How difficult to avoid finding out the sex?

[1NuDad]

Hi!

Just had our 12 week scan and very happily everything looks great.

Now, I want to avoid finding out the sex until the birth and my partner is cool with that.

But how easy is it to detect on a scan?

I don't want to ruin the surprise! Although it wouldn't be that bad, but still...

It's easy not to find out - you just tell sonographer that you don't want to know and they will tell you when you look away.

I had a lot of scan's in my pregnancy and still managed to keep it a surprise, They will ask you at your 20 week scan if you want to find out the gender and if you don't then they tell you not to look or turn the screen while they take a look, I was always asked if they were going near the area on the scans if I knew or wanted to know.

Enjoy your surprise, It was the best feeling having my H tell me we had a DS! after a long and complicated pregnancy and hard labour.
Congratulations btw.

I had a lot of growth scans in my pregnancy and I never managed to find out. I always told the sonographer to tell me when to look (not when to look away!) he was a boy and we managed to keep it a surprise

I was absolutely determined to not find out the sex, had no real desire to know as I wanted the surprise on the day.

However, when the technician said, "Do you want to know the sex?" I found it impossible to say no. The temptation when she uttered those words was just too much.

I advise that if you don't want to know I would say to the Sonographer before the scan even starts that can she not ask you if you want to find out the sex, that way the temptation won't be there.

My hospital doesn't tell you. There are signs up saying it's an anomaly scan and please do not ask to know the sex as they will not oblige. I ended up with four scans from 20 weeks to birth and couldn't work out what it was anyway (turned out to be a boy).

I told the them before they put the jelly on me that I do not want to know sex, only if baby is healthy, that prevents them asking as when they ask it's very tempting to so say yes!
I was consultant lead on both my pregnancies so had scans every 4 weeks throughout, both surprise girls, much better to not find out, more exciting I think.

It really does depend. For the most part you won't be able to tell at all (especially if it's a girl). It's only when they specifically focus on that area that there's a risk you'll see anything and even then it's always obvious.

With DS I had to have another scan at 22 weeks because they couldn't get all the measurements and I quite clearly saw what was going on down there but I hadn't detected anything at the 20 week scan. I still ask to confirm it though and it was easy to convince myself I hadn't seen what I thought I'd seen as it was only for a split second.

I had additional growth scans with all three of mine and that was the only time I ever saw anything with any of them. All three times my DH had announced to me what we've had and they've been such special moments.

For my son at the 20 week scan I saw he was obviously a boy. We wanted to know so didn't ask them to tell us not to look.

Just let the sonographer know. It used to be a lot more common for expectant parents not to find out the sex, and I don't remember there being loads of cases where people accidently found out.

We and lots of our friends successfully managed it too.

autumn I'd love if all hospitals had that sign / policy, the 20 week scan is not to find out sex.

Not very, just let the sonographer know you don't want to find out at the start. I've managed it 5 times & I'm serially scanned due to iugr babies.

I've has several scans for my last pregnancy and this one, and didn't accidentally find out either time. I told the technician at each scan I didn't want to know and they just avoided the area!

Tell them you don't want to know and they'll tell you when to look away. I was asked to look away several times during my 20 week scan, and the photos we got were only of the top half to stop other people from willy spotting.

I've been told my baby is a boy but I've never been able to tell from any of the scans or scan pictures that he's a he!

Amazing - thanks so much everyone. Looks like we can relax! :)

I found it tricky to tell what I was looking at on the scans (apart from the really obvious bits like the head or feet) without the sonographer pointing it out.

We asked to know the sex with ours. DS2's 20 week scan - when the sonographer put the probe on my tummy, the first image to appear was DS2's crotch with legs apart. No one could have asked for a better view of his genital area. The sonographer was all "we're not allowed to say we're 100% sure, but I'm as sure as I can be that this baby's a boy, look there" and I was completely unable to tell what I was supposed to be looking at, even with a fantastic view and sonographer pointing at the penis.