Had scan today, didn't want to know sex, sonographer referred (once) to baby as 'he'

[HeinzSight]

would you take that as a slip up or that this is what all sonographers say????

[Leannabanana]

its a boy.....congratulations....

if i was you i would have to find out for sure now tho....book another scan.

[techpep]

I think a lot of people refer to babies as 'he' before they are born. I wouldn't assume it's a boy.

[HeinzSight]

NOOOOO I didn't want to find out this time!

[Disenchanted3]

he may have sons,

when i had 2 ds, i knew baby 3 was a girl but constantly said he

[Haribosmummy]

I wouldn't think about it - it could have been a slip, but it's more probable that it's a term of phrase (nicer than 'it', I think!)

Glad the scan went well... Mine did too!

[corkyOrorky]

Probably a slip-up.

Better than calling the baby 'it'!

[HeinzSight]

glad your scan went well too HM

I agree and did wonder whether it was a general thing to say rather than say 'it' which doesn't sound v nice.

[Haribosmummy]

If it's any consolation - my (lovely!) sonographer refered to the baby as 'he' until I said 'I know it's a girl' (I do, and she is!) and then the sonographer said 'oh, yes, I can see her girl bits here!!!

(See, I always thought they decided it was a girl because there was no willy, but apparently not!!!!! - I am as green as a cabbage!!)

[HeinzSight]

any more opinions please?

[IheartNY]

I know of 2 cases where the sonographer referred to the baby as he or she when the couple didnt want to know the sex and they were both using the term as a general term that they call all babies rather than 'it'
One turned out to be right and one wrong so you've got a 50/50 chance of it being a boy

[PatTheHammer]

With my 12 week old Ds the sonographer referred to the baby as 'her' twice during the 20-week scan. i was annoyed as we didn't want to know, but looking back we had my 2 year-old daughter with us and I think she just slipped into it. Obviously this added to the surprise when Ds popped out in all his glory

[mrsgboring]

I have had a million scans, usually by the same sonographer, and she says she doesn't know what the baby is (because I said I didn't want to know, so she didn't look)

Of course, sometimes babies make it obvious to anyone, but I think a lot of the time, the sonographer would have to give more than a casual look to get it. Your sonographer may not even know herself.

Many people use "he" to mean "it" basically.

Put it out of your mind; you didn't ask, you don't know. And even if it is a boy, you'd never know if that sonographer let it slip or it was just someone a bit old fashioned to mean "he or she"

[MsSparkle]

That happened to me with my first. Baby was refered to as a he. I didn't want to know the sex and for some reason i felt a little "pang" of disappointment i guess deep down i was hoping for girl. When i had the baby she was a GIRL!

I have a ds now though and both sexes are fab so i shouldn't worry

[snooks]

Don't know if this is strictly relevant but after my 20wk scan (when we found out that dd3 was indeed dd3, after ds1&2) my MW always referred to the unborn dd3 as 'he' (it said 'female' in my notes). Also my very good and thoughtful (honestly!) HV often said 'he' when referring to dd3 during check-ups etc for the first few weeks.

I think unborns/newborns do get referred to as 'he' tbh. I would have to get another scan though!

[rempy]

Mine said "she" - also had my DD with me.

My little boy is now 8 months.

Most healthcare workers use one or other as a default, rather than saying "it" or "baby".

I'd say you still don't know what sex you're having.

[IheartNY]

just to add - one of my friends took to heart the slip of tongue by the sonograper and was convinced she was having a girl and then was shocked when she had a boy!

[HeinzSight]

Thanks

I found out with my last two pregnancies and had my heart set on a surprise this time! I really don't mind what it is, I just don't want to know!!

I need another scan at 34 weeks, I'll have to tell them to try and avoid that area!!

She didn't spend very long at all 'down there' and I couldn't spot anything, surely like someone here mentioned, sonographers need to spend a little time looking to determine the sex?

So is general concensus that she didn't see?

[RaspberryBlower]

This also happened to me - she said 'he' a couple of times and I thought I must be having a boy.

It was a beautiful baby girl!

[mrsgboring]

You probably know this already if you've had late scans before, but by 34 weeks you will actually see less because you don't see the whole baby on the screen at once; it's just a bit too big.

[HeinzSight]

Yes, that's right mrsgboring, I remember being slightly taken aback when I had a late scan with my DS2, like you say, it should be fairly easy to avoid!!

[SparkyFartDust]

I have 2 dd's. I didn't want to know gender in each pg. I loved not knowing.

I was scanned regularly for DD2 and always let sonographer know that I didn't know and didn;t want to know baby's sex. However at 36 weeks the same sonographer who had scanned me previously said, 'oh bless her she's sucking her little thumb.'

I then had to sit on that info until the birth as dp didn't want to know gender.

[pinkem]

My friend had exactly the same thing happen to her; 'he's looking good' she was a bit shocked when a girl popped out a couple of months later!

[HeinzSight]

That's really good to hear, I'm hoping it was just generally what she says!

[tiggerlovestobounce]

I think that sonographers just say he or she. I have a friend who is an obstetric doctor and she says that she frequently says he or she when she is talking about a baby. She then apologises to the parents and explains that she doesnt really know what the baby is.