So we were really excited to get to our 20 week scan this time round and be told that my little mental image will be a reality in February!
There were mixed views when I asked over on my Facebook page whether or not people would want to find out the sex of their baby.
Several people told me that they didn't find out and that they loved the surprise factor in not knowing and that 'it made their births just more special'. One comment that I loved was that they wouldn't want to find out the sex the next time so it would be 'something to motivate me through the labour!!!'
I know a lot of people like all the guessing that goes along with not finding out. You can have so much fun trying to predict it with games like letting your wedding ring swing over the bump and letting other people place their bets based on the size and shape of your bump! All of this can really add to the surprise too - when my Mum was expecting me all the old wives tales told her that I was going to be a boy and then - Surprise! - out I came!
It also seemed that some people will find out with one pregnancy and then not find out with the next, or vice versa. My sister hasn't found out with any of her pregnancies, but has said she probably would next time!
The people I spoke to who did find out mainly did so for the same reasons as me. I found that knowing I was expecting a boy before really helped me bond with him. We also found that, in practical terms, it made things a lot easier. We knew that we didn't need to borrow the big bundle of pink clothes that were being shared around my family! It also helped with the huge dilemma of choosing a name. It was great to be able to just look at one half of the baby name book! Saying that, I'm really enjoying getting to look at the other half of it now!
It did make me laugh to hear what one friend had to say about finding out that her twins were boys
"We found out it made it so much easier with two but to be fair the pair of them didn't give us much choice in the matter. They proudly displayed their wears during nearly all of the ultrasounds we had". It seems like sometimes the babies really want you to know!
I suppose the thing to remember though is that, even if you do 'find out', it's never 100% guaranteed! A friend of mine who works on a labour ward told me that there have been times where the umbilical cord has been in the wrong place and mistaken for 'boy bits' and the parents have been very surprised at the birth!
But for now I'm assuming that what the sonographer saw (or didn't see!) is right and enjoy looking at the 'girl' half of the baby name books and cooing over all the pink clothes in the shops!
So what do you think? Would you want to know what you were expecting? Leave me a comment and let me know!