Old wives' tales

Having gone through 3 pregnancies now, I have had the privilege of hearing lots and lots of pregnancy myths and old wives tales. A lot of them have cracked me up, a few have pissed me off :) I was confronted with a classic one today, one of the most pervasive, so I just had to blog about this topic. As I was in line at the grocery store, the checkout girl (who was very sweet) had me stand back so she could see my belly and said very confidently, "Oh, you are totally having a boy!" Imagine her surprise (and my pleasure) at telling her it was actually TWO girls :) She was really nice but genuinely shocked that her prediction was wrong. It was a pleasant exchange and made me smile and remember some of the myths that people take as fact regarding pregnancy.

1. You can tell the gender by how the mom is carrying
-as we have seen, this is obviously not true. Many people think if you are carrying "high" it is a girl, "low" and it is a boy. The fact is that a woman's body and uterus shape play the major role in how she is carrying.

2. If you have morning sickness it is a girl.
-nope, sorry. Each pregnancy is different. Some women get sick, some don't. I have never had morning sickness (sorry, don't hate me!) so that one for sure is not the case :)

3. Cocoa butter prevents stretch marks or makes them go away.
-sorry ladies, no scientific basis. You will either get them or not. But it sure does feel good to have someone else rub it on your belly!

4. You can't color your hair while pregnant.
-as a stylist I say "Hush your mouth!!!" I always tell people to follow their care provider's advice, but today most of them say their is no reason to worry. Hair color doesn't get into your blood stream.

5. No sex while pregnant
-now that is just plain silly.

And my very favorite one, from my dear sweet grandmother who gave birth to four girls:

6. You can't lift your arms above your head while pregnant because the cord will wrap around the baby's neck.
-I laughed out loud at this one, and once I did, my grandmother laughed too. She realized how silly it sounded when I asked her how I was supposed to wash my hair for 9 months :)

So what were your favorite myths you heard while preggers???