Finding Out the Sex of Your Baby

Mommy2two's answer sounds like exactly what happened with us, except that with my first I really wanted to know and my husband really didn't. He missed an appointment, and the tech told me that it was a girl. I made a comment one day while looking at some cute little duck sleepers and made the comment that one looked way to girly to be gender neutral. My husband said at that point he knew it was a girl.

With the second, I didn't find out. I knew he was going to be a boy, but never confirmed it.

If I had to do it over, I would probably not have found out with either. My instinct was right in both cases (so was my cousin's). The chinese calendar was also right.

With my 1st baby the ultra sounds would not show if baby was a boy or girl. That morning we all thought baby was a girl, come to find out it was a boy! I was in a bit of shock of all the old wifes tales saying I was carrying like a girl, and when they said a boy. With 2nd and 3rd we have had ultra sounds with the babys coming out as they stated. Worry was there if the ultra sounds where correct until birth. My thoughts are if you do find out before hand, there chances of the ultra sound being incorrect. Slim with today's technology... but still there. My vote is wait! What joy at the moment. :)

I didn't find out for either and loved being surprised! And also telling everyonw that was dying to know what we had. When you know what the baby is and you tell everyone you have pretty much taken all of the excitement out of your delivery. When I think about babies that I have know what the sex would be I was really not anxious for the birth. It was like-so is everyone healthy? Thats it. No squealing excitement at all. Just congratulations.

Isn't it a surprise either way - whether you find out when you are still pregnant or the day of delivery?

I wanted to know because I felt it helped me connect with my baby more by referring to her by name while she was still in my belly and it was just fun referring to her by her name rather than "the baby." Plus, the day of the delivery can still be full of surprises as you still don't know what she looks like... for example my youngest was bigger than her sister and she had a head full of hair =)

I totally agree w/ Minime's&Mommy. It's a surprise either way.

We found out w/ both. Absolutely no regrets.

The way I see it...why not have two wonderful days instead of just one?
After each ultrasound I was in total amazement. DH and I (and DD the 2nd time) spent the day having special brunch and going and buying baby a girl/boy outfit.
Wonderful memories.

There was plenty of shock and awe on delivery day w/o the gender being a surprise. :)

You could have a cake party like the Duggar boy did...give the gender to the baker and have them dye the cake pink or blue. Have a party!

Whatever you decide to do...Congrats!!!

I found out with my first at 32 weeks that I was having a girl. I wanted to know at the 20 week ultrasound, but she was being "modest" and we didn't find out until later on in my pregnancy. I loved knowing what I was having, it made it feel so much more real, I could really connect with her. It was a baby girl, instead of just "the baby".

I didn't find out with my second because my husband really wanted a surprise. It was wonderful too, to have the suspense the whole time and kept everyone guessing. And of course there are so few surprises in life. But I had such a strong feeling that I was having a boy, I just knew it somehow. So when he was delivered and I looked down and saw a boy, it wasn't as much of a surprise for me as I thought it would be. Still very exciting, but just not that big of a surprise. And when we called everybody to tell them, everybody's response was "we knew it was a boy!"

If we were to have another I'm not sure if I would find out or not. I liked both ways for their own reasons and different ways of being excited. But I think I would lean toward finding out the sex, because I just really liked how close it made me feel to the person that was growing inside of me.

I didn't read any of your responses, so I apologize if I'm redundant! We found out the sex of both our girls ahead of time. I just couldn't wait!!! My theory is this - it's a surprise whenever you find out, whether it's at 20 weeks or 40. OK, maybe it's more exciting in the delivery room. Here's an idea - one my friends did this and I would've done it too (but I'd already had my 2 kids) My friend had the sonogram tech write the sex of the baby on a piece of paper and fold it up. My friend put it in her bag and she and her husband went out to lunch after the appointment. They opened the paper while sitting at the table. I thought that was so cute :)

Maybe you like the anticipation not the surprise, because I think it's a super great surprise the day of the ultrasound. :)

With our first, we did not find out until birth but decided to find out with our second child. I am now pregnant with our third and last child and we are on the fence. We have skipped our first chance to find out but have our ultrasound scheduled for June 29 so we need to decide by then. (Although my Dr. would probably let me find out later if we change our minds. There are pluses and minuses with both. In some ways, I think I bonded more with my first child before he was born because not knowing kept my curiosity aroused. I didn't bond as quickly with my second and sometimes wonder if it was partly because I knew. (I also think it may have been due to being a slightly complicated pregnancy following a miscarriage so I was super worried and afraid of getting too involved and losing her.) At this point, I am really leaning toward not finding out although I can come up with some really practical reasons for doing so - to get rid of the stuff we won't need for whichever it is. As you said, this is our last time so we won't have another opportunity for the surprise ending. Part of my reason too is that no matter whether I have a boy or a girl, I will be both happy and sad. I love having both a boy and a girl and will be really excited to have either but will also be sad that I will only have one of whichever it is. I would rather not have too much time to be thinking about being sad that I won't get another boy or girl. Some people want time to get used to the idea but I would rather be distracted by how wonderful having the baby is than have time to think about the sadness.

We did not find out for our first child (girl) and it was really fun. It kind of drove everyone else crazy but we enjoyed the suspense. For our second, we found out we were having a boy at about 14 weeks and we were excited to buy "boy" things and to not have to agree on another girl's name...Looking back though, I think it was much more fun to not know. There is nothing as exciting as finding out the sex of your baby--right after s/he is born. I'd say wait! There is plenty of time to be "practical" and buy the proper clothes, etc later.

We found out ahead of time with all 4 of ours- I couldn't stand the suspense- lol.

We still had our surprise, but got to go out and celebrate after =D
We always went out and picked out a special stuffed animal for the baby. My children love them and know that we bought it for them the day we found out we were having a boy/girl. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th also each have a special little stuffed animal that was given to them by their older sibling(s) the day they were born.

When my 1st was born, I was so glad that I had had that "it's a boy" moment ahead of time because I had such a difficult birth- was in labor for 2 days and pushed for 2 hours- big baby, small mommy- bad combination.
I fell asleep almost immediately after he came out- no celebrating :(

Congratulations!! =o)

first we had a boy and we knew about it....it did make preparing for baby much easier....2nd was a baby girl and she was a surprise simply because she wouldnt cooperate during her ultrasoundd(s)....any of them lol.... it was exciting to find out during delivery but if we were to have more id like to know ahead of time...the poor little girl was in green frogs and yellow ducks for the first 2 weeks of her life....which still made her look kind of like a boy lol....

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We didn't find out with any of my three. I think it is more fun that way! I had two boys when pregnant with my third and I had really wanted a girl, but I thought for sure my third was going to be another boy. Surprise! I got my girl!

We didn't find out with our first, a girl, but did with both our second and third, also girls. It was great because I didn't have to buy anything extra, and we could start thinking about ONLY girls names right off the bat.

I get the fun of a surprise, but I liked knowing so I could plan better.

We didn't find out with our first and I'm now pregnant with our second. We didn't find out with this one either. I have all the boy clothes from my son and my sister is willing to offer her girl clothes if I have a girl so I decided there was no reason to find out! I LOVED being surprised in the hospital!! The nurse helping during labor commented she thought I was having a girl because of the heartbeat and when the doctor said it was a boy I was shocked!! It was so exciting not knowing until he arrived - I want that feeling again!! I agree with a previous poster that said it was more fun telling the people who were dying to know what we were having - that was pretty fun too:) I also like the idea of having the tech write it on a piece of paper and putting it in an envelope so that way your husband can know if he wants - he just shouldn't share that info with you:) Good luck with your decision and congrats on the baby!!!!!!!

Found out with #1 and #2, but since we already had one of each didn't find out with #3. It was kind of fun, but really not a big difference in excitement for the baby coming and all.
We're now expecting our last. We decided to find out because there's a big gap and we got rid of everything. It is nice to know to get boy stuff, as well as other things to prepare.

Why not tell your husband it is completely his choice? He'll probably chose to find out, but that's okay. There's still lots of fun and excitement with the baby coming.

Hey. I haven't read all of them, but for myself and other Mom's of only girls or only boys, I've found it's best to learn the sex the second time around. I have realized for myself I wanted a boy and a girl to get the experience of raising both sexes. I had an amnio with my second so figured we'd learn it since the Dr. saw the genes. I was having a second girlie. I'm glad I found out with #2 since then I could mentally prepare for a girl vs. wonder boy/girl. I don't think I would have been upset learning I had a girl, but in many ways I'm glad I didn't wonder for months which sex. I have seen Moms be upset hoping for a girl and having a boy. They are great Moms, but if you are really hoping for a sex find out now so you can enjoy the birth as much as you did the first time.

We didn't find out with our first two, but we know that we are expecting a boy in August. Both ways worked for us at the time we made the decision to find out or not, so they were both "fun" b/c it was what we needed/wanted to do. We don't plan on having anymore, but I don't think I would find out again b/c I HATED the discomfort/stress of the ultrasound.