Everyone remember the moment you saw the little double line on the stick or got the results of the blood test that confirmed, yep, gonna have a baby? (By the way, I know lots of people who gave their spouses the home test wrapped up as a gift, like "Surprise! We're having a baby!" but I wonder if my first thought would be, "Eeeek! That stick had pee on it.") Well, it wasn't always as simple as it is today with our drugstore modern conveniences blah blah. Behold: A history of wacky pregnancy tests.
It is totally interesting (for a fact-dork like me) to learn the ancient Egyptians had a method of pregnancy prediction with 70 percent accuracy: The woman peed on wheat and barley seeds, and if either grain grew, pregnancy was confirmed. Turns out pregnant lady urine has elevated estrogen, which promotes growth in those grains. That is totally a good Trivial Pursuit kind of fact to know. In the Middle Ages and beyond, the color of urine was supposed to hold clues. As long as you didn't eat lots of beets, I guess. My favorite is the 17th century practice of dipping a ribbon in the woman's pee, and then burning it. If the smell made her nauseous, pregnant. Oooh, just the idea makes me pregnant all the time. Anyhow, stock up on your pregnancy prediction fun facts now, while supplies last.
