S/O sex u/s- for those that didn't find out before the birth

[SnuggleBuggles]

If you chose not to or were unable to find out the sex before the birth, who announced the sex after the baby was out? Did you have a preference about who made the announcement or how the announcement would be made? If so, did it happen that way?


I don't recall planning who would announce with ds1. After ds1 was born dh called it a him but then dh double checked because I questioned his certainty. I was so sure we were having a girl that I suggested maybe he was mistaking the umbilical cord for a boy part. :) Definitely a boy! No one else had said anything so maybe I did request that we be in charge of it.

With ds2 my birth plan stated that we would announce. After 41+ weeks of pregnancy I was so sure I would impatiently check sex but I didn't look till the staff finally asked me to check after a few minutes (I was holding him the whole time). I was more interested in finger counts and overall health. I really didn't care any more than having a healthy baby. But, I made the announcement after I checked.

Beth

[AbbysMom]

My husband was at that end and told me both times :) Best memories ever! I loved not knowing. It was so special.

[sste]

A doctor each time (for poor DD during her delivery it wasn't so much an announcement but I caught the words "she."). With DS, my OB meant for DH to announce but she slipped and said "he."

I was convinced #1 was a boy and that #2 was a girl (though in both pregnancies I wavered a bit toward the end because for DS everyone INSISTED it was a girl and for DD my OB, who had the ultrasound and CVS results, referred to DD as he in the last few appointments and a nurse staring at the ultrasound in the labor room said "he" and they told us the baby was over 10 pounds.

[dec756]

My husband was at that end and told me both times :) Best memories ever! I loved not knowing. It was so special.

that is awesome :)

[kellij]

We planned for my husband to announce it. In the end the dr said it at the same time as my husband. Plus, I was actually sitting up and saw his little penis pop out of me so it was really clear he was a boy!

Then I was planning to tell my parents and our other kids. Because of the timing of them getting to the hospital and nursing shift changes, he happened to be in the nursery getting his bath at the time they all arrived. My DD, who was 3, said "it's a boy, Nolen, you get to name him!" They had worked out between the two of them that if it was a boy my DS would name him (Watermelon) and if it was a girl my DD would name her (Bow).

So not at all as planned, but still perfect.

[mrshalco]

DH told me both times. They made sure to show him first....since he's not a stand at the end of the bed kind of a person LOL I loved waiting and finding out in the delivery room!!

With DS#2 - we had him come into the delivery room (after everything was done) and he then got to go back out to the grandparents an announce that he had a brother! He was so excited to be able to tell the news!!

[AnnieW625]

Both times (at two different hospitals) they held up the baby and I said it's a girl. I didn't even think to have a preference either time who told me. I was just happy with the healthy delivery each time.

[SnuggleBuggles]

:love5: I love reading this. I just love talking with other people that had this surprise. I can feel how special and exciting it was for everyone, even the ones that weren't as planned. It's a new baby!!

Beth

[jgenie]

We didn't find out the sex of either DC before they were born and hadn't planned on who would make the announcement. Both DC were born after very quick and pain free labors. DS1 was born 5.5 hours after my water broke (2 hours after I arrived at the hospital) and DS2 was born 1 hour after my water broke and 15 minutes after we arrived at the hospital. Both times we were both very shell shocked that they had already arrived so quickly we were both in such a daze we wouldn't have been able to make the announcement. I felt more pain and had a harder recovery after having my wisdom teeth removed than from either birth.

[scrooks]

I love these stories! I wish I had the patience to wait 9 months to know.

[ohsara430]

What a fond memory....when DD was born DH told me it was a girl right as Dr. placed her on my belly. I of course, immediately looked for myself (as though he would be wrong!). It was in our birth plan and our Dr. knew ahead of time that we did not want him (the Dr.) to announce it. Our Dr. was totally on board with the plan and the moment was surreal.

[sste]

:love5: I love reading this. I just love talking with other people that had this surprise. I can feel how special and exciting it was for everyone, even the ones that weren't as planned. It's a new baby!!

Beth

Beth, I see birth-something in your future, once your DSs are bigger. Doula? Advocate? Nurse-midwife?

It is so nice you feel this way, even about others' births. :)

[KrisM]

I had 3 c/s. With the first two, the screen was high enough that it was DH who saw first. With the 3rd, I was watching in a mirror and DH was not, so I saw first and got to tell him.

[khm]

Our first was a c-section due to breach. I was really looking forward to the announcement. Little did I know that because most people find out beforehand, they didn't think to announce! :) With a couple student nurses, there were a ton of people in there, they were all like "Look at those eyes, look at that hair, look at those chubby thighs". Finally I squealed, "Look at the....?? Gah, is it a boy or a girl??!!"

With our second (repeat c) we made sure to tell them that we did not know, so please do the announcement! ;)

[mikeys_mom]

OB announced it each time. My deliveries were all c/s so there was no option for DH to stand at that end and get a good look. It wasn't really a big deal for me who announced it. I never really gave it much thought before the birth.

I loved not knowing. It was fun to have to wait and try to guess what we were having. With the twins - in the OR, before the c/s, as soon as the nurses found out we didn't know what we were having, they started an informal poll of everyone's predictions. It took away some of my nervousness :). I predicted B/G and was wrong. DH and the anestesiologist were the only two that guessed right.

[dowlinal]

We didn't know with our first two. Both times the doctor made the announcement. With my first, I had a semi-emergency c-section at 37 1/2 weeks because I was preclamptic. We were worried that that the baby's lungs might not be fully developed so when she came out screaming everyone in the room was so happy that we forgot about the sex. I remember my DH and I crying tears of joy and relief and then suddenly realizing we didn't know if our baby was a girl or a boy.

We found out with the twins because it seemed like the sensible thing to do and it did make it easier to be prepared, but I really missed having that final surprise at the end.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Beth, I see birth-something in your future, once your DSs are bigger. Doula? Advocate? Nurse-midwife?

It is so nice you feel this way, even about others' births. :)

Used to be something I was strongly considering but it has waned. Doesn't really sound or feel like it though at this moment though. :)

Beth

[amm40]

Love these stories! DS was a surprise, and a C-section. I know DH announced although I don't specifically remember that moment. My strongest feeling was meeting him a moment later, snuggling his cheek, and thinking "Of course it's YOU!" It just seemed so right, and his expression was so smug, like "well, who'd you expect?"

Can't wait to do that again, whee!

[sunshine873]

After all the stress with having a preemie, I'm so glad we were able to go into the delivery with that "surprise" on our minds. Don't get me wrong, we were worried too, but it was good to have some excitement too. Emergency C-Section, so Dr announced, It's a girl! The surgery went so fast, we weren't expecting the announcement quite yet. DH & I just kind of looked at each other & I repeated, "It's a girl?" The Dr. laughed & said, yes. Then, reminded DH to stand up (over the screen) to take a picture.

I'm glad DH & I found out at the same time. It was neat to be looking into his eyes, watching him process the news at the same time that I was.

[mctlaw]

DH made the announcement "It's a boy!" I don't think we really thought in advance who would do the "announcing" though.

[zag95]

After all the stress with having a preemie, I'm so glad we were able to go into the delivery with that "surprise" on our minds. Don't get me wrong, we were worried too, but it was good to have some excitement too. Emergency C-Section, so Dr announced, It's a girl! The surgery went so fast, we weren't expecting the announcement quite yet. DH & I just kind of looked at each other & I repeated, "It's a girl?" The Dr. laughed & said, yes. Then, reminded DH to stand up (over the screen) to take a picture.

I'm glad DH & I found out at the same time. It was neat to be looking into his eyes, watching him process the news at the same time that I was.

We had a very similar reaction! We found out our baby would be born with cleft lip and palate and opted not to know the gender- and were told by the perinatologist that it is more frequent in boys.... so we were expecting a boy..... during our c-sec, the doctor said "it's a girl"- we both said, "a girl?!!!" We were so excited- and then we saw her!!!

[american_mama]

We only didn't find out the sex for DS. I delivered on all four's, so had no view of baby, and I think DH and the midwife were both looking at him as he came out. I didn't hear the midwife say anything, and I suspect she and DH knew at the same time. DH said to me, "What do you think we had, a boy or girl?" and I really thought, "I don't care, I'm just so glad it's out!" but I think what I said was "Boy." Everyone, including us, had had strong boy feelings the whole pregnancy.

For that birth, I only wrote a birth plan for if I had a C section (thanks to you, Beth, for that idea!) and in it, I did ask that DH announce the sex. If I'd had a C section, it would have meant things had gone unexpectedly awry and I wanted to perserve what I could out of my ideal birth, hence it being in that birth plan. If I had a baby vaginally, which I did, the smaller details didn't matter as much.

[bubbaray]

2 c/s and the surgeon announced both times. DD#1, was a surprise. DD#2 was not (found out the gender from the amnio).

[BayGirl2]

We planned ahead to have DH announce the gender. Once the baby was out I felt like it had been minutes and no one told me. Finally I said "what is it?!?!" And he said "its a boy". DH still swears it was only a few seconds pause, but it felt like forever to me. After 29 hours of labor I was pretty impatient.

[liz]

We wanted to be surprised with all 3 DC. I had a c/s with all 3 kids and honestly never thought to have DH or I announce the sex.

I have very clear memories of the doctor telling me what they were doing and then a momentary silence, hearing the baby cry (:yay:) and then a very joyful doctor telling me "it's a boy!". I could cry right now thinking of it :)

[thomma]

The doctor did...I had been in the hospital for 10 days with preterm labor. I knew most of the doctors and l&d nurses pretty well. They were all excited because we were choosing to keep the babies' sexes a secret.
When ds came out the resident/doctor shouted "it's a boy" and everyone in the room was all excited (lots o'people in the room...30 week twins). I have no idea how dd was announced...I was out cold. Ds was vaginal and dd was emergency c-section. Her arrival was not as cheery. She was born grey and not breathing.

[momof2girls]

We chose not to find out with both DDs. Because both were c-sections, DH told everyone in the waiting room since he was allowed to leave with DDs and I was left behind to get stitched up. It wasn't a big deal.All I was thinking about was that they were healthy.

[sewarsh]

The OB told us with DD even though DH was down there speechless!

With DS I had a different OB that encouraged me to sit up while pushing so I could actually see DC being born. Sure enough I saw him slide right out of me and I think I was the first to see that penis and I'm not sure who actually "announced" it. I was just so happy to see a penis b/c i knew deep down my DH wanted a boy.

It was seriously the most special moment of my life. (This is more so becuase labor was pretty fast and only required 4 pushes. With DD i pushed 1.5 hours so the "magic" just wasn't there as much becuase of the pain.)

[Elilly]

We didn't know the sex with DD. She was a c/s and both she and I were in distress. I asked about the apgar and O2 saturation before I asked about the sex. DH was in such a panic that he couldn't think to ask :)