How many of you found out the sex of your unborn baby and why?

[taz]

For me I had to find out cause I couldn't bear not to know!! I don't go for the pink & blue everything...but it was fun to buy a few dresses once I got the info! Plus it narrowed things down in the naming dept! In my thinking the surprise is the baby...the person they are, what that little face looks like, what they sound like...so any info I can gather beforehand isn't ruining a surprise!

Also, I found pregnancy rather miserable so it was nice to have a fun day or milestone to make me feel a bit more positive through the nausea and strange health issues that kept popping up!

[gigigibbons]

Somebody else already pointed this out but you will be surprised either way, at the sonogram or the delivery room. I was thinking that maybe I would NOT find out the next baby's gender, but for me it's impractical. If I don't know I'll just end up buying stuff for both genders. I hate the traditional gender neutral items for being overly cutesy. If I know than that limits my buying. It seems silly but I just see things and think "OMG this would be perfect if I had another___! I must own that." And it cuts the naming issue in half as well.

It's not that I don't think I could be prepared without knowing, it's that I would be over-prepared.

[jersey_gray]

We found out both times and don't regret doing so. First pregnancy I had wanted to be surprised, my husband didn't, and then I just wanted to know to badly to keep waiting myself. Second pregnancy didn't even contemplate being surprised. I mean, it's a surprise no matter when you find out. One baby cooperated at the 20 week anatomy scan while the other did not and the doctor did a quick scan at my following appointment and baby cooperated then. I do have one friend who waited to find out with her first and she was very happy to have waited. However she did find dealing with the family guessing/STATING that she was having a girl because of yadda yadda yadda or a boy because of yadda yadda yadda very annoying. Her second pregnancy she didn't announce until they knew the gender to avoid all that.

[oddcreature]

I didn't find out with my daughter and it drove me NUTS! Because we were so sure she was a girl, and even though I'd have been happy with a boy I just couldn't imagine taking home any baby that wasn't a girl, and that made me feel so guilty. We couldn't even agree on a boys name because we were so sure she was a girl that hubby refused to talk about boys names.

This time I am finding out for sure. Hubby doesn't want to know, but I'm not giving him the choice. I can't go through that guilt a second time. Besides which my daughter tore down a lot of the wallpaper in the nursery, so I have no choice but to re-paint, and I am not wasting my time on a second gender-neutral theme, which I'll just have to change down the track. This time it'll be purple or blue, right from the start.

[labmama]

Great thread! We are expecting our second baby, and this will be the second surprise. With the first, I went back and forth with wanting to know and not wanting to know, but in the end, we decided that we really wanted to be able to call our friends and family when baby arrived and announce that a boy or girl had been born, and what he/she had been named. The names were also a secret! This time around, we had a serious talk about if we should find out. I argued for finding out, mainly just to try it differently the second time around. It got to be a bit of an intense discussion, and in the end, my hubby admitted that he felt he didn't have much to contribute to the actual pregnancy, but that it would mean a lot to him if he got to be the one who told me that I had just delivered a baby boy or a baby girl. Now I'm not only looking forward to the baby arriving (I'm nearly 34 wks), but I'm also looking forward to having my husband announce who this baby is!

[emiliaj]

#1 Didn't want to know... but sonographer commented "HE has such chubby cheeks", pretended I didn't hear that, but knew she was right. Had a feeling he was a boy. Waited until birth for confirmation of gender- kept that comment to myself- so everyone thought the gender was a complete surprise.
#2 Again, didn't want to know yet felt it was a girl. Again another big mouthed sonographer commented after asking the gender of my older child "Oh, a pigeon pair". Gee, thanks! Yes, a girl- confirmed at birth- didn't share the sonographer's slip up with anyone.
#3 Didn't want to know. Had a feeling baby was a girl. 15 weeks, threatened miscarriage, 16 weeks another threatened miscarriage. Decided I wanted to know who this trouble maker was in case the pregnancy was lost- sure enough a girl. We kept it hush hush until she was born.

emiliaj

[peachie]

I definitely wanted to know...I'm not real fond of surprises anyways, but it IS a surprise when you find out at 20 weeks! I like to prepare for the baby with setting up the room and buying clothes, but I also like only having to choose one name and then calling the baby by name for the last 20 weeks. I think it helped my husband bond with the baby while I was pregnant, and I enjoyed knowing a little something about who was inside of me too! I think it also helped my daughter prepare for her new brother by calling him by name as well. I loved knowing ahead of time.

[pink peonies]

I wanted to have a name locked in and wanted to decorate a room - so we found out at 20 weeks. It was annoying to me that a lady bought us this pink and purple heart outfit even though we said we were having a boy. She said "You never know" and I said (although it was a bit tacky) "Well, unless this little girl has 3 legs - it is a boy." I didn't even have to have the sono tech tell me, he was letting us know

To each their own, but I wanted to decorate a room and call my baby by his name as soon as we could. I will find out with the second one if at all possible.

[roux]

I'm no where near having kids at this point in my life, but I thought I'd share what my parents did. My mom really wanted to know and my dad really didn't, so he left the room and she found out. Later on she "accidentally" slipped a hint that made him think I was a boy (without out right saying it), just to have him doubly surprised when it turned out I was a girl! (Which she knew all along)

[poptart8]

I found out with my first because I was 16 people were donating clothes and supplies to me. My next 2 were surprises but only because I only got 1 ultrasound with each of them and they didn't cooperate. I really wanted to know! It was wonderful to be surprised when they were born though. Our last one we did find out was a girl about half way in just becasue I had a ton of girl stuff and wanted to be ready if it was a boy. If I ever have another I am thinking of keeping it a surprise!