Week 23: The one with the bacon
As discussed previously, my husband and I don’t learn the sex of […]
As discussed previously, my husband and I don’t learn the sex of our babies ahead of time. As a result, this leads to 10 months of people, ourselves included, offering up guesses and predictions as to whether the baby is a boy or a girl. It’s part of the fun!
During my first pregnancy, my husband was convinced from day one that the baby was a girl. I had no feeling either way. I carried the baby up high and out wide, and all I wanted to eat was fruit and candy … and cupcakes. As many cupcakes as I could get my hands on. People started bringing me cupcakes because it was so widely known that I needed cupcakes to survive the day. Once, my husband met me at an OB appointment and quietly pointed out that I had some dry skin on the end of my nose. After giving it a scratch, I discovered that it wasn’t dry skin … it was frosting from the cupcake I’d eaten for breakfast. Outsiders weren’t consistent in their predictions. Some said boy; others said girl. One point to my husband’s guessing skills: The baby was a girl!
Throughout my second pregnancy, my husband thought the baby was another girl. However, this pregnancy looked and felt much different than my first, so I guessed it was a boy. I carried much lower and all out front. Everyone I came into contact with was convinced the baby was a boy—strangers on the street would look at me and say nothing but, “That’s a boy,” and keep on walking. All I wanted to eat were cheeseburgers and more cheeseburgers. I was right: It was a boy!
Pregnancy number three was tricky because there were a mix of indicators, but my husband again thought it was a girl. I carried the baby low, but also wide. People weren’t consistent with their guesses. All I wanted to eat was fruit and candy … and more fruit … and a lot more candy. Verdict: Girl!
So the position of the baby (high vs. low and wide vs. all out in front) doesn’t seem to be a strong indicator, but my food cravings have been consistent across three pregnancies. With both girls, I ate fruit and candy like it was going out of style. I don’t normally eat a lot of candy, but during those pregnancies I would easily down an entire bag of Sour Patch Kids in a single sitting. I would eat so many of them so quickly that the sour little flavor-crystals would burn my tongue and the roof of my mouth … but that didn’t stop me from eating another bag the following day. Yikes!
With my son, however, I can remember coming home from work one evening and announcing to my husband that I needed a cheeseburger and I needed it now. I didn’t have a single craving for anything sweet. It was all meat products, all the time.
Here we are now with baby number four on the way, and again, we’re all full of guesses. I seem to be carrying lower and out front, more like I did with baby No. 2 (a boy). As for food cravings? Well, the other day I was sitting in the car, waiting for the 5-year-old’s dance class to finish up, when I realized I was hungry … so I found a snack. Midway through that snack, I realized what I was doing. I texted my husband to inform him that I was sitting in the car, eating a bag of bacon that I had been carrying around with me all day … you know, just in case. Based on my “Safety Bag of Bacon” (and the many cheeseburgers I’ve been consuming), I’m going to guess that baby No. 4 is a boy.
Throughout my second pregnancy, my husband thought the baby was another girl. However, this pregnancy looked and felt much different than my first, so I guessed it was a boy. I carried much lower and all out front. Everyone I came into contact with was convinced the baby was a boy—strangers on the street would look at me and say nothing but, “That’s a boy,” and keep on walking. All I wanted to eat were cheeseburgers and more cheeseburgers. I was right: It was a boy!
Pregnancy number three was tricky because there were a mix of indicators, but my husband again thought it was a girl. I carried the baby low, but also wide. People weren’t consistent with their guesses. All I wanted to eat was fruit and candy … and more fruit … and a lot more candy. Verdict: Girl!
So the position of the baby (high vs. low and wide vs. all out in front) doesn’t seem to be a strong indicator, but my food cravings have been consistent across three pregnancies. With both girls, I ate fruit and candy like it was going out of style. I don’t normally eat a lot of candy, but during those pregnancies I would easily down an entire bag of Sour Patch Kids in a single sitting. I would eat so many of them so quickly that the sour little flavor-crystals would burn my tongue and the roof of my mouth … but that didn’t stop me from eating another bag the following day. Yikes!
With my son, however, I can remember coming home from work one evening and announcing to my husband that I needed a cheeseburger and I needed it now. I didn’t have a single craving for anything sweet. It was all meat products, all the time.
Here we are now with baby number four on the way, and again, we’re all full of guesses. I seem to be carrying lower and out front, more like I did with baby No. 2 (a boy). As for food cravings? Well, the other day I was sitting in the car, waiting for the 5-year-old’s dance class to finish up, when I realized I was hungry … so I found a snack. Midway through that snack, I realized what I was doing. I texted my husband to inform him that I was sitting in the car, eating a bag of bacon that I had been carrying around with me all day … you know, just in case. Based on my “Safety Bag of Bacon” (and the many cheeseburgers I’ve been consuming), I’m going to guess that baby No. 4 is a boy.
In about 17 weeks we’ll find out for sure, and discover if my meat cravings are a reliable indicator of baby’s sex!