A couple of questions about nubs...

Hi,

I had my NT scan this week - measuring 12+6. Frustratingly, the only picture I was given does not show the nub.

I've been reading ELP's excellent Guide to spotting nubs at the NT scan - and watching the YouTube clips she posted - and am struck that girl nubs seem much clearer and easier to spot.

Is that the case?

At my scan I was struck by a thin white straight line with a forked end which kept coming in and out of shot. It was very obvious and I can't remember seeing anything like it with my boys. The only problem was I couldn't see if it was angled or not - and sadly I don't have a photo to work that out.

It looked exactly like the ones in the girl examples ELP gave. So I just want to know if girl nubs are easier to spot on scans, and the fact that I saw something so similar to the girl nubs shown at 12w6days might mean this is a girl? Or would a boys nub look exactly the same? However, I really can't see the boy ones as clearly on the YouTube vids.

The sonographer also did potty shots to look at bladder and lingered there - there was nothing between legs, and I have seen some early scans of boys with something visible by this stage - although I know it's not reliable at this gestation.

The sonographer said she'd scanned me in previous pregnancies so was aware I have three boys. She asked three times before I left if I had any other questions - and wonder if she might have been thinking I was curious about the baby's sex - but I didn't dare ask as NHS is obviously a medical screening test and didn't want to appear frivilous. Kicking myself for not asking now!

If anyone can enlighten me further on whether it's more likely I saw a girl nub - I'd be so grateful. I'm 43 now, so definitely last chance!

Although I can't say without seeing a picture, it does sound like from your description that it's a girly nub. Girl nubs are long, flat and forked while boy nubs tend to be shorter and stacked on the end. I wouldn't say that one is necessarily more obvious than the other as both can be quite visible around 13 weeks if the baby is positioned just right. It's *possible* for a nub to appear girly at 12w6d and then rise in the next few days but if it was forked and not stacked on the end, I'd lean more towards girl. And yes, potty shots are not reliable at all at this point. It's not until around 16 weeks guesses can be made based on that. Like I said, I can't really say either way because we don't have a pic to guess on.

Good luck, I hope this is your girl!

I wouldn't say that girl nubs are easier to spot than boys per se, but what I will say is that at my 13 week scan, I saw something VERY visible that was exactly as you describe it. My doc's office doesn't do gender at that one but I couldn't help but think "OMG that is something I never saw before". I couldn't have said if it was angled, it was more that it was bright white and just completely foreign to me after having had scans with my boys.

So while I hesitate at saying "likely" I will say definite possibility. Good luck!

Thanks for your input both - something to keep my hopes up!

I saw the same thing on my girl! I didn’t want to know the gender or see the nub so I turned my head as soon as I got a glance. But the part I saw was bright white and really clear. My boys seemed really faint.

I was the same, didn’t see a bright line with my boys but definitely saw it with my girl. It looked very different but I’m not sure if I just knew what I was looking for so noticing it more by baby no.3. Good luck