I sure am craving a lot of salt during this pregnancy, and of course my insatiable curiosity led me on a search to make sure that's one craving I can give in to. I kind of take the philosophy that you should eat what you crave... but how many uncooked bags of Mr. Noodles should I really eat? Turns out as long as you're drinking lots of water (LOTS), it's ok, which is what I figured. It just means you're needing minerals - but I had to laugh when I read that it can also mean you're having a boy. That's what my family has predicted based on a few esoteric indicators during my pregnancy so far, so we'll see what happens (we're not doing an ultrasound unless we have to). Here's my list of old wives baby predictors:

It's going to be a boy:
If you crave salt.
If you crave sour things.
If you carry low and out in front.
If your feet are colder than usual.

It's going to be a girl:
If you carry high.
If you crave sweets.
If your face gains weight and gets round.
If you get acne.
If you won't eat the heel of the bread.
If your breasts grow dramatically.

What do you think it's going to be? Studies show that expectant moms guess right 71% of the time. Generally, these have all been accurate for me, and the reason I guess that it's a boy this time is because I am falling into the boy category, which is completely different than the last two times. Another old wives tale that exists in my family is that boys tend to give worse morning sickness, which is also true for me. But from what I've read the opposite is supposed to be true.

Why no ultrasound? The most important reason is that the effects have never been conclusively studied, and the few studies that have been done have led the World Health Organization to state that they should only been done if absolutely necessary. People run off to take a picture of their unborn baby, without thinking about what an ultrasound is. It is sound pressure that is at a frequency higher than what can be heard by most humans. Because it has a vibration, it isn't just used to take pictures - it can help clean teeth, treat tumors, stimulate bone growth, and can heat up tissue. The truth is, it is an incredibly powerful tool that is 'generally considered safe' to point at unborn babies, but only because they've never really studied how harmful it is. All good enough reason for me, a healthy mom with no problems so far, to rely on good old wives tales.