Did your U/S tech tell you anything?

[breanna31]

Ok, so I think I am just being paranoid (because that's what I do) but I am curious. We had our 20 week U/S on Friday and the tech wouldn't tell us anything. First we had a student and I asked her if she could tell me if the placenta had moved because my OB told me I had a marginal previa at 12 weeks (annoying). She said she couldn't tell me, she wasn't allowed to tell me anything. When she finished her part the actual tech came in and finished up the scan. I asked the tech the same question about the placenta and she gave me the same speech. Then I said well can you tell me if I have an anterior placenta? She told me no and then ended up telling me the placenta is no where near my cervix either. Ok thanks, that's all I wanted to know.

Well then I tried to weasel more info out of her but she wouldn't budge, she said the Doctors get really mad if the techs say anything to patients and she could even get in big trouble for telling me what she did about the placenta. Then she said let me put it this way. If we saw something that looked serious we would have to leave the room and get the radiologist and your Doctor would also want to see you right away. I kind of felt like that was her way of telling me everything looked ok without actually telling me everything looked ok.....but then I second guess myself haha.

I am just curious what other people have had happen at their scans. I swear when I had an ultrasound with my daughter they told me everything looked good except that they had trouble measuring some valves in her heart. That stressed me out too but at least they told me. Everything ended up fine with that, by the way. So what about you guys. Did the techs tell you things looked good when they did, or not say anything because there was in fact a problem, r not say anything because they just weren't allowed, or even tell you things looked good when there was actually a problem (ok that last one would suck). Thanks for listening!

[MaerynPearl]

My hospital used to have the same policy but I think it changed since DD as this time I was talking to the tech and she was openly answering all of my questions (where my placenta was, what she was looking at/measuring and why, etc.)

I understand them being told not to tell though, as my first pregnancy (a missed miscarriage) I was at a hospital where they were allowed to tell and the tech was NOT being the least bit kind about it. Basically sat there telling me there was no way I was 13 weeks along, the baby only measured 6 weeks and didnt even have a heartbeat yet.

Yet? I got a bfp pregnancy test 9 weeks before then! There was NO way baby was only 6 weeks... I WISH she had not been able to tell me crap.

With DD and DS they told us all they could tell us is gender... and that our doctor would call with the other results.

[luv-my-boys]

it is not unusual for the tech's to be hush hush at the U/S it just really depends on the policies in place they have. We just had a 20 wk u/s and our tech wasnt even able to tell us boy or girl (we already knew from previous u/s at hosp.) and told us the dr will look over results and tell us. but yeah I wouldnt be too worried, id worry if the radiologist came in and did the u/s themselves or if you had several people come in and to it.

[earthyamber]

I had an ultrasound at 15 weeks due to bleeding and I am due for my "big" ultrasound in 3 weeks. My tech did tell me some things about my placenta (said it looked like I have placenta previa). Well, I never got a call from the OB and I stressed for a whole week until my appointment. The OB was livid that the tech said anything at all and he said she was wrong at that (it was lower but normal for 15 weeks). He said techs are not allowed to say anything because they are not doctors. He is putting in a complaint about the tech and said techs get fired constantly for crossing the line when it comes to diagnosing anything (they are not allowed too). He said only a radiologist or dr could do that.

So, it makes sense why your tech couldn't say anything. I know it can be stressful though!

[Ellen Griswold]

Originally Posted by breanna31

Then she said let me put it this way. If we saw something that looked serious we would have to leave the room and get the radiologist and your Doctor would also want to see you right away. I kind of felt like that was her way of telling me everything looked ok without actually telling me everything looked ok.....

I think that was exactly what she was doing.

[is it puppies?]

The tech barely even acknowledged that I was in the room, I couldn't even see the screen at all, and she was about 20 minutes late getting me in (and I had a rather full bladder). FINALLY when she let my husband come in the room I got to have the screen tilted towards me a bit and she printed some pictures (which I had to pay for). She would only print the 3 she was allowed to whether or not they were good (two were okay enough but I asked for some different shots and she wouldn't do it). My husband was only allowed in for about the last 2 minutes and she only turned up the volume so we could hear the hb but otherwise didn't even tell us what we were seeing so he had no idea!
Overall, the whole thing sucked, but I *think* the results were okay since my dr. didn't really have much to say other than "it looks okay".

[angelpie545]

Wow, I've heard of techs not being able to tell you things about CT or MRI scans but I've never heard of that policy being applied to ultrasounds. I've always been allowed to have a partner in the room with me right from the start, and I've had ultrasounds at two of the hospitals in my area. They even let my daughters sit in on one during my last pregnancy. My techs gladly gave me information about the baby in all three pregnancies, followed up by happy consultations with my caregiver, no issues. I expected more rules and regulations with my last baby since it was my first hospital birth, but I was pleasantly surprised by the relaxed atmosphere even when my care was partially handled by the maternal fetal medicine specialists, who were kind, patient, and surprisingly flexible. I guess I just got lucky.

[mediumcrunch]

Depends. I've had u/s where the sonographer might as well have been a deaf/mute for all the communication that went on. I've also had sonos where they told me play-by-play exactly what they were looking at, measuring and seeing. Including when she saw something not quite right. My last one was somewhere in between. Once she realized that I was identifying a lot on my own (9 babies, some high risk...you get pretty good at knowing what you are looking at) she opened up and talked more.

[HeatherB]

I definitely think, from what the tech said, that you don't need to worry.

I do think it's annoying, though. When my DS was having an u/s for suspected appendicitis, I knew she really couldn't tell me anything (I did ask what we were looking at, which is what I thought it was, but she didn't tell me it was clearly infected AND ruptured). I actually nearly had an anxiety attack waiting for her to go tell the docs, as I'd seen things I *knew* didn't belong there (dark areas). I was overjoyed when the guy taking us back to the room asked her if it was positive, to which she must've nodded, and HE told me. Whew. Never been so excited to have a child with appendicitis in my life! (I had old friends whose daughter was dying of neuroblastoma cancer, which was dxed in that same hospital, almost certainly in one of those two u/s rooms... So with the rupture and dark spots from that around, I was really freaked.)

Aaaanyway, I have generally had rather communicative u/s techs, and I *know* that when there's a problem, they leave the room (without saying anything) and bring a doc back for more. That's when you get bad news. Since you didn't, I think all is well!

[MaerynPearl]

Originally Posted by mediumcrunch

Once she realized that I was identifying a lot on my own (9 babies, some high risk...you get pretty good at knowing what you are looking at) she opened up and talked more.

That may have been why mine was so open... she did mention surprise at me asking where my placenta was... asked if I had been diagnosed with previa already and I told her no but I highly suspected it was anterior... to which she told me yep, dead-center anterior and partial previa.

Because my mom and daughter were in the room, I had to explain to them that neither of those things are particularly worrisome... that anterior meant i wouldnt feel as much early kicks high up and that previa would probably move and not cause any problems (tech probably would have explained had mom asked but she didnt look at mom as she was busy doing the u/s and my mom looked obviously worried)

After hearing me explain it so well and obviously knowing what I was talking about, she opened up a lot more about what she was doing/seeing and such.

I will say though, she didnt need to tell me the gender, when we got to that spot I knew. Very obvious three lines and total lack of boy parts!

[breanna31]

Thanks for all the responses. It makes me feel better to know people have had similar experiences.

Maeryn-that completely sucks about your experience with the loss you had. I would have been so upset to have someone tell me news like that so coldly. I don't even get how you can be so rude or show such a lack of emotion when telling a mom news like that.

Is it puppies? (this makes me laugh really hard by the way!)- I know what you mean about getting crappy pictures. This is another reason why I have been making myself crazy. I am not even kidding when I tell you the U/S picture they gave me looks like a zombie. The baby looks like it has no arms, a mile long neck, a HUGE stomach and it looks like there is a huge chunk of flesh hanging out of it's mouth like it had just eaten someone. I keep telling myself it is just a bad picture because I clearly saw a normal looking baby (with arms) during the U/S. When you have a picture that looks like that though you can't help but think did I really see a normal looking baby or am I actually going to give birth to a flesh eating zombie?

Thanks again for all the positive words!!

[MyFullHouse]

I've never had an u/s tech tell me anything other than gender and sometimes size (and, even then, with a disclaimer).

Even when I was dealing with an ectopic pregnancy, none of the 4-5 different techs I saw said a single word, except for the one time my doctor was actually in the room with us.
During my final scan, the tech obviously saw that I had ruptured and was bleeding into my abdomen, but I was not told until my doctor arrived to prep for surgery.

With this pregnancy, I had to get a scan to rule out a repeat ectopic. Even after the tech showed me the heartbeat and everything, she made a point of saying "I can't tell you that everything looks great." but she was smiling while she said it.

[is it puppies?]

Originally Posted by breanna31

When you have a picture that looks like that though you can't help but think did I really see a normal looking baby or am I actually going to give birth to a flesh eating zombie?

According to my pictures (and of course I didn't get to see much of the screen other than that) I am having a sardine with a pinocchio nose...

A flesh eating zombie would be fun, though

[corrio]

I had a tech actually lie to me, My son had a kidney problem inutero and we were getting a late u/s to check the status, she went on about how she was going to measure the stomach now, and went to a place with a big black spot in it, I was are you sure, your supose to be checking the kidney the techs whole attitude change once she knew that I knew why I was getting the scan.. But yah it was such a awful feeling knowing that they lied at first..

[CherryBomb]

It seems to vary depending on where you get the u/s. I think some docs/hospitals are a lot more strict about what the techs can tell you. I've had some techs that were really chatty and told me pretty much everything, and others that wouldn't even tell me what they were measuring

[mediumcrunch]

Originally Posted by MaerynPearl

I will say though, she didnt need to tell me the gender, when we got to that spot I knew. Very obvious three lines and total lack of boy parts!

Gender was easy to identify this time. All boy. I saw it when she was doing her initial sweep around before she even started measuring or looking at the genitals.
As she was going down the baby (they usually start at the head and move south) I was identifying structures for my husband. When I said "that's the aortic arch" that was her breaking point and she had to ask why I knew so much
In addition to all the pregnancies and u/s and fetal 2-D Echos, I am also an anatomy geek

[mistymama]

Sounds like it's just their policy and she kinda told you everything is ok without coming out to say it. I wouldn't worry.

At our u/s the tech was so awesome ... explained what she was looking at/measuring as she did it, talked and joked with us about how active he was. There was a big tv screen on the wall so dh, ds and I could all see it clearly, my Mom and Dad even came and sat in. We got a dvd and pictures, and she even switched it over to 4d at the very end where we have video of him rubbing his eyes.

I had a much less pleasant experience with ds - I think so much depends on the tech and the policies of the place you are having it done. When I had my m/c last year the tech in the ER wasn't allowed to tell me anything - but I'm not sure how much of that was policy or simply because she didn't want to be the one to tell me.

[Snugglebugmom]

So far I've only ever had ultrasounds at my OB's office in Massachusetts. The techs there were just lovely, they showed us all kinds of details, the chord, the spine, the kidneys and the full bladder, things like that. I understand that they have to be careful with what they reveal, since they are not diagnosticians, but what can it hurt to show things like that and explain what they are measuring and looking at?
It seems odd that there such differences in what they can and cannot say, and it's sad that some of you have encountered such rude and unkind technicians.
My ultrasounds have all been absolutely wonderful experiences, something I looked forward to every time. It saddens me that so many of you have been denied that.

[lillymonster]

I had a few u/s and the techs weren't allowed to tell me anything and I had to lay in silence

The last one, I had testing just because of AMA, so I at like 38 weeks they did a measurement. After wards she said that I had to wait and see the doctor and could not leave until I talked to him and I panicked. He just told me everything was normal and she was measuring at 7 1/2 pounds. I mean, the tech wasn't even allowed to tell me that!

[butterflies]

Aw, I'm sorry so many of you have had frustrating experiences. My techs have been great so far. They point out what they're seeing and answer questions and generally oh and ah over how cute the babies are. The tech was the one who told me that I was carrying twins at my 6 wk scan. This is a maternal fetal medicine practice and there's always a perinatologist in the u/s dept who comes in at the end for a quick peek and to discuss the results.

With ds I was in a different state and was sent for an u/s at 9 wks (because an idiot OB thought i was "too small" and based solely on that, suspected that the baby wasn't viable). The tech told me right away that the baby was perfectly fine.