Are you having an early ultrasound?

[starkyld]

If so, could you tell me how far along you're planning on being at that time and why you're choosing to do so? I'm having a hard time trying to decide if I want/need one and I'll be soul-searching on this for the next week or so. Fortunately, I get to spend most of that time in Puerto Rico for my anniversary, so hopefully it'll be a good opportunity to relax and think things through.

I know that hanny just had one, but I think she might be the only one so far--sorry if I missed someone!

[chisub]

If I didn't have to keep my pregnancy out of my records until April 1st for insurance purposes my midwife would have me come in around 7 weeks b/c of spotting. I was about 4 weeks when it started for 3 days. She said she would wait until around 7 weeks b/c a test might be inconclusive before that anyways and there wouldn't be anything they could do if something happened. I would have gone in b/c I am nervous due to the spotting and would like to know that the baby is OK. It looks like I won't be going in until 9-10 weeks b/c of insurance, boo!

[tireesix]

I don't have a choice but to wait until 12 weeks unless of course there was something wrong......... Chances are though that I won't get a scan until I am about 14 lol.

[birthangeldoula]

My doctor set me up for an appointment in 2 weeks. I'll be 8 weeks 1 day. My husband is having a fit because he doesn't think we need an ultrasound. The reason for the u/s is because my last pregnancy was a blighted ovum. I'm really unsure if I should do it or not..

[jmo]

I'm having a u/s at 7.5 wks b/c I've had 2 losses and I just really need some reassurance that everything is okay. The OB advised the earliest I should have one was 6.5 wks as we might not see anything prior to that and it would just cause more worry. I didn't have any early u/s with my other pgs but I'm having a lot of anxiety this time. If I hadn't had 2 losses, I probably would not risk a first tri u/s but I'm feeling like the stress hormones are worse for the baby than any potentional u/s risk.

[Bella Catalina]

I'm having one next Monday at 6w6d... my betas were higher than average, and the only reason I know that and even had b/w done was because we just had a m/c in January... so we'll see if there is one or two

eta: ooh PR sounds like fun! I am probably going to spend a week down there to stay with a good friend in July :

[AugustineM]

I think I will be having one for peace of mind, reassurance, etc. at around 16 weeks. That's when my doc said he usually recommends one. He said before that you can't tell as much regarding the health of the baby.

[LotusBirthMama]

i will be getting on at my first ob appt. its the only reason i even set up the initial appt. i have a history of recurrent and missed m/cs so i need to know there is a heartbeat for my own peace. plus, since i plan to uc, i want to be sure there is only 1 in there!

i will also have one around 19-20 weeks to determine gender.

[Patchfire]

We won't be having an early ultrasound... well, actually, we won't be having any ultrasounds, period, unless there's something bizarre-seeming going on, but at this point, there are no indications that I need to have an early u/s, so. *shrug*

[mmomosedc]

I will not be having an early us with this pregnancy.

I did have one with my last pregnancy at about 10 wks. It showed an abnormality called an increased nuchal translucency which then led to another more detailed ultrasound to confirm the abnormality. We were then told that our baby had a 40% + chance of being born with a major genetic defect. The next ten weeks of pregnancy were VERY difficult and not with out many tears. At 20 weeks, we had another us done and everything looked normal. Our baby was born normally, no problems, thank God. But, I feel like we would have saved ourselves a lot of heartache if we had simply bypassed the first us. The only reason they did it was to "date the pregnancy" and I already knew when we conceived.

I feel like if there is an abnormality with this pregnancy, I don't want to know about it. I'd rather take one day at a time, and enjoy the pregnancy vs. worrying about a potential abnormality.

[JMarie930]

Yes, I'm having one next Monday, I'll be 7w3d. I had a m/c in December, so she just wants to make sure development is on schedule. My betas were good - doubled almost exactly every 2 days - so I have that on my side. With DS I didn't have an u/s until 12 weeks, and that was only due to heavy bleeding. As long as everything looks good on Monday, we won't have another until 20-ish weeks. If things are too difficult to see (I have a retroverted/tipped/tilted/whatever... uterus), then we'll have another in about two weeks. Fingers crossed!

[Jaysmylilpunkin]

Well I am having one. At 7.4 weeks. The OB that I am using doesn't use a doppler because he believes it emits more radiation than a U/S so he does one at every visit to check the heartbeat. I'm not sure I'm completely comfortable with all that but if that's what he believes... I am also a VBAC so I went with a highly recommended VBAC dr.

[GreenFlower]

I was going to have one fairly early, and then one a little later on...second trimester...to find out the gender. However, after reading/researching, I really don't feel it's a necessary risk to have two u/s done. I part of me kind of feels like I want to make sure everything is o.k., but if it's not, what am i going to do about it? nothing but pray...which I'm already doing.

So...my plan is to wait until we could find out the gender, and then just have that one u/s done as an all-in-one type of u/s

[nurnur]

probably wont be having one at all, I feel like there is soo much we don't know about US effects on the developing fetus and what we do know is enough for me to steer clear unless I really think the benefit outweighs the risk. It would be nice to know right away if it is only 1 in there since I have a history of twins!!! but I can wait it out, usually w/twins one would start to measure very large around 5 months. I also will try to not expose my baby to any doppler. This will be my first technology free baby!

[BookishVonLiberal]

You know, I don't know if I'm having any or not. I have my first appt. at 9-10 weeks and unless we suspect twins I don't think they'll order one.

In your case, I can see wanting one because of your encounters with the negative midwife from hell.

[natalieadw]

Definitely no early us. Maybe none at all......if there was one it would be done at 20 weeks, so I have a while to decide.

[starkyld]

Thank you all for sharing your choices with me. It helps to get perspective.

Originally Posted by BookishVonLiberal

In your case, I can see wanting one because of your encounters with the negative midwife from hell.

...yeah. I was all set to decline an early ultrasound and then I had a midwife put me through So Much Grief unnecessarily. I still think that she refuses to acknowledge how early my pregnancy is (5 weeks today). After that, I'm wondering if I really need affirmation in the near future or if I can hang in long enough to hear a heartbeat with a fetoscope. And even if I decide that I'll be okay with skipping one, I'm not sure that my husband will be. He's a (sweet, caring) cynic by nature and is having a hard time believing that this is really happening for us and that it's okay to be excited.