Using Superstitions to Predict the Sexes

I think we find out what the sexes are (assuming the twins cooperate) this coming week! In the meantime, I will attempt to use silly superstitions to predict the genders.

That's not me of course. But Mark will be the father of baby (question) Mark.


Silliest Superstitions

1. Craving sweet = girl. Craving sour or salty = boy. I'm always craving sweet. Pregnancy is no different. = girl
   
2. The Chinese birth chart = girl
   
3. Mayan numbers. Mother's age at conception and the year of conception. Both even or odd = girl, mixed set = boy. 34 years and 2009 = boy
4. Bad skin when pregnant = girl, otherwise = boy. = boy
   
5. Hang your wedding ring on a string over your belly. If it swings back and forth - girl, if it swings in a circle - boy. It didn't so much as swing in a circle as untwist in a clockwise rotation. I joked that it would be funny if it untwisted clockwise over one twin and counterclockwise over the other, indicating different sexes. = boy?
   
6. Sick? That's a girl. (This one actually has some foundation in fact.) I've been REALLY LUCKY and had no morning sickness or nausea whatsoever (not counting a vomitous episode from a few days ago). = boy (maybe twin boys?)
7. Carrying high = girl, carrying low = boy. I'm told I'm carrying right in the middle. = boy and a girl?
8. Husband puts on weight during your pregnancy = girl. If he doesn't = boy. I thought it would be cool if Mark got a sympathy belly but so far he's belly-less. = boy
   

Superstitions I Didn't Try

1. Draino + pee = blue-girl, green-boy. This sounds borderline dangerous. Also, it involves buying Drano which smacks of effort.
2. Pick up a key by the narrow, insertable part = girl, pick up a key by the rounded, non-insertable end = boy. I already read which indicates boy and which indicates girl so I couldn't do it without psyching myself out.
3. What's the heart rate? Below 140 - boy, above 140 - girl. I was hoping we'd hear the heartbeat at the last appointment but unfortunately that wasn't attempted.


Actual studies that seem to have some validity - one even appeared in Scientific American:

Conception at ovulation = boy, a few days before = girl.
This is based on the theory that boy sperm swim faster and girl swim live longer.
We know the date of conception and that indicates...
= boy

Women who consume more calories daily = boy.
The theory is that some selection for males occurs during times of plenty and selection for females occurs during times of scarcity.
I know I'm on the thin side. Plus I've been told that my suggestions on Yelp regarding what to order at restaurants result in not enough food and I cannot be trusted.
= girl

Eat more breakfast cereal = boy; less = girl.
Scientists who actually got this study published in Scientific American suspect it might have something to do with glucose (a by-product of the cereal carbohydrates) which helps the growth of male fetuses.
My previous job gave me the award "Most Likely to Own Stock in a Cereal Company" because I eat so much cereal. I always have three boxes (not counting oatmeal) in my desk.
= Not just a boy, twin boys. Possibly triplet boys. (One per box of cereal?)


Tally
Girl = 3 1/2
Boy = 7 1/2 (not counting the ones where I speculated there could actually be multiple boys


Intuition (not factoring in but I thought I'd just add)
I think of the twins as boys, or at least one of them that way. It's only because early on it was easier to think of boy names since there's so much more variation in girl names. After the nuchal translucency ultrasound, I started thinking of crazy alien-looking Twin A who was .2mm shorter (a clue?) as a girl and Twin B as a boy - I know the face is asexual at this point but it looked more like a boy to me, and sort of like Mark.


What does this mean?
I don't know. Two boys? One boy and one girl?

I'm sure we'll be happy with whatever we get. I won't be sleeping with a wooden spoon under my bed for a girl or eating only the ends of loaves of bread for a boy. (These are actual superstitions by the way.)