetuses.

Note : The words about these studies belong to journalist Annie Murphy Paul, who is the author of books and articles on biological and social sciences. It was not possible to find a more reliable source of such statistics, although references to a 55% increase in chances can be found on some other Internet resources.

In any case, these studies focus on women with severe vomiting during pregnancy and are difficult to relate to those with mild vomiting. Therefore, before you buy all the clothes in bright colors just because you feel very sick in the morning, it is better to be patient and wait until you can determine the gender on an ultrasound (16-20 weeks). You don't want to be left with a pile of clothes and essentials that won't fit your baby.

No toxicosis during pregnancy

Today, among pregnant women there is an opinion that toxicosis is definitely a constant and mandatory condition or even a companion to pregnancy. In addition, many women who have given birth confidently claim that manifestations of both morning and daytime nausea are generally one of the very first and most obvious signs of pregnancy, but for example, the absence of such manifestations is a cause for real concern. This is probably why many women, even with a clear delay in menstruation and in the complete absence of toxicosis, are in no hurry to do special pregnancy tests, moreover, attributing their condition to ordinary overwork or stress. It must, however, also be recognized that pregnancy may well proceed without the appearance of morning sickness at all - and this is precisely a proven fact, and moreover, pregnancy without toxicosis is a normal, although quite rare, phenomenon. And believe me, this is not a fairy tale or fiction at all, but a fact proven by science, confirmed by many experienced specialists.

In this article, we decided to understand this phenomenon in as much detail as possible, and therefore, guided by the authoritative opinion of the most experienced obstetricians and gynecologists, we will share with you our existing knowledge.

But in order to fully understand such an interesting issue, let’s start by simply looking at all the main causes of toxicosis during pregnancy.

Uterine hypertonicity during pregnancy, 2nd trimester, causes. Uterine tone during pregnancy, 1st trimester: symptoms, treatment. Symptoms of increased uterine tone during pregnancy in the first trimester Source

Opinions of other women

Taken from a foreign forum:

First pregnancy, no morning sickness, wonderful 9 months with barely noticeable symptoms and weight gain - a girl was born. During the 2nd pregnancy there was terrible toxicosis until 20 weeks, then sciatica, headaches, heartburn, swelling, and a boy appeared.

During my first pregnancy I had no symptoms at all and it was a girl. The 2nd pregnancy was terrible, really with severe toxicosis and everything, and I became the mother of a boy.

With my girl, from 6 weeks I began to feel very sick, I was admitted to the hospital with hyperemiss and felt unwell until 27 weeks. My best friend is currently 25 weeks pregnant and she was also in the hospital with hyperemesis, but she's having a boy so I'm not sure it matters.

Toxicosis - what is it?

Toxicosis is a specific complication of pregnancy, manifested in the form of nausea and vomiting. This condition occurs at 5-6 weeks and continues until the end of the first trimester. Experts assure that the appearance of toxicosis is due to hormonal changes in the body of the expectant mother. This is a good indicator of pregnancy, and many women only realize that changes have occurred by morning sickness.

There is an opinion that the severity of toxicosis depends on the gender of the expected child. It is assumed that if nausea and vomiting overcome the expectant mother, then she will most likely give birth to a girl

. In addition to severe toxicosis, during pregnancy with a girl one notices loss of appetite, swelling and the appearance of red, scaly spots on the face and throughout the body.

According to the same theory , boys, on the contrary, do not torture their mother too much

. A woman who is ready to give birth to a new representative of the stronger sex blossoms. She is practically not bothered by nausea and vomiting, she eats with appetite for two and leads a very active lifestyle.

It is known that toxicosis is manifested not only by morning sickness, but also by addiction to certain foods. Based on these data, you can also try to determine the sex of the child. It is believed that if an expectant mother has a craving for sweets, she will give birth to a girl. The girl’s addiction to unusual and even inedible things also speaks in favor of the girl. The appearance of a boy is signaled by a craving for meat foods, hot and spicy dishes.

There is also some relationship between the time of onset of toxicosis and the gender of the child. The earlier nausea and vomiting appear in the morning, the higher the likelihood of having a girl. On the contrary, a late onset of toxicosis or even its complete absence indicates the possible birth of a boy.

What other folk methods are there to determine the sex of an unborn child?

Many ways to predict who will be born have been passed down from mother to daughter. Most of the methods listed below have not been scientifically proven. For some women, these predictions turned out to be successful, so for fun it’s worth considering them - perhaps one of them will suit you.

Belly shape

Some people predict the sex of their unborn child by the position of their belly. If the belly is drooping, then it is most likely a boy. If the belly is high, it’s a girl. Although science has proven that this theory is erroneous and the shape of the abdomen during pregnancy depends only on the nature and tone of the mother’s muscles.

Your appearance

It is believed that boys give shine to their hair and an even rosy complexion, while girls, on the contrary, take away beauty, leaving the mother with dull hair and pimples on her face. Science denies this, attributing the condition of the skin and hair to hormonal changes in the body of a pregnant woman.

Diet before conception

This theory is not based on folk predictions, but on the results of a British study conducted in 2005 and received widespread coverage in the press. Scientists have studied the effect of mothers' nutrition before conception on the sex of the unborn child. They concluded that there are a number of nutrients such as protein, fats, folic acid, vitamin C and several other minerals that can influence the birth of a boy. The more women consume them, as well as calories, the higher the chances. The amount of grains consumed also seems to influence this. But according to the same study, such a diet only in the year before conception is significantly associated with the sex of the child.

Cravings for certain foods

During pregnancy, you may experience strange cravings or aversions to certain foods. A growing craving for sweets is thought to be an indicator that you're having a girl, while a craving for salty foods is often linked to pregnancy with a boy. This prediction method also has no scientific basis.

Heartbeat

This method will bring you a lot of pleasure - it is based on measuring the heartbeat of your unborn child using an ultrasound. Superstitions say that a heartbeat less than 140 beats indicates a pregnancy with a boy, and more than 140 beats means a girl. There is a small amount of truth in this, but it is not possible to reliably predict the gender of the child. Find out more about this method and how it works.

Fetal activity

Apparently, boys are more energetic even before they are born. Therefore, pregnancy with them is associated with increased activity in the womb. However, it is important to note that children's movements correspond to the mother's physical activity level. A mom who is active throughout the day will likely experience less fetal movement compared to a mom who rests more.

Chinese calendar

One of the most popular methods for predicting the sex of a child is the Chinese table. She is known in many countries of the world. In order to calculate who you will have, you need to take the mother's age at the time of conception and the serial number of the month in which she became pregnant (all this according to the Chinese calendar). But a study of this method showed that its accuracy is about 50%, i.e. the same as when tossing a coin.

The belly is growing forward towards the boy!

Fans of forecasts, when making their guesses, most often rely on the shape of the pregnant woman’s belly. This is one of the most common and “reliable” folk signs.

It consists of the following: if a woman has a “sharp”, “cucumber” belly, directed forward and her pregnancy is not visible from the back, then she will have a boy. If the belly is “encircling”, spherical, protruding on the sides too, then she should prepare for the appearance of a girl.

However, it should be noted that this sign does not always “work”. There are no exact statistics on this matter, and the reasons for this phenomenon are also not of interest to scientists. But according to the experience of many women who have given birth, errors in such “diagnosis” happen all the time.

More reliable methods for determining the sex of an unborn child

Read more about modern methods of determining the sex of a child here.

Why is gender determination needed?

The zeal of expectant mothers is explained by a number of reasons. Many women and their loved ones want to prepare everything for their unborn child in advance. This refers to the color of clothes, bedding, choice of toys, and sometimes even the design of the children's room. Therefore, the traditional pink or blue color is an extremely important question for such mothers. For many of them, the process of determining gender is interesting. Do ultrasound data and folk signs coincide in this matter? shape and position of the abdomen?

For some mothers, gender determination is important in choosing a child's name. Some women are guided by the names of authoritative or respected relatives, close and dear people, others - by the church calendar.

For the third category of pregnant women, it is important to know the gender of the unborn baby in order to communicate with him in the womb. So, mothers sing songs to girls, tell them about some feminine tricks, jewelry, and boys - about daddy’s hobbies and worries, sometimes even from the womb they orient them towards some kind of sport. So, some mothers want to see their future sons as football players or gymnasts and watch TV, enthusiastically telling their baby about this or that athlete. Today this is a normal practice of communicating with a child in the prenatal period.

However, all expectant mothers need to know that no method of determining sex provides a 100% guarantee of accuracy. Therefore, the priority for every woman should not be determining the sex of the baby, but his health. This means carefully monitoring your health every day and paying attention to its changes.