u/s if you had your time again..would you?

[Rivlas]

I had a scan with DD1 and I didn't agree with the date. We ended going with my dates as I was 100% certain when I fell pregnant.
With DD2 I didn't have one as the Dr said he would again go with my dates.
Back then you didn't see much and were told even less. I think you were around 20 weeks before you were offered a scan and you didn't have any pictures to take home.

I don't think it made any difference to how I felt being pregnant

[Bumperstump Cummerbund]

Although a termination would be against my religious beliefs, I agree with PP's about being able to research and psych yourself up before the birth if there were a problem.

Apart from that, I'm generally a pretty anxious person, so I suspect I would need at least ALL of the standard u/s just to reassure myself.

[{sarah}]

I'm a bit of a fence sitter on this one....

With DS I had a scan at 18 weeks & another at 32 weeks. I would have been happy with just the 18 week scan, but the 32 week one was due to an suspected amniotic fluid issue.

With DD I had scans at 7 weeks, 19 weeks, 28 weeks & 37 weeks. The first was because she was an IVF baby & it is part of my clinic's protocol to make sure bub is in the right place. The 28 & 37 week scans were because the midwives thought she was small & the doctors thought she was big (conflict there? LOL) but she was sot on for dates at both. I don't think either of those were necessary at all & given the choice I wouldn't have them again.

With my third pregnancy I had just the one scan at 9 weeks 5 days. I was measuring at 12 weeks and my dates were uncertain, so my doctor sent me for a scan to check for twins or if I was further ahead (which was a possibility because of my previous cycle). At the appointment I was going to ask him to send me for a scan if he didn't order one, because I had a dreadful feeling that something was wrong. Sadly I was right Put in the same situation I would absolutely have another scan to set my mind at ease or to find out bad news sooner rather than later.

For future pregnancies my doctor has recommended an early scan to make sure all is ok because of the miscarriage I had in January. I'm happy with that because I have bad anxiety until I feel movement which I supsect will be worse now given that we have lost a pregnancy.

[kawazuki]

Not everyone bonds with a baby in utero though. They need to see their little person IRL

im feeling like the odd one out

i wouldnt do it again.
i dont think id even worry about a dating scan..

even though i loved seeing them, i found it stressfull as they are doing so much testing and the results never changed our opinion on the outcome.

so ill join you in being the odd one lol

i also found it expensive and a cost i dont need to worry about next time

[Lulu]

by the time I had my last I didn't bother so much. Just one about 12 weeks to see if it was still ok (prev mc) and after that I was happy enough to hear the heartbeat to bond.

[MrsFabuloso]

Hmm, I think I would. If anything were detected to be wrong, I would want to know. I had several scans with both of my successful pg's because of early bleeding, and the fact that I had a second trimester loss and late first trimester loss. So I had scans at 7wks, 12wks, 19wks. Plus with DS I had issues with amniotic fluid too, and the doctors were certain he was going to be ginormous, so I had two sizing scans at 32 and 37wks.

I don't know I would have so many scans though, probably just the morphology one at 20 wks. Even if there were issues with bub, I would continue the pg anyway, just with a heads up.

[onthefly]

I'm a little concerned about the possible ill-effects of lots of scans, so would like to limit them in future. But doing IVF makes that hard too.

We ended up asking our OB to stop doing them last time, as he would just do them as a matter of course every time we saw him (and we got charged for it of course).
I guess I'd rather just do it as and when it seems necessary.

The waiting is very hard, I know, but I always seemed to find the lead-up immediately before a scan was the most nerve-racking part! And personally I bonded more with the kicking, squirming thing inside me than a picture on the screen.

Rivlas, you must be young. I don't think they even had ultrasounds when she was pregnant

[Stevie]

i had the 12 week NT u/s and the 19 week u/s i LOVED seeing her jump around in there and id do it the same having my time again.. and if i have another i will def be doign these scans again.
i also had one at 32-33 weeks (cant remember lol) but my mw was like " you wanna see bub?" and wheeled in a portable u/s machine and i was liek "hell YES!!" haha

i couldnt go the whole time without seeing my baby!! I think it makes it a little more real, esp in the beginning when you cant feel movement and such.

[StrawberryMumma]

I think u/s' definitely have their place, but are a bit 'over used' at times.
For me, I have one tomorrow (at around 30 weeks) because we have some complications with our baby's kidneys. To me an u/s like that is essential and I'm thankful that we have the opportunity these days to have such fab technology to check on how bubs is doing.

[maz]

thank you everyone for being so honest and open.

Ive had alot of time lately to reflect on my pg's...the what if's ect.

Whilst I totally agree with being prepared of having a child with a special need and having 2 children with special needs I realyl think that it put alot more pressure on myself.

eg

DS1 I was monitored over and over....because I lacked the confidence within myself I followed like a lost sheep and induced at 41weeks resulting in stressed out baby and emergency c/s. No explanation to why DS couldnt come out naturally yet have a 'normal' child

DS2 was a straight forward pg....3 u/s....nothing detected...DS was unofficially diagnosed with austim at 18 months old.

DD1 u/s were choosen by us so we could prepare DS2 with the birth of either a baby brother or sister, and to prepare ourselves if by chanch baby was a boy (extremely high chances of next boy being on the spectrum if born after a spectrum child). Told at 13 weeks that nuc fold was 4mm and high chanch of downs...asked if we'd like to terminate and was advised it would be a good 'option' as we already had one child with special needs. Also told at u/s that DD would be 11 pound due to GDD. Very stressed out last month of pg..DD born 5 days prior ro booked c/s date weighing 6pound 7 oz. Perfect little girl.
It was at this time that we had a private ob who was surprised to find out that it was never picked up via u/s and that noone had ever told me that my pelvis was twisted and wouldnt be able to give birth naturally.

DS3 - u/s again asked in preparation for DS2...told to expect another girl at 3 u/s at 20, 22 and 23 weeks and a sigh of reliefe for us due to the autism factor. extremely complicated pg were u/s was done at 36weeks to reveal that 'she' was actually a 'he' . My blood pressure went through the roof and I pushed any love I had for my unborn baby aside. The tech had noted that there was a problem with the umbilical cord but nothing was done. No change of date was given for my scheduled u/s. The cord was wrapped around my babies neck 3 times and was full of clots that had travelled to his brain. The placenta had actually started to calcify and dye. He now had CP and the first year of his life was an extreme rollercoaster that no amount of preparation would have helped me. It took me a hell of a long time to bond with him....I couldnt let myself 'love' him until he got over the 3 month mark incase he died as it was 'forcasted'

As I said that I do agree with you who do them. I totally get why you would do them again. The system let me down I think and rather then having to do through all that stress that I had, which esculated with ever u/s I would have rather be unbenowns and enjoy my pg's in peace

[MrsFabuloso]

Maz, big big babe. You have had a very tough path to walk. I'm sorry you have gone through such a tough time. I'm sure you wouldn't change any of because you have your beautiful babies. But babe.

[briggsy's girl]

i think every pregnancy is unique - going through five losses and several years of assisted conception to get DD, i needed reassurance all the way. i had ZERO confidence in my body doing the right thing, DH was working away, i was struggling with illness and just needed to know things were going right. i had a dating scan at 5weeks (clinic protocol to make sure baby where it should be) and when the dates with that scan and the dates the clinic had didn't match, we had a further scan at 8 weeks-ish. i had the nuchal scan due to family genetic issues that may have been detected at that point - if it came back high risk, i would have had the further testing - would not have terminated unless there was an issue incompatible with life - but i would have been able to prepare for the needs of my kidlet.

i had the normal morphology scan, and a brief scan at each appointment with the OB. it really WAS a brief scan though - he checked fluid levels as it was suspected i had low fluid levels, checked cord function due to developing PE - and if we were lucky, we got to hear the heartbeat (definitely wasn't every time though).

we had the 4d scan to see our princess, and to confirm her gender. that was the one we chose to have. the rest were suggested by the medicos - they may not have been necessary, but due to our history, i went with it

if we have another, i don't know whether i'll go through them all. if i'm honest, i probably will. the anxiety i suffered throughout DD's pregnancy was horrific - i would do anything for reassurance

[AngelPants]

i have had a scan at 9weeks, 12weeks, 19weeks, 31 weeks and am having another 1 on thursday (34weeks) the extras to check cos it hasnt been progress as they would like.
i have to say i like how often i hav gotten to see my lil boy it has helped me bond with bubs a LOT.

SO next time, i think i will b glad with only the normal 2 scans but i will definately have the scans. i dont think i could go the whole 9 months without peeking at my baby.

[mako]

Absolutely YES from me too. With DS we had scans at 7w, 10w,12w, 19w, 34w and 36w(plus a few very quick scans in my Ob's rooms during my regular appointments up to around 24w.The 34 and 36w scans were to check fluid levels and his growth and it was detrmined at the 36w scan that he needed to be born asap via emergency c/s due to IUGR and no fluid at all. My placenta had failed so things needed to happen very fast. I'm so greatful to my Ob for insisting I had all the scans.
I would have just as many scans again if required.

[ElleJay]

Yeah, I'd still have all mine

[Kazbah]

I have to admit that I'm missing having had scans already, and am counting down to my scan date ...

I did have a scan today though - to find out the state of my thyroid! Very funky!!!!!!

[Trillian]

I never had a lot of scans with any of mine.
With DS1 I had 3 - I had a dating scan because it was an unplanned pg and I had no idea of dates. Then the morphology scan and then one at 28wks due to decreased movement (turns out he was having a long sleep)
DD1, I had 3 - I had a scan at 9wks to check for twins because if there were twins then I would have had to change my pg care plan as my hospital did not accept twin pgs. Then I had the NT scan booked because the Dr needed to fill his quota LOL, but the week before that scan I had a major bleed so I was terrified I lost her so the timing of the NT scan was good. Then just the morphology scan.
DD2 I had 2 - one at 9wks to check for twins and then the mophology
DS2 I had 3 - 9wks (same reason as for the girls), morphology and then one at 39wks to confirm an OP position because he was so large, and my belly was so tight, it was hard to pinpoint exactly how he was laying. That was just a quick 2 minute scan in the Dr's room on his little portable machine.

In hindsight, I would do it all again except for the last one at 39wks with DS2 because it didn't really change anything to know what position he was in. It was certain that he was head down, but to me, knowing whether he was OP or not didn't matter. I had already had one OP bub and knew I would be fine during birth. The scans I had at 9wks for the last 3pgs were necessary because they were related to my care options because we are rural the small district hospital I go to does not cater for twin pgs, so if I ever had twins, then I would have to go to the larger base hospital an hr away. I was a lot more savvy with the last 3 and knew my dates etc and my Dr trusted that so it wasn't ever an issue. As for bonding with bubs, that happened as soon as I knew I was pg. I didn't need a scan to help me bond kwim?

Personally I think that going without a single scan for the entire pg is a bit crazy. I think that anyone should at least have the 20wk morphology scan because if something does happen to be wrong with your baby, it may be the sort of problem that needs immediate fixing at birth or soon after and if you don't know beforehand then you risk the life of your baby while they try to firstly work out what is wrong and secondly come up with a plan of treatment and precious time is wasted that didn't need to be if only a scan was done kwim? Or heck, even at a stretch you could have twins with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome that is often fatal, or conjoined twins, placenta covering the cervix etc - all things which would mean intervention is necessary.

[Jellyfish]

I just had the morphology scan at ~20w and if I had my time again would do similar unless there was a reason requiring further investigation (pain, bleeding etc).