As I’m finally slooooooowly inching toward the date of my anatomy scan, [name]July[/name] 16th, I’m getting more and more nervous. I know it’s a regular test that almost everyone has done these days but I’d really love to hear from some women who’ve already been thru one. If it matters, mine is going to be done at a perinatal specialists office (because of the medications I’m on while pregnant).
So as specifically as you can remember, what’s it like? What do they do during, what do they talk about, do you get the results immediately or have to wait? I’m not worried about pain or any of that, I’ve had plenty of regular ultrasounds already - I’m just wondering about the specifics of what they’re going to be doing and looking for and all of that. I do realize I could Google this but I’ve banned myself from Googling anything else at this point - too much scary stuff comes up and my sanity can’t handle it.
So what can my fellow Berries tell me? Thanks in advance!
First of all, you inspired me to pay for the 3D ultrasound to find out the gender early with my next pregnancy. I had no idea they even told you the sex. Waiting until 18-20 weeks felt like forever to me last time!
From what I remember, the ultrasound tech greeted us and let us sit in a room to go over what they will be looking for. It was mostly to make sure everything was developing correctly. She checked the brain, heart, spine, bones, cranium, all the internal organs. It took about 10-15 minutes before she asked if we wanted to know the gender. It was the last thing she checked before printing out the picture saying “I’m a girl!” with an arrow pointing to the genitalia. She then asked if I had any questions, we talked about the ultrasound, she said everything looked good, and then we were on our way. No pain, sometimes she had to press on my stomach a little harder than I would of liked because she had to feel for the baby but it was just slightly uncomfortable. That jelly stuff they put on your belly is a pain to get off though, it was so slippery. I would bring some wet wipes or something next time.
The U/S technician at my OB’s office has the personality of a bowl of corn flakes, so I am not sure that my experience is typical. We were expecting to go in and have a 20-30 minute viewing of the baby, but in reality, our scan was over in just about 5-7 minutes. Part of that reason is because I think our technician is experienced so he kind of just flew through the measurements. He looked at and measured the the 2 hemispheres of the brain, the 4 chambers of the heart, both kidneys, and the spine. He also checked to make sure the umbilical cord and placenta were developing properly. I think he even measured the limbs. Oh, and he checked the palate to make sure it was normal. We went in knowing that we didn’t want to know sex, so he skipped over that region of the body, but he did ask us again at the very end if we were sure about that.
For something so incredibly important and emotional, ours felt like it was almost over before it began. He casually said everything looked alright, but then we saw the OB right afterwards, and he assured us that everything looked “perfect”. Hearing that was all I needed, and that’s when I felt like I might have broken down into tears of relief. But I kept it together
I am excited for you to have yours. It is just that type of reassurance that allows you to breath a bit deeper. There are still plenty of things to continue to worry about through the remainder of the pregnancy, but knowing that your baby is developing as she should is music to a mom’s ears.
I went to my hospitals perinatal office for my 20 week too since I’d had an off number on my quad screen.
The ultrasound tech spent a good half hour checking everything out. Entering measurements for everything and capturing photos for the doctor. She was great at pointing everything out. I was nervous so she sort of told me as we went that her measurements (limbs, organs, amniotic fluid, they measure everything) looked right on track (even though technically she was supposed to wait for the doctor). We found out the sex near the end and the doctor confirmed it from my extra blood work. We got a bunch of pictures and waited for the doctor. He came in ten minutes later, went through the saved photos (over 100 of them) and told us then and there that everything looked good.
Enjoy! [name]Hope[/name] baby cooperates and everything checks out perfect.
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences! @rowangreeneyes - Lol! [name]Glad[/name] I inspired you to check out the 3D scans, it was a really lovely experience! I found ours by looking at reviews on Yelp. There were actually a few in town but the others had gotten mediocre reviews - the one I picked had excellent reviews. The place was very nice and fancy since that’s all the do, and there was literally seating for about 20 people. But there was something special about it - I think it was the fact that it wasn’t a doctor’s office, there was basically no worry about anyone going into a medical conversation or talking about anything being wrong, all they do is show you pretty pics of the baby and tell you the sex. It was really great and we may go back again once I’m much further along @sdsurfmama: thank you, I can’t wait for us to have ours done so I can finally take a bit of a breath too. I know there will continue to be things to worry about, and I’m sure I’ll worry about every one of them… but just hearing that the heart and brain and spine looks good will be such a huge relief. I wish it was today! Also, the US tech at my OB’s office totally has the personality of a bowl of corn flakes too, just like yours! So I’m glad we’re going to a different office for the Anatomy scan, hoping to get someone a little warmer and friendlier! @lineska: Thanks, I hope she cooperates too!
I was very anxious during mine, I was just waiting for her to tell me everything was good. I can’t said I paid much attention, I was just digging my fnails into Husband’s hand. I remember her checking all the physical things; cleft lip, heart chambers, heartbeat, blood vessels, other organs, her limbs and all that, and she confirmed the due date. She was very good, she kept talking through us through the whole scan which helped calm me down. It took about 25 minutes, I think. The gel is cold and sticky, but it’s not that bad, I got a wet towel to clean it off. And we got the photo, but we didn’t want to know the gender, so we told her that beforehand. But you already know! [name]How[/name] fascinating.
Your experience depends greatly on whether a perinatologist performs the scan or a sonographer. Sonographers are prohibited from interpreting the images for you-- the only “diagnosis” they can give you is a non-medical one, gender-- whereas the perinatologists of course can.
You should remember that unlike recreational ultrasound, the purpose of the anatomy scan is precisely that-- to assess each developing structure in the baby and screen for potentially life-threatening congenital anomalies. As sdsurfmama said, the brain, chamber of the heart & circulation of the blood, spinal column, kidneys, lungs, and femurs are assessed & measured, and if other anomalies appear apparent (say, a cleft palate) they are called to attention. The host of syndromes and diagnoses the anatomy scan tests for is as long as a football field.
Recreational ultrasound, I’m told, is a much more emotional experience, where the point is to look at your darling cute baby and see if she has dad’s nose, is sucking her thumb, is waving at you, etc. The anatomy scan is medical. Of course it, too, is a lovely experience and I found mine to be just great, but it’s quite different.
As for technique-- same thing as before; you’re gooped up and the fancy high-res ultrasound machine is used (as opposed to the cheapo Sonosite at each regular office visit). I’d say the average amount of time is 15-20 minutes. You get a big stack of pictures and usually a DVD of the whole thing at the end. It doesn’t matter if the baby is awake or sleeping, so unlike, say, a NST nothing is done to stimulate her if she’s snoozing through the whole thing, and you don’t need to jazz yourself on caffeine or glucose beforehand.
