Tempted to do elective gender u/s

[Deleted]

Anyone else thinking about elective gender ultrasound?

My OB don't do many u/s with a normal pregnancy. They only do one at 1st appointment, 12wks if you agreed for an NT scan, 20wks for the AS, and maybe 1-2 at the end if needed or if there's ever a concern.

[ssmjlm]

I thought about it b/c I'm not getting to do my a/s until almost 21 weeks due to scheduling, but in the end, a few more days wasn't a big enough deal for me.

Plus DH wants to spend the money on a 4d/3d ultrasound.

[Deleted]

I would recommend NOT doing an elective u/s, at least not at one of those places where that's all they do. With DD they told me I was having a boy at 16 weeks. Our 20 week ultrasound was really shocking--and then I had a lot of doubt about her sex that I wouldn't have otherwise had (was the first ultrasound wrong or the second?). It wasn't worth it; I wish I had just waited a month.

Most techs don't get the sex wrong at 16 weeks but I would personally not pay extra for a service where there will be a window of doubt when I can get the same service with far more reliable results for free just a few weeks later.

[mswax]

Dec 5, 2012 10:20:07 GMT -5 d0ri said:

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My OB don't do many u/s with a normal pregnancy. They only do one at 1st appointment, 12wks if you agreed for an NT scan, 20wks for the AS, and maybe 1-2 at the end if needed or if there's ever a concern.

That sounds like a lot to me. With my former OB, you'd get 2 (NT scan at 12 weeks and AS at 20 weeks) unless something was wrong. My current practice does one at the first appointment as a general practice, but I have no idea about beyond that.

In any event, while I wouldn't judge anyone for not wanting to wait an additional couple weeks to find out, it wouldn't be worth it for me. Now if they couldn't tell at the AS, then I'd consider it, even though I didn't find out with the first 2.

[Deleted]

Dec 5, 2012 10:20:07 GMT -5 d0ri said:

My OB don't do many u/s with a normal pregnancy. They only do one at 1st appointment, 12wks if you agreed for an NT scan, 20wks for the AS, and maybe 1-2 at the end if needed or if there's ever a concern.

This is as many as I got with my first PG btw. I think it's normal or even on the high end of normal. I had one at 6w only because they needed to confirm my dates (according to my chart I was 6w but according to LMP I was 8w so they wanted to measure to confirm). It was unusual that I even got that u/s. I then had the NT and the 20w anatomy scan and nothing after that.

[countthestars]

That sounds like a lot to me too. NT scans aren't standard at my OB so the only one they guarantee is the A/S at 20 weeks. We were lucky to get a dating ultrasound and elected to do the NT but otherwise we wouldn't have had one for another 8 weeks.

[barefootcontessa]

I understand wanting to know. My OB does not order the anatomy scan until 23 weeks, but I waited anyway because I worried that if something was wrong I wanted to hear about from the MFM. I am AMA, though, so my chances of something being wrong are probably higher than yours.

[Deleted]

Dec 5, 2012 10:29:49 GMT -5 @carmensandiego said:

This is as many as I got with my first PG btw. I think it's normal or even on the high end of normal. I had one at 6w only because they needed to confirm my dates (according to my chart I was 6w but according to LMP I was 8w so they wanted to measure to confirm). It was unusual that I even got that u/s. I then had the NT and the 20w anatomy scan and nothing after that.

Really? I've heard others who get one at every appointment.

Dec 5, 2012 10:30:21 GMT -5 countthestars said:

That sounds like a lot to me too.

The NT scan is optional. So if there's no concern or issues at the end of the pregnancy and I elected not to get the NT scan, I would only get 2 u/s total.

[dcrunnergirl]

I probably wouldn't pay for that since they'll tell you more definitively at your 20w u/s.

FWIW, we're doing the maternity21 test, and they can tell us the gender next week when we go for our NT scan and have the results. I'm still torn about whether I want to know then or wait until the a/s b/c knowing so early seems sort of anti-climactic.

ETA: The number of u/s you mentioned is standard at my OB as well, although I can't imagine how hard it would be to wait between u/s since I had so many with my twins and by next week, I'll have had 4 already with a 5th and 6th already scheduled due to previous incompetent cervix issues.

[xokell2]

I did an elective at 15 weeks (some odd days) and it was amazing. I wanted to announce to everyone about the pregnancy and include the sex. My pregnancy before this last one resulted in a second tri miscarriage so I was super anxious to see happy moving baby! I justified it in my mind that since it was my second baby and I wasn't having a shower, I needed an extra month and a half to prepare (My ob does the anatomy scan at 21-22 weeks).

[Deleted]

Dec 5, 2012 10:35:06 GMT -5 d0ri said:

Dec 5, 2012 10:29:49 GMT -5 @carmensandiego said:

This is as many as I got with my first PG btw. I think it's normal or even on the high end of normal. I had one at 6w only because they needed to confirm my dates (according to my chart I was 6w but according to LMP I was 8w so they wanted to measure to confirm). It was unusual that I even got that u/s. I then had the NT and the 20w anatomy scan and nothing after that.

Really? I've had others who get one at every appointment.

I am with a new OB for this PG and so far I have had one at every appointment, so I guess some doctors do that. (I don't know if I will have one at my next appointment at 16 weeks... so far the only one I had in this PG that I didn't last time was at 8 weeks.) But again, based on everything my IRL friends have told me and everything I have read online, this is not the norm unless you are high risk. The doctor I am going to now is the only one I have heard of in my (large) city who does so many ultrasounds (and that is not why I switched to him FWIW).

Obviously I can understand wanting to know because I did it last time... but you should know that results at 16 weeks are not as reliable as they are at 20.

[cilantro]

I was told I would have to pay $2k - $4k out of pocket for MaterniT21 if I wanted it. Elective ultrasound was about $125.

I think I might do one, so I can tell the family the gender on Christmas day.

[Deleted]

Dec 5, 2012 10:40:14 GMT -5 @carmensandiego said:

Obviously I can understand wanting to know because I did it last time... but you should know that results at 16 weeks are not as reliable as they are at 20.

I'm a little tempted to know before Christmas. It just feels like the best time to know. LOL. But I may end up waiting though. We waited with DD and never did any elective u/s even the 3d/4d.

[fbf2006]

Interesting. I wouldn't do an elective ultasound but at my previous OB and current OB/MFM practice I had a lot more ultrasounds than people seem to be mentioning here. Pretty much every time I went for an appointment.

[Deleted]

Dec 5, 2012 11:02:23 GMT -5 d0ri said:

Dec 5, 2012 10:40:14 GMT -5 @carmensandiego said:

Obviously I can understand wanting to know because I did it last time... but you should know that results at 16 weeks are not as reliable as they are at 20.

I'm a little tempted to know before Christmas. It just feels like the best time to know. LOL. But I may end up waiting though. We waited with DD and never did any elective u/s even the 3d/4d.

The more I think about it the more I am now hoping they will do an u/s at my 16 week appt (12/27). A friend is due in May and goes to my same doc, and they did one for her at 16w. But I think I still wouldn't trust it after last time.

Anyway, if you get one let us know what they say!

[CloudBee]

I was very tempted, but it wasn't worth the cost to me. I'm pretty picky about how I spend money, and tend to really drag my feet before a purchase in that range. In the end, I'm really happy I waited. Looking back, the wait for my A/S wasn't that bad.

[h]

Dec 5, 2012 10:54:21 GMT -5 cilantro said:

I was told I would have to pay $2k - $4k out of pocket for MaterniT21 if I wanted it. Elective ultrasound was about $125.

I think I might do one, so I can tell the family the gender on Christmas day.

I was told that if you have insurance (even if your insurance doesn't cover M21), the company caps your OOP costs at around $250, then they try to recover the rest from your carrier but don't make you pay if that doesn't work. Still more than an elective ultrasound, but you get the results of the trisomy testing, too.

FWIW, my OB did an U/S at 16 weeks b'/c she couldn't find the heartbeat and was 90% sure it was a boy. Baby was confirmed boy at 20 weeks. The vast majority of the people I know who had an US around 16 weeks got an accurate gender prediction, but you do hear of occasional mistakes.

[dcrunnergirl]

Dec 5, 2012 11:58:11 GMT -5 h said:

Dec 5, 2012 10:54:21 GMT -5 cilantro said:

I was told I would have to pay $2k - $4k out of pocket for MaterniT21 if I wanted it. Elective ultrasound was about $125.

I think I might do one, so I can tell the family the gender on Christmas day.

I was told that if you have insurance (even if your insurance doesn't cover M21), the company caps your OOP costs at around $250, then they try to recover the rest from your carrier but don't make you pay if that doesn't work. Still more than an elective ultrasound, but you get the results of the trisomy testing, too.

FWIW, my OB did an U/S at 16 weeks b'/c she couldn't find the heartbeat and was 90% sure it was a boy. Baby was confirmed boy at 20 weeks. The vast majority of the people I know who had an US around 16 weeks got an accurate gender prediction, but you do hear of occasional mistakes.

This is also what my dr. told me about the cost of the MaterniT21 test.

[froggy76]

I agree that is a lot of u/s. It seems like everyone on The Bump gets one at every appointment, but that was not my experience. The only standard u/s was the anatomy scan. The NT scan was elective, and then I got a couple others because I was a worrywart.

I did an elective u/s to find out the sex at 18 weeks because I was dying to know and didn't want to find out in a hospital setting where I'd be stressing out over the baby's measurements and health. I figured the elective u/s would be strictly for fun. It was, and it was nice, but the u/s tech at my anatomy scan was really nice, too. So in the end, it was probably a waste of money.

[Deleted]

I was thinking about it because it will be right before our cruise and it would be so fun to lay in bed at night and talk about him/her. But...now that I have an SCH I don't want to see my placenta until 20 weeks when it's hopefully healed.

[liveintheville]

Are they hard and fast regarding the 20 wk ultrasound? My OB did both of mine more like 17 wks so we found out a little earlier.

[Deleted]

Dec 5, 2012 13:40:27 GMT -5 liveintheville said:

Are they hard and fast regarding the 20 wk ultrasound? My OB did both of mine more like 17 wks so we found out a little earlier.

I guess it depends on the doctor. My OB said no A/S until 19 weeks at least but I do have an appointment at 16 weeks and maybe they'll want to check my SCH so who knows.

[bunch]

I'm thinking about it too. I did one last time and it was fun. My drs office actually offers them now, so I'd feel even better about having a professional do it.

[Deleted]

I just checked the only place in the area who does elective gender u/s. It's $99! I asked if it can be less if I don't get the DVD and/or the pics. They said, no. It's $99 with or without dvd/pics.

I've decided I'll wait and just save that $99 for an iPad for me. LOL. I've been thinking about buying me one.

[Deleted]

I would not. I just experienced a kid who would not cooperate at all. I would be pissed if I paid for that and they didn't cooperate.