According to a study carried out byIned (Institut national d'études démographiques), 9 out of 10 couples would like to know the sex of their unborn baby, in order to choose its first name and better prepare for its arrival. Speaking of which, have you ever heard of the genital bud? A name evocative of a whole concept around birth, growth... and the child's sex. That's right, today we're going to talk about the first prenatal ultrasound, the one at which the prognosis is made! So, boy or girl? It all starts with a bud.
CONTENTS:
- The first trimester ultrasound, THE moment you've been waiting for
- The genital bud: what is it?
- The genital bud method for guessing baby's sex
- Morphological ultrasound for confirmation
The first trimester ultrasound, THE moment you've been waiting for
Scheduled at around 12 weeks of pregnancy, the first-trimester ultrasound, also known as the dating ultrasound, is often the first time you meet your baby. While your belly is just beginning to round out, while you may not even have announced the good news to those around you, parenthood becomes a tangible reality. For the first time, you see him move. For the first time, you hear his heartbeat. And for the umpteenth time, you ask yourself:
- "Is it a girl or a boy?"
But beyond this crucial question, the first ultrasound serves above all to reassure you that your pregnancy is progressing well. Using medical imaging, the sonographer verifies the presence of the gestational sac in the uterus, and that of the embryo. Without an embryo, we speak of a clear egg, with no fetal heart activity, a terminated pregnancy and, if there are several fetuses, a twin pregnancy. All this information is checked one by one to ensure the viability of your pregnancy.
This is also when you get a precise date for the start of your pregnancy, and therefore an estimated date of delivery (EDD)!
Your doctor or midwife then takes a detailed look at your baby, measuring cranio-caudal length (head to breech) among other things. Nuchal translucency is also assessed to estimate the risk of trisomy 21. If the fetus has a slight separation between the skin of the neck and the spinal column, a space greater than the norm suggests an increased risk of Trisomy 21. This risk also increases with the mother's age and hereditary factors.
Finally, if you wish to know the sex of your child, and only at your request, your midwife or doctor may discuss his or her genital bud with you.
The genital bud: what is it?
To give a definition of the genital bud, or genital tubercle, let's say it's an outline of the penis in baby boys, or an outline of the clitoris in baby girls.
Determined as soon as the egg is fertilized by the sperm - two X chromosomes give a girl, one X and one Y chromosome give a boy - your child's sex doesn't begin to take shape until the 5th week of pregnancy (SG) or 7th week of amenorrhea (SA). It's not until around 9 SA that a real difference between a girl and a boy becomes apparent.
At 12 weeks' gestation, at the time of your first ultrasound, if you're expecting a boy, his penis is taking shape and his testicles are already secreting testosterone. If you're expecting a girl, the utero-vaginal canal, ovaries and fallopian tubes are developing in her body.
It is this difference, in the form of a tubercle, that enables the trained eye to make its first prognosis.
The genital bud method for guessing baby's sex
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Use a clear image of your baby taken in its entirety and horizontally, at the time of the first ultrasound scan.
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Locate the genital bud on the lower abdomen, between the legs and the spine.
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Compare the bud's position in relation to the column, especially its inclination. If they're parallel to each other, you're probably expecting a girl. If the bud is pointing upwards, it's probably a boy.
However, if the picture is a little blurry, if baby's back is to you, or if his hand moves when the picture is taken, that's the end of the guesswork! You'll have to wait until the second-trimester morphological ultrasound to find out more.
Before 22 ADT, an uncertain interpretation
Under optimal conditions, if the fetus is in the right direction and image quality is good, interpreting the genital bud is a fairly reliable (but never certain) method of getting a good idea of the sex of the unborn baby.
That said, it's important to remember thatno technique is infallible. For example, who hasn't known a mother who was ready to welcome a baby boy, but ended up giving birth to a baby girl, or vice versa? While the baby's sex is generally revealed with certainty during the second-trimester ultrasound, some mothers only have a definitive answer once their newborn is curled up in their arms.
Morphological ultrasound for confirmation
The morphological ultrasound is the second compulsory examination of your pregnancy. Carried out in the 5th month, between 21 and 24 weeks' gestation, it is longer than the others and focuses in detail on the growth of your baby, who now measures an average of 25 cm from head to toe, weighing 500 grams.
Just as the main aim of a dating ultrasound is to check for correct implantation and fetal viability, the aim of a morphological ultrasound is to look for any fetal anomalies.
The practitioner takes cross-sectional images of the various organs- heart, brain, stomach, bladder and intestine - as well as of the baby's arms and legs, to check that everything is in order. Finally, your little one is measured from every angle: biparietal and transverse abdominal diameter, cranial and abdominal perimeter and femoral length.
On the mother's side, the various aspects of the placenta are studied, and the amount of amniotic fluid and cervix are checked.
Once all these steps have been completed, your doctor or midwife will usually be able to tell you the sex of your baby.
Please note: if you don't want to know your baby's sex, just say so and repeat it as often as necessary during your prenatal check-ups. Ultrasound technicians are used to the impatience of expectant parents, so they're likely to share the information with you very quickly!
To reveal the sex of the baby or not?
Genital buds, morphological, 3D and sometimes even additional ultrasound scans, you're eager to find out whether a baby boy or girl will join the family.
Other parents-to-be, after unsuccessfully examining the baby's tubercle or after a second-trimester ultrasound with their back turned, give up any idea of finding out the sex of their child before birth, and let life's surprises take their course.
Sometimes, reassured by the revelations of genital tuberculosis, couples choose to wait until the day of delivery for confirmation.
Finally, out of superstition, conviction or because they are already parents to children of both sexes, a number of moms and dads-to-be choose to keep the whole thing a secret. Whatever the case, this intimate decision is yours alone.
What about grandma's tricks?
The shape of your pregnant belly or your food cravings could tell you a lot about the child you're expecting. Indeed, there are many grandmotherly tricks to try and unravel nature's greatest secret.
- Pronounced nausea is said to be associated with the birth of a daughter. And why not? In October 2020, an American study showed that the birth of a girl results in higher levels of the hormone hCG. Its high concentration is responsible for nausea in early pregnancy.
- When it comes to eating during pregnancy, craving sweet foods is a sign of a baby girl, while preferring savory dishesmeans you're expecting a boy. Do you agree?
- The shape of your pregnancy belly is another clue to look out for. High and pointed? It's a boy. Lower and wider? It's a girl. That said, the shape of your belly also depends on the baby's position, your morphology and the number of previous pregnancies.
- Have you heard of the pendulum test? Simply hang a pendulum over your belly and observe its movements. Are they circular? It's a girl. Does the pendulum swing back and forth? It's a boy.
- Grandmothers used to say that a baby girl steals the mother's beauty. So a radiant mother-to-be would be expecting a boy, as opposed to a pregnant woman with a pale complexion and tired hair, who would be expecting a little girl.
- The line that sometimes appears on the belly of pregnant women, called linea nigra (Latin for black line), is also thought to reveal the secret of a baby girl, but only if it extends beyond the navel. Otherwise, it's a boy.
Les biberons Élhée accompagneront votre bébé de la naissance jusqu'à 24 mois et plus, pour lui permettre une parfaite autonomie, sans risque de casse.
Découvrir notre gamme
Have you tried one or more of these tips? Have you tried to decipher your 12-week ultrasound using the bud method? Tell us if it worked for you!
*Source: Imagerie médicale du Sud-Est lyonnais
