How often do they get it wrong

Hi Everyone,

I am wondering about the chances of getting bubs sex wrong and wondering how many women have been told one thing only to be surprised by the opposite.

My experience so far with my Ob and Ultrasonographer have not been all that pleasant and have been left feeling a bit out of it if that makes sense.

In short -
We're going public, I had my 19 week scan on Friday and when I asked the sonographer if we could find out bubs sex, he made me feel like I should wait til birth. He took all the measurements and gave us heaps of details etc but not once did he make an effort to find out bubbies sex. Granted bub was moving about and the cord was in the way the one time he went over the area looking for something else but he made more of an effort checking the veins etc when bub was being difficult. He was ready to send us on our way when I had to ask him. Basically he told us a little girl because he couldn't see anything that was obviously male during the scan but not to rush out and start buying pink stuff. He didn't explore the genital area at all no lines to indicate boy or girl ha just gave me an answer for the sake of giving me an answer.

Now I don't have a problem with what sex bub is, but it would be nice to know based on an actual result.

DH thinks because we're going public then I shouldn't expect much for nothing but hey my taxes pay for this man regardless.


I am thinking that I may go into Melbourne and pay for a 3D scan but its a bit of a drive, so I am wondering how often, if ever they get it wrong?

Just feeling like I have made a huge mistake with my choice of care givers.

I'd say it sounds like your sonographer was having a bad day. Being in the public system doesn't mean you recieve substandard care, it just means you have choice.
The sonographer isn't caring for you he's a one off, so don't worry about him again, maybe your OB can let you know his opinion on the sex when he has seen your scan?

Hey Lulu2,

Thanks for your reply, I have seen this guy twice (13 and 19 week scans) and twice I have walked away feeling less than average. I just can't help feeling that I have made the biggest mistake by going through the people I am, even though lots of other people tell me how good the group are :doh:.
Have no idea what shots he'll send to the Ob but you can't see anything from the scans I have.

Nae x

Awww hun. Im in the public system too and my 12 week scan was fantastic!!! i seen everything!! No offense to anyone but im totally against male sonographers. I have never heard anything good about them! But personally i would go have the 3d one done as u can get packages that are just for gender determination as well as pics. Im like u tho, i would just want to know, coz if it is a girl i wud be rushing out to by pink stuff iykwim. Mwah oxoxo

Hi Nae Nae

That guy sounded awfull!! I have gone public and i have had great scanners, so i think LuLu is right, this guy is just a drip!!

I have asked at early scan and was told nicely that it was just too early, or too difficult to say for sure. At the 19 weeks scan i got a 3d one and simply told the lady we wanted to know and she waited till the most opportune time and got a huge close up of my little fella's little bits and froze the picture and asked us what we thought we were having!! LOL she made it an enjoyable fun moment i wont forget!! LOL

I have a friend who was told at 18 weeks she was haiving a girl..... Well, she had a gut feeling they were wrong, but her and her partner still went out and bought some pink stuff, chose a name and were preparing for a little girl. At about 24weeks my friend had to go into hospital for a checkup and they did another scan, and she asked them to double check the sex.. and low and behold, little mackenzie was in fact NOT a little girl at all!! But a little boy. Oiver was born in July!! So they do get it wrong sometimes!! I have noticed its more often wrong when they pick girl and its a boy.. i havent heard of as many boy guesses being girls IYKWIM.

If you really want to know, and like me its not so much that you prefer one or the other, you just simply want to know NOW, then i would say if you can afford it go for the 3d scan, go and have one... its worth it! The pictures are fantastic,(check out the pic in my ticker of little shane at 19 weeks) and they see sooo much more then normal u/s. And the scanner person is someone who does babies everyday all day so may be better at knowing what to look for then some dude at a radiologist who is squeezing you in between scanning a foot and a hip IWKWIM!!!

Good luck and i hope you get to find out for sure!!

Nae Nae I think the guy was having a bad day & unfortunately you copped it. I had a lady once who was having a bad day & she was so rude I almost cried, it was for my early scan so I was pretty much there just to see a heartbeat & she made me feel like I had no right to be having the scan so early & was very rough poking the thigy into my belly etc.
I think it's just the luck of the draw who you get & going public doesn't mean you don't deserve just as much as anyone else. Everyone is entitled to a good experience when seeing their bubba, whether you're private or public & whether it's your first or 6th baby.

I would suggest you get a 3D done, maybe around 28-30 weeks? I'll be booking mine soon for 30 weeks. You can also get a 4D done too which is the 3D in real time (moving) & they can make a DVD for you. This does cost extra, well at least where I'll be going it does.

I hope your next experience will be a pleasant one, don't ever think that you deserve anything less.

:

---

No offense to anyone but im totally against male sonographers. I have never heard anything good about them!

---

Heres the first good thing then LOL
My 19 week scan was done by a male & I agree I felt a bit strange about it at first as I've always only ever had woman do my scans.
I have to say he was so kind, he explained everything to us, any questions we had he answered & took his time with the explanation.
When he checked for the gender of the baby he got it in the right spot, looked at us with a smile & asked what we would guess. I said boy because I could see the little boy bits (after seeing so many u/s pics on here I knew what I was looking for) DH said he didnt know. Then the guy said "yep, you've got quite the exhabitionist there, it's a boy." Then he explained to DH what he was looking at.

I walked away from the place with a big smile on my face & feeling great about the experience we just had. I will never make a judgement like that again & I felt bad within myself for judging him before I even gave him a chance.

Now I'm not saying this to try to make you look or feel bad, I just didn't want others to avoid a male without knowing that there are some great ones out there who do a wonderful job.

he does sound really rude, I'd revisit your options, do you HAVE to go back to him?
on another notr a girl I work with was told through her complete PG that she was having a girl...every single scan...and she brought the pink clothes and did the whole nursery thing..and Voila!!!..he popped out a little boy.
We went neutral for this reason (we didn't find out with No#1) and we were always planning to have two so rather than buy all the bedding again we went neutral

It's funny that you should ask this today. This morning my neighbour was telling me that when her sister had her son she was told throughout the entire pregnancy that it was a girl. She splurged on pink things which of course she had to take back to the shops as she needed blue. Lucky for her she hadn't done any washing of the clothes prior to the birth.

I read somewhere on the net that it is believed that they get the sex wrong in about 5% of cases.... some hospitals/scan places overseas will not even take a guess at it because of this.

If I had not had an amnio I would not be going out and buying blue, I'd be going nuetral until bubs was born.

ive had my three girls thru public hospitals and TBH havent had a single problem.

WIth DD#3 scan, they couldnt tell me if she was a boy or a girl - she wasnt co-operating. I was so desperate to find out the sex (same as you, didnt care either way) i booked in for another scan at another radiographer. I was told i would be charged, but to this day have never received a bill.
Oh, and the sonographer like many was very reluctant to say 'its a boy/its a girl'. She basically said 'i would lean to more pink clothes than blue' - it was all i needed to hear...:lol: