U/S in doctor's office to know gender?

[Anonymous]

I had an ultrasound at 12 weeks but it was too early to know the sex. I have a doctor's appt this week and I'll be a few days short of 15 weeks pregnant. I am so anxious to know the gender of our next child. Is it possible to ask the doctor at my next routine appt to guess the gender using their own in office sono? I know the sono given in the office isn't as state of the art as the ones they send you out for, but can they tell gender using those small machines? Would it be wrong of me to ask? I can't wait another 5 weeks to know the gender!

[Anonymous]

Yes they can tell gender with those, but 15 weeks is likely too early. It will be up to your doctor and your insurance if they'll let you try to find out that early. My doctor would have said no, she was very by the book and unnecessary sonograms are usually discouraged.

[Anonymous]

It never hurts to gently ask. We found out the sex at Week 16.

[Anonymous]

Try to calm down about it -- I was super-eager too, and baby wouldn't ever show the relevant parts. We looked twice. The first time I was hysterical, the second time I was more zen about it. Zen beats hysterical, in retrospect. We didn't know for sure until she(!) was born.

[Anonymous]

Your insurance company isn't going to cover a sono just to determine gender. It's likely too early anyway and your doctor probably won't want to do an unnecessary sono. I wouldn't do a sono just for that. I know they are generally considered safe, but even the medical community advises only doing them when necessary.

[Anonymous]

I don't think they can tell the sex until 18 weeks. That's what I was told and I have my u/s scheduled for this week (19 weeks) to find out what I'm having. I'm super impatient, so I feel for you. I would wait though. You wouldn't want them to tell you the wrong gender and go out and buy a bunch of stuff that you'll have to return.

[Anonymous]

It's the level II ultrasound that they do around 20 weeks in which you typically can find out the gender. That's because this ultrasound is a detailed check of the baby's anatomy. The technician gets images of the 4 chambers of the heart, the kidneys, the brain, fingers, toes, etc, to check for any abnormalities. And while they're doing all that, they can also check the gender if you want to know.

I think on the earlier ultrasounds, their goal is just to confirm there's a live fetus w/ a heartbeat, no detailed imaging. So less likely to determine the gender at the earlier ultrasounds.