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Boy or Girl? Baby Gender Quiz

Is it a boy or girl? As far as pregnancy ponders go gender ranks pretty high on the list. Unfortunately, the majority of gender prediction methods are a guess at best relying on the fact that, well, their chances are always 50 percent. During my fourth pregnancy (which happened to be a girl after three boys), I got tired of Chinese gender charts and silly heart beat questions. Of course, that didn’t stop me from wishing I had a way to get even a little hint at what gender my baby would be. That’s why I decided to take my research on gender swaying and create a quiz that determines if you are more likely to have a boy or girl based on science.

This quiz can also be used prior to pregnancy to determine if you’re more likely to conceive a boy or girl, because almost all of the factors considered occur prior to conception. Only one question relates to pregnancy symptoms. You are welcome to read more about the reasoning and research behind our baby gender quiz on our page on gender swaying here and more about pregnancy symptoms and gender here.

For entertainment only:

It’s important to note that the factors used in this quiz, while supported by research, do not guarantee you’ll conceive one gender or another. They simply increase the chances. This quiz is purely for entertainment purposes and shouldn’t be used to say, paint your nursery in non-gender neutral colors. If you’re also curious if some other baby gender prediction methods have any scientific basis, look beyond the start quiz button.

Anyway, no strings, rings, or complicated charts, let’s get started….

Can your baby’s heart beat really predict gender?

The myth: A heart beat over 140 is a girl, under is a boy.

The facts:

There have been two major studies into fetal heart beat in regards to gender, and both found there was absolutely no difference in heart beat between girls and boys. A baby’s heart beat can be affected by fetal age, your blood sugar, and your blood pressure. If you were to check your babies heart rate, drink some apple juice, and check again shortly thereafter, assuming this myth was fact, your baby would likely switch genders!

Does carrying low or high predict gender?

Myth: If you’re carrying high, you’re having a girl, low, a boy.

The facts:

Most moms can vouch that babies move, a lot, but in reality whether or not you have a low basket-ball bump or a high no-show-er depends on your body, not your baby’s. Women with strong abdominal tone (often first time moms) frequently carrying higher, while women who have already had children tend to carrying lower and show sooner as their abdominal wall is already stretched. Your height and weight as well as your baby’s size and position in the womb can also affect how you carry.

Can cravings predict gender?

Myth: Sweet cravings mean it’s a girl. Salty cravings are for boys.

The facts:

Pregnancy cravings often change on a whim and are not affected by gender. Many assert that food cravings are either hormonal or as a result of deficiencies, but there is actually little to support this. The leading guess at what causes pregnancy cravings is cultural expectation. Here is an in-depth look at research on the subject.

You may also enjoy:
When Can I Tell if My Baby is a Boy or Girl?
Intelligender Test: Scam?

PMS or Pregnancy Symptoms: What’s the Difference?

Most of us are aware of what pregnancy symptoms are. The media has shown us pregnancy is this obvious in-your-face change. In reality though, pregnancy symptoms can be far more subtle. Things like nausea, bloating, breast tenderness, discharge changes, food aversions/cravings, flatulence, mood swings, hot sweats, frequent urination, fatigue, and more can vary in severity. Of course, don’t some women get those same symptoms just before their period? Why is that? Is your body telling you pregnant or period? How can you judge, PMS or pregnancy?

What causes PMS or pregnancy symptoms?

The first question there comes down to understanding what causes both pregnancy symptoms and PMS, because the culprit is the same—hormones. In fact, it’s even the same hormone for the most part.

The second half of your menstrual cycle after ovulation (the luteal phase) is dominated by a hormone called progesterone. Progesterone’s job is to maintain the uterine lining for pregnancy before implantation and during pregnancy afterwards. It’s present in both pregnant and non-pregnant women. Progesterone concentration just becomes higher in early pregnancy. High progesterone can cause nausea, bloating, breast tenderness, discharge changes, food aversions/cravings, flatulence, mood swings, and hot sweats—a fair chunk of pregnancy symptoms. Essentially, pregnancy symptoms are just PMS on steroids, because progesterone levels are higher and also slowly joined by hCG (Human chorionic gonadotropin). hCG is the hormone that causes a pregnancy test to become positive, by the way.

So, how can you tell if it’s PMS or pregnancy then?

While there are a few pregnancy symptoms that are uncommon in PMS (frequent urination and fatigue), all sorts of things can cause those symptoms from the flu to a hot day. The real settling factor is actually time. Pregnancy symptoms won’t occur before a missed period unless you have an irregular cycle or a very long cycle. That’s the truth. There is absolutely no reason to stress over symptoms before a minimum of 8 days after ovulation or intercourse if you don’t know when you ovulated. As PMS occurs before your period, in almost all cases unless your period is late, your symptoms are PMS.

I know, especially for folks trying to conceive that is a hard answer to swallow, but hear me out. For your symptoms to be pregnancy related, you have to be pregnant. It takes a minimum of 6 days for an egg to travel and implant (making you pregnant), but the average is 8 to 10 days. After that, it takes time for hormone levels related to pregnancy to begin to rise (higher progesterone and hCG). You can’t even get a positive pregnancy test for about 48 hours plus. With the average menstrual cycle at about 28 days, and ovulation frequent at mid-cycle, this means for the average cycle you aren’t even pregnant until the question of PMS or pregnancy becomes a moot point. This is why I recommend whether you’re hoping to be pregnant or praying you aren’t after an oops, that you disregard symptoms entirely until your period is due. If you’re more than 3 days late (3 days +/- is considered normal period variance), then just take a test. It’s a far easier answer than trying to analyze your symptoms and a lot less stressful.

What if your period is late or have long/irregular cycles?

Now there is an exception to that rule. In those that have irregular or long cycles, ovulation is often erratic. In which case, there may not be a firm period due date or periods may already be absent. Second, it is possible to have a late period without being pregnant. We also have a full page on missed periods with a negative test here. In both case timing goes out the window and a pregnancy test is going to be the only answer for you. If your symptoms are pregnancy related, unless you are much further along than you think you are, a pregnancy test will reflect that.

You might also find helpful:
When to Take a Pregnancy Test for Accurate Results
In-Depth: When Do Pregnancy Symptoms Start at the Earliest?
Early Pregnancy Symptom Quiz

OPK Guide: How to Use Ovulation Test Strips

OPKs, or ovulation prediction kits, can be a simple way to help determine when you are ovulating—or about to in this case. In function, OPKs are similar to pregnancy tests in that they are a strip or stick that tests your urine, but they can be a bit trickier to read. So, before we move on to how to use ovulation test strips, let’s start at the beginning and look at what an OPK is and how it works so you can better understand how you use it.

What is an OPK, and how does it work?

An OPK is a test that detects the hormone LH (luteinizing hormone) in your urine to predict ovulation. Understanding how really requires a quick course in the hormones of the menstrual cycle.

At the beginning of your cycle (day one of bleeding or cycle day 1) the hormones that dominate your menstrual cycle, estrogen and progesterone, are both low. This signals Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) to be released. FSH prompts the follicles in your ovary to develop an egg for fertilization. Development of this egg triggers estrogen production. High estrogen then stimulates LH to be produced. LH will peak about 24 to 48 hours before ovulation to cause the release of the developed egg, or ovulation. LH is always present in low levels in the body, it’s just at its highest just before ovulation.

How do you use an ovulation test strip?

When to start and stop testing:
You don’t need to use OPK strips all cycle long unless you really want to. If you’ve already built an average ovulation date (see a full guide here) about 5 days before that average is a safe bet for testing. If you don’t already have an average, until you have a better idea of when you ovulate, you’d want to start testing on about cycle day (CD) 8 as some women ovulate as early as day 10 or 11. Ovulation earlier than this is rare, and arguably impossible, as it takes time for an egg to develop.

You can stop testing once you confirm ovulation. BBT tracking is the easiest method to do so, as on rare occasions, an LH surge can occur without ovulation if the egg fails to release. This failure may result in a cyst or a second surge of LH and ovulation at a later date. Ovulation itself can only be confirmed by ultrasound or BBT as mentioned.

You can use an OPK at any time of the day, but for accuracy, it’s best to choose one time and stick with that time. For example, you do not have to test in the morning, but if you chose to do so you should test at around the same time in the morning everyday.

Types of OPKs:

There are a few types of OPK tests available. Line tests, which resemble a pregnancy test where one line is the test line and the other is a comparison line. These tests come in either strips, which are thin, small strips of paper-like material, and sticks, which have a hard plastic case around the strip for ease of use. Unlike OPK sticks, OPK strips can’t be used midstream (actually peeing on the strip itself) you need to urinate in a cup of some sort and dip them or use a dropper to apply urine to the stick if provided.

Stick tests also offer digital easier-to-read alternative to the line tests, albeit at a higher price. These tests sense whether the strip test inside the stick is positive, and present a digital positive or negative result. For instance, Clearblue shows a smiley face for positive. On the much-more-expensive side, you can also buy monitors that strip tests are inserted into. These monitors often indicate when to test and read the sticks for you, but can run upwards of $100.

Reading an OPK:

The reason OPK line tests are harder to read than, say, a pregnancy test, is because two lines does not equate to a positive result. In a pregnancy test, any second line is positive, because hCG is only present in levels detectable by the test while pregnant (and in a few other rare medical conditions). LH is present in the body all cycle, so you will likely always see two lines on an OPK. For an OPK to be positive, the test line must be as dark, but preferably darker, than the control line. After a few months you’ll get a better idea of how dark your positive line is, but for now, just remember, to call an OPK positive, the test line can’t be lighter than the control.

Below is a standard example of a line test progression. You can see the line darkening each day, but only the final test in the photo is positive.

Can OPKs detect pregnancy?

Finally, because hCG and LH are similar hormones, OPKs will sometimes detect hCG. This is a possible explanation for prolonged true positive OPKs, but because LH is always present, it is unwise to attempt to use ovulation test strips to determine pregnancy. An actually pregnancy test will also detect pregnancy before an OPK would turn positive anyway.

We hope this guide has fully answered any questions you may have had on how to use ovulation test strips. If we missed anything or you have any questions, we welcome comments and suggestions.