gender determination

I was pouring my cereal this morning and thinking of all the different methods of gender determination I've heard from people since we started telling people we weren't going to find out the sex of Baby E.

1. Of course "how you carry." But no one can seem to agree on which station of carrying means what. Are you low, all around, straight out, high, etc. The doctor says how you carry is hereditary and has nothing to do with your baby's gender.
2. "The ol' wedding ring and hair trick." In this method you tie a piece of hair to a wedding ring and swing it over the mother's belly. Depending on how it swings—round and round or back and forth, or is it clockwise and counter clockwise—determines the sex of the baby. We didn't do this but apparently it's supposed to be pretty accurate. I will point out that our local practitioner, Fr. V's wife, Matushka, tried it on her own daughter's pregnant belly and it was wrong.
3. "How intense is your morning sickness?" Researchers found that 56 percent of women who have severe morning sickness had a girl. I had horrible "morning" sickness (as in all day) well past my first trimester (though I never actually threw up... except for one random morning in the Metro). I also had the good fortune of having it return in the last few weeks. So what does that mean?
   
4. "The intensity of the linea nigra (dark line)." This was a new one for me. Apparently if the line that runs along your belly in late pregnancy is light, it's a girl and dark it's a boy. My line is very light. I guess we'll see.
5. "The heart rate." This one probably has the most scientific validity behind it. According to our sonographer, it's true, girls' heart rates tend to be higher, boys' lower. Right now Baby E's heart rate tends toward the lower side. However, I will note that the kid sleeps ALL the time! When you wake her/him up with say... a buzzer to Mama's belly, the heart rate gets way up there. So really, who knows?
   
6. "Where you carry your weight." If your pregnancy weight is in your butt, it's a girl. Not sure where you carry your weight if it's a boy. Or maybe that's it. You don't gain weight if it's a boy. Our friend Kathy was all baby and she just had a boy. Hmmmm...
7. "What does your gut tell you?" Absolutely nothing. I've flip-flopped so much on this there's no telling what we're having. The sonographer's report says "Normal."
   
8. Finally, and my favorite so far... "Tending to eat more meat or vegetables." Our favorite little breakfast place, Kay's Diner II, is run by two Korean sisters and one of their husbands. Since we eat there at least 2 weekends of every month, they've gradually seen me get more and more pregnant over the last 9 months. Last weekend one of the sisters finally asked when the baby was due. We told her 2 weeks and she asked if we knew the gender yet. After learning that, no, we didn't, she asked "Do you eat more vegetables or meat?" Now really, to make an accurate call on this is nearly impossible. I've been trying to eat a balance diet. At the beginning all I could eat was Potbelly sandwiches. Now I've tended more vegetarian. I eat meat when it's put in front of me but given the chance to make my own meal I tend to go meatless. So who knows? After hearing that I've been eating both she declared the baby a boy.

At this point I'm happy with the gender determination "Normal." And I'm looking forward to being utterly surprised when the doctor puts Baby E on my chest and says, "Congratulations, it's a __________!"