Old Wives Tales

Old wives tales are always fun to hear. The more outlandish the tale is, the better the laugh. Over my last two pregnancies I have heard quite a few as I’m sure all of you have too. Those that are new to pregnancy beware and never take any of these old wives tales to heart no matter how superstitious you may be.

Most recently brought to my attention and was the first time I have ever heard this one is about what not to do with your arms in the last trimester of your pregnancy. A friend of mine was talking with her in-laws on the phone and they couldn’t stress enough to her to make sure that she didn’t raise her arms over head. They informed her that if she does, the umbilical cord will wrap itself around the baby’s neck. I know that most of you think of this as just silliness and it is, but some new moms do take it as something to be careful about. After all, it’s the baby’s well being put at steak and that’s what keeps this old wives tale moving along the generations.

How many of you ladies have or had bad heartburn while being pregnant? Chances are that it’s a very large majority. According to the old wives, that indicates a baby with a full head of hair. It is said that hair shedding from the baby’s head is what is causing the discomfort but in actuality, it’s not even though I did have bad heartburn and both my babies did end up having a full head of hair. As your baby grows there is less and less room pushing everything in all directions including up. The growing uterus puts pressure on the intestines and stomach. This pressure can also push contents back up into the esophagus resulting in heartburn.

Once we have found out that we are expecting, the next step in our excitement is finding out the sex of the baby. The most commonly hear old wives tale explains very simply how to determine this too. If the baby is sitting low in your abdomen then you are expecting a boy and if baby is riding high, then it’s a girl. Science has proven this one wrong as well. The way you carry your baby is determined by muscle and uterine tone in addition to how the baby is positioned. Sorry mommies, but the only way to truly find out is at the doctor’s office.

Old wives tales can be fun to play around with like trying to determine the sex of your baby. Of course this tale has a 50/50 chance of being right. Have some fun with it and try some of the other ways of calculating if you’re having a boy or girl. See if they all come up with the same result. Feel free to share your findings here as well as any silly old wives tales you may have heard.