Anyone else not doing u/s?

[MelissaEvans]

Just curious. If so, why not?
I'm not; I took Bradley classes last round (and actually am a provisional teacher myself now) and am worried by them. The video of the cells changing shape and movement was enough to make me think twice. I also wonder if there's supposed to be some mystery to pregnancy. Sometimes knowing too much doesn't help - along the same lines as vaginal exams, if we were meant to know, perhaps our cervix would be exernal. =) Obviously, in some cases the benefits outweigh the risks. Just rambling now.

[mraven721]

We won't be. For several reasons. First of all the u/s did us so wrong last time. It estimated baby being 12 pounds, then I went 'overdue' so they induced. I had a c section and a beautiful 8 lb 14 oz baby.
Second, for all of your reasons as well. And the studies that show baby moving away for the u/s when it's placed on mama's belly. I heard the sound is like a jet plane to them.

[Honeybee'smama]

We won't be either unless some situation comes up that it is needed. But not just for routines sake. I don't see any real reason for doing it just because. ITA knowing too much is not always a good thing.

[MelissaEvans]

Yeah! I'm not the only one. =)
Michelle, I am so sorry. I've heard of them being off by 2lbs on a pretty normal basis.. but 3.5-4? My gosh. And to put you through an induction and on a path to surgery for it too. *hugs* Where are you planning to birth this baby? I didn't see it mentioned on the EDD thread.

[EllasMama]

Great question! I won't do Doppler during pregnancy b/c I've read one minute of it is equivalent to nearly an hour of traditional ultrasound. I don't need to hear the baby's heartbeat each month to know it's growing inside there - I have all this vomiting to remind me of that! I will allow Doppler monitoring during labor.

I am debating having one ultrasound at around 18 weeks. I know it won't catch many abnormalities, but it could catch a couple of the big ones. I did it last time but it was a HORRIBLE experience. The lab I went to was very mainstream and literally couldn't understand my concerns. I asked for as short an ultrasound as possible and specified which things I wanted to be viewed. The woman just said, "well this is perfectly safe, you know." (Oh really? Thanks, I guess all the reading I've done out the window on the word of a technician who isn't even allowed to interpret the u/s results.) The woman just went down her checklist of organs to check as the minutes ticked away. It lasted about 45 minutes or more. She also asked us again and again if we were sure we didn't want to know the baby's sex. Oh, and they told me to drink X amount of water beforehand, and then complained about how full my bladder was when I came in. Why I didn't walk out, I don't know.

If I do it this time, there is an ND in town who will do a very short one like I wanted last time. But I'll have to pay out of pocket and we're really short on money, so that may influence the final decision.

Oh, and I also won't do a "let's just see what's going on" vaginal exam prior to labor this time. Whether related or not, my water broke the day after I did that last time and I'm not sure it was the best time for my labor to commence, since I was only 39 weeks and was coming down with a horrible cold that left me very physically drained for labor.

Carol

[Heavenly]

Well we weren't planning on it but I have one today at 11:30 am. If you read my previous posts you'll understand why. at this point I feel its important to make sure everything is okay. If it is twins in there I wil probably have to have more ultrasounds but I will try to do as few as possible. If it is one I will have an ultrasound at 20 weeks because I feel more comfortable knowing about possible complications in advance. I feel this is a safe choice to make when planning a homebirth - to make sure there is no detectable medical condition that would need you to be in hospital, for example if your baby had heart problems or something else. There is a little boy in our church that was born without a diaphragm and all his organs were up in his chest cavity. Thankfully they knew in advance and he was able to be delivered early and get the proper treatment. Considering my children are fine and were both exposed to ultrasound I personally feel the benefits outweigh the risks.

[xenomama]

Not sure yet. We're hoping for a homebirth, and in that case probably won't do any. If I do "generic" care for any reason, I may have one - the standard 20 week-er, unless there's some medical reason for others.

I had 6 u/s with the last pg due to b.s. "family history" reasons, and all they did was cause worry. Not sure if I'm up for that again.

[Sleepymama]

Our son has a congenital heart defect that was not detected on u/s, but they can be detected. I had one yesterday to check for viable fetus--saw heartbeat (history of m/c) and will have a level II at 15 weeks to check the heart, and then a fetal echocardiogram (basically like a level IV u/s) to rule out a heart defect at 22 weeks. I would not have a homebirth without ruling out another heart defect as that could be life threatening.

[MelissaEvans]

Originally Posted by EllasMama

Great question! I won't do Doppler during pregnancy b/c I've read one minute of it is equivalent to nearly an hour of traditional ultrasound. I don't need to hear the baby's heartbeat each month to know it's growing inside there - I have all this vomiting to remind me of that! I will allow Doppler monitoring during labor.

Same here. =) I figure during labor using the device that lets me be in a more comfortable position, not have to be still, and we can all hear how the baby's doing is fine. By then, the major organs are developed so I'm not so worried. =)
They make "teaching" stethescopes - one round thing to put on mom that splits into two ear things. I'm going to get some of those so I can listen along with the midwife. =) They're not too expensive either (like $16 from Cascade).
eta: here's the link to the stethescope http://www.1cascade.com/professional...g_stethoscope/ - it's $18, still not too bad.