Ultrasounds

[Rebecca]

I've been thinking quite a bit about ultrasounds recently. I'm wondering how many people choose to have them and why or why not. Does it help to bond with the baby? What are the risks of ultrasound and did you consider that when you were deciding what to do about ultrasound? What would you do if there was a poor prognosis from an ultrasound?

For me, I chose to have ultrasounds for various reasons with all of my children. But I chose to limit the duration. With my last son, we had one quick ultrasound at 14 weeks just to make sure that everything was normal because I lost my previous baby to a fatal birth defect. We didn't intend to find out if it was a boy or girl then and had been told it was too early. But it was very obvious to even a casual observer that this was a boy. I was glad that I did that ultrasound as it really helped my peace of mind. I was more able to enjoy that pregnancy than I would have been without it, so the benefit outweighed the risk in my own mind.

Share your thoughts and experiences on this topic, whether you are in this stage currently or you are looking back on your experience.

[Lianne]

I'm so sorry for your loss :(

I had an early ultrasound with both of mine... actually two with Allen because the first was at 6wks and they didn't get a good read of the HB since it was so early. So he had one at 6wks and one at 8wks, and Alexa had one at 7wks. I was under the care of an RE (reproductive endocrinologist) since I took fertility meds to conceive, so I had to work within their system until I was released, and the healthy u/s with solid HB was the way to do that.

So yes, I had ultrasounds, and the reason was to count babies, mostly, and to get out of the RE office.

I chose not to have any more ultrasounds, since I had zero risk factors and no intuition that anything was wrong. Had I had either of those, I would have weighed the pros and cons at that point.

I don't think we really know what the risks are, but for me I am more comfortable doing as little as possible. I would not choose to end a pregnancy based on the results of an u/s or screening test (I decline those as well) so, again without symptoms or intuition of something wrong, we just don't get them.

I really enjoyed being surprised at the sex of both of our babies, at birth, and don't think I could resist finding out if I were "peeking" in there halfway through! Resisting the temptation is another reason, I suppose.

It's a very personal decision and I understand many reasons on both sides. I'm definitely glad they are available for those who need them, and I definitely think they are overused and possibly even wreckless when it comes to the 4D boutique ultrasound type places.

[jen0608]

I got my first ultrasound at the second trimester of my pregnancy. I am so thrilled as I got the sight of my first child in 3D Ultrasound.