ultrasound or not « Back to Group Discussions

[KellyandKatie]

So.... this baby was the first egg out of the hatch

as was my baby before this one

and the baby before this one

...

so when I am asked when my last period was... it was like 5 or 6 years ago and I have two babies to show since then 

I prefer not to do ultrasounds, but then after NOT having a good due date and things getting stressful at the end twoards the homebirth about me being too far over due

with the NEXT baby I did an ultrasound- but that made it even MORE stressful about passing my due date

so- no period history

and I tend to go long 

and I homebirth 

what do I want to do about figuring out a due date  here? 

I would prefer to just do NOTHING and let baby show up when baby shows up

but I think that is past my midwife's comfort level- and it will get stressful again at the end

(what I call stressful is having to do fetal stress tests knowing if I fail there goes my homebirth when I KNOW that everything is fine)

it is almost like I have to fake and fudge things to fix whatever date is needed to make people leave me alone I feel 

anyway- to ultrasound or not

what are my options lol 

[letniaLynne]

I would honestly look into another midwife. You have medical history now of delivering a healthy baby after the standard 40 weeks. Finding someone who is more comfortable with your bodies timeline should reduce your stress level at the end.

[rnra]

I'd get one done around 20 weeks or so for dating.  

Yes, you've had previous full-term deliveries; but, that doesn't mean this one will be too.  What is your plan if you go into labor and you think you're early?  Let's pretend that you go into labor and you think (based off of measurements, guessed dates, etc.) that you are only 34 weeks.  Would that change things?  Would you go to the hospital?  What if you go to the hospital because you think you are 34 weeks, when in reality you are 39 weeks and all is well?  I wouldn't be comfortable with that much ambiguity regarding dates.

[LLtheTinkerbell]

Personally I would love to not know dates. i really think it would be so great if we all had an "estimated due month". Our bodies don't read calendars, and our bodies and babies are all different. My midwife always told me to tell Drs you are 2 weeks earlier than you think you actually are, because everyone is always in such a rush to get that baby out, when things tend to go so much more smoothly when you let them happen on their own. Not the answer to your question I know personally I don't do ultrasounds at all. I think they are wrong as much as they are right. Also the later you get them the less accurate they are for dating.

[momzilla]

I have a friend who was in a similar position as you....she had 4 over a coarse of 9 years and just finally got her period.  You should do an ultrasound, even though I don't endorse them.  If your midwife is licensed or carries a CPM (Certified Professional Midwife) credential or even for  a direct-entry midwife, it is so she and other midwives in your state are protected, should something go wrong.  Of coarse, most homebirth midwives understand the due date month and respect the design of birth.  The ultrasound isn't about that, but about the legal system.  (Sad to say.)

[KellyandKatie]

That's how I see it - not for me but for some legal paperwork, I need to decide how many compromises to make for admin. The ultrasounds don't offer anything I need personally and just give some thing for legal to cling to

[LLtheTinkerbell]

Good point. What a pain.

[aidenn]

I am not for or against ultrasounds for other people, but for my own pregnancies, I feel better knowing about my baby's placental location.  I know not all defects (heart/lung/brain/etc) are detectable by ultrasound, so I don't feel one way or the other about U/S for those, but I can't imagine having placentia previa and not knowing it until I started to bleed.  Does anyone who is against U/S know how they detect for this without an ultrasound?

[Margo Nelson]

First off, talk to your midwife. Second, the uterus comes up out of the pelvis at about 12 weeks, and you can feel it (palpate it) at the same time right above your pubic bone.  If you don't want an ultrasound, the best thing to do is palpate (or have your midwife palpate) until you can feel the uterus, and call that 12 weeks.  The only thing that would change this is multiples, or a very difficult abdomen to palpate.  But again, see what your midwife thinks.