Determining the Gender @ 17 Weeks

Just a note of caution from a childbirth educator. Sonograms have not been studied to see how they effect the baby in the womb. I would not get the 3D sonogram unless absolutely necessary for health reasons, because that means the ultra sound waves are even stronger. It might be good to limit the number of times you get a sonogram. Better safe than sorry. Some researchers are worried that it may effect the hearing and maybe even the brain. I guess its like the saying, "doctors are the worst patients", because they know what can go wrong.

My husband and I have boy/girl twins that are one week away from their first birthday. We found out the gender at 18 weeks. The boy was easy to figure out, and they told us they were pretty sure the other was a girl. They were right.
Good luck to you! It is double the work with twins, but it is also double the enjoyment!!

We found out one of ours at 17 weeks and one at 20....but only because Baby B wouldn't 'show us her stuff' :) Congrats on twins!

I have ID twin boys who will be 3 in a couple of weeks. We found out I was expecting twins at 7 weeks. Then, during a Level II ultrasound at 14 weeks we found out they were ID twin boys. If they are facing the 'correct' direction, yes, you can definitely find out the sex at 17 weeks. Good Luck!

In my experience w/my son and my friends that have had had sono's at 17-20 wks it has turned out accurate.

I hope this helps and God Bless you and your babies!

I found out I was having twins at 14 weeks and had my "sex" ultrasound around the 20th week (on my 14th wedding anniversary) and she was right on the money - had no problems seeing at all - two boys - that third leg always gives it away! LOL Best wishes to you, I have to smile when I think about going through it all again, prepare yourself for the wildest year of your life when they are born. Mine are 16 months old now and firecrackers for sure! :-)

Congrats T.!!

With my son my dr wouldn't do anything prior to 20 weeks. Only because he said that chances of not getting a good picture of the heart (which he informed me was the reason we were there, not just to find out the sex lol) was lower. We almost didn't find out because my son wouldn't "let go" of his parts!

For my daughter (don't ask me why but this time around he let me find out at 19 weeks). The sono said that girls are some times the hardest to tell ... and after she said that my hubby and I couldn't stand it. We had to go back for another one (which we paid for) and she was right the first time!

BTW .. I don't want to argue with anyone that states that multiple sonos can or cannot be dangerous, but I am a strong believer in you go by what your dr says. If he feels that too many are dangerous I would listen to him. With my son we had 7 or 8 sono (medical reasons) and my dr never said anything about possibly being too many.

I had my sonogram at 17 weeks and found out my baby was a girl! And she was right. I had heard however that it is more common for them to be wrong about girls, so I bought some nuetral clothes and other items, just in case. Also the nursery is a ocean theme, so if she did come out a he :) we would not have to change everything at the last minute!
Congrats! and good luck!!

I had to add my input since I do ultrasounds for a living. Usually around 17 weeks is when we can start to get an accurate look at the gender. However, sometimes we aren't able to see it clearly that early. It can depend on several things. Baby needs to cooperate and be in a good position. We have a much better chance of being able to tell if baby has its bottom up towards us and legs open than if baby is sitting with its bottom down and legs crossed. Also, if the mom is large then it can be hard to get clear images of anything.

I do have to add that determining gender of a girl based only on the fact that you don't see definate boy parts is a perfect example of why people get the gender wrong. There are certain things we look for either way. The position of the baby can effect what you see.

It also depends on the skill and training of the person doing the exam. Ultrasound is not very regulated on how much traning someone has to have to do it. I think the keepsake places are great because it is so neat to see your unborn baby, especially in 3d. But often they don't have much training so the exams are only for fun. Don't be affraid to ask the tech if they are registered with the ARDMS. In the ultrasound world that is the equivalent to a lawyer taking the bar exam or a dr taking his medical exams. Feel free to ask if they went to an accredited ultrasound program or just a weekend course.

As far as having an ultrasound goes, there are no known harmful effects. Does that mean there are some we don't know about? Time will tell. It is being used a lot more than it was in the past. Although now technology has improved so much that we are using less power and it doesn't take as long as it used to take to aquire the images. And the images are much better now. It's a personal decision to make about how many ultrasounds you feel comfortable getting. But I know lots of ultrasound techs, doctors, and nurses that use their connections to get scanned all the time. I used to scan myself all the time when I was pregnant and my ob dr was fine with it. But I will say that it is common for a woman with a high risk pregnancy to get many ultrasounds. But again, it is a personal decision that the expecting parents have to make with their doctor.

Generally they can be pretty sure with boys. For girls, they are a little less certain, just because there's no obvious "thing" to determine gender like there is with boys :-). But, I don't know of anyone who was told wrong so far.

However, regardless of gender, you'll still be shocked as hell when you bring them home. :-)

Enjoy your pregnancy! Congrats!

Congratulations!
My doctor was able to determine the sex of our son at 9 weeks....

T.,
They should easily be able to determine the sex for you today, especially if you go to someone who is very experienced at looking at sonograms. The only caveat to that is that the babies have to cooperate and show their stuff! We found out that we're expecting a boy and a girl at 18 weeks, and the boy was being shy so we almost didn't find out.
Good luck to you! I'm 21 weeks (almost 22), so keep in touch if you want so we can compare notes!

I had my first sonogram with my DD at 17 weeks and they couldn't determine. They are making me wait this time until at least 19 weeks. Especially with twins I would think it would be harder because they would be smaller babies??

I am ALL for the private sonography places like www.storkvision.com. It was well worth the money, and if they can't determine the sex you can go back until they can.

Good luck and congrats!

Hi T.,

Congratulations on your twins! That is so exciting!

With my first I had a boy, and that was pretty easy to identify. My second I had two sonograms, at 20 and 24 weeks and both times they said it was a girl (the first time he even saw the 'three lines' that indicate girl). But, we were all very surprised when 'she' came out a he. Luckily, I had family here who could make returns, a husband who repainted the nursery, and a back-up name in mind. I also know of several people who have had the same thing happen to them. And, in hearing all those stories while I was pregnant, I did a little researching and I think that even though it's not very common, mis-identifying a boy as a girl does happen.

All that said, if I have a third and they say it's a girl, I will go to one of those 3D sonogram places and get a clear picture - just to make sure. I think it would be well worth the $100 or so.

Good luck! Be sure to let us know what they are! Whatever they turn out to be you will surely be ecstatic. It's such an exciting time:)

C.