Hellobee Boards

So I had my anatomy ultrasound today and I think it went fine. Baby girl was moving so very much and I saw a heart beat, two arms and two legs. The head looked whole. I was told that baby girl is breach but that its absolutely totally normal since the baby is flipping all around all the time. I also saw the baby kick her leg on the screen and simultaneously felt it myself so now I know for sure that what I've been feeling lately are the baby's kicks. No pictures were printed out for me - they were put on a disc. Umm.. now what will I do with a disc?

The ultrasound wasn't done by my doctor - or a doctor. It was maybe some girl with an ultrasound certificate or something. She said she couldn't tell me anything, which I understand once I wrapped my head around the fact that this wasn't being done by my doctor. But I thought I was supposed to come out of there with all sorts of information and I left with only what I could surmise from what I saw with my own eyes. I asked "is there bright bowel syndrome" and the tech just looked at me with blank eyes. I asked "does the umbilical cord look right?" again, no response. So how does everyone else leave the anatomy scan with so much information? I feel like stomping my foot right now, but I'm actually really just so very relieved to see the baby moving around so much and having a good heart beat.

@Silva: I feel the same way, so much easier to love and connect with the LO in your belly the second time around, so well put!

@agold: at the ultrasound center i go to, a tech does the ultrasound and then a doctor (not my doctor) reviews the pictures and comes in and gives me a brief report, then forwards all of the results to my doctor. but when it was bad news, they would come in and ask when i was seeing my doctor, and if not that day, they'd call my doctor on the spot to discuss how she wanted to handle. I'd sit there and wait while he had a long talk with my doctor, and then he'd come back and say "your doctor will call you in 20 minutes." So while it was helpful having a doctor on hand to give me the all clear, since it wasn't my doctor, he often refused to interpret anything remotely negative for me. so i'm not sure how useful it was to have him there. and when he did give me mixed news, it was often later disputed by my doctor, who was monitoring my care and knew more about my situation. so all it did was get me worked up!

of course, in my case, the issue was growth, so i just watched the top of the screen during all the measurements to see how far behind baby was measuring and already knew what to expect. towards the end, i just closed my eyes during the u/s and listened to DH's reactions to the measurements!

that said, the results will be forwarded to your doctor, and if there's any concern at all, I would bet she will get in touch with you before your next appt. you can always give her a call next week just to make sure things looked ok!

@Pirouette: Thanks for all that info. Interesting that you had a doctor come in and talk to you. I can see how that caused you to get worked up. I didn't even get measurements told to me and was too dumb to think on my own to look for them on the screen. I'm going to try to rest in blissful ignorance at this point!

@agold: That's bizarre she didn't comment on anything! At all three of my anatomy scans (with 3 different techs) they have commented like "oh, there's a three vessel umbilical cord, that's perfect" or "gorgeous cerebellum" and what have you. Very reassuring along the way - and then afterwards my midwife always comes in and says that things look great so far but that the radiologist will get back to us with a full report. I would be annoyed if they didn't mention things about the basics that are just visually obvious - whether they are there or not! Sorry you had a bad experience.

@agold: not dumb at all! but we were there every week last time so we knew the drill! and knew what the target growth was to be able to stay pregnant a few more weeks. i certainly didn't know to look at my anatomy scan (when everything was normal). Definitely call her early next week and at least ask about the placenta if that was a concern going in.

@agold: That is strange to not get any information day of! My US was done by a tech, who sort of talked about what she was looking at but didn't evaluate (like, "there's the heart, there's xyz artery" but not anything about whether they were normal). But afterward a doctor came in who was not my normal doctor, and she basically just said, "Everything looks good -- he weighs about 13 oz." So not a lot of detail, but we didn't really ask follow up questions, just kind of took "looks good" as enough info. It would have driven me crazy if I got nothing evaluative, though!

My wiggly's baby's profile!

@MrsSCB: it's unrelated, they are so small right now that they will just keep flipping. I think my daughter was usually head up until I was about 30 weeks. At that point, or even a little later, their heads get heavier and they can't move as much so they usually flip and settle into a more consistent position.

@MrsSCB: I remember being nervous about it last time, too! People love to tell pregnant women horror stories!

@Silva: @agold: a nurse at my very first appointment told me, "people like to tell pregnant women all kinds of crazy stories. Don't listen to them, some people just like drama." Good advice, ha. This one was just waaaay too much detail about his wife's labor and delivery. TMI, man.

@MrsSCB: I think it makes sense! Hospitals are chilly, your husband can have the car cooled off and then you'll go inside!

Also for the coming home outfits I would say definitely NB. Even my 9lb kids needed NB for that first week or so.

@pwnstar: "a Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" - haha so so true!

had a quick checkup this morning- all looks good. baby was moving around like crazy - he's taking after his big sis in that way so far, even though i can't feel it as much. I did feel some light little love taps on my way to the appt though, which made me smile second anatomy scan next tues and then i think we'll set my tentative schedule for future ultrasounds.

@MrsSCB: I am finding that I generally feel much better when I get some kind of activity in! (I am also hoping it helps with swelling too!) I had a pretty tough (body) weekend, but I think it wouldn't have been as bad if I had moved more (and also maybe eaten just a little less junk!) So. Lesson learned.

@agold: OMG This totally just reminded me that I was DUH supposed to have my make up appointment today. CRAP. This is the make up for missing it last time!

@agold: Nope it was at like 9 this morning.

@agold: It was a follow up from our A/S. The MFM already told us everything looks good, but it would be nice to check via doppler on the baby. Its just an appointment with the nurse practitioner so not many questions to be answered. Oops. I mostly worried that I hope they dont charge me for this appointment.

@T.H.O.U.: Ugh. I'd hate to be charged too!!!

@Pirouette: Doh! I forgot what was going on. Someone on here has multiple routine ultrasounds just as a general OB practice so I got confused. It is so nice to see the baby as often as you can but I will also be hoping for just a nice normal size baby for you! At least everything looked good today!

@agold: haha oh yea that's me too! I thought you meant regarding my future ultrasound schedule. but yea, my ob does do regular u/s - super quick ones. my appt today start to finish was 15 minutes, and that included my tons of questions on what to do if i catch my daughter and husband's horrible bouts of coxsackie she doesn't use a doppler - she instead measures the h/b by ultrasound at each appt.

So my sister freaked me out explaining that I needed "safe places" to put the new baby in that the toddler wouldn't be able to access (pack and play, etc.) She mentioned that the other day she went to the bathroom, left her toddler in her play room and her infant on a floor mat, and when she came back the toddler was full on holding the infant. Another time she explained that the toddler was able to move the infant that was strapped to her bouncer across the room so she could play with her better. My sister said she was gone for 60 seconds each time. This had not even occurred to me, I just assumed our toddler would ignore the baby. I guess this means we are adding a pack and play to our list of purchases... Any other recommendations besides taking the baby with you to every bathroom trip?