mama2nicola...
I asked for an early ultrasound because two months before I had a ruptured cyst on my ovary that probably was an ectopic pregnancy. Labor did not even begin to touch the pain that caused!!! I was so nervous about things not being in the right place and not wanting to go through that again, the exposure was worth it to prevent myself from being a nervous wreck.
At 12 weeks, I had another, because the doctor couldn't hear the heartbeat on doppler, and I was measuring really large. That's when we found out about the twins.
Now we're going in for an ultrasound study every 2 weeks, because one of our boys suffers from IUGR from an unknown cause, but he's doing well now. We will have to continue this weekly-to-3-times-weekly monitoring from here on out, so that the babies can be taken early if things start to deteriorate.
I've had a lot of friends tell me I'm lucky to get so many ultrasounds. It *is* neat to see them, especially since there's no guarantee both of ours will make it. However, in actuality it's extremely stressful, because of all the management--but for us the tradeoffs are more than plenty if it means the lives of the boys can be saved.
I guess there are some people who would say I'm frying my boys, but the jury's still out on that. I think doctors will give ultrasounds to people who ask for them, and most only give 1 or 2...perhaps one to make sure there's no ectopic pregnancy, and then another in the 2nd trimester to check on growth. It's up to the individual person to decide how much intervention is appropriate, and you can *always* refuse the ultrasound, just like any other test or medical procedure. But I'm glad they're so widely available.
And veganmamma I'm so sorry for your sister's loss.She is very lucky to have you.
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