Skeptical of Ultrasound at 12 weeks! Any advice??

[dougRN2BE]

Hello Everyone,

My dear wife is pregnant and she went in for an ultrasound at 12 weeks to see the baby in 3D (a wonderful experience) and it was not with a licensed sonographer, although she claimed to have years of experience.

In any event, she claimed to be able to detect male parts and declared that it was 85-90% certain that we were having a boy. Now, we are completely fine with a boy or a girl (we just want our little bundle of joy to be healthy on arrival), but I am a bit skeptical that she was able to determine the sex at 12 weeks. It seems a bit early to me and I am wondering if any of you have experience with this and might be able to shed some light onto whether 1) it is quite feasible that she did see testicles/scrotum and her assertion holds water, 2) perhaps she did see male parts, but it is too early and her prediction of gender is not as solid as she stated, 3) it is too early to tell, period! or 4) whatever you want to say! :)

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Doug

[dougRN2BE]

Thanks for everyone's input. I tend to agree with most everyone that it is too early...

She said that "they don't detect gender ever on a 3D ultrasound", rather depending on the 2D black-white ultrasound to see the gender. I don't know how accurate her assessment of detecting gender and 3D u/s is, but that's what she said.

We'll wait and see at 20 weeks and I'll report back. And who knows...perhaps it will even be a surprise at delivery.

So much fun in waiting for the baby to arrrive! :)

Thanks again everyone! And feel free to keep piping in if you have something to say. I appreciate it.

Cheers,

Doug

[dougRN2BE]

here's where your baby is at:

http://www.visembryo.com/baby/12_weeks.html

[color=#339966]pelvis

sexual organs distinguishing female or male are now clearly visible.

interesting that you mention this, since the baby would have only been 10 weeks 4 days at the time of the ultrasound. mom was in her 13th week (12w4d), but baby is 2 weeks behind. when i look at the 10 week slide, it says that the baby's pelvic region is still developing.

this raises the question...are we talking about 12 weeks of pregnancy, or 12 weeks post conception...she isn't 12 weeks post conception yet. and as i said, at the time of the u/s the baby would only have been 10w4d old.

does this change anyone's pov?

[dougRN2BE]

Also, Crown Rump Length was 79mm at the time of the ultrasound, which calculated on the printout to a gestational age of 13w4d.

So, when people are saying that you can perhaps tell gender at 13 weeks, is it 13 weeks gestational age or age of the fetus?

Again, still skeptical!

:)

Doug

[edgwow]

Doug, Way back when,,,,,, we all had to wait for the baby to come. Paint the nursery green or yellow so it doesn't matter.Where are the good ol' days?

[cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN]

I think they are both too early. I think that website means, if you took that little baby out and looked, you could tell which sex it was.

One more thing, Congrats!:balloons:

[Gompers, BSN, RN]

This raises the question...are we talking about 12 weeks of pregnancy, or 12 weeks post conception...she isn't 12 weeks post conception yet. And as I said, at the time of the U/S the baby would only have been 10w4d old.

Pregnancy is counted from the date of the last menstral period, not from the date of conception. This causes a lot of confusion, needless to say! Conception usually occurs about 2 weeks after the start of the menstral period, so oftentimes women will assume that they are 2 weeks behind where the doctor actually says she is. Basically, even if it was only 10 weeks post-conception, most likely her docs have her at 12 weeks pregnant. The first two weeks between her period and the conception count because the egg is developing during that time, getting ready to be fertilized.

ETA: Just went to the website and saw that there is a date with the words "post-conception" on the top of the ultrasound picture. I HATE when websites and books do that! It just confuses everything. They should just always go by the gestational age of the egg.

[dougRN2BE]

It took me several weeks, but I understand the difference between the two ages. Like you mentioned, the website lists it as "post-conception", which led me to think that perhaps I hadn't mastered it quite yet. LOL.

All is good, I think. It is all a bit confusing.

Thanks, Gompers!! :)

[cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN]

Just remember, the true age of the baby is from the first day of our periods. That's when our bodies start to choose the best eggs and finally decide on one that's the 'best'. That's why we say we are always 2 weeks pregnant! It isnt' until we ovulate and the egg doesn't fertilize that we aren't pregnant anymore.

Our bodies don't take a day off from trying to make/support babies...

Just because fertilization happens somewhere around 2 weeks doesn't mean that the egg isn't older.

Isn't life grand?

[cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN]

ETA: Just went to the website and saw that there is a date with the words "post-conception" on the top of the ultrasound picture. I HATE when websites and books do that! It just confuses everything. They should just always go by the gestational age of the egg.

Yes, that website does everything 'post-conception' or post ovulation-down to the days.

[Gompers, BSN, RN]

Just because fertilization happens somewhere around 2 weeks doesn't mean that the egg isn't older.

AHA! Proof that the egg comes before the chicken!

[SmilingBluEyes]

And that no technology is perfect. I agree with the others; the best you can and should hope for, is a healthy baby and joyful delivery for all. That is what is most important.

[dawngloves, BSN, RN]

I have been to deliveries where they were told boy and a girl has come out. I say,it ain't over 'til the fat baby sings.