Sex of baby - only "80% sure"

I had my 20-week scan 2 weeks ago, and was very disappointed to learn that the sonographer was only 80% sure that bub was a girl. Bub was being very uncooperative and wouldn't move her legs!! But when we pressed her, the sonographer said that bub looks like a boy because she couldn't find any boy bits, and when we asked how sure she is, she said 80%.

I don't mind either sex (as bub is our first), but don't want to start dreaming about a baby girl, when it could be a boy! Or go out and buy a whole load of girl things (or paint the nursery pink) just in case she's wrong! What are your experiences? Do you think 80% is a good enough probability to start painting the nursery pink?

When I was pregnant with no 2, I couldn't wait to find out the sex of our little one.....the sonographer we had was very rude when I asked her if she could determine the baby's sex. She got a shot of between the legs and said, 'it appears to be a girl, but your guess is as good as mine'!!!! We wanted to know so we could be prepared and start dreaming of a life with a little girl or another boy. My DH was certain from day one that this one was a girl and he didn't need any convincing. I wasn't so sure. Up until I was 28 weeks I hadn't bought a thing for a girl, I just was so unsure. I eventually gave in after DH said that we could keep the receipts and return anything if bubs turned out to be a boy. At 33 weeks my ob ordered another ultrasound to check a few things and the sonographer this time was wonderful and had a look for me and YES bubby was a little princess. I do understand the wanting to get everything ready and being prepared. Do you think you will be having anymore ultrasounds, so you can have another look. 80% is a fairly good probability, do you have a video or dvd from the scan?

Best Wishes

This is the way I understand it Cherry - it all has to do with anatomy.
When the sonographer sees a willy, they see a willy. They know what it is, and they can say, yep that's a willy I reckon, so 95% sure it's a boy (they have to leave themselves a bit of room to be wrong).
With a girl, the sonographer says, I can't see anything from many angles, which means it's probably a girl, but what if the willy's just hiding somewhere? There could be a willy, but perhaps I just can't see it today. So I'll give you 80% chance of a girl, just in case there's a willy, but there's probably not.

Does that make sense? Don't forget, like Mummy4life said, you can always keep the receipts - in a safe place! You might get given stuff you've bought anyway, so receipts are handy. I'd say most people who get the 80% chance of a girl go out and buy girl stuff.
All the best with the rest of your pregnancy and planning! :D

Hi Cherry, Hmm, personally I would not paint the room pink just in case!! You wouldnt want to have to repaint when you bring your newborn home!

At my 18 week scan we were so excited to find out the sex and the sonographer said it "looks like a boy". Then she found a problem so the sex became the least of our worries. We asked again at the next u/s (done with more high-tech equiptment and a doctor) and he said "it looks like a boy so 9/10 its a boy".

So we were pretty convinced it was a boy, but knowing it's never 100%, we didnt rush to buy everything in blue.

Towards the end of the pregnancy we entertained ourselves with the idea of what if it is a girl??? That was until yet another u/s when a second lady came in and said "so your having a boy then".

She just came straight out with it!! (just as well we wanted to know the sex otherwise I would have freaked out) so then we were convinced without a doubt that we had a son on the way.

Another thing, a friend of a friend wanted to know the sex of her baby and she was told you are having a girl, but that there is a problem with her genitalia and she would need an op after birth. When the baby was born there was a problem alright, it was a boy!! So it goes to show that these things are never 100%, and depends alot on the sonographer, but 80% is pretty good odds.

All the best!!

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a friend of a friend wanted to know the sex of her baby and she was told you are having a girl, but that there is a problem with her genitalia and she would need an op after birth.

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OMG that would freak me out so much .. i saw a show on foxtel where that happened .. i was convinced it would happen to me ...

i had a scan at 35 wks and found out the sex , i cant remember if i actually saw a willy but she told me it was a boy ....

i tend to believe ppl like that ... im too trusting .. :rolleyes:

my daughter was the same in our 20 week ultra sound she had her legs crossed and would not budge! DP new it was a girl he said that if it were a boy it would be like him and he'd be legs open showing the world I"M A BOY! We were lucky to be going private and our OB nicely did a quick u/s to find out the sex he said he was 99% sure it was a girl. 80% is still pretty high go for pink i say

I was told with DS that she was 80% sure its a boy but when i went to the loo my DH over heard her tell the other sonographer that 'its definatly a boy' so i think they just tell you that incase they are wrong.

I've been told that a good sonographer should be able to see ovaries if it's a girl, so they're not relying just on whether or not there's a willy. Does anyone know if that's true?

With my 20wk scan, DD was straddling the umbilical cord making it difficult to determine if it was a boy or girl. The sonographer did some measurements of a bone in the pelvis and concluded that he was 80% sure it was a female. When I spoke to my Ob about it at my next appointment, she told me she "wouldn't buy a lottery ticket on those odds". We obviously had a girl.

As someone else said, I think they always leave a little room in their "guess" to allow for any errors - sometimes things just aren't that clear on the screen.

HTH

MG

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I've been told that a good sonographer should be able to see ovaries if it's a girl, so they're not relying just on whether or not there's a willy. Does anyone know if that's true?

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Oh! I didn't even think of that. I think it'd be pretty tricky, but I guess it could be possible.

we are in a similar situation - we were told 70% chance girl.

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DP new it was a girl he said that if it were a boy it would be like him and he'd be legs open showing the world I"M A BOY!

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LOL! And how right he was.

Yes it would be so scary to be told there was a problem with your little "girl" to find out he was a perfect baby boy all along. Definatley a situation where it would have been better off not finding out at all, I can only imagine the grief this would have caused her unnecessarily during her pregnancy.

This is probably getting off the subject, but a good friend had 3 boys and desperatley wanted a girl (she was 24 with a 7, 6 and 4 yo at the time). At every u/s the baby had her legs crossed the entire time so she never knew although she really wanted to. She had another beautiful son and I'm convinced without a doubt she would have tried again by now had her last labour not been the worst.

My cousin is pg ATM. She also has 3 boys and desperatley wanted a girl. She unfortunatley had 2 misscarriages but now she is pg with...
guess what...:babyboy::babyboy: TWIN BOYS!!

Hi, I was told that the ultrasound showed it might have been a boy.(Image under photo gallery) Not knowing killed me so I booked a gender ultrasound at Earily Image in Melbourne costing $135. It was worth every cent, two seconds and the gender was certain. BOY. Funny thing is that the woman who did the U/S was the head ultrasound person in our town 2 hours away.lol. Im sure a 5 min ultrasound didnt hurt bub at all, and we got to check out something they were not sure of in the last U/S. The woman at Earily Image thought that the last ultrasound was even obvious to her. Take a look.

With Kat and Jess, we were told at our 20wk u/s's that we were prob having girls. They were 80% sure that from every angle they could get there was no willy. Having said that a friend of mine was told that and she gave birth to a lovely boy. He'd just been hiding it. This one however there was NO MISTAKING the boy bits! Even at the u/s I had at 14wks I could see it. I had pics taken of it but DH was not convinced. Had a quick u/s done at 17wks and yep, again we could see boy bits, but DH was not there that time. heheh. 20wk u/s once again showed clearly boy bits (unfortunately the first part of the pic DH saw and it was fuzzy and so sonographer moved probe and saw boy bits very clearly, but obscured Dh's view! So even now he's taking our word for it, but not totally convinced!). I am certain this is a boy. I love my princesses, but am certainly looking forward to having our little prince as well!

Mummy4Life, I'm in London at the moment and they only get 2 scans here (12 and 20 weeks) unless it's a complicated pg and mine isn't...so i won't be having any more :(
But I'm actually coming home to Melbourne for the birth, so I'm not sure whether I can have any more scans there - does anyone know?

Otherwise, I'm going to get a 3D scan done at 28 weeks - any recs in Melbourne?

Kitten2b, please let me know if your 70% odds turn out to be a girl!!

2please, I can't see any pictures??

Hi, Just click under the right hand corner icon then click on my album with my little girl and our dog on the front. We have something like 7 images in that .

You can get a late 4d ultrasound at the place in melbourne where I went. Earily Image. Google the name and you will find it.

Cherryblossum, my little miss 70% ended up being right Sofia Bernadette was born on Monday

One of the BB members Kelli D (I think) was told she was going to have a baby girl, imagine her surprise when out popped little Liam LOL! So nothing is certain with these things...

i have a good friend that is a radiographer and works closely with the sonographer at her hospital and apparently you will never get a 100% sure out of them becuase they have to cover themselfs legally. 80% though is normally as high a guess as they will go at her hospital, so it's a good chance that you have a little girl.

but i do know of someone that was told at there 20week scan they were having a girl and went out and bought loads of pink things to be told at a later scan that it was a boy.... i suppose at the end of the day the only sure fire way to tell if it's a prince or a princess, is wait for bub's to arrive :) guessing is all part of the fun i think ;).

*hugs*

My SIL was told that their second child was a boy, but you guessed it, it was girl, she was so stressed because their 1st was a boy so she didn't bother going out to buy anything because she had all she needed, lucky they where only renting and didn't do the room up for a boy.

I think that also when they do the ultrasound if it is a girl they actually see 3 lines in the genital area which I think is the outline of the labia.

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I think that also when they do the ultrasound if it is a girl they actually see 3 lines in the genital area which I think is the outline of the labia.

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That's what I have been told too. My first was a boy and when you look back at the scans there are no lines and knowing what he was means that now I can see his willy in the 20week scan.

I believe the stonographer tends not to tell you if they can't be fairly sure. A friend's stonographer said that baby boys are with 100% certainty but baby girls she can only say with 80% certainty (because it's possible that a baby boy tucks his penis underneath and looks like a girl during the ultrasound).

A 3d scan might give you a better idea, if they can see that area.

The only way that you can get 100% certainty as to the gender is via an amnio and unless you need it I wouldn't go that way.