7 Baby Girl Symptoms during Early Pregnancy (from 1st Trimester!)

Are you in the early stages of pregnancy and wondering if you are expecting a baby girl or a baby boy? Are you desperate to have a baby girl and want to find out what all the signs and symptoms of expecting one are? Then you’ve come to the right place!

There’s lots of theories about whether you are expecting a boy or a girl out there, and so many of them are based on old myths and believes. Plus, lots of them only apply to when you are already showing, so not really to early pregnancy.

For that reason, I have rounded up here all the baby girls symptoms during early pregnancy that you can look out for. Some are based on scientific evidence, so that you can really take a good guess at whether you are expecting one or not, whereas some are a bit of old wives’ tales. All these can show up during the first trimester already, but I have also included some extra signs that can appear later on during the second trimester or third trimesters towards the end of the article.

Just be mindful that these early symptoms are not a guarantee that you are expecting a girl! While they can give you a bit of hope, the most reliable way to tell a baby’s sex is usually with an ultrasound at 20 weeks.

Choosing a baby girl’s name

7 baby girl symptoms during early pregnancy

What are the Chances of Having a Girl?

If you are wondering what the chances are of having a girl, know that these are about 50/50.

That said, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), there’s a slight higher chance of a woman expecting a boy, as the ratio of male to female births, called the sex ratio, is about 105 to 100. This means 51% of births result in a baby boy.

Are you in planning mode? You might also find our article on popular names for baby girls helps the choose a lovely name for your new baby.

When can you Find Out Baby’s Sex (for Sure)?

Like I mentioned above, you shouldn’t rely 100% on the symptoms listed below to find out if you are expecting a baby girl or not. If you do want to find out your baby’s sex without any sort of doubts, there are other options for expecting parents out there:

Cell-Free DNA Screening (also called non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT), MaterniT21 test, Harmony prenatal test, or other): from week 10
Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS): between week 10 and 13
Amniocentesis: between week 16 and 20

Ultrasound: between week 18 and 22
Early Gender DNA tests:

Cell-Free DNA Screening

The cell-free DNA screening is a blood test that can be done from 10 weeks of pregnancy. The blood of an expectant mom contains small amounts of fetal DNA, which can be used to determine the risk of having a baby with a chromosomal abnormality, specifically trisomy 21, 18, or 13, or a sex chromosome abnormality.

This test can also be an early indicator of your baby’s sex. In fact, it can predict baby’s gender with an accuracy of almost 99%!

Just be mindful that it can be quite an expensive test, and your insurance may not cover it unless you are 35 or older, or have a higher risk of having a baby with genetic problems.

Ultrasound

Most pregnant women find out their baby’s sex during the mid-pregnancy ultrasound, which is usually done between week 18 and week 22 rather than in an earlier 10 week ultrasound scan. By this stage, baby’s genital can be seen clearly by an ultrasound technician, who will most likely be able to identify the sex.

However, if the baby is not in a position that allows the genitals to be seen, you may have to wait until the following 20 week anatomy scan or the final 37 week ultrasound.

Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS) / Amniocentesis

Both CVS and Amniocentesis are prenatal tests that diagnose chromosomal abnormalities such as Down syndrome or other genetic disorders, and can also determine baby’s sex. The first one consists in a doctor taking cell samples from your placenta, whereas with the amniocentesis the doctor uses a needle to take a small sample of amniotic fluid.

The only reason why women may decide to go through with a CVS instead of an amniocentesis, is that it can be done earlier (from week 10), whereas for an amniocentesis you’d have to wait until week 16.

Both tests are usually performed only on women that are at higher risk of having a baby with chromosomal abnormalities, and are not even offered to women having a ‘normal’ pregnancy, mainly because these tests are invasive and carry a small risk of miscarriage. Also note that it usually takes 2 weeks to receive the results.

Early Gender DNA Tests

Did you know that there are some easy DNA test kits that you can use at home to determine your baby’s sex from week 7?! These involve you getting a small sample of your blood, either from your finger or from your arm, and sending it to a lab to get tested. Results can come back to you as early as one day!

One of the most popular DNA tests is from SneakPeek. They have 2 tests available: one where you prick your finger and results come back to you within 5-7 days, and one where you prick your arm (less painful) and you get the results back in one day!

The tests claim to be 99.9% accurate and they offer a full refund if the results turn out to be wrong.

Baby Girl Symptoms during Early Pregnancy

So, how can you tell if you are pregnant with a girl? Without further ado, here’s all the early signs of a girl pregnancy that can appear from the first trimester!

1) Severe Morning Sickness

Severe morning sickness is possibly one of the first signs of being pregnant with a girl to look out for! If you find yourself reaching for a bucket at all times of the day (or night), there’s a good chance you are carrying a baby girl.

And there’s some scientific research backing this belief up. In fact, female fetuses produce more pregnancy hormone hCG than males and that could be the cause of all your nausea and vomiting, which is often associated to pregnancy heartburn as well.

This study from 2021collected data from over 4 thousands pregnancies and found women gestating a female fetus reported higher frequencies of NVP (nausea and vomiting during pregnancy) during the first trimester of pregnancy than did women gestating males.

2) Mood Swings

Another potential sign of girl pregnancy is mood swings. You know, when you are crying one moment and peeing in your pants from laughing so hard the next 🙂

Now, this symptom is not really backed up by scientific studies. However, there’s a belief that when pregnant with a girl, estrogen levels are higher, which could affect your mood.

In fact, estrogen is strongly associated with the brain chemical serotonin, also called the ‘happy’ hormone. When estrogen surges, it can cause imbalances and fluctuations in serotonin levels, causing mood swings.

Not to mention that the pregnancy hormone hCG (responsible for morning sickness as mentioned above) is the one triggering the increase in production of both estrogen and progesterone. Therefore, higher levels of hCG could mean higher levels of estrogen in your body too when expecting a girl.

That said, estrogen levels rise during pregnancy regardless of whether you are carrying a female or male fetus. So, in the absence of scientific studies backing this theory up, you might not want to take this symptom too seriously.

3) Higher Heart Rate

The fact that a girl’s fetus hart rate is faster than a boy’s is an old wives’ tale, but lots of moms swear by it. According to this belief, if the fetal heart rate is under 140 beats per minute (BTM), then the mother is expecting a boy. If it’s over 140 BTM, then it’s a girl.

However, there’s absolutely no scientific evidence to back this up. Plus there’s been studies, such as this study from 2006, that found absolutely no significant difference between male and female heart rates during early pregnancy.

That said, if you are the kind of person that never wanted to find out the baby’s sex throughout pregnancy, but want to be in for a bit of a spoiler just before baby arrives, know that during labor girls do tend to have higher heart rate compared to boys! That’s a fact.

4) Craving Sweets

This saying goes that craving sweet foods, even during early pregnancy, is a sign that you are expecting a girl.

However, while craving sweets can sometimes be the result of a drop in blood sugar, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are pregnant with a girl. No study has confirmed this.

5) Face Breakouts

Another interesting baby girl symptoms during early pregnancy is face breakouts. In fact, pimples or acne can be a very annoying early pregnancy symptoms, but can also mean you are expecting a girl!

This is all based on the fact, like I mentioned above, if you are pregnant with a girl your estrogen levels are believed to be higher. And high levels of estrogen can lead to oily skin and face breakouts.

There’s also the old wives’ tale that what’s happening to your skin is because your baby girl is stealing your beauty. But I prefer to stick to the scientific explanation!

6) High Stress Levels during Conception

Were you going through a stressful situation in life when you got pregnant? Well, believe it or not, that can also be an early sign that you are expecting a baby girl. And it’s not fiction!

A 2012 study found a correlation between a higher concentration of cortisol (stress hormone) in pregnant women and a higher chance of them having a baby girl. Other studies have subsequently supported this results, including a 2019 study that showed that the sex ratio in psychologically and physically stressed women had male-to-female ratios of 2:3 and 4:9 respectively, instead of the usual male-to-female sex ratio of 105:100.

Even though more research is needed to properly understand the link between a woman’s stress level and the baby’s sex, it’s amazing to think that lots of stress can affect your chances of having a baby girl over a baby boy!

7) Excessive Fatigue / Asthma

A 2017 study found that women carrying female fetuses had a heightened inflammatory response when their immune system was challenged, compared to women carrying male fetuses. This excessive inflammation in women carrying a baby girl is stressful to the body and can contribute to achiness and fatigue, as well as exacerbated symptoms of some medical conditions, including asthma.

So, if you are feeling way more tired than usual or your asthma is getting worse, be wary – it could be a first trimester girl pregnancy symptom.

Other Signs of Girl Pregnancy (Including Myths)

1) Carrying Baby High

Carrying baby high instead of low is a myth that’s been long associated to mothers carrying a baby girl. However, there’s no truth in that and it’s just a legend that many people like to believe in!

There’s many reasons why a woman may be having a higher bump compared to others. One of which is that with your first pregnancy, your abdominal wall isn’t as stretched out as other moms having a subsequent pregnancy.

2) Urine of a Dull Yellow Color

According to this old wives’ tale, if the expectant mom’s urine is bright yellow, then she’s carrying a boy. If it’s dull or barely yellow, then it’s a girl.

That said, the color of your pee can change throughout the day, depending on what you’ve eaten or how much you’ve be drinking, so it’s pretty hard to use this as a reliable indicator of whether you are expecting a girl or not!

3) Carrying Weight in Hips & Rear

Another baby girl symptom that you often hear of is that of carrying baby’s weight in your hips and rear, instead of at the front. So, if you have a basketball-like belly sticking out at the front then you are expecting a boy.

Again, no scientific foundation for this one either, just an old wives’ tale people like to believe in.

baby girl symptoms during early pregnancy

4) Breech Baby

Are you approaching the end of pregnancy and your baby is still turned with the feet towards your uterus instead of being head down? Then, if you haven’t find out baby’s sex by now, know you have a higher chance of having a girl!

This study published in 2015 analyzed the data from almost 800 pregnant women with baby in a breech position in Hungary between 1996 and 2011. What they found is that breech presentation was clearly related to fetal sex, with female fetuses having a 25% increased risk of breech presentation.

Another German study from back in 1976 found that more girls are born in breech position compared to boys.

5) Shorter Linea Nigra

Last but not least, here’s another old wives’ tales according to which one of the pregnancy signs of a girl is a linea nigra that runs up to your belly button. If it keeps going all the way to your ribs then your are expecting a boy.

Again, there’s no evidence that this is actually true. Not to mention that not every pregnant woman gets one!

FAQs

Do you Glow when Pregnant with a Girl?

Not really, not more than if you were expecting a boy. Not according to any scientific evidence at least.

On the contrary, if you had to believe that one of the signs of being pregnant with a girl is face breakouts and possibly acne (like mentioned above), than your glow is far more likely to be attributed to you expecting a boy instead of a girl.

Are you more Tired when Pregnant with a Girl?

Yes, you could be! According to a 2017 study mentioned above, fatigue can be one early sign of a girl pregnancy!

That’s because women expecting girls are more prone to inflammation, which in return can contribute to sickness-related symptoms, such as achiness and tiredness.

Are Pregnancy Symptoms Worse with a Girl?

That depends on the symptoms! There’s a lot of early pregnancy symptoms that you can look out for, but not all of them depend on the sex of your baby.

However, severe morning sickness, fatigue, asthma, extreme mood swings, craving sweets and face breakouts/acne could definitely be pregnancy signs of a girl.

Baby Girl Symptoms during Early Pregnancy: Final Thoughts

Here it is mom-to-be – all the early signs that you could be having a girl, plus other signs to look out for later on in pregnancy! As you can see some of them are backed up by scientific evidence and recent studies, whereas others are just popular believes or old wives’ tales.

You can also check out these symptoms that you are expecting a baby boy if you are curious.

Either way, remember that no sign will be able to give you a definite answer, and if you really want to find out the sex of your baby you should really try one or more of the tests listed at the top of this article, or wait for the 20-week scan!

If you want a bit of fun, you could also try lots of gender prediction tests that are available online, or in many pregnancy journals and planners. These will go through many myths and believes with regards to signs that you could be expecting a boy or a girl, and the final score will tell you your unborn baby’s sex. I wouldn’t rely on it to start planning the colors for your baby’s nursery though!

For more related articles on how to survive pregnancy:

Are you an expectant mother and have some questions with regards to anything that’s written above? Or have you already had a baby and know of other baby girl signs during early pregnancy? Then please let me know in the comments below – I’d love to hear from you!

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1 COMMENT

Michelle Gast November 22, 2021 At 7:35 pm

I have two girls! This is spot on! Severe morning sickness, and carrying high. One of my daughters was breech, and they had a higher heart rate. I had all these signs except breakouts, but that was 13 years ago, so I possibly forgot.
Great post! =)
~Michelle
https://michellescrazybusylife.net

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