Unborn-Baby Gender: Science Not Included
When I was pregnant with our first (and only, at this point) child, I discovered that with the conception of that child, I had been initiated into a Sisterhood of all those who have ever been pregnant. In some cases, that “Sisterhood” appeared to include their spouses, siblings, and children….
Because we never needed an ultrasound or an amniocentesis, we didn’t know whether I was carrying a boy or a girl until our daughter was born. To many of my peers, the concept of not having an ultrasound seemed downright uncivilized, but my ignorance throughout the pregnancy seemed to form an additional, special bond with the older mothers in the Sisterhood. To them, it was perfectly normal to not know the gender of an unborn child.
All of this set the stage for the one thing that made me chuckle, through the entirety of those forty-one weeks, more than any other one thing: Despite the utter lack of a single shred of scientific evidence, almost everyone “knew” the gender of our baby, as early as anyone knew that said little person existed.
What cracked me up more thoroughly than anyone’s confidence was when I got the following two comments, both in the same day:
You’ve had an easy pregnancy? You must be carrying a girl.
and shortly thereafter…
Have you had an easy pregnancy? Then you definitely have a boy!
Amazing…. Funny thing is, I knew I was carrying only one baby.
After our baby was born, I discovered a handy-dandy little tool that is supposed to tell you the gender of your unborn baby, based on the mother’s age and the date of conception. I tried it, after the fact, just to see how accurate it was. Problem is, the explanation and chart that I used didn’t specify whether you’re to use the age of the mother at the point of conception or at the birth of the baby. Those two different ages, in my case, changed the gender of the baby, so I’m still not sure if it works or not.
Granted, there was one prediction (from my father) made on the basis of some abstract facts, but the rest were all based on my pregnant shape and size, my intestinal functioning, my sleep habits, etc. It was amazing to hear the confidence in the voices issuing from sober faces of people I know to be otherwise intelligent, but every old wives’ tale seemed to have some representation in my circle of family, colleagues, and church family (not to mention the lady at the grocery store, who even predicted weight and length). Even the spinning pin turned up in conversation, somewhere along the line! Funny thing is, the vast majority, after our daughter was born, never mentioned their attempts at prophecy….
It all goes to show that everyone likes to be an authority, though some are bolder than others in expressing their opinions.
…By the way, Dad and the lady at the grocery store were right. They were two of the five.