How pregnancy goes with a boy and a girl: differences

The birth of a baby is the cherished dream of almost every married couple. Having learned about the “interesting situation”, future parents begin with interest to sort out suitable names for the baby, come up with an interior and equip the children’s room, and make many plans for the years ahead. One of the most exciting questions for a young father and mother is the gender of the child who will be born in a few months. Will it be a girl or a boy? It seems that this question interests all relatives, friends, acquaintances and even grandmothers sitting on a bench in the yard. Thanks to the knowledge and experience of previous generations, by our time certain signs of pregnancy with a boy and a girl have formed.

Changes in the appearance of the expectant mother

The first sign by which knowledgeable people determine the gender of the unborn child is a change in the appearance of a pregnant woman.

A blurred figure and facial features during pregnancy “speak” that a girl is expected

There are many beliefs and signs on this topic, but the most reliable can be considered:

• The little princess takes away her mother's beauty. During pregnancy, women often pay attention to their rounded and plump face. Some facial features change, the shape of the chin, the nose becomes more flattened and larger, and appetizing cheeks appear.
• The condition of the skin changes. The skin becomes drier, may peel, acne and rashes appear on the face and body. In later stages of pregnancy, pigmentation is possible, which is expressed in the darkening of the nipple halo and the appearance of a dark stripe in the lower abdomen.
• Hair becomes thinner and brittle, losing its shine, volume and beauty. They become difficult to comb and can come out in clumps. But don’t be afraid of this, the condition of your hair will gradually recover after childbirth.
• It's no secret that women gain weight during pregnancy. The hips and buttocks are especially rounded, and the breasts increase in size. Another sign that you will have a little helper is if your left breast has become larger than your right.

Changes in the face and figure of the expectant mother are natural and individual. You should not rely only on folk signs; be sure to undergo scheduled monthly medical examinations and examinations.

An ultrasound examination carried out at 4-5 months of gestation usually gives a reliable answer to the parents’ question: will it be a girl or a boy? Except for the moments when the baby turns his back in the womb and takes a position where it becomes impossible for specialists to see his genitals on an ultrasound scan.

If you have a boy:

• your appearance takes on freshness, you look prettier, and become even more attractive;
• the stomach takes on a sharp, protruding shape;
• you are drawn to meat, salty, dairy (what men usually prefer);
• toxicosis at the beginning of pregnancy is of little or no concern;
• your appetite increases greatly, you often want to eat;
• the heaviness is felt much more on the right side;
• there is increased hair growth on the legs;
• the feet seem cold and it is very difficult to warm them;
• the nose increases slightly in size and becomes slightly swollen.

Author of the publication: Anna Kulikova 

Features of the belly shape

Expectant mothers and fathers usually watch with interest the growing tummy in which the little baby is developing. Many people take a photo of their wife’s pregnant girl or boy every month and then look with trepidation at the changes in their figure taking place before their eyes.

It is believed that a round belly is for a boy, a fuzzy shape and a tall belly are for a girl.

There is an opinion that when an heiress is pregnant, the belly has a vague, rounded shape that spreads across the lower back. It completely hides the waist and is clearly visible from the back. In pregnant girls, the fetus is located high and often puts pressure on the digestive system, which causes frequent nausea and, in later stages, heartburn.

Changing the appearance of a pregnant woman

It is believed that a girl will be born if the expectant mother has noticeably changed:

• face;
• leather;
• general appearance.

If a girl “looks dumb”, her chin and nose change shape, and swelling of her face appears, then a girl will be born. There is a popular belief that the external attractiveness of the expectant mother is passed on to her daughter. The condition of the skin may also change during this period. Some people explain the birth of a girl as dryness, rashes, peeling, pigmentation on the face, a blurry figure, a disappearing waist, dull and brittle hair.

Well-being of a woman pregnant with a girl

Often women who are carrying a small baby become very capricious and irritable. They themselves are not able to explain their unpredictable and eccentric actions, bad mood and unpredictable behavior. Suddenly, a depressive state and nervousness may arise that she and her husband simply need to survive.

According to popular beliefs, toxicosis is the lot of women pregnant with a girl.

Very often, pregnant girls are worried about morning sickness and a general lethargic state, weakness. They become absent-minded and inattentive, passive to business. They constantly want to lie down and relax. Therefore, women carrying a baby should not perform complex work that requires extreme concentration and is of particular importance. In general, it is believed that it is much more difficult to bear a girl than a boy.

Often, women who carry a little princess inside them may experience a decrease in libido and sexual activity. This is explained by the fact that the baby takes the lion's share of the female hormones that the mother's body produces.

Headaches, fortunately, do not often bother carriers of a female child in their body. To maintain the health of your future baby, do not take medications not prescribed by your doctor. Walk more often and spend more time outdoors.

What is different about pregnancy with a boy? "Right" signs

During pregnancy with a boy, the mother's right side is dominant.

• When climbing stairs, the right foot is placed first.
• Rising from the sofa, the woman leans on her right hand.
• The woman feels tremors on the right side.
• Pigmentation on the abdomen appears just to the right of the navel.
• It is more comfortable for a woman to sleep on her right side.

Nutritional Features

Mothers of future heirs are fond of pickles, meat, fish, cheese, dairy products, and vegetable juices. Some people have an unbearable craving for beer, wine or other alcoholic beverages. And even experienced sweet tooths suddenly lose interest in cakes and chocolate.

Among vegetables, fruits and berries, women pregnant with a boy prefer tomatoes, potatoes, lemons and cranberries.

External signs

It is believed that a woman carrying a boy is much luckier in terms of appearance than the mother of the future princess. The pregnant woman blossoms before our eyes, catches admiring glances and regularly receives compliments.

• Hair becomes strong, thick and shiny.
• The tip of the nose becomes sharper.
• Cheekbones become more defined.
• The nipple areolas remain light.
• Breast size remains virtually unchanged.
• A woman practically does not lose her slimness, gaining a moderate amount of kilograms.
• Her gait becomes awkward and even heavy.
• Palms become dry.
• The right breast looks larger than the left.
• Unwanted increased hair appears on the body: on the arms, legs, stomach and face. In addition, the hairs become darker.

Belly shape

When carrying a boy, a pregnant woman's belly looks pointed, as if stretched forward. It is located lower than if there was a girl in it. The expectant mother does not lose her waist, her stomach looks separate. From the back one can hardly guess about the interesting position of the woman. The navel is almost always upturned and protruding.

However, this method can be classified as reliable signs only if:

• this is the first pregnancy;
• the woman has ideal figure parameters;
• the size of the fetus has no deviations.

Assumptions about the baby's gender made based on the shape and size of the abdomen can be wrong.

There are several reasons for this:

• individual physiological characteristics of the mother;
• multiple pregnancy;
• excess amniotic fluid;
• repeat pregnancy (belly stretches);
• oblique or transverse position of the baby in the womb;
• the size, weight and growth of the fetus exceeds the norm;
• narrow maternal pelvis;
• pregnant woman's fullness.

Physiological characteristics of the body

Physiological signs:

• The mother of the future heir either does not know at all what toxicosis is, or it bothers her insignificantly and not for long.
• A woman experiences severe dizziness from time to time, sometimes ending in fainting.
• Headaches often occur.
• A pregnant woman always has cold feet and it is difficult to warm them in any way.
• The expectant mother feels hot and cold.
• Urine becomes bright yellow.
• A dark bright stripe appears along the abdomen.

Mood

Unlike a woman pregnant with a girl, the mother of a boy can boast of a calm, peaceful mood, composure, activity, and increased libido.

Fetal heartbeat

The heart of a male baby beats calmly, monotonously, rhythmically. Heart rate does not exceed 130 beats per minute. Sounds are heard better on the left.

Folk signs

Pregnancy with a boy and a girl, the differences of which lie mainly in external signs, also has folk signs. If the expectant mother agrees with most of the following statements, she will most likely have a son.

• Eating garlic gives the skin a specific smell.
• The ring suspended above the stomach will swing in a circle.
• The surrounding babies do not show interest in the rounded belly.
• The woman loves bread crusts.
• The child's father is recovering.
• Conception occurred on the “male” day of the week: Monday, Tuesday or Thursday.
• The pregnant woman takes the figured key by the round part.
• The previous child was the first to say the word “dad.”
• The expectant mother dreams that she is a man.
• The husband loves his wife more than she loves him.
• The baby pushes in the lower abdomen.
• The year of conception and the age of the mother at the time of conception vary in parity.
• The pregnant woman not only does not hide her interesting position, but is also proud of it.
• Conception occurred with the head to the north.
• The baby begins activity in the womb after 20 weeks.

Food preferences

A constant feeling of nausea and a negative reaction to various odors do not contribute to good appetite and the desire to eat in pregnant girls. The taste preferences of expectant mothers very often change and become unusual for them. They are more picky about the dishes they eat. There is no trace left of their taste preferences before pregnancy.

Contrary to popular belief, they are not drawn to salty foods. Most often, the body of a woman carrying a young beauty requires sweets - chocolate, sweets, pastries, pies and ice cream. There is a craving for citrus fruits and juices.

Mothers love sweets when pregnant

If you have stopped eating bread crusts, then this is another plus in favor of the fact that you are carrying an heiress. Often girls who loved meat before pregnancy consume it in much smaller quantities. They prefer fresh vegetables or even switch to vegetarian food.

Mood swings

Experts in determining the sex of a baby by signs believe that signs of pregnancy with a girl necessarily include a change in the mood of the expectant mother. Women are credited with unpredictability, spontaneity, and illogical actions. Therefore, it is believed that such character traits, enhanced during pregnancy, are clear signs of the birth of a girl.

In addition to eccentricity and sudden mood swings, pregnant girls are attributed to increased lack of concentration, forgetfulness and absent-mindedness.

Fetal behavior in the womb

The little heart of the future girl beats at a frequency of up to 140 beats per minute. Based on the movements and heartbeat, it is possible to assume that the baby is developing in the womb. Girls often like to sit on the left side of their stomach and pound their tiny legs into their mother’s liver.

"Leading" left side of the body

The sign that came to us from the east determines the gender of the child based on the leading side of the body. In the literal sense of the phrase, when carrying a girl in her belly, a woman is “pulled to the left.” Please note that the left half begins to play the main role in your behavior.

Stretching your arms out in front of you, see if your palms are turned up, then the gender of your unborn child is female. If you start crossing the street, walk up the steps with your left foot, pick up objects from the table, straighten your hair, close the door with your left hand, then you are carrying a girl.

Other signs

Other signs that you are pregnant with a girl include:

• Active sex life of the couple at conception.
• Passivity of a woman in sex.
• Lack of orgasm in a woman at the moment of conception.

Among the signs we can mention common ones, but completely absurd and without any logical explanation. For example, a girl will be born if in a couple the wife loves her husband more than he loves her. If the first-born in the family is a boy, and the interval between pregnancies is short, then a baby will be born.

Controversial and original methods

Along with the signs described earlier, there are several more original methods by which pregnancy in a girl is determined. For some, they may seem quite dubious and contradictory, while others may take these signs seriously:

• the body of the expectant mother does not swell much, the weight gain during pregnancy is not very large;
• if you experienced stress shortly before conception;
• during pregnancy, the mother always has warm feet, cold limbs indicate that you are carrying a boy;
• regular feeling of lethargy and internal chills, the desire to wrap your head in a warm blanket;
• The baby's dad prefers loose-fitting underwear;
• a pregnant woman sleeps with her head turned to the south;
• if the number of your completed years plus the serial number of the month of conception form an odd number;
• if you take the keys while grabbing the sharp end;
• frequent sexual intercourse before conception;
• future parents are officially married (it is believed that boys are more often born in unofficial unions);
• if the love of one of the partners is expressed much more strongly than the other;
• your constant inner feeling during pregnancy that you are carrying a girl.

Some women trust ancient fortune telling, with the help of which our grandmothers determined the gender of the child. The most common method is with a thread and a wedding ring. Regular sewing thread is threaded through the wedding ring and hung over the pregnant woman's belly. Rotational movements indicate that you are expecting a girl, and oscillations from side to side indicate that you are expecting a boy. Many will be skeptical about this method of determining the sex of a child. First of all, this action arouses interest and a storm of positive emotions when it is carried out.

Course of pregnancy

Those who know how to guess the gender of a child using folk signs claim that pregnancy with a girl is much more difficult than with a boy. This is due to severe toxicosis, morning sickness, lack of appetite and a sharp change in taste. The woman’s condition is further complicated by constant mood swings, which are most likely caused by manifestations of toxicosis.

It is believed that toxicosis in women expecting a son is not as long and severe. Therefore, general well-being, appetite and tastes do not change much in this case.

Realities of the modern world

It is still necessary to abstract from ancient methods and accept the determination of the sex of the child. Modern reality is such that a woman carrying a little male tomboy inside her may well have a craving for sweet desserts, morning sickness, a state of fatigue and lethargy. No amount of adding up your birth dates, star calendars, or convincing yourself that you're pregnant with a girl will make it true. The sex of the unborn child is determined from the moment of conception, depending on which X or Y chromosome the egg encountered during fertilization. As offensive as it may be, the father plays the main role in who you are born with.

Ultrasound is the most accurate method for determining pregnancy

The coincidence of any signs is just a small probability of pregnancy with a girl. Modern medicine and professional equipment can answer your question with 99% accuracy. Only an examination by medical specialists and an ultrasound will help you find out the sex of the child and give birth to a strong little one. Isn't that important? Parents will always be happy about the birth of a healthy baby, no matter who it is - a boy or a girl!

How and when to determine the sex of the baby

Both the boy and the girl do not have genital organs, as we are accustomed to seeing them, until the seventh week. The genitals then gradually develop, and the differences become noticeable by mid-pregnancy.2 So you can ask a specialist to see if you're having a boy or a girl at a routine ultrasound, which is done just between 18 and 21 weeks. Ultrasound diagnostics is considered the main method of determining the sex of a child, but it is important to remember that it is not absolutely accurate. Difficulties arise if the baby actively moves or lies in a position that is uncomfortable for the doctor.3 For example, there is a chance for girls to confuse the umbilical cord with the penis, while boys, on the contrary, can press their genitals with their legs.

Another method of determining the sex of a child is a non-invasive prenatal genetic test using the mother’s blood. It is carried out already in the seventh week of pregnancy if there is a possibility of having a baby with a sex-dependent disease (gender-linked). Such diseases include hemophilia A and B, various forms of X-linked mental retardation (for example, Martin-Bell syndrome), X-linked deafness, and others4. However, even if there are no cases of such diseases in the family history, genetic research can be carried out simply at the request of the parents, but already at the 10-12th week of pregnancy. The essence of the technique is simple: the fetal DNA of the baby circulates through the circulatory system of the expectant mother in the early stages4. Doctors analyze it to determine the sex of the child. This method is much more accurate compared to ultrasound diagnostics.

Determination of sex by conception

If the exact date of conception and ovulation is known, a guess can be made about who is most likely to be born. Sperm can remain alive in a woman’s body for up to 5–7 days after insemination. At the same time, it is believed that long-livers are precisely the carriers of the X chromosome, the one that contributes to the birth of a girl. Spermatozoa with a Y chromosome usually die on the 2nd – 3rd day.

Based on the above, the greatest likelihood of a girl being born will be if sexual intercourse occurs 3 to 4 days before ovulation. And if the process of conception occurred on the 1st - 2nd day of ovulation, then, most likely, there will be a boy. The chance of determining the sex of the child using this method is not that great, but it can still work in more than 50% of cases.

If we turn again to beliefs, the process of conception itself can affect who exactly is born:

1. If a woman has an orgasm, it is likely to be a boy, and vice versa.
2. If at the time of sexual intercourse the woman's head was located to the south, there will be a girl. And if to the north - a boy.
3. Some believe that posture matters too. The boy appears if the man was behind or the woman was on top. Girl - if the woman was below.

No method of determining sex based on any characteristics can be reliable, since each organism is individual. The only exceptions are medical studies - ultrasound and analysis of amniotic fluid.