Wanting gender to be a surprise...no peaking?

[cloudgazer]

So, I am having my 18 week ultrasound next week...the fetal survey, etc.
We don't want to know the gender. I am looking forward to being surprised.

But, I'm concerned that the gender will be obvious on the ultrasound. I've seen images of what a girl looks like (the 3 lines), and of course, a boy might be pretty easy to tell. I will definitely tell the tech/doc we don't want to know & to maybe give us a warning of when to look away. But, is this even something I should even be worried about? (maybe we need a little censor patch to put on the screen )

Experiences?

[Aka mommy]

The u/s tech kept to the baby's head and upper body. Then when she went to the lower extremeties told us so we could turn away. We are 33 weeks and have no clue what we're expecting!

[megan sacha]

I was worried about that too and asked her to tell us before she looked at the femur so we could look away then since it was obvious with DS when they looked at the femur. And, I'm happy to report we have no clue what we're expecting!

[ledzepplon]

When we had our "surprise" baby we told the ultrasound tech we didn't want to know, and she directed us to look away when she was examining the pertinent parts. She also told us that she would not be putting the baby's gender in the chart so that our Dr. couldn't accidentally slip and reveal the secret.

[born2birth]

I told my US tech we didn't want to know... so she ziped right over the 'area' ... it was the best thing ever - to not know... When the baby was born my hubby and i looked at the same time & both said "it's a boy!" - a memory i will always cherish.

[expat-mama]

We had an ultrasound at 22 weeks and another one just recently at 28 weeks + a few days. We also didn't want to find out, but just told the u/s tech not to tell us if they saw anything- they looked where they wanted to look and so did we. We figured if we saw something then we could guess on what we saw, but still- we wouldn't be sure- even u/s techs make mistakes all the time!
We actually got a huge shot of the backs of the legs and bum and both DH and I thought we knew what we saw- turns out we thought we saw two different things- me a boy, DH a girl. No we're not clueless about anatomy! It's really hard to tell sometimes! Even this last time at 28 weeks, the u/s tech was looking at the screen saying "don't look if you don't want to know" and we were both looking- all we saw were blobs and shapes and shadowy parts- no freaking clue!
Anyway, I didn't want to miss seeing anything on the u/s and I'm glad I didn't look away for a second. DH and I decided that if we did ever see anything, we wouldn't take it for even close to 100%- we have heard too many stories of ultrasound specialists predicting the wrong sex anyway so any guesses we had would just be for fun.

[JessieBird]

We didn't want to find out with DS (and won't this time either) so told the tech. She said that we probably wouldn't be able to tell anyway but I was skeptical because I'd seen so many photos on line. Sure enough, I couldn't tell at all but she said it was plain as day to her. I think in most cases, if the tech doesn't point out exactly what they are looking for, the untrained eye really can't figure it out. We were given a DVD and of course it was impossible not to obsess over it. Still, we had absolutely no clue. Some angles I thought looked like a girl, and others a boy.

[sanguine_speed]

I actually worry about being told accidentally as it's happened to me before. Unfortunately I've required several ultrasounds this pregnancy so I ALWAYS start with "please do not tell me the baby's sex" and I do not watch the ultrasounds. It's very important to me not to find out.

[woodchick]

With both of my pregnancies I have told the tech that we didn't want to know the sex. Both techs told me "no problem. I don't even need to look there for this scan" (18/20ish weeks).

Neither us or our care providers knew the sex of the babies before they were born.

[limette]

We didn't find out for our first two but did this time and the tech had to really zoom in to see the area so it seems pretty easy to avoid it if you let them know.

The tech asks us at the beginning if we want to know.

[Galatea]

I am afraid of this, too, but even more afraid that my resolve to not know will cave when I'm actually having the ultrasound.

[Alyantavid]

We didn't find out with either of ours and made sure the doc and the tech knew this. They stayed pretty well away from that area, although dh was sure he'd seen that ds2 was a boy. Who knows, he was right though.

Both the tech and the doc said they didn't know the sex since they hadn't really looked at that area.

[leavemealone]

I've watched the u/s with all four of my children and I haven't been able to tell whether it's a boy or girl with any of them. I am one of those people that if someone doesn't outright show me what is what on an u/s, I often can't figure it out anyway. DH guessed with the first one it was a girl and he was right, but he guessed wrong with our second. I don't remember him making a prediction with our third or fourth.

[born2birth]

Originally Posted by Galatea

I am afraid of this, too, but even more afraid that my resolve to not know will cave when I'm actually having the ultrasound.

I would very much encourage you to stand your ground - believe me I know how hard it is to not say "oh i can't take it Please tell me!" But the thrill you get when you get to look for yourself when he or she makes their grand entrance is SOOOO worth it! We planned to tell the doc not to tell us when Korby came out but we forgot (turned out ok - because he didn't anyways & hubby and I got to look together)

[aloneinid]

I have to add that at both of my ultrasounds (pregnancy #1 and #2) the moment the ultrasound tech put the wand to my stomach I saw that we were having boys. The chances of that happening have to be slim, though- to put the wand exactly over that area by chance both times just to get the ultrasound started. We did want to find out and it was fun for me to tell my husband before the tech could even have a chance. Maybe look away as the tech gets oriented in addition to looking away when they tell you to later in the scan?

[Darlingricki74]

Look away from the screen as they are starting! We didn't want to find out with my son, but the very very first thing on the screen at the very start of my u/s was a clear direct view! We weren't 100% sure just because we'd never had a baby, seen an u/s in person, etc, but we thought we knew and we were right. It was funny, the u/s tech put the wand thing on my belly, and her first words were"you don't want to know the sex, right?" and we said no, and she quickly moved it, but it was kinda too late. My son was definitely NOT shy and it was pretty clear.

LOL edited to add that I didn't see aloneinid's post before mine before I posted, kinda funny the exact same thing happened to me!

[cloudgazer]

thanks! this helps a lot. its going to be so cool to see our baby

[Galatea]

With dd, we wanted to know, so it was ok, but we also had her be in exactly the right position as soon as the wand was on my belly - literally the first image was the 3 little lines and I yelled, "It's a girl!" So now 3 of us with this experience!

[BlackSheepPDX]

We just told the tech right away that we weren't interested in seeing the sex. For our first, the tech said she wouldn't even be looking, so no one would know, and for our second, the tech told us to look away as she evaluated the pelvis. Either way, there was no record of it, and nobody knew.

For all of you that accidentally got the "money shot" on the first approach, that's pretty amazing and funny!