Tomorrow I have the 20-week scan when, apart from checking the overall health of my baby, I can also find out if I'm expecting a boy or a girl.  With both my daughters I opted not to know the sex and had two lovely surprises. I think it certainly made the birth more exciting.

Rather like opening a surprise Christmas present instead of something you’ve asked for. I didn't actually feel tempted to find out on either occasion and having recently arrived in Spain from the UK, where a fair amount of people choose not to know, it felt quite normal.

This time, however, I’ve been living Spain for a few years now, and I'm starting to think I might do things the Spanish way......I don't know a single person here who didn't know the sex of their baby before the birth. Even the royal family find out, they just keep it a royal secret until the birth.   From a practical point of view of course there is much to be said for knowing the sex of the baby. If I find out then I’ll only have to lug half the baby stuff home, either the bag of pink clothes or the bag of blue.