tjameswhite.com

There is a new addition to the sidebar over there — the Baby’s Gender Ring Predictor. There are a number of wives’ tales for predicting the gender of your baby, one involves using your wedding ring on a string.

The way it works:

1. tie ring to string
2. suspend over belly
3. if it moves in a circle, it’s a boy; if it moves in a straight line, it’s a girl

We’re putting it to the test. Every week (or thereabouts) we are conducting the test and accumulating the results. To keep things as “scientific” as possible, I have instituted a number of controls:

1. The test is done in the same location
2. The same string is used, tied to the same length
3. Test is performed with both hands to eliminate and potential “handedness” bias

The first 9 tests are now in the table in the sidebar. The table lists the date and result (B = boy, G = girl, - = no movement) for both my left and right hand. As you can see, we are (as of this writing) having a boy. A couple of weeks there was no movement of the ring at all, and one week the string began by moving ever so slightly in a straight line, stopped, began to circle, stopped, swayed a little, etc.

There are numerous other prediction methods out there. In general they deal with physical changes and conditions in the mother, as well as the baby’s heartbeat. According to most of those “tests” — fast fetal heartbeat; watermelon shaped; cravings for sweets and orange juice; etc. — we are having a girl. This is only, however, by a slight margin.

I will continue to update the Ring Predictor roughly every week, and come June 22 we shall see if any of it is correct. I’m sure that at least one of the predictions will prove true.