One question you may be faced with is whether you want to know the gender of your growing baby. Ultrasound technology has gotten much better in recent years and most couples have the chance to discover baby’s gender during a routine ultrasound exam. If you are having an amino or CVS test, the results are nearly 100% correct in determining gender.
Reasons parents give for finding out include: bonding with the baby better, decorating the nursery, buying clothes, planning for a baby shower, naming the baby and calling the baby by name during the pregnancy. If you love surprises or don’t plan to have an ultrasound, you may not want to find out. While the majority of women do get an ultrasound, not all do. Some feel the jury is still out regarding safety.
Some couples find out if the baby is a boy or girl, but keep the news to themselves. This can be a great little secret between the two of you. There’s no reason you must share the news with the rest of the family. Just be careful not to let the news slip. A famous example of this was when actress Jennifer Gardner appeared on David Letterman during her pregnancy. She accidentally said “she” when talking about the baby. She quickly covered her mouth with her hands, but the cat was out of the bag.
One couple I know did something very unusual. She didn’t want to know the gender, but he did. So they had the ultrasound tech tell Dad the news. He had to keep Mom in the dark throughout the rest of the pregnancy. He had to be very careful not to slip and reveal the gender. Personally, it would drive me nuts for my husband to know if I didn’t, but this arrangement worked for them.
We have found out with all four of our babies. I am the kind of person who shakes the Christmas presents and I really like to know. I do feel we bond more with the baby when we call him or her by name during the pregnancy. I also love buying gender specific baby clothes, rather than having a drawer full of yellow and mint green sleepers. Whether or not to find out is a personal decision that each couple must make for themselves.