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

[malaria]

I don't think it'll matter for me either way because all I'd be finding out about the child is what it's genitals are. I mean, for the most part, sure, you get a cisgendered child, but even then it's ridiculous to make assumptions about what your child will enjoy based upon gender.

[kerrycl]

I'm seven months pregnant with a mystery baby (my first), and haven't really figured out what finding out has to do with "planning" yet. In my case, I feel like I am planning...for the fact that I expect to do this more than once and my second child will probably appreciate it if all of the hand-me-downs are not heavily gendered. It has partially backfired as a frugality measure though, since it turns out that all of the hand-me-downs that are currently available to us are definitely either "little boy" or "little girl." We've taken some of the little boy stuff, on the theory that some of it is somewhat gender neutral-ish, but I think having it in the house has me thinking of our future baby more as a boy now. I do think it's an advantage in steering the shower gifts in a more practical direction though (I'll probably indulge in a couple frilly dresses or little sailor suits after the birth, but the drawers are filled with basic, all-purpose onesies), and I like that we've spent the last couple of months imagining this baby as a somewhat mysterious person first instead of latching on too heavily to the one piece of information we could find out about him/her on an ultrasound. At first I also liked that it prevented us from completely settling on a name...I think it helped temper the disagreements between my husband & I being able to think "Well maybe we won't even need a boy/girl name." Now I'm feeling very settled on both the boy and the girl name though, and it might be nice to be able to start letting go of the one we aren't going to end up using before I get any more attached. On the other hand, the romantic aspects of having my husband make the announcement when the baby is born hadn't really occurred to me early on, but now that it's closer it's something I'm really looking forward to.

So, you know, mixed bag overall...but there are colors besides blue, pink, and yellow, no matter what people will try to tell you, and many of them are pretty adorable. And it is frustrating not to know, but I think the second I knew boy or girl I'd move on to being frustrated that I don't know what the baby's face is going to look like, and what it's personality is going to be, and a million other things. Pregnancy is just kind of inherently a frustrating amount of waiting.

[rowangreeneyes]

I found out we were having a girl at 20 weeks. It was mostly for financial reasons, but I also wanted to get used to the idea of being a mother to a daughter or son. It actually really helped me prepare and emotionally bond with my daughter before she was even born. It gave me time to get used to her name as well, I said it all the time. Calling her by her name made it more real and when she came out, I felt like I already knew her. I plan to find out the sex of our next baby too. Also, my husband and I kind of have an ongoing joke that he can only produce girls (he has a 14 year old daughter from a previous relationship) so if the next one is a girl, I get to tease him more.

[annad123]

I am too much of a planner to not find out.

Seriously. I'd be worried sick throughout the whole pregnancy that we wouldn't have the right stuff to take care of the baby if we didn't know the gender. Or that the baby might have to wear pink clothes the first few weeks because we had girls already but then had a boy without knowing.

So, i found out on both of my first two pregnancies, and i found out last week on this one. Thankfully we're having girls (identical twins. Fun!) so we don't have to go buy a bunch of little boy stuff.

Pros of finding out are being able to plan and pick out a name for just one gender (and even that is hard enough). plus, if you know what gender, people know what you need clothes and toys wise. That could also be a con, though. With our first daughter, we had to buy all the diapers and things like that because people gave us so many clothes and toys. WIth our second daughter, we found out but didn't tell people except our parents and very immediate family. That is what we are doing now, too.

Pros of not knowing is the surprise that some people love. Also that people will get you things like diapers sand bottles because unisex clothing is harder to find. (That sentence was kind of confusing. oh well.)

i guess i'm split. I, personally, don't like the surprise. Some people do.

[catloverd]

Don't have kids yet, but we agreed that we want to find out the gender beforehand because it'll help us be prepared. We'll know what color to paint the room, what clothes to get, blankets, etc... It will just equal less stress because if we didn't know we'd have to wait to buy all that stuff after the baby comes and that would just be too stressful imo.

We also think because we don't plan to tell anyone till we know the gender that it'll be nice for them to get two surprises, one that we're having a baby, and two whether it's a boy or a girl. The name will stay a secret till the end as well as the due date. I don't get along with my family well and I don't want them to be a part of my pregnancy so we agreed that secrecy overall is the easiest.

[isirapjl]

I found out with my first 2, I was convinced my first was a girl but he was a boy. With my second I had the exact same pregnancy so I was shocked when the U/S tech announced girl. I am so glad we found out because I am a serious A type planner and would have been a mess if I didn't know Claire was a girl in advance. I am currently pregnant with # 3 and we can find out in 5 weeks. Everyone keeps telling me to hold out for the surprise but I keep waffling.... I keep picturing a boy but I have a horrible track record so far.

[strawberry shortcake]

No babies yet for me but I won't be finding out when the time comes. OH and I discussed it and the excitement and anticipation of waiting till birth to find out if you have a son or daughter is what we want. A friend recently had a team yellow baby (which turned out to be blue), and throughout her pregnancy we were making guesses as to the gender. This made me decide to stay team yellow, it something I really look forward to

[mind_the_gap]

We found out with the first and I'm glad we did because early motherhood held enough "surprises" that knowing it was a boy eliminated one big stressful surprise for me. With the second we didn't find out and I'm glad we didn't. I already knew what being a mom and having a newborn was like so I wasn't stressing about it, which meant it was fun keeping some mystery in the pregnancy. Now I'm pregnant with our third and we won't be finding out again for the same reason. I want to be surprised since most of the other stuff is going to seem a little routine!

[wootz]

Well...
#1- We found out, but didn't tell anyone. We had a boy.
#2- We found out, another boy.
#3- We found out, but then I wished I hadn't. Another boy, and all I got from people was that side-cocked head, with a look of pity, and it made me so upset! We were having a healthy son, and people were making me feel like I should feel sad about it!
Then, an 11 week miscarriage, followed a year later by a devastating 18 week loss (which was capped off with the fact that it was our first girl).
#4- I was absolutely set against finding out. I did not want looks of pity if it was another boy, I just wanted to make it to the end of my pregnancy and have a healthy baby. Plus I was certain it WAS another boy. I had a girl. Total shocker, and the greatest surprise ever. I was thrilled we hadn't found out in advance.
#5- I didn't want to find out because it had been so great being surprised at the end of labour, but all my boy gear was pretty trashed, so financially I decided we should find out so I'd have time to replenish if it was a boy, or just pull out the barely used girl stuff. Another boy. I was a bit bummed out to know in advance, but it did take me a few months to get everything together for him.
I would say, at least once, don't find out. There really is something amazing about that first peek and proclamation after all the hard work of having a baby. It's pretty wonderful.

[katarina]

I am currently 25 weeks pregnant with my first baby and my husband and I found out the gender. I was thinking of waiting but I started to get really anxious about it from about 18 weeks and it progressively got worse and worse up until the 20 week scan. I couldn't imagine feeling like that for the rest of the pregnancy, so we found out.
I was so sure that we were having a boy, but my maternal instincts must be out of whack because it turns out we are having a little girl :-)
We can't wait to meet our little Ana :-)