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

As the title says...if you could have your time again..would you go through the numerous u/s' that are done whilst pg?

When my SIL first found out she was pg I asked her in conversation if she would be having a 12 week u/s to which she replied no as she has no fears of having a child with downs and that her baby is already loved no matter what shape. I smiled when I heard it and cried at the same time.

She has lived with having a younger sister with CP, epilepsy and multipul other complicatoins form her birth yet she didnt care what a 12 week scan would say. I cried because I didnt have the strength she did at the time to say no.

Me..personally. No. My experiences all varied with all 4 children. Each one placed completely different and sometimes unneccessary stress on me...they didnt bring any peace or forwarning of complications that did occur, during the pg and at birth.

Im not starting this to start a huge argeument...Id just love to know if you had your time again...would you still do it? What benefit do you see off having your u/s'?

Yep I would, I was fully informed at the time and had each US for a specific reason.

For us, the 12 week US and nuchal screen was appropriate because of my age, I wanted to know what lay in store & if we were going to have a downs baby then I wanted time to prepare myself for it. As it was I had a very high score and opted to have a CVS but again it was important to me to find out as early as possible, esp since my DH was going o/seas for several months in the middle of my pregnancy. I didn't want to be finding out about potential problems without him there for support.

Having said all that, with DD1 I only had one US at 18 weeks and then one at 34 weeks (when there was a question mark over decreased activity). That was before nuchal fold screening and IMO was plenty of information for the average uncomplicated pregnancy.

I would. I respect the reasons why people don't have U/S during pregnancy & completely understand. But I could not go through an entire pregnancy without "seeing" my baby. I would love any baby I was blessed with but this would just make me too anxious.

Yep I'd do it.

I loved seeing the u/s on the screen, I just loved it, it was just the best feeling ever. And I know had I not got it done I would have worried, and if i'd had negative news I'd have worried so I figured I may as well get the u/s and see bub.

It wouldn't have changed anything, I wouldn't have considered termination and probably wouldn't have gone on for further testing unless they thought there was a really serious problem.

I would.

For me it was part of the bonding experience.

Yes for me. :)

Basically I'm a huge sticky beak and love the chance for a peak at bubs, but also if they did find a problem, I could be somewhat prepared for it.

I do hate how (where we are anyway) they aren't putting the report in with the actual scans now, so you can't have a peak yourself to see if everything is ok and that stressess me a little.

With my Ob I found the 12 week scan was optional and then I had the 19 week scan and unless I want a 32 week scan (to check size of baby, but really for me to check gender) then that's all the scans I will have, as my Ob doesn't do routine scans at appointments.

Yep i loved seeing the life DH and i had created :)

Irrespective of what the scans may or may not have shown, i would still have them. i think id be more of mess wondering *if* there was something *wrong* had i not had them itms? -

Of course, i can say all of this from the comfort of knowing that nothing untoward was picked up at any of my scans with DD....

Yes. I've had nothing but unreal sonographers with my ultrasounds. They are very experienced and don't miss a thing. My last scan went for just over 2 hours just so they didn't miss anything. I love being able to 'see' bub.

i only had the dating scan and morphology scan with both.. any more children it will be the same.

Yep, I had 7 week, 12 week and 19 week. Once I started feeling movement I didn't feel like I 'needed' the scans. As another posted said, it was part of the bonding process.

My DD is 7. Her US's were all straight-forward, no abnormal results.

DS is 4. At the 20 week US we were told that he had massive renal abnormalities and was a 'non-viable pregnancy' :o We were advised to consider termination. We declined to terminate and had frequent US for the remainder of the pg to check his renal development. Obviously, he survived delivery! His renal system, although grossly abnormal, does function. During his first year of life he suffered numerous UTI's and kidney infections (his renal anatomy makes him more prone to infections). We spent a fair bit of time in hospital. (At 12 months of age we agreed to circumcise DS. A circumcised male infant is far less likely to suffer a UTI than an uncircumcised male infant. He has not had a UTI or kidney infection since the circumcision.:dance:)

By the time our DS was born, we already had a lot of information regarding his renal abnormalities. We gained this information from US whilst I was pg. It allowed us to be pro-active regarding DS treatment. He was placed on antibiotic's from birth (he no longer takes them) and I was very aware of any signs of infection. I am certain that we avoided damage to his kidney (he only has one!) because I acted early when I suspected an infection was brewing.

However... I spent the last 20 weeks of my pg with DS quite certain that my son would not survive. Stressed and anxious doesn't even begin to describe my state of mind. :) After his birth I suffered PND. If we hadn't had the US, I would have skipped along happily and delivered what I thought was a perfectly 'normal', healthy baby. I would have avoided 20 weeks of stress and quite possibly PND.

But I would not have been prepared and pro-active... and my DS would have almost certainly suffered damage to his already struggling renal system. So, at the end of my VERY LONG :doh: answer, yes... I would have those scans again and I am having scans in my current pg. I hope that the scans this pg simply allay my fears and quell my anxiety, but if something IS wrong I would rather be prepared.

mmm hard one.
I love to just see them, especially after a loss at 12weeks exactly - just to make sure they're OK. But I also know that the nuchal result wouldn't change anything for me so the actual diagnostic scan is not necessary.....
However, I'm a bit special ;) in that i will have to have regular scans to make sure there's no hole in my uterus like last time, so I guess it's not something I will have lots of control over.

Yes, I would.

With my boys I went private and had an Ob. He did a 30 sec scan at each appt and after loosing a baby at 12 weeks, I needed that 'sanity scan' to keep my anxiety in check. Particularly with DS1 who was the pregnancy after our loss and also an IVF bub.

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

:lol: im feeling like the odd one out

I've had one u/s at 8 weeks so don't know if it counts but...

I will have them in the future. For the bonding, for sure, but also because if there IS something wrong with bubs (downs or anything) I will want to know and get prepared (much like MD). Wouldn't consider termination but I would just want to prepare myself, my family, df, and our lives for this new development.

Yeah, but then there are others who do. Different strokes for different folks, as they say :D

I had the 12wk neuchal scan and the usual 20wk scan with all of them.
I would do it again too. If I found out that I had a special needs child at the 12wk I would still go on and just research my little heart out. You just never know, they can get it wrong. I knew of someone told they were carrying a downes baby, they continued on to produce a baby with no special needs at all other than the love of Mum and Dad.
I too love seeing the 'little person' on the scan...makes it all the more real, especially if you are not having any pregnancy symptoms.
I also wouldn't judge anyone who chose to terminate for whatever reason after finding 'something wrong'..that is their choice.

With my first i think it was important for me to have that scan but i dont think i would bother with other pregnancies.