Finding out the sex of your baby is an exciting milestone in your pregnancy. While some Mamas find out early due to taking an NIPT test (or similar), most will find out at the time of the 20 week morphology scan. This scan take a good look at your baby’s overall growth and takes measurements of key organs and limbs, but at this stage your baby is also developed enough for the sonographer to be able to tell with (relative) certainty what your baby’s sex is. However, some choose to keep their baby’s gender a surprise for birth and will tell the sonographer that they don’t want to know just yet.

We kept our baby’s gender a surprise for birth – here’s why:

I’m a Mama of three. With our first two, we decided to keep the sex of our babies a surprise for birth. I know this isn’t for everyone, but for us, we truly didn’t mind what we were having.

I’ll never forget my husband’s reaction when our first born arrived earth-side. He gasped “OMG, there are BALLS!” – it’s something we still laugh about to this day.

Second time around, I just felt that it was another boy. It was a beautiful surprise once again to find out that the tiny human that had spent the last nine months growing within me was another amazing little boy. A best friend for his big brother!

Baby number three was completely different. We decided early on that we wanted to know this baby’s sex ahead of time. We were not going to keep our baby’s gender a surprise for birth!

I’m going to be honest: we hoped for a little girl. But, we would have been so over joyed to have three little boys. I even thought how cool it would be to have my three little musketeers! But, there was certainly an element of potential gender disappointment there if we were to miss out on having a little girl. Especially given that there’s a real chance our third baby would be our last.

So, we had my best friend in Canada plan a surprise Gender Reveal for us to coincide with my husband’s 40th. We used the canons with the coloured smoke (environmentally friendly, of course!) and decided we would find out alongside some of our closest loved ones.

Well, to say we were shocked would be an understatement. Hubby’s mouth dropped wide open and a huge smile spread across his face! I couldn’t stop jumping for literal joy: we were having a girl.

Finding out this time made things feel quite different. We didn’t have that element of mystery. But, we were able to instead buy items we may otherwise not have. AKA all the pink onesies and accessories.

Ultimately, it’s a personal choice to find out your baby’s sex before they’re born. Having experienced it both ways, I can see the pros and cons to each and can definitely understand the joy that can come with keeping your baby’s gender a surprise for birth.

So, what will it be for you? Find out ASAP? Or keep your baby’s gender a surprise for their grand arrival?!

Have you seen my blog on Gender Disappointment? Make sure you check it out. It’s a great one to help you process why you may feel the way you do about your baby’s sex.

Pregnant Mamas make sure you check out our FREE Prenatal class that 8 out of 10 new mothers say they wish they took before birth to ease their stress and worries. You can even watch it at your own pace from the comforts of your own home! Sign up here!