[completebeginnings]

I have been kind of surprised which how many people on this group have already gotten multiple ultrasounds. I am beginning to feel like to lone stranger in not wanting one. I have had them in my three other pregnancies(1st didnt know better, 2nd had a partial placenta previa that moved, 3rd had severe bleeding from 10-30 weeks) but was aiming not to get one this time around. Why are you getting one? Or not getting one?

 

[firewoman]

I have had one (at 15 weeks) so far and it was a total of about two minutes. I was being ultra selfish and wanted one to find out the gender. He was able to see it immediately take a few shots and then I told him it was enough. I may have a full obstetrical scan at 24 weeks but I haven't decided yet. I will talk more to the midwife about that. There are a lot of ladies in this DDC who will not be receiving one at all so you are not alone. I'm sure they will all answer this thread.

 

[momma E]

I will not be getting one unless something comes up along the way that makes my mw think that I need one. I had one with my first, and although it was really cool, I left kind of feeling like I had cheated. For one I had planned on not finding out the sex, but the woman giving me the ultra-sound acted like I was crazy, and kept saying things like "I can tell you right now what it is but I guess if you would rather wait....." So I ended up finding out.
I also felt like it was totally unnecessary.
So now I feel like if everything is going well, I can hear a heartbeat and feel this baby moving around, I am happy with that.

 

[fyrebloom]

I did have one this time because of red bleeding and pain on one side, We were concerned I was having an ectopic. It's the only one I'm having though unless I feel something isn't right.

I had a TON of them for my first... like 5 of them or so. I had FAR more with my twins. I seriously would like to never see another ultrasound again. The novelty wears off VERY fast when you have them every three week, then every two then every week or even biweekly. Yeah, no thanks.

 

[StephM76]

I am only having one this pregnancy. I am having a home birth, and for my own piece of mind, I need to know where the placenta is and that the baby is healthy.

 

[hopeful_mama]

I am having them, but this is also my first baby, so far it seems that those skipping them are less likely to be on their first baby.

As of now, I'm expecting to have 3. I had a dating one around 7 weeks (I really needed to see the heartbeat, I was very afraid something would go wrong until then due to some prior problems). I am having a nuchal translucency screening tomorrow - if it were just me, I might skip this one, but I'll be 36 and Down's would be a huge issue for my husband, and it's his baby too. [And if we were to have a problem, for the sake of the marriage we'd need to address it sooner rather than later.] Also my practice does a 20 week one. If we found out the gender tomorrow I would consider skipping that one, but again, I'd want my husband's input too (and my dr's, but I'd listen to my husband's opinion more). If there were a problem, I might have slight hesitations about having more done, but I'm sure they'd be overridden by concern for the baby and wanting to make sure everything's ok or do what's best.

If I ended up in a practice that routinely did them at every appointment, as I have heard some do, I would definitely refuse many of them.

I'm not sure how typical I am though - I feel much less "natural"-minded than many of the posters here, but I'm more so than the people I know, and I just felt so much more comfortable with the level of discourse in this DDC than in other forums. Personally I wouldn't make a lot of the decisions others here are making (though health issues preclude some outright), but everyone generally takes such a reasoned approach to things, and remains open-minded, and I love learning about new ideas even if I'm not going to use them (and often a practice that you won't use has at least a little something in it that you will use anyway, I find).

 

[mum2row]

Quote:

Originally Posted by StephM76 I am only having one this pregnancy. I am having a home birth, and for my own piece of mind, I need to know where the placenta is and that the baby is healthy.

This is my thought exactly. For my first pregnancy the placenta was low-lying on the first u/s the second u/s showed that the placenta had moved up. We live a good 30 minutes by ambulance to the nearest hospital and I know how fast bleeding can occur if the placenta is too close to the cervix. So I will go for the standard 18 week u/s and then only repeat if necessary. I feel a lot more comfortable having a home birth this way.

 

[midwifer]

I am not planning on one and did not have one with my other two pregnancies. I do not feel they are dangerous. For me, they just take away some of the exciting mystery of who this baby is.

 

[eloise24]

I had one yesterday . . . but in my mind it was kind of necessary. We had no idea if the baby was due at the beginning of October or the end . . . and a month makes a huge difference!

We may have another around 20 ish weeks, but our MW doesn't really care and it's more up to what we're thinking at that point.

I completely understand those of you that don't have them and wouldn't have had one at this point if we had *any* clue when we conceived

HA!

 

[boobs4milk]

I've already had 3 and will have more. I'll be having bi-weekly cervical checks after 20 wks and I'll have the in-depth one with the MFM dr. at 20ish weeks. It makes me feel good that midwifer said she doesn't feel they are dangerous

I'm a worrier but for me the benefits greatly out weigh the risks.

 

[astar326]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mum2row This is my thought exactly. For my first pregnancy the placenta was low-lying on the first u/s the second u/s showed that the placenta had moved up. We live a good 30 minutes by ambulance to the nearest hospital and I know how fast bleeding can occur if the placenta is too close to the cervix. So I will go for the standard 18 week u/s and then only repeat if necessary. I feel a lot more comfortable having a home birth this way.

good to know. i was going to ask StephM76 when she was planning on having hers and you answered it for me. i was really opposed at 1st, but dh wants one so maybe i will have one to locate the placenta. i have an apt. on monday so i will ask the mw what she thinks. i really want to be surprised by the gender, so i hope it's not too obvious.

 

[love4acr]

I'm planning a up/uc and therefore I'm not anticipating an ultrasound. I've looked into ultrasounds a lot and I personally do not think they're 100% safe, particularly regarding the future fertility of female fetuses. I find it very curious how many women struggle with infertility since the use of ultrasounds has become more common. There are other questionable effects that ultrasound may or may not have on the fetus, but no one can say for sure if they're 100% safe, I don't care what any doctor says, especially when he's making more money everytime one is performed. Some people get them to establish a due date, my thoughts are that the baby will come when the baby is ready. Some people get them to find out the sex, and while that tends to make life more convenient for the parents, it's still potentially putting the baby at risk unnecessarily to find something out that you'll end up finding out the moment the baby is born.

However, I do believe that ultrasounds (like ob's) hold a valuable purpose in a low percentage of pregnancies and births. I wouldn't say that I would NEVER have an ultrasound (I did have one in each of my first 2 pregnancies), but I'm not planning on one for this pregnancy. A low-lying placenta toward the end of pregnancy would be a reason I would have one. But most low-lying placentas will move upward as your uterus grows throughout pregnancy, so that's not something I would incorporate until the end of a pregnancy.

As far as having an ultrasound in fear that something has happened with the baby, that's really not a good enough reason for me. Here's my logic... what if something has happened to the baby? I would wait to miscarry. What if I didn't have an ultrasound and something had happened to the baby? I would wait to miscarry, but I would at least be able to complete the last few remaining days or weeks of my pregnancy in peace.

Another reason many people have an ultrasound is to determine position of the baby. Breech presentation is a non-issue for me, I'm totally comfortable with it. If I was in labor for a VERY long period of time and suspected a transverse presentation, I would opt for an ultrasound at that point.

Probably the only other reason I would consider an ultrasound is if I suspected an ectopic pregnancy.

I think these types of decisions are very personal, I would just like to see women educate themselves on whether or not they're safe and/or necessary instead of blindly following doctor's orders. I was guilty of that with my first pregnancy (with ob) and have so many regrets.

 

[Kritto]

I'm not planning on having any ultrasounds this time around, unless my midwife is concerned about something and feels it's medically necessary.

I had one u/s last pregnancy for dating purposes. It was really neat to see my little one, but this time around I don't feel like I need to unless something seems odd. We know when we conceived, we don't want to know the sex of the baby before birth, it's a low-risk pregnancy... no real reason to have an ultrasound.

 

[AuntieLiz]

I'd prefer to avoid ultrasound (I even feel guilty about the 3 Doppler scans I've had, and after 20 weeks I'll request fetoscope), but if my midwife feels that it is necessary in the case of a problem or possible complication, then I will have one.

 

[Bromache]

I am planning to have the 18 week ultrasound. I just really want to see the baby for my peace of mind, and have them check for healthy, functioning organs and so on. But only just the one unless medically necessary. It creeps me out to hear of some women having them at nearly every appointment -- that certainly seems like overkill and I would not be comfortable with that.

As usual, it's another one of those things that everyone has differing opinions about! But, that's my take on it.

 

[babywink]

I haven't had any. I may have one around 20 wks, I don't think it's necessary but in order to appease my DH who is nervous about a homebirth, I will probably do it. With DS I had one ultrasound planned but ended up having more due to complications that arose...I don't think they are necessary by any means unless there are issues. Last I recall, they weren't really recommended as "routine".

 

[sunnygir1]

I will not get an ultrasound unless my midwife, my doctor, my husband, or I is worried about something AND the ultrasound would give me information to act on.

I didn't have one my last pregnancy until I was in the hospital at 34wks+6 with ruptured membrane. Well, actually, I had one of my gallbladder last pregnancy because I was having severe gallbladder pain, but they didn't look at my uterus.

 

[sunnygir1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hopeful_mama I am having them, but this is also my first baby, so far it seems that those skipping them are less likely to be on their first baby.

This happens to be my second baby, but I didn't do ultrasound or Doppler with my first pregnancy either.

 

[Krystal323]

None for me. I've heard the HB on doppler once, and that's about as invasive as i'm gonna get until the very end, unless there is some indication that things aren't okay in there

 

[Ms. Cellaneous]

I'm getting ultrasounds for two reasons: One, because I've done my own research and concluded that they are safe for the baby. And two, because they have really helped me feel piece of mind following my first pregnancy, which ended with a "missed" miscarriage that was discovered at a 10-week ultrasound (baby had stopped growing at 6 weeks, with no signs that anything was wrong). Seeing that my baby is growing and healthy has really made a tremendous difference in my mental state going from fearful to hopeful. Obviously #2 wouldn't matter if I didn't believe #1. But for me the ultrasound has been an amazing tool.

To the OP, I would add that it probably seems like more people are getting ultrasounds in part because we all post after we get one -- myself included -- the "ooh, I just saw my little bean in the u/s, I'm so excited, etc etc" post. Whereas people who aren't getting them don't post "Hey, I didn't get an ultrasound today, and I'm so excited!" But I'm sure they're out there!

Quote:

Originally Posted by hopeful_mama I'm not sure how typical I am though - I feel much less "natural"-minded than many of the posters here, but I'm more so than the people I know, and I just felt so much more comfortable with the level of discourse in this DDC than in other forums. Personally I wouldn't make a lot of the decisions others here are making (though health issues preclude some outright), but everyone generally takes such a reasoned approach to things, and remains open-minded, and I love learning about new ideas even if I'm not going to use them (and often a practice that you won't use has at least a little something in it that you will use anyway, I find).

Just wanted to say me too!!! I'm probably on the "soggy" side of the "crunchy" scale, but I love the thoughtful discussion here. And MDC has definitely opened my eyes to new ways of thinking.