One of the most common things to occur when a woman finds out she is pregnant is that joyful rush to get an ultrasound. Most pregnancies partake in 1-2 ultrasounds, but some have many more. I’m here to cover the most common ultrasounds and to give you a little idea of what to expect.
The Dating Ultrasound (before 12 weeks)
The dating ultrasound occurs early in your pregnancy, typically before 12 weeks. This ultrasound is often used to give a more exact date for gestational age. And the earlier in your pregnancy you get it, the more accurate it will be. You often can’t see much more than a little blip on the screen that is your child’s heartbeat, but you do get to see them. Getting a more exact date for gestational age can help ensure that you know about how far along you are when you go into labor or delivery. Why does this matter, you might ask? Well, if you are having a home birth with a midwife, they have very strict guidelines on when they can deliver or if they have to refer you to a hospital. If you are going to a hospital and you go into labor very early, they can begin preparing to help a safe delivery of your child. And if you are being induced, you don’t want to be induced early just because you got the dates of conception wrong.
This visit can also be called a ‘viability ultrasound’. One of the things they are looking to do is confirm your pregnancy. Even at this early stage, it may be possible to determine that the conditions are not right for this pregnancy to succeed. This ultrasound becomes a lot more important for moms who have had prior miscarriages or if you have had bleeding (more than implantation bleeding). For me, it was both nerve wrecking (what if things aren’t going well?) and reassuring (look at that heartbeat!).
You can also determine if you are having twins at this ultrasound! I’ve also heard that you can screen for conditions such as down syndrome at this visit. However neither of my children have down syndrome so I do not have firsthand experience regarding how that is determined.
So what’s going to happen? Well there are a few points here. First, the skill of your sonographer (the person who completes the scan) may actually matter. I had two dating ultrasounds done and both times my amazing sonographer did them 100% abdominally. It was very easy and comfortable, and I was maybe 6 weeks for both of my dating ultrasounds. This can be very early and some sonographers will have to do this ultrasound vaginally instead. Anyway, my point being, if there is a highly recommended sonographer in your area, it might be worthwhile to go to them.
Before you go, try to drink plenty of water. Having a full bladder can make the process easier.
You are going to enter a room and you will need to roll your shirt up. Probably not a great day to wear a dress, just as a heads up. They will ask you standard questions such as when you think you conceived, is this your first, etc. I do think my sonographer made an effort to put me at ease as well and so he took some time just to chat with me. The screen comes up and they put some gel on your stomach. Modern advancements have created a little gel warmer, so often it isn’t freezing anymore, but I can’t promise that. The gel goes on your abdomen and they use their little wand to spread it around and start looking for your peanut.
This process may take some time. Also, I have to be honest with you, the screen is not all that impressive. Your human is tiny at this point and may only show up as a little bundle of cells with a flashing heartbeat. That’s it. Not a whole lot to see here, but that heartbeat is worth every second. There are a few measurements taken and they use that information to tell you how far along you are!
If you are very early in your pregnancy or overweight, it may not be possible to find your little peanut abdominally. In these cases, your doctor will switch to a vaginal ultrasound. They lube up and insert the wand in your vaginal opening. The images gained from this look basically the same as the abdominal scan. This process isn’t typically painful, but it can be uncomfortable.
The 20 Week Ultrasound
Around 20 weeks it is common to get another ultrasound. There is a lot that can happen here. First of all, you finally get to really see your baby! Well, sort of. Personally, my brain cannot wrap around sonogram images and thus it still looked very confusing to me. But our doctor was pretty great about pointing out bones and their little head and of course their heartbeat.
They are going to measure your baby’s bones and get an idea of if your little one is growing well. They will watch fetal movements and even listen to baby’s heart rate. This appointment will likely take a lot longer than your first one did. They have so much more baby to look at this time!
What happens in the appointment will be pretty similar to the dating ultrasound as far as gel on your stomach and using the wand to look at the baby. At this point in most pregnancies, the fear of miscarriage has passed so now it’s more about celebrating your tiny human.
You can usually determine the sex of your baby at this ultrasound. I’m not going to go into my opinions on that right now, but you can read more on gender neutral parenting here. If you do not want to know the sex of your baby though, make sure to tell your sonographer. I know mine tried not to look at all so that he wouldn’t slip up and use any gender pronouns on accident.
Monitoring and Other Subsequent Ultrasounds
While the two above mentioned ultrasounds are the most common, that doesn’t guarantee they will be the only ultrasounds you get. If you are high risk for some reason, or they have to monitor the baby for growth or movement you may end up having a lot more. Some women have to go in as frequently as every week to ensure their pregnancy is going well.
It may be really important to heed your medical professional’s advice and obtain additional scans. I know with my second pregnancy we couldn’t agree on date of conception since the baby was measuring weeks smaller than when I believed I got pregnant. But I was pretty convinced I knew the exact day of intercourse that resulted in conception. So as the baby continued to measure small, we finally went back to get another ultrasound and it’s a damn good thing we did. Rainbow Sprinkle was Intrauterine Growth Restricted (IUGR) and in some pretty decent trouble. I got three more scans over the course of 3 days and ultimately had to deliver early in order to safely bring my little Sprinkle into the world.
Skipping Ultrasounds
Now I know I just said that some ultrasounds can be life saving, but what happens when you don’t want one? Well, believe it or not, that’s totally fine. If you don’t have a medical necessity for having an ultrasound and you never want to get one, you don’t have to. They can be fun, but they can also be expensive and they really aren’t vital. So if there is not medical reason to get one and you would rather bask in the moment as it is, then skip the technology and enjoy your pregnancy your way.
