Joining the "I hate Ultrasounds" crowd - Page 2 « Back to Group Discussions

[sosurreal09]

Of course there are circumstances that warrant ultrasounds! *I* just think they should be avoided if at all possible due to over diagnosis...Even some higher risk women I know have like 20 ultrasounds...it's just overkill. In my totally normal low risk pregnancy my OB (who I fired) wanted me to get at least 3...

[KM84]

Urgh, my previous OB was ultrasound-happy. By 20 weeks, I'd had 3 and I'm pretty sure once you get closer to your date she does them at every appointment (they have a machine in the office). 

I did actually consider asking for an ultrasound during the couple days we were considering a homebirth. My thinking was that a quick ultrasound would be good to double-check positioning once I get close to my due date.  Make sure there's no weird surprises. But we ended up finding a hospital that doesn't seem to awful, and I have no more ultrasounds on the horizon.

[JynxGirl]

I have honestly lost count of the number of ultrasounds I've had. It's getting up into the 20s by now.

On the one hand, it terrifies me how many I've actually had. On the other, it's helped me a hell of a lot calmer about this pregnancy than I would have been without them.

We lost a baby, not ever a year ago yet (04/29/11). It was my 8th pregnancy loss, and the first that ended with an emergency D&C, let alone any intervention at all, so it was quite traumatic for not only me, but my husband as well. 

I haven't fully addressed it yet, but it's been weighing heavily on my mind as we get closer and closer to that date... :( It's probably why I've been so moody and miserable the last week or so. (My dogs and daughter honestly act like I'm about to explode and kind of stay away... it's like they know I need the space...)

Maybe it would help me to spend a bit of time on this one and figure out why I feel so much more reassured when I can SEE the baby than when I can feel him or hear just his heart beat on the doppler. It's probably the scientist in me. If I can't see it, it's not real...

Is there a known risk to ultrasounds? I have honestly never looked into it. I mean, it weirds me out how much the baby hates them. He squirms and moves and kicks away, but I never thought they might be dangerous.

Wow, that got way off topic... tl;dr version : Jen is stressed about an upcoming date, and thinks that's why she's gone insane.

[KM84]

There aren't any conclusive risks to ultrasounds. Some people theorize that they can cause unsafe vibrations and temperature changes, but like most things in maternal fetal medicine there isn't solid evidence either way, because doing double-blind studies on unborn children is incredibly unethical. 

I think they're a fantastic tool when necessary, and have saved many lives, but I also think a lot of doctors have started using them as a crutch in place of more hands-on care. I had one at 8 weeks to date the pregnancy, which was totally stupid since I'd been charting and knew the date of ovulation. But I won't lie, it was exciting to see the heartbeat on my little jelly bean.

[casmer]

My baby too didn't seem to like the ultrasound, but I can't be 100% sure that's what was *really* happening.  I know people who get tons of them just so they can see the baby and their kids turn out fine.  If I were going through what you were, Jen, I don't think I'd be worrying about the ultrasounds.  I think KM84 summed it up greatly!

[rozziemama]

Oh Jen, of course this timing must be so hard for you.  Its no wonder you feel better when you can see the baby. I mean, I felt that way during my last pregnancy definitely, and probably would have during this pregnancy were it similar to my last (I've had 4 this pregnancy and each one has uncovered something concerning that always goes away on the next scan....grrr).

THere isn't conclusive evidence on there being any danger to u/s. I agree with everyone that baby is really squirmy when I have them - but he is always squirmy, so maybe it's just a coincidence? And I think for you, it's no wonder seeing your baby makes you feel better.

My feeling is the biggest risk of ultrasounds is the reliance and trust the medical establishment places on the technology - in particular wrt measurements, which can lead to other interventions (blood tests, amnio, induction, c section, etc)

Originally Posted by JynxGirl 

I have honestly lost count of the number of ultrasounds I've had. It's getting up into the 20s by now.

On the one hand, it terrifies me how many I've actually had. On the other, it's helped me a hell of a lot calmer about this pregnancy than I would have been without them.

We lost a baby, not ever a year ago yet (04/29/11). It was my 8th pregnancy loss, and the first that ended with an emergency D&C, let alone any intervention at all, so it was quite traumatic for not only me, but my husband as well. 

I haven't fully addressed it yet, but it's been weighing heavily on my mind as we get closer and closer to that date... :( It's probably why I've been so moody and miserable the last week or so. (My dogs and daughter honestly act like I'm about to explode and kind of stay away... it's like they know I need the space...)

Maybe it would help me to spend a bit of time on this one and figure out why I feel so much more reassured when I can SEE the baby than when I can feel him or hear just his heart beat on the doppler. It's probably the scientist in me. If I can't see it, it's not real...

Is there a known risk to ultrasounds? I have honestly never looked into it. I mean, it weirds me out how much the baby hates them. He squirms and moves and kicks away, but I never thought they might be dangerous.

Wow, that got way off topic... tl;dr version : Jen is stressed about an upcoming date, and thinks that's why she's gone insane.

[Kamiro]

My babe seems to hate the doppler way more than the u/s.Any one elses get super squirmy with the doppler?

[LinnieThree]

YES! This baby must hate it! He has given us the biggest run around out of all three kids. The doppler has been stressful for me. It took 10 minutes and two dr's to find his heartbeat at my 19 week appt and that was one of the scariest moments of my life! Even at his giant (almost 8 lb) size now, it's still not the same loud heartbeat that I heard with my first two. Everyone who has done the doppler on him (or the 3 u/s that we have had) have mentionned how squirmy he is!

[rozziemama]

My baby is also crazy squirmy with the doppler. Wonder what it sounds like for them in our bellies if anything.
 

Originally Posted by LinnieThree 

YES! This baby must hate it! He has given us the biggest run around out of all three kids. The doppler has been stressful for me. It took 10 minutes and two dr's to find his heartbeat at my 19 week appt and that was one of the scariest moments of my life! Even at his giant (almost 8 lb) size now, it's still not the same loud heartbeat that I heard with my first two. Everyone who has done the doppler on him (or the 3 u/s that we have had) have mentionned how squirmy he is!

[sosurreal09]

I read somewhere it is very loud to them.

[rozziemama]

Originally Posted by sosurreal09 

I read somewhere it is very loud to them.

[KM84]

Originally Posted by sosurreal09 

I read somewhere it is very loud to them.

Do you remember where you heard that? I'd be curious to see a source. Fetal dopplers operate in the 2 - 3 MHz range, and even at its best human hearing tends to top out around 20 kHz. A dog's hearing goes up to about 60 kHz. 

Of course, the sound of the wand against your skin is likely audible, but I wouldn't expect it to be different than a hand or anything else across the area. And of course the noise from the doppler speaker can likely be heard in the womb. I can see how the static noises might be startling.

[alittlesandy]

Originally Posted by KM84 

Do you remember where you heard that? I'd be curious to see a source. Fetal dopplers operate in the 2 - 3 MHz range, and even at its best human hearing tends to top out around 20 kHz. A dog's hearing goes up to about 60 kHz. 

Of course, the sound of the wand against your skin is likely audible, but I wouldn't expect it to be different than a hand or anything else across the area. And of course the noise from the doppler speaker can likely be heard in the womb. I can see how the static noises might be startling.

This is what my ultrasound tech told me. She said that most fetuses respond to the wand (either doppler or U/S) in the same way they would respond to any object dragged across the abdomen. I find that my baby responds in the same way to my hand, and sometimes she sleeps through the doppler and U/S, lol.

I'm one of those people who has relied on ultrasounds to reassure me. After two losses, my "intuition" always tells me that there is something wrong, and the OB and ultrasound tech have been wonderful in reassuring me that everything looks great.
 

[Kamiro]

Hmm. I am not doubting the person said that Sandy, but I really don't believe that with my experience. Because I can rub or like with driving (steering wheel rubbing my belly) and baby doesn't move and get squirmy to the other side of my belly like it does with the doppler. I mean its going crackhead crazy in there with the doppler.

During an u/s it didn't do this (I've had two this preg), but every time we've used the doppler its been crazy. This last appointment we used the fetal scope and it didn't happen either.

Just my anecdotal experience, please don't take offense.

[alittlesandy]

I've had many doppler readings and ultrasounds during both of my pregnancies and my baby has never gone crackhead crazy. Remember, correlation is not causation.

[Kamiro]

lol - well maybe mine is already high strung then ;)

[alittlesandy]

Originally Posted by Onemoreontheway 

lol - well maybe mine is already high strung then ;)

[Just1More]

Correlation is not ALWAYS causation.  Six or so Mamas have said their babies go crazy, while that has not been your experience. 

Based on this sample pool, it could also be said there is a 75% chance a baby will react to a doppler/ultrasound. 

It is prudent to watch for emergent patterns and act accordingly.  It's where research begins.

Originally Posted by alittlesandy 

I've had many doppler readings and ultrasounds during both of my pregnancies and my baby has never gone crackhead crazy. Remember, correlation is not causation.

[sosurreal09]

It was on FB in the HM4HB/Informed Consent group. A lot of people are hardcore against doppler and ultrasound there. They have lots of links of "ultrasound damage" etc....

I don't have them though I could ask if you really want it

[casmer]

My baby went crazy with the u/s, but never has had that reaction with the doppler.  Of course she's been to a lot of concerts already, so maybe that's why the sound doesn't bother her, haha.  Our Drs and midwives don't leave the doppler on the for very long, so it makes me wonder if there's a reason for them doing that...  I will say that early in my pg, I thought about going to one of those pregnancy spas to get an extra u/s, but changed my mind after seeing her reaction to the 20-week.  I think though, if I were high-risk, I would likely need the peace of mind.  I'm high-strung myself, so I don't think that kind of stress would be good for baby, so I would go for the extra u/s in that case.