Old Wives Tales and what the ''Experts" say

Back in May, I did a post predicting Sweetcheeks gender based on Old Wives Tales. Most of the tests said "Girl" other than the Chinese Gender Chart (which has never been right for me, I'm always opposite).

But as correct as they were about some things, others were completely wrong. Typically, Old Wives Tales say that if you're pregnant with a girl you carry the weight in your butt and hips...you look like you have a watermelon under your shirt. With a baby boy you carry right out front, looking like you have a basketball under your shirt. Well take a look at these 2 pics:

Both are from my 33rd week of pregnancy. The bare belly one on the left is from when I was pregnant with Peanut (a boy) and the one on the right was taken today, pregnant with a girl.

Call me crazy but I think I look more ''basketball-ish'' with Sweetcheeks. I am carrying a bit higher this time around too.

Obviously being my fourth pregnancy, I've noticed other differences too. When pregnant with any of the boys, I had morning sickness really bad. Not just nausea but actual vomiting. With Bubba, I was sick up until 22 weeks when it finally wore off. With Pooks it was bad but nothing compared to Bubba. With Peanut it would hit me all the sudden but I felt better after actually being sick. Now with Sweetcheeks I had a nausea/hungover/carsick feeling and occasional vomiting but nothing like I did with the boys. My skin as also been much clearer this time around...very few if any breakouts, even in the beginning.

I've gained less weight being pregnant with a girl; my face isn't as round as it was with the boys and my boobs haven't gone up a single cup size. With the boys I gained 23-26lbs total and went up AT LEAST 2 cup sizes...at 33wks with Sweetcheeks I've gained 11lbs and still wearing my regular itty-bitty bras.

I have to wonder, is it a difference in carrying boy vs girl or is it that this is my fourth pregnancy and my body is thinking ''been there done that'' and handling/adjusting to everything really well?

I'll never really know the answer but it is interesting that my fourth pregnancy is the easiest. They {you know the experts} warn you that the ideal spacing from children is at least 18-23mos between pregnancies...so that your body can ''heal'' and get back to normal. Well there was a 4.5mos ''pregnancy free'' gap between Bubba and Pooks, a 10 month gap between Pooks and Peanut's pregnancies and a 14 month gap between Peanut and Sweetcheeks....and my body is handling it just fine. My hips are sore but other than that, I feel fine. My blood pressure is the lowest this pregnancy than it's ever been. I've never had problems with anemia. I've always lost the baby weight after each kiddo, I've always stayed fairly active during my pregnancies and while I haven't always eaten great, I have always taken my pre-natal vitamins. I don't think that the ''experts'' know what they are talking about!
As were nearing the end, here are belly pics from various points in my pregnancy this time around...