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

[entreat]

I would.

For me it was part of the bonding experience.

:yeahthat:
especially before I felt him move. I could easily forget he was there, but those scans showing him wriggling & his little heart beating... just precious.

[Mildez]

With DD1 I had a scan at 17weeks5days and that was it.

With DD2 I had a scan at 8wks, 13wks, 17wks, 20wks and 32wks. We were told medication I was on for arthritis would have cause teretogenic effects hence the numerous scans. I was adviced to terminte but refused.

With my next pregnancy I'll be having a few extra scans due to my history of EP's. I'll be wanting to confirm its in the right place and then viable seeing as I have had way more pregnancies then babies. Again I would not terminate the pregnancy if something was discovered but I would want to be prepared (for a disabled child or a baby I wouldn't be bringing home) I'll be saying yes to all the scans on offer. Its not about a bonding thing for me either bonding for me if from the movements, preparring etc. I didn't get any bonding assistance from my scans but thats probably as I wasn't able to see them until it was finished when I was shown the heart beat etc. It was very medical not personal at all.

[Nai]

With DD2 I had bleeding early on so I was very happy to have the scans to keep seeing that she was actually ok. I only had 2 scans with DD1 and had 4 with DD2 but yes I would have them all over again if I was guaranteed the same result as I have now

[TeniBear]

I'd have insisted on getting the video of my 20wk one. What a disgrace that was... He was wiggling around a lot Must dig up all the x-ray type "prints" we got from that and the 12wk one, have another long look at them

I'd rather not have had the final one, but it wouldn't change the result...

[OceanPrincess]

Maz, I had no idea about your history and your kidlets - what an amazing woman and mum you are

When we received the all clear after DD's 20wk scan, we left the hospital and the inevitable discussion began - next time, would we do it again?

For us, the answer was never really anything but "yes". I think the benefits far outweigh the potential stress - and speaking as somoene who has been thru much, much, much unnecessary stress, I think I am justified in making that call!

There are two ministers at my church who recently chose not to have their 12wk scan, just the morphology scan, because they would never terminate. And that is their choice, just like it is the choice of every couple who concieve a baby.

[~Stoked~]

I had quite a few u/s with DS as they were concerned about his size. It caused unnecessary stress (they thought he was small, he was born at 8lb 15oz) and so with this PG i think i will only be having the 20 week scan. I am sure of my dates but will need to talk further with DH about the NT scan, as he may feel differently, but i'd be happy no to have that one either.

[Mildez]

Just have to speak from a midwives point of view. I know this was more aimed at dating scans and nuchal translucency scans etc but if a woman came in labouring and hadn't had a scan thats the first thing we would do to ensure the placenta was in a safe spot for delivery. I think its very fortunate we live in times where this is an option as it does save lives. I personally know of several people who had undiagnosed placenta previa's two who died (with the baby of course) and all the others also lost their babies. This was prior to routine ultrasounds. They are all elderly now except my aunty (48) who had a stillborn DD 16years ago prior to routine scans. She presented as normal in labour with her 3rd baby and was labouring well until she had a massive bleed very suddenly. She had an emergency C/S but it was too late to save her bub.

I can see how early scans are not neccessary and alot inbetween but I would be concerned about a woman who presented with no scans the entire pregnancy. Yeah most of the time it would be fine and a healthy baby would be delivered but what about the others which wouldn't be? And some conditions in babies that have paeds at delivery, surgery ready etc knowing bub has a problem that can be treated? It is horrible to be in that position as a mother or health professional at delivery when a potentially treatable condition was undiagnosed and a baby/mother was lost or left with a disability as the cause wasn't known. I have been in that position and its not nice. Then usually there is an inquest into how it happened. Interesting thread!

[helle]

Yep.
Jayvan had died 2 weeks prior to us actually finding out, so ultrasounds thru jacksons pregnancy kept me sane, to know he was still alive and kicking! After he starting moving around tho and I could tell on my own he was OK I started to get a bit sick of them - a years worth of being poked and prodded is enough for me!

[New Dawn]

Maz I am with you, I dont think I would... I am in the healthy age breaket, there is no family history, and at the end of the day after all the tests they can only give you a 1 in 49 chance of something been wrong, so for me all it would do is couse a HUGE agreument beltween BHL and I if the tests came back with a chance there was something wrong with our child... As a doctor once put it too me, you wouldnt bet your house on a horse that is has a 1 in 49 chance of winning would you...

Every child of ours is much wanted and love already, I would just wait for the 19week scan, even though it is lovely to see them as much as you can, it still doesnt stop the worry ( well doesnt for me ) the only thing that stops my worry is when they are saftly in my arms, the I move on the the next set of worries lol...

[OceanPrincess]

Mildez, interesting post, thanks for that different perspective.

[Asparagus and Lemons]

I think I may just get the 20 week scan next time, one is enough, and only because I'd want to *see* the baby, and so they can see if he or she is developing okay. Termination would never be considered for us, no matter what was worng with the lo I guess its just nice to have something to look forward to midway of the pregnancy.

[maz]

Those of you who have said termination would never be a consideration...have you been in a circumstance were it was an option for health reasons?

No amount of research (in my opinion) can prepare you for what lays ahead with a child with special needs, its something that you learn whilst living it as every child is entirely different.

Mildez - I dont think that is the case at every hospital eg u/s before birth as Ive personally know of girls who havent had one and gone in to have a hospital birth with no u/s.

What about those who home birth and dont have u/s the entire pg?

I wonder if we depend to much on the technology available today for our pg's then to be able to tune into our own bodies and learn to listen to them? How ever did our mothers and for mothers cope?

I knew I was m/c the pg before I concieved Tank. I told the doctor I was and it wasnt 'confirmed' until they insisted I do an u/s, when we found out that we had actually m/c twins. I handled knowing I was m/c at that stage until then. Its something I sometimes wish I hadnt have know. KWIM.

[~Minny~]

For me i LOVE the scans not to find out anything in particular but just to see my little one jumping around on the screen.

With DD i only had one scan and that was the morphology scan, i felt a bit jibbed as most people were having alot of them throughout there pregnancies. Oh hang on i lie i also had the 3D scan done just so i could peek again

With DS i had 4 scans throughout and another 3D scan and i LOVED everyone of them For me it was purely so i could see my babies moving around in there and that they were doing alright. If one of the scans came back with an abnormality we would have just delt with it as best we could.

I guess im a fence sitter on this one as well if you dont want to have scans then thats your choice...i dont understand it simply because i wanna see my baby in there

Each to there own

[Asparagus and Lemons]

Termination would never be considered for religious reasons, but no I have never been in that situation, and nor would I want to. I beleive that a child is human as soon as he/she is created, not just a 'fetus' so to ruin a human life imo would be like murder.
But again, it would be devastating to hear that your child will not have a 'normal' life. It just would not come to termination for us. But thats just MY opinion.

[Mildez]

I think Suga has summed it up well when she has said its a wonderful diagnostic tool which it is.

Obviously a dating scan is done to see the expected EDD so if an induction is neccessary for what ever reason or preterm labour you know the correct gestation of the baby. Although I must say this can be limited as women do bake their babies differently and my 36week baby was able to cope outside well where as another might not.

A 12-13week scan is generally done for the nuchal scan again another diagnostic tool to check for some abnormalities. It does given families the option to terminate if they want if a problem is identified. How many children do you see with downs syndrome these days? Not many compared to 50years ago or even 20years for that matter.

18week scan is obviously done to check the baby and placenta etc and identifies alot of abnormalities if any (although not all) basically to check the future wellbeing of both mum and bub.

Again growth scans further along also have their place in diagnosing IUGR, placental insufficency etc and a desision for early C/S or induction maybe neccessary to reduce the risk of fetal dimise in utero which these babies are at risk of. As well as scans to again check the placenta, fetal movement and any causes for reduced movements etc. A friend of mine had an emergency c/s at 32weeks due to IUGR Bub was only 800grams. Which is the size you would expect at 25-26weeks.

I think when offered alot of people jump at the opportunity or request them knowing they will see the baby again and forget they are there for diagnostic reasons not for maternal requests. I personally will probably take all the scans for diagnostic reasons. I want to know if my baby isn't growing accordingly, if there is a placental problem or other problem identified etc. I say bring on the scans for me and at the same time pray that all they find is a healthy looking mum and bub. And of course I do love a picture to take home if possible and not a nasty sonographer.

[Just Me]

I had a dating scan and the morphology scan. Every time my doctor has asked me how I would feel about Down Sydrome and because I would continue my pregnancy regardless, he has recommended not getting the 12 week scan because it is just stastics and can be very stressful and turn out to be nothing.

I am torn about the dating scan. If I were to have another baby, I think I would skip it because I think it is always wrong. The due date the dating scan gave me for DD2 at 6 weeks meant that the BFP I got was on 3 DPO and I am sure that's not right. But because I was still BFing for part of that cycle, if I didn't have a dating scan they would have gone for a date about 6 weeks earlier and they all look at me like I have 6 heads if I say that I know when my baby is due because I know when I ovulated. A lot of the doctors and obs that I have seen while pg seem to think that a woman understanding her own fertility is science fiction ... grrr, very frustrating. Sorry, little vent there

In all my pg, I have had 2 morphology scans as my babies don't hold still enough for them to get all the details they need but I have never found the second one stressful but I really don't enjoy them. Lying there on a table with a full bladder for upwards of 40 mins is not my idea of fun. I also have never had a great view of the monitor and actually find them a pain more than anything. Having to organise someone to look after my older kids, waiting for ages and then having to go back a few hours later and pick up the file, it is all just a PITA if you ask me.

Probably didn't help that after I got GD in my last 2 pg, I was having scans every second week and every week towards the end. The baby is too big to see much of it on the screen at a time, biased sonographers measure my babies as extremely large and then I get lectures from doctors about my 'oversized' babies.

I do agree that they are a great diagnostic tool in a way, but the information is not always correct. I had my DS induced at 38 weeks because of his overly 'large' size, but he was born weighing 3.8kg (which is not that big if you ask me) but I went through hell being induced because the u/s showed him in the 97th percentile and the doctors stressed off their nut at me about his size.

It amazes me how much they rely on the information in ultrasounds when they know they are not always correct especially about size. It would be okay if they treated it like a guide, but they don't. They treat it as gospel and sometimes too much info just causes more problems than it solves.

So Maz, in answer to your question, I would probably have the 20w scan just to check everything was going okay and avoid all the others as much as possible.

[*Beema*]

I would love to not have to have so many U/S.....

With DD I had an early dating scan as the MW couldn't find her HB for more than one or two beats, another scan at 9 weeks when I had a bleed, 12 weeks scan, and then at most appointments due to bleeding, 20 week scan, amniotic band, ensureing clear movement for bubs, polyhydramnios (excess amniotic fluid). We had alread chosen to have the 3D scan, which was amazing, at 29 weeks and we got brilliant photos due to the polyhydramnios.

This pregnancy I was really hoping for a smoother run, I was only planning having the 12 and 20 weeks scans, but I have had so many already and so many more booked in

At 15 weeks I have already had 9 scans, due to loss of twin, bleeding, cervical shortening and length being constantly monitored as I am already "primed" , Placenta location, NT scan and Prolapse. I am booked in for scans 3 more scans by 24 weeks, and if there are any changes to my cervical length and any indication of growth restriction, there will be many more. Unfortuntaly even though this is not what I would prefer, but to make this pregnancy last as long as possible and keep bubs as safe as possible it is the only way.

So for us it is trying to prevent PTL or risking the life of our bubba.

So even though my preference would be to just go with the 12 and 20 week scans, it isn't an option this time unless we want to put our bub at risk, just too many complications

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

I did with both and i would do it again.

With DD1 i had bleeding throughout early pregnancy and it was reassurance but amongst all else i found it a wonderful bonding experience, i framed my girls u/s pics for my DP's fathers day presents saying "see you soon daddy" and would often just lay there and stare at them.