carrying high/low - does it mean anything?

I keep having these women tell me, "Oh, you're having a boy/girl because you
are carrying so high." Isn't this an old wives tale? Just curious, because
I had a girl last time, and I was definitely carrying much lower. What
makes the difference on how you carry, anyways?

"oregonchick" wrote in message
...
I keep having these women tell me, "Oh, you're having a boy/girl because
you are carrying so high." Isn't this an old wives tale? Just curious,
because I had a girl last time, and I was definitely carrying much lower.
What makes the difference on how you carry, anyways?

Seems to be an old wives tale. Here's a link to some myths
http://www.tahitiandreams.com/pregnancymyths.html
relevant quote:
The shape and height of your belly can indicate your baby's sex.


The popular belief that women carrying boys carry low and women carrying
girls carry high just isn't true. The shape and height of your belly is
determined by your muscle tone, uterine tone, and the position the baby is
in. That's why someone may think you're having a boy because you're carrying
low, when actually the baby just dropped lower into the pelvis because you
are closer to delivery. The most accurate way to determine your baby's sex?
Talk to your doctor about an ultrasound


Other than ultrasound and amniocentesis (or chorionic villi sampling), there
is no way to determine the gender of the baby you are carrying. Babies are
carried differently based on their presentation (breech, vertex, or head
first), their position (anterior, posterior), their gestational age and
weight, maternal weight and stature and the mother's parity (whether or not
this is her first or eighth baby), not the gender.


The other factor is engagement of the baby's head into the pelvis later in
pregnancy, in preparation of delivery. With this "dropping," many a
prospective mother will claim to have decreased in size overnight, now
breathing a lot more easily. If the gender were determinable by how high or
low one carried, the gender would then be seen to switch at late term.

Here's a cute quiz to determine gender with old wives tales:
http://www.childbirth.org/articles/boyorgirl.html

I have a 69% chance of having a girl, but I have a feeling it's a boy.
Won't know for another couple of weeks, so I'm having fun speculating in the
meantime!

Amy V.
EDD 11/25/05

"V." wrote in message
news

"oregonchick" wrote in message
...
I keep having these women tell me, "Oh, you're having a boy/girl because
you are carrying so high." Isn't this an old wives tale? Just curious,
because I had a girl last time, and I was definitely carrying much lower.
What makes the difference on how you carry, anyways?

Seems to be an old wives tale. Here's a link to some myths
http://www.tahitiandreams.com/pregnancymyths.html
relevant quote:


Just replying to myself to mention that I hadn't read the entire page when I
posted this link. Please be aware I don't agree with some of the statements
(ie "pregnant women can drink socially" or that there is no difference on
whether or not you have pain meds) Personally, I think no amount of alcohol
has been proven safe, but I do know the US has taken an extreme
no-tolerance view compared to other parts of the world. Pain meds do have
an effect on mother and baby, but sometimes it's what the mother needs to be
able to have energy to push the baby out. I just think it's misleading to
say there are no side effects.

However, as to the original question, I think the answer is pretty accurate!

"V." wrote in message
news

"oregonchick" wrote in message
...
I keep having these women tell me, "Oh, you're having a boy/girl because
you are carrying so high." Isn't this an old wives tale? Just curious,
because I had a girl last time, and I was definitely carrying much lower.
What makes the difference on how you carry, anyways?

Seems to be an old wives tale. Here's a link to some myths
http://www.tahitiandreams.com/pregnancymyths.html
relevant quote:
The shape and height of your belly can indicate your baby's sex.


The popular belief that women carrying boys carry low and women carrying
girls carry high just isn't true. The shape and height of your belly is
determined by your muscle tone, uterine tone, and the position the baby is
in. That's why someone may think you're having a boy because you're
carrying low, when actually the baby just dropped lower into the pelvis
because you are closer to delivery. The most accurate way to determine
your baby's sex? Talk to your doctor about an ultrasound

Well, that old wive's tale hits the nail right on the head for me... Both my
boys I carried exactly the same... Very low, and I actually could still fit
into larger pants I had right up until the end. I didn't look pregnant for
so long, but this time, I started feeling like I was the size of a house
real fast, and right now, I'm definitely carrying high. I was able to hide
my first pregnancy until I was about 7 or so months. My close family didn't
even suspect a thing. Second was the same where I hid it for about 6 months
before I said something, and even then, I had some not believe me! This
time, by Jan, I was wearing clothes to hide it. I was in maternity clothing
by the end of Jan, and baby's not due until the end of July. It's also been
confirmed that it's a girl, so I don't know! It definitely does depend on
the person!

Other than ultrasound and amniocentesis (or chorionic villi sampling),
there is no way to determine the gender of the baby you are carrying.
Babies are carried differently based on their presentation (breech,
vertex, or head first), their position (anterior, posterior), their
gestational age and weight, maternal weight and stature and the mother's
parity (whether or not this is her first or eighth baby), not the gender.


The other factor is engagement of the baby's head into the pelvis later in
pregnancy, in preparation of delivery. With this "dropping," many a
prospective mother will claim to have decreased in size overnight, now
breathing a lot more easily. If the gender were determinable by how high
or low one carried, the gender would then be seen to switch at late term.

Here's a cute quiz to determine gender with old wives tales:
http://www.childbirth.org/articles/boyorgirl.html

I have a 69% chance of having a girl, but I have a feeling it's a boy.
Won't know for another couple of weeks, so I'm having fun speculating in
the meantime!

Amy V.
EDD 11/25/05

I like that quiz! I have a 40% chance of a boy and 59% chance of a girl. I
found one thing odd, which was the morning sickness part... I had MAJOR bad
morning sickness with BOTH my boys... So bad I was on medication for it, if
I could even keep the medication down. I had it from the start until the
very end. This time, however, I haven't had morning sickness once. Mind
you, I was brushing my teeth one evening before bed, and I got sick from the
taste and smell of the tooth paste... But, that can't even really be
considered morning sickness, I guess.

oregonchick wrote:
What
makes the difference on how you carry, anyways?


Baby position, maternal shape, size, amount of abdominal fat and tone of
abdominal muscles, size and placement of the placenta. Mostly though the
baby will decide where it's comfortable sitting.
The carrying high/low equating to boy/girl thing is just a myth.

Andrea

I dont know if it means anything but with my son i carried high and this one
I'm carrying low, although i dont know what the sex is yet.

Cheryl
"oregonchick" wrote in message
...
I keep having these women tell me, "Oh, you're having a boy/girl because
you
are carrying so high." Isn't this an old wives tale? Just curious,
because
I had a girl last time, and I was definitely carrying much lower. What
makes the difference on how you carry, anyways?

I have 3 girls. 2 were high, and 1 was exceedingly low. In addition
to position of the baby and muscle tone of the mom, I will add shape of
the baby, as they are not all the same. My first had a really short
body and longer limbs, and I hardly looked pg at all because she folded
up so well inside me. My 2nd and 3rd had much longer bodies, so they
made my belly pooch out alot more. I think my belly was low the
third time because my muscle tone was stretched out from the first 2.

The only predictor, that predicted right all three times for me was
http://www.babyman.net/

KC

it's an old wives tale that worked for me, carried my boy low, my girl high,
unfortunately it means she has given me a new set of stretch marks!

Anne

KC wrote:
I have 3 girls. 2 were high, and 1 was exceedingly low. In addition
to position of the baby and muscle tone of the mom, I will add shape of
the baby, as they are not all the same. My first had a really short
body and longer limbs, and I hardly looked pg at all because she folded
up so well inside me. My 2nd and 3rd had much longer bodies, so they
made my belly pooch out alot more. I think my belly was low the
third time because my muscle tone was stretched out from the first 2.

The only predictor, that predicted right all three times for me was
http://www.babyman.net/

KC

Cool...this was right for my first two, and it says this one is a boy.
I'll see about that...I'm having strong girl vibes this time around!

L.A.

"L.A." wrote in message
oups.com...
The only predictor, that predicted right all three times for me was
http://www.babyman.net/

Cool...this was right for my first two, and it says this one is a boy.
I'll see about that...I'm having strong girl vibes this time around!

Well, it was only right for me on my first. It says I have two boys and a
girl, but says #2 was a boy (she's not) and #3 is a girl (he's not).
--
Be well, Barbara