OK before we start I'm not PG, TTC or anything like that. Am however writing a story from the perspective of an unborn baby [it's complicated], and seeing as I haven't ever had one, or been one for twenty years, could really do with some help ... * On average at how many weeks would you find out the sex of a baby? [assuming you wanted to, obviously] * What would the most likely date of conception be if a baby was born on 18th December? ... in this case he's a first born, if that makes any diffrence. (is there some nifty 'rule of thumb' I can use for future reference) * How often are ante-natal classes held, what sort of things do you do in them before 27 weeks, do dads-to-be tend to come along, would it odd if they didn't? (in my story 'Dad' is a bit squeamish about the whole thing) * How did your children generally react to the scans and being generally poked around with? Thanks in advance. Will share the finished story if anyone's interesting.
Finding out the sex, via ultra sound. It varies NONE of my kids' sex was determined by ultrasound, they all had their stuff hidden. WIth a Amnio, about 18 weeks, and you wait at least a week or more after the test for the results. NO good doctor will do an amnio JUST to find out the sex. Middle of March Exact date may be unknown. Chances are you won't be able to tell the sex via ultrasound before 18 weeks or so, it's possible, but not probable. Prenatal classes are held by private groups and hospitals all the time. Womyn have different due dates, so there are always classes. Dads are prettty much expected to come. I always felt sad for that one girl who was there with her mama, or an aunt, or, worse yet, alone. My kids all kicked at the ultrasound probe (except Moon, who was only 11 weeks and she just looked like a jumping jelly bean, and had no idea she was being scanned. My other kids were later in the pregnancy and they all kicked at the probe. I'm nosy enough to want to know what the story is. My guess is someone is telling you some weird things about their pregnancy.
I'll go with all of maggie's stuff. But from my own experience, baby keeps herself quite hidden (though I think it's a she). Also, she tends to ignore the ultrasound probe. It very much depends on the baby, I think. Babies develop their personalities (or at least parts of them) inutero, so each reaction will be different.
Yeah, I agree, my kids are pretty, um, intense children, it isn't surprising that they reacted that way to the probe. Moon used to KICK her sister Sunshine when Moon was in my belly, and Sunshine would sit on my lap! Irritable little thing. She's still like that, pushing her sibs and wanting the entire couch to herself! LOL!!!!! One more thing, actually seeing the sex at 18 weeks is possible, but it doesn't always happen. A "4-D" ultrasound can really give a lot of details, but most hospitals don't have them, and most insurance companies won't pay for them, unless the cost is the same as a regular ultrasound (and 4-D costs more) or there is a medical reason for one. Good luck with your story.
don't...I was on my own and it was all good, although I know there was part of the experience that I missed out on because dad could not be there. He gets an experience unlike some other dads yet no less loving. There were other parts that were special because of the people that I invited to be there. In terms of the ultrasound well they were getting me to drink sugary drinks prior to it in order to check on munchkin so it is not bloody surprising that she was kicking up a storm!
Thanks The story is set a few years in the future, so maybe they would have 4-D scans as standard by then.
17-20 weeks is pretty standard for the "gender" ultrasound. My last baby got this at 17 weeks, but wouldn't unfold her legs enough to see--the tech acted like my doc was nuts (and he was, but not for this) to do it so "early" as 20 weeks seems to be the magic number (and i did get another quick one in the office 3 weeks later, and she was clearly a girl at that point, so maybe there's something to it). My third baby also had a major aversion to any monitoring devices. She kicked at the doppler every time it was used, kicked and moved away from the ultrasound thing, and moved as far away as possible from the fetal monitors during her NST and throughout labor (the nurses and my husband were constantly moving the stupid thing for a reading). i don't know about childbirth classes, i never went to one
