ultrasound madness

[maylea_moon]

I have noticed that in almost every July DDC on mainstream pregnancy boards, the women have all already had an ultrasound or are planning on having one in the next week or so so they can see the heartbeat.

: Is this normal? I had my first child in the hospital and they only routinely perform one at 20 weeks. This time I'm going for a homebirth and my midwife doesn't even routinely perform one at ALL. (unless i want one)

so i guess my question is, are any of you having super early ultrasounds? who is only having the 20 week? how many are choosing to have none? And what are your reasons?

[trmpetplaya]

My midwife does the doppler once a month starting at 10-11 weeks until she can use the fetoscope (20 weeks?) and only does an U/S if it is medically indicated or if I wanted one (which I don't unless it's medically indicated...).

I don't think it's "normal" to have so many or so early ultrasounds unless something is going wrong. Though I do not judge those who feel they need to. It's their decision. While I would love to see the heartbeat right now, I'm not going to unless I start spotting red (right now it's very light and brown off and on like it was with dd) because there have not been nearly enough studies on the effects of U/S and the technology hasn't been around long enough for me to trust it. Billions of women had babies before U/S technology and the human race still exists. If they could do it then so can I

That said, if my midwife does recommend an U/S then we will find out the gender, but only because if I do get the chance it'll drive me nuts not to know :

love and peace.

[tatermom]

I'm expecting an ultrasound at my 1st midwife appt, probably around wks 9 or 10... they routinely do an ultrasound then to get a good date on the fetus (we needed that last time, but this time I'm certain of the conception date), to rule out things like a blighted ovum, etc, and to find out if there is more than 1 fetus! Other than that intital one, we only get the 20 wk one (which is a level II and much more extensive... I'm still debating whether we want to do that one) unless there is cause for concern. Personally I'd be wary of too many ultrasounds (I know of people who have them at every appointment) but I think that 2-3 over the course of a pregnancy is probably safe... though I agree that they haven't been around long enough to know for sure.

[maylea_moon]

The girls in the other boards probably think I'm nuts because I might not have one at all.

I'm debating the 20w one. Part of me wants to trust my body and my baby but then another part of me wants to know for sure that everything is ok. It's a hard choice, but luckily I have 15 weeks to decide.

[Isaac'sMa]

My MW only requests one US at 18 wks and *only if* the patient wants it. She requests another if clinically indicated. For ex., with DS I was measuring large for my date and I had been charting and had a positive OPT so I knew the exact date. She sent me for an US at 9 weeks b/c it's better to know if you have twins asap in her opinion. At that point, she and DH and I agreed to skip the 18 wk one since the 9 wk one was "normal". I ended up also having one at 25 weeks when I got rear-ended (car totaled) and had to go to the hospital to be observed etc. This had nothing to do with my MW since she mostly a HB MW. The MW also requested one when I went overdue. I think it was at 41wks, 5days. Of course, DS was born the next day!

So, routinely, she only does one, but I ended up with three.

[mirthfulmum]

I love ultrasounds. I love getting that sneak peak at the baby!

BUT I have only ever gotten the one routine ultrasound at 20 weeks. I wouldn't have one done just to have a view, research is very fuzzy on what repeated ultrasounds does to a fetus.

This time around however I have to get an ultrasound done on my stomach next week, I may have a gallbladder problem. So I'm going to ask if they can take a quick look at the babe, since they're there and all.

[maylea_moon]

Laura - My midwife is kind of like that. Well, she's more anti-u/s unless she suspects something is wrong, but will do one at 20 weeks if I really really want one (I'm not sure if she does it or if she refers me to someone else...it's something I have to ask her)

Mirthfulmum - I had an ultrasound on my GB a few weeks after my son was born. Luckily everything turned out to be ok. Good luck with that!

[proudhsmommy]

We plan on having ours at 20 weeks to make sure everything is okay.

I had 1 with my first at 20 weeks. 3 with my second, one at 12 weeks to do the neuchal test, one at 20 weeks and one at 34 weeks to make sure her stats etc were okay.

We'll probably just have the one unless our doctor thinks we need another.

[imgr8ful]

i'm not planning any u/s this time. and will probably only do the doppler for the hb once around 12 weeks (when i'm planning my first appt). the doppler waves are actually much stonger than the u/s waves.

[maylea_moon]

Originally Posted by imgr8ful

i'm not planning any u/s this time. and will probably only do the doppler for the hb once around 12 weeks (when i'm planning my first appt). the doppler waves are actually much stonger than the u/s waves.

really? wow, i didn't know that. i think my midwife only uses the doppler once (12 weeks) and then the fetoscope on all other appointments.

[pilllowhead]

I had the dating scan, without really being asked last time and then refused the 20 week after informed discussion with my canadian midwife. when I returned to England the doctors FLIPPED. They didn't want me to have a homebirth and just insisted everything was shakey, uncertain and wrong without me having one.
This time the midwife here in England just told me when to phone for my first scan appointment without really asking if I wanted one. I don't think there is a culture over here of refusing tests, especially not on the NHS (public healthcare). Last time I refused a second Anti-D shot, refused the 20wk scan and the diabeties test. I was the nightmare patient and they didn't deal well. We'll see how much of a rebel I feel like being this time. I would rather not fight about things and be told I'm putting my baby at risk!

[tripmom+]

Since I have a history of multiples and I have a son with a neural tube defect, I will probably have a few. I'll have one next week to (hopefully) confirm that we are only expecting one little one. And, we'll have one at 17-20 weeks. I think that if everything looks OK at that one, I won't have any more. I had probably 20 ultrasounds with the triplets. At 9 years old, they seem pretty OK, FWIW.

[Mel L]

I plan on having 2. One next week (vaginal to confirm what everyone else said), and we will have one around 20 weeks. My OB is very much a u/s only only a needed basis kind of thing after that. I am worried for those moms who have 10 because the dr. "needs to check blah...blah." I know those are also the moms who have scheduled inductions for the convenience of everyone involved. A friend suggested my first OB with my son. I was glad when my insurance changed, and we had to find a new dr. The more I found out about her practices, the more I was scared (too many u/s, induced labor, and other stuff). I didn't do as much research because my friend though so highly about her. Shame on me. I love my OB now though.

It is one thing to require an u/s or induction for the health of the mother or child, but it is a whole different thing when it is done over and over for convenience.

[MamaSpruce]

I'm pretty anti-ultrasound here and don't intend to have any or doppler. I will probably allow my midwife to use doppler during labor as she did last time. She doesn't like to use them before, just waits until the fetascope can detect heartbeat. I just like to take a natural, trusting approach to pregnancy and birth. You just don't know what bombarding your baby with sound waves could do. Even if it is just discomfort (which I think it probably is) I don't see the point just to check early on things that can be confirmed in other ways. That said, there is a place for them if it is really neccessary. I did do one with ds at 36 weeks, because he was breech and we needed to see what was going on before my midwife tried turning him. Turned out he had turned just before the us without me knowing!

[2much2luv]

I don't have a problem with ultrasounds. I had one with each of my other pregnancies at 20 weeks. I don't even know if the midwife I'm seeing does one, but I kind of hope so. I'd like to know about anything seriously wrong before hand if I can.
I would be okay with an early ultrasound if I had bleeding or if I was measuring "wrong", just to be sure. I would not be okay with an ultrasound at every appointment I don't think.
I also don't mind dopplers. We searched a little for the heartbeat today even though it's too early anyway.

[cyncyn]

I was surprised to see all the dating u/s stuff too. I didn't know that people regularly got them that early. Last time I had 1 at 10 weeks for the CVS test (to guide the catheter through my cervix) and another at 20 weeks, then a couple more at 41 weeks and 42 weeks. I was only planning to have 1 at 20 weeks this time, as I will be paying out of pocket (i think). I am touring the birth center next week and will ask about their protocol. I would like to know if I am carrying twins, but hesitate due to cost and possible risk.

[KlutzyGirl]

Hi, all. I don't want an ultrasound at all unless it is medically necessary. All of the research I have done indicates that more research is necessary, and also in one particular study it was found that women who had ultrasounds in pregnancy vs those who did not were five times more likely to have a left handed baby if it was a boy. That in itself doesn't say anything to me, but it does indicate that there are effects of the ultrasound. Beyond that, the data shows that ultrasounds do heat up the fetus, and I don't want to go heating up body parts that are developing. Who knows what that unneccessary temperature rise causes?

I haven't been to my midwife yet (appt. next week at six weeks) so I don't know how she feels, but I'm guessing she'll be supportive since she only does homebirths and is not medically oriented.

[beana's mommy]

I love getting ultrasounds and getting a glimpse of our baby. I have read the research done on the subject and I feel comfortable with getting them.

We're getting our first next week, I'm on progesterone, and they just want to confirm everything is okay, since progesterone can mask a miscarriage.

Without early ultrasound we would have never known my dd had a twin that she shared the first 6 weeks of her life with.

I'm a big worrier, also, I continue to test every week to make sure that line is getting darker/staying dark.

[ChelseaG]

We didn't get any ultrasounds last pg and won't get any this time either - unless there is a medical need. Everybody pretty much thought I was crazy that I didn't have one - they are so widely used nowadays - my dd's baby book even has a designated spot to paste a "photo of the ultrasound".
IMO - as long as my midwife can hear the heartbeat and can feel externally how the baby is positioned - I don't need one.