Baby's gender--how early was it detected by sonogram?

[Anonymous]

I'm 10 weeks pregnant and scheduled for my first sonogram at 12 weeks. I have two children of the same gender so I'm really anxious to find out the gender of my third. If I remember correctly, gender was determined in my previous pregnancies around 16 weeks. My doctor said gender is usually decided around week 20, but I can go ahead and ask the technician at my 12 weeks sono the gender, but that their answer probably won't be reliable. Has anyone found out their baby's gender (by sono, not amnio) very early on between 12-15 weeks? If so, was the person who told you the gender correct?

[Anonymous]

We always asked and if the baby cooperated they would give their best guess - I think one of our three 'changed' and I have heard stories from many otehrs how thought it was a boy and it turned out to be a girl or vice versa - I would not consider it a sure thing that early.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you are letting your excitement and hopes get the best of you. I would really worry about the let down you might feel (either way) if you think the baby is one gender and find out differently at subsequent ultrasounds. Hang in there!

[Anonymous]

We were told at 15 weeks and they were wrong...found out for sure at 17 weeks.

[Anonymous]

I've read that it can't be determined until 17 weeks -- what looks like a penis that early could end up being a clitoris.

[Anonymous]

My best friend is an OB, so we tried as early as 13 weeks and she could finally tell by 15.5 weeks (by distinguishing the labia). Yes, we wanted to know that badly!

[Anonymous]

We could see and found out at 12 weeks (slight chance I was 13 weeks) and no denying it at 14 (or 15) weeks. Guess you have to be 'lucky' to get a clear view at baby.

[Anonymous]

Just curious... why are people having so many sono's? Is it for a medical reason? I had a very quick "dating" sono at 6 weeks and then the standard 20 sono for medical screening and that was it. My docs/midwives said any more than this was unnessecary exposure for baby. Plus, my insurance only covers 2 sonos unless a doctor claims a valid medical reason...

[Anonymous]

Many women now have the nuchal screen at around 12 weeks, and that includes a sono.

[Anonymous]

At the practice I go to, I think 3 are standard (early-ish one for dating, one at 20 weeks to check development, one 36 weeks). BUT my dr said they're moving to doing one at about 32 weeks, too, to make sure the baby is growing properly/normally.

I had a sono at 11 weeks for dating, then one at 20, then another at 24 (because the tech couldn't get a good view of the heart at 20 weeks), then one at 30 because I was measuring large. And I guess I'm getting one at 36 weeks, too. I really didn't want to do the one at 30 weeks, but my dr said it was a good idea b/c of measuring large.

[Anonymous]

I had a sono at 12.5 weeks because I had been spotting. All was fine (placenta was a little low) but we did find out the sex-- a boy-- which was correct. We have the pictures and really there is no mistaking that thing. The dr. said that with boys, they can often reliably tell that early if the baby is positioned well. And my son was definitely showing it off!