anatomy scan

[cb4409]

i have my anatomy scan this afternoon (yay!)... any tips? what can i expect? i have no idea other than it's a long ultrasound and they are obviously checking all anatomy.

[smiledamnit]

Yay! It wasn't any different than previous u/s for us, other than being more detailed and longer. The spine & seeing the blood flow from the heart was so cool! DH did ask if they offered 3D imagining so the tech switched it over for us and gave us a few pictures "just because".

[noodleoo]

Yay, have fun! Mine was pretty fast, only like 30 mins. I was a little disappointed in that we didn't get very good pictures. She only printed like 5 and they were really blurry and didn't show much. I guess baby had her face buried up against the placenta so she couldn't get any good pictures.

The one thing I didn't realize was how anxious I was about it. I wasn't consciously thinking that something might be wrong, but as she was checking each system, I realized that i was sort of waiting for bad news. Luckily everything was fine! So it was kind of a weird experience, I thought I'd enjoy it more than I did. H loved it though! Seeing the heart pumping was really cool. Mostly, i was just relieved at the end that everything was okay.

[imimahoney]

Have fun! If you don't want to know gender tell them so they don't let it slip but I'm sure they will double check with you before saying so. They will spend a lot of time looking at the heart, brain, spine and I actually find it a bit boring. But still cool to see.

[cb4409]

Jan 28, 2015 11:17:42 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Yay, have fun! Mine was pretty fast, only like 30 mins. I was a little disappointed in that we didn't get very good pictures. She only printed like 5 and they were really blurry and didn't show much. I guess baby had her face buried up against the placenta so she couldn't get any good pictures.

The one thing I didn't realize was how anxious I was about it. I wasn't consciously thinking that something might be wrong, but as she was checking each system, I realized that i was sort of waiting for bad news. Luckily everything was fine! So it was kind of a weird experience, I thought I'd enjoy it more than I did. H loved it though! Seeing the heart pumping was really cool. Mostly, i was just relieved at the end that everything was okay.

i remember when my sister had hers the tech wasnt very good, and told her there looked to be a problem with the heart, and she had to schedule a follow up to check again. it turned out that the heart was perfectly fine, so they worried for nothing. i feel anxious about unnecessary stress like that more than an actual problem.

[estrellita]

Mine didn't take as long as they planned for, but it does take a while. They get images of every possible thing pretty much. Not just the heart, but each piece of the heart to make sure everything is there and working properly. We got lots of pictures on a cd and a couple videos. It's fun!

[christy082]

Mine took 45 minutes or longer each time (I had to have 3 because baby would NOT cooperate and turn the right direction for views of the heart). So I got to do lots of jumping around, moving around, etc. trying to get baby to cooperate. I hope yours is more cooperative than mine was, lol. =)

[dearprudence]

Jan 28, 2015 11:09:32 GMT -5 cb4409 said:

 it's a long ultrasound and they are obviously checking all anatomy.

This is pretty much the gist of it ;-)

Mine was about an hour, the do imaging of all the major organ systems and take measurements of head, abdominal cavity, and femur length.  They'll check the chambers of the heart, the curvature of the spine, and the number of vessels in the cord.

They'll also take a look at your uterus - the placenta, the makeup (cysts/fibroids/etc.) - anything that could come into play either with the pregnancy or delivery.

[kellsbelles]

Good luck! Mine is Monday so this was helpful. Are you finding out the sex?

[cb4409]

Jan 28, 2015 12:44:07 GMT -5 kellsbelles said:

Good luck! Mine is Monday so this was helpful. Are you finding out the sex?

thank you, good luck to you! i am not finding out the sex, hopefully they dont let it slip are you going to find out? i just really love the anticipation, and i love surprises.

[kellsbelles]

Jan 28, 2015 12:52:06 GMT -5 cb4409 said:

Jan 28, 2015 12:44:07 GMT -5 kellsbelles said:

Good luck! Mine is Monday so this was helpful. Are you finding out the sex?

thank you, good luck to you! i am not finding out the sex, hopefully they dont let it slip are you going to find out? i just really love the anticipation, and i love surprises.

So exciting! I could go without knowing but my husband really wants to so we're having the tech write it down and then getting a custom cake to cut that night. It's so surreal!

[pooh8402]

I have a question about the anatomy scan. Mine is in a month. Do y'all drink juice or anything beforehand to get baby active, or is it better to have a baby that stays still? The reason I ask is that my OB had trouble finding baby with the doppler at my 13 week checkup, because it was moving all over the place (we'd hear the heartbeat for a couple seconds, then baby would move). I had coffee right before the appointment so I assume that stimulated the baby.

[hainesherway]

I had mine 2 weeks ago. It's really cool to see the baby moving around and all the different measurements they take. I'll admit I cried a little when I saw him. It was a bit scary learning from the doctor after that I have complete placenta previa.

pooh8402- I didn't do anything special food-wise to get the baby moving, but he was already pretty active. I'm sure some juice before couldn't hurt.

[dearprudence]

pooh8402 - I have mixed feelings on this. I've been reading recent studies that suggest there's no correlation between drinking something sugary and fetal movement. (Which is totally surprising to me based on personal and anecdotal experience, but the Bradford study published in August in the Bio Med Central Journal of Pregnancy and Childbirth does a pretty good rundown of the data if you have access to PubMed)

Both times I had the A/S done my kids were super mellow/sleepy. With my son, we couldn't get him to flip over to see the spine curvature, so they sent me to grab a coke, drink it and come back. He wasn't rocking and rolling in there, but he did roll over enough to get the shot.

This time around, we had the same problem, they had me do a couple of laps around the floor, and that got the current baby to roll over for a full spinal view.

Both of my ultrasounds were relatively quick because the kids weren't moving, allowing the tech to get all the shots she needed, so I think that works well. And rather than drinking something before you go in, I would bring with you and if there are any issues, you can always drink it then to get the ball rolling.

[hbomdiggity]

They want to get views from all sides, so it's best that they are moving around. I may have had oj, but just because I crave it in the am.

If you don't want to know sex, then don't look too closely ;-) I am pretty clueless at lookng at u/s, but it was pretty clear it was a boy.

Ditto the anxiety. I had the harmony test, but no NT and was def anxious. But thankfully it looked good.

[cheeseandcrackers]

Jan 28, 2015 13:08:31 GMT -5 pooh8402 said:

I have a question about the anatomy scan. Mine is in a month. Do y'all drink juice or anything beforehand to get baby active, or is it better to have a baby that stays still? The reason I ask is that my OB had trouble finding baby with the doppler at my 13 week checkup, because it was moving all over the place (we'd hear the heartbeat for a couple seconds, then baby would move). I had coffee right before the appointment so I assume that stimulated the baby.

I didn't drink any juice or anything, just water before my morning appointment. The baby moved around a little, but wasn't overly active. They said she was very cooperative and they got everything they needed. I don't think it really matters, I think it just depends whether or not your baby wants to cooperate that day.

[krystee]

Mine was moving a ton during the scan, and the tech was having a hard time getting the measurements before he changed positions. So I would err on the side of avoiding caffeine or sugar, but I don't think it makes a huge difference.

[starburst604]

I had tea right before my a/s and she was moving around like crazy. They did manage to get everything they needed though, and it didn't take too long. The tech kept commenting on how active she was though. Oopsie, my bad with the tea!

I have an ultrasound following my glucose test on Friday, should be interesting to see what her movements are like after all that sugar.

[hopeful2012]

Haven't had the a/s yet for this one, but for my first 2 my babies were pretty active and they still got all the measurements fine. If they don't it just means a follow up u/s anyways.

also - baby faces at 20 weeks aren't really that filled in at all so the 3D shots that I've gotten at the a/s have been more slightly creepy than anything. The only good "face shots" I've gotten have been at 34/36 week growth checks with each baby - those in my experience actually look like how their faces look as newborns!