Myth: Fetal Heart Rate is Linked to Gender

As you may have noticed, my name is Kim. Actually, my full name is Kimberly. What you may not know, however, is that my name was originally going to be Tony or Skyler. That’s an odd name for a girl, isn’t it? That’s because my parents thought I was going to be a boy. The doctor told them I was going to be a boy because of my heart rate. No one expected a girl until I was born. Boy, was that a surprise! Sonograms were just becoming common practice in the 80s, but my mom did not have one. … Continue reading

5 Reasons to Let Your Baby’s Gender Be a Surprise

Yesterday I talked about five reasons you should find out your baby’s gender ahead of time. Personally, I am glad I found out we were having a boy when I was pregnant with my son. Not only did I enjoy calling him by his name throughout most of the pregnancy, but it allowed my family to bond with him in a special way as well. Interestingly enough, I think when we have a second child I would like to be surprised. I want to experience it both ways! You can enjoy the surprise. There’s nothing like hearing “It’s a ___” … Continue reading

How is the Gender Determined by Ultrasound?

Ultrasound is quite effective for determining the gender of the baby. With an experienced ultrasound technician and good equipment, the gender is correct about 95% of the time. The only time there may be a problem is if the baby is shy. By now most of us know that the gender can be detected with ultrasound. What many don’t know is how is this done? What does the technician see that reveals the gender of the baby? Is it something I can see? Sometimes parents that don’t want to know the gender worry that they may accidentally see something during … Continue reading

The Pregnancy Blog Week in Review May 14-21

A variety of interesting topics have been covered in the pregnancy blog this week. If you’ve missed the blogs, or want to catch up with all the blogs in one place, check out our week in review. How Many Children Will You Have? This is a question that a pregnant woman will hear from the beginning of her first pregnancy to the end of her last. Learn how to handle comments and changing expectations in this blog. The second question after “When are you due?” is “What are you having?” More and more couples are learning the answer to that … Continue reading

Reasons to be Surprised by Baby’s Gender

Technology now allows most parents the opportunity to learn the gender of their babies before they are born. Many parents take advantage of the opportunity and find out what they are having, but some do not. A good number of couples are waiting until the baby is born to find out whether it is a boy or a girl. The decision may not have been yours. Some babies keep their gender a secret by their position in the uterus. The technician may not be able to get a clear enough picture to determine the gender. In this case, you’ll have … Continue reading

Reasons to Find Out Baby’s Gender

Seventy percent of pregnant women have an ultrasound during their pregnancies. The ultrasound is a good diagnostic tool for certain problems in pregnancy. It also has an added benefit, you may get a peek at your baby. If you choose to have an ultrasound, the technician may ask if you want to know the gender. Some couples choose to find out and others prefer to be surprised. I like to know what I am having. I mean, the information is RIGHT THERE! It’s just too tempting for me. For us and many other couples, there are many benefits to learning … Continue reading

What Is an Ultrasound?

I’ve got ultrasounds on the brain at the moment, since I’m having one on Monday afternoon to confirm my doctor’s diagnosis of fibroids. Also known as sonography, ultrasound imaging uses sound waves to create pictures of the inside of the body. One big advantage of an ultrasound over other kinds of imaging is that an ultrasound does not use ionizing radiation (like an x-ray does) and is generally non-invasive. Ultrasound images are captured in real time, so they can even show the movement of blood through vessels! Conventional ultrasound displays the images in thin, flat sections. There are also 3D … Continue reading

Phantom Pregnancy

The other day I was reading an article about a woman who was pregnant with 12 babies. In shock, I worried about the lives at stake and wondered why yet another doctor would implant that many embryos in a woman’s uterus. It’s reckless! The next day I saw another article about this same woman stating she was not pregnant. So what is the deal: is she pregnant or not? It turns out she was experiencing a condition known as “phantom pregnancy.” In other words, it was all in her head. As soon as doctors performed a medical examination, they discovered … Continue reading