April 18, 2018

How to accurately find out the gender of your baby at 9 weeks

Many of you all know that I found out the gender of our baby girl really early. When I say early, I mean 10 weeks sooner than the routine anatomy scan which is typically done at 19-20 weeks. Shortly after I found out I was pregnant I partnered with SneakPeak on finding out the gender of baby #4. Initially it was supposed to be done at 9 weeks, but a sneak peek studio was opening up in my area and I got to be apart of the pilot program. So I had to wait and extra 2 weeks. But to be honest, I felt more comfortable testing at 11 weeks rather than 9 weeks just because I’m paranoid and feel like it would be wrong lol. But believe me, they know what they’re doing and 9 weeks is a safe time to test with accurate results.

To view Gender Reveal Blog post click HERE

So how does it work?

You can either do it 2 ways.

SneakPeak home test, which they send you everything you could possibly need to draw your own blood (via finger prick) from home. And then you send it back and get your results within 72 hours if you purchase the fast track option, or 5-7 days if you purchase the regular one. I have many friends who did this one and the results were correct! But the only catch with this one, you have to test in a boy free environment because you don’t want to run the risk of cross contamination with boy DNA. And if you know me, you know my house is over flowing with testosterone and boy germs. So this was not something I wanted to do!
Option 2: SneakPeak Clinical! This is what I did. I went to OMG Baby Imaging Studio, where they had a licensed phlebotomist draw my blood (from the vein not finger prick) in a complete sterile environment. It’s then overnighted to the SneakPeak Lab. And you can expect results within 2-3 days. I like this option more only because I’m surrounded by boys and I feel like this is the most accurate!

How do they know if it’s a boy or girl?:

So when you’re pregnant, your baby’s DNA is mixed with your own. With the blood that’s drawn via finger prick or through the vein, they can detect any Y chromosomes. If you’re not familiar with X and Y chromosomes, boys carry the Y chromosome (so XY) and girls carry only X’s (XX). As early as 9 weeks, Y chromosomes are able to be picked up through the mom’s blood. So while they’re checking if they pick up a Y chromosome, obviously mama is all girl and not a boy (because she’s pregnant lol), the Y chromosomes would belong to the baby. If no Y chromosomes are detected, then you’re carrying a girl.

But is it accurate?

It is!! At first I was a little skeptical, because my doctor had never heard of it, and a few of my nurse friends are like “are they really that accurate?!”. So all those comments plus 2 negative reviews I found on google, made me a little weary of the results afterwards. I started thinking of all the what if’s. Like what if I’m really pregnant with a boy and his chromosomes aren’t strong enough ( like that’s possible). But I read a few clinical studies which can be found here, that prove when done in a sterile environment performed by a phlebotomist, the results are 100% accurate!

The only way to have false results, is when the test is performed at home, with boys in the room or not in a properly sterilized setting (sooo the counters wiped down with a disinfectant, washing your hands, and under the finger nails). Those 2 negative reviews I read, we’re tests done at home, and I can almost bet ya they didn’t clean properly.

Because I’m such a worry wart, OMG Baby Imaging, allowed me to come in at 15 weeks to check to make sure baby girl is really a baby girl. Longest 2 weeks EVER!! Before I went, all the ladies from work were like ” look for the hamburger versus the hotdog”. I know what a “hotdog” looks like because I have three boys! Once we got there, I was a nervous mess, because we already have our hearts set on a girl, we told the world, and we already began buying things. Once she put the jelly on my belly and began looking around there SHE was, hamburger and all! SneakPeek is the real deal!

I know so many people who pay out of pocket for the blood tests from the doctors office because like me 1. I’m not high risk and 2. I’m not 35 years old. A lot of people do these tests simply for the fact of knowing their baby’s gender as early as possible! If you don’t want to fork out $500, pay $129 and do the 100% accurate clinical test with Sneak Peek, or if you’re absolutely sure you can clean properly do the at home test!

If you have any more questions about Sneak Peek, please click here to view their FAQ page where they answer all your questions!

And if you are wanting to do the clinical test, but don’t know if there is a SneakPeek studio near you, just call 800-590-4110 and they will help you out!

If you’re in the Orlando/ Central Florida area and are pregnant/ or considering it, I highly recommend doing sneakpeek gender test at OMG Baby Imaging! Or if you’re further along and already know the gender, you should consider having your 3D/4D Imaging done Athere as well! It’s by appointment only, so when you walk into the imaging center you are greeted by a comfortable bed that has paper on it for all your germaphobs (where mama lays to have the blood drawn/ and where you have your ultrasound performed. There is also two comfortable couches so the entire family can join. In another room there is a photo studio where you can have photos done of you and your spouse popping a ballon with pink or blue confetti. And also a cute little gender reveal party set up. It’s truly a wonderful little studio and I recommend this one over any other one I’ve tired with previous pregnancies.