Hellobee Boards

They'll probably point out the things they are looking at, but different techs are more forthcoming than others. Our last one would tell us that things looked good, but I feel like with Xander, the tech didn't say much about how things looked.

Some of the key things I remember them looking at are lungs, stomach, heart, brain, limbs, umbilical cord, genitals, etc.

They'll ask if you want to find out the sex and if you do, they'll show you and tell you what you're looking at. It's a fun appointment!!

I think it totally depends on the practice- at mine, the tech explained everything she was doing and looking for as she went along. Is is at the same facility as your previous appts? If your tech doesn't talk about what they are doing, they will take a bunch of measurements and pictures, print them off for your doctor to review. They are measuring the bones, looking at the organs, the heart chambers, kidneys, bowel, etc., measuring your placenta, looking at the blood flow from the cord, and I'm sure a bunch of other stuff I don't know the details of! And the sex if you are finding out

I was really excited for ours (even though we basically knew the gender from our 12 week scan). I blocked out over an hour, and the tech literally took 10 minutes. Just scanned through, check, check, check and we were done. I was relieved everything looked healthy, but felt so disappointed about not being able to get a better look or more time. Hopefully, you will have a great experience but just sharing because I wish I'd adjusted my expectations.

@LuLu Mom: I had a scan for bleeding (later determined to be suspected placental abruption) and in the beginning, the ultrasound tech was so forthcoming -- chatting about everything, reconfirmed he was a boy, etc -- and then about halfway through (when she started looking at the placenta and blood flow), she suddenly stopped talking. I got concerned and I asked if something was wrong, she replied with, "I'm not a doctor and really shouldn't talk to you about any of this." It was at that moment that I knew something was wrong. Oddly enough, my husband didn't think anything of it at the time.

@loki: We had to bring our own DVD, but it was totally worth it. I still have it downloaded on my computer and watched it on my first day back from maternity leave. (I was feeling a little sad, haha)

Our tech showed us EVERYTHING. Mine was very long b/c they were worried about the umbilical cord not having 3 parts to it, also they were analyzing a potential heart defect.

My experience was like @Little Misters Mom. I brought a DVD to record it, so I know the exact time--18minutes. She flew through it, one body part to another. When she said she was done, I was surprised and really wish I had said something. I was SO disappointed that I never got a good look at my whole baby or got to watch it moving around. I just saw individual parts. Afterwards I considered paying extra for a 3D scan just so I could see my baby, but it's about $200 here.

My advice: if they do that to you, speak up and ask for another look. I regret not saying anything.

I think it depends on the office - I have heard some people tell me that their techs wouldn't really tell them anything, but at my office, they spent a long time taking all the measurements and whatnot with the screen facing away from me and my husband in the waiting room. Then when she was done, she let my husband in and faced the screen towards us and told us about what we were seeing and told us the sex and then printed out some photos. I remember being so worried that she wouldn't be moving because I couldn't feel anything during the US but then when she showed me the screen she was bouncing all around! It is truly magical maybe bring some tissues, and I agree with the OJ beforehand - that got mine moving too.

@loki: Best wishes for a healthy baby tomorrow! We liked our anatomy scan at the time, but later found out the tech hadn't told us she found a small complication (and according to the nurse practictioner, she should have said something that day). It was 3 weeks later that we found out, and it's ended up not being an issue so far, but I guess we had a false sense of "everything is perfect" when it wasn't? I'm hoping had it been something more serious she would have gotten a doctor right away, but there's nothing I can do now. In hindsight/for the next pregnancy, I guess I'd ask at the beginning, "if you see anything of concern will you tell us, or will you ask a doctor to come in?" Maybe mine is a rare case, but I wish we'd known all the info at the time!

The positives of our scan were that she pointed out major organs and said that they looked "great," reconfimed the sex of the baby, and gave us about 12 awesome pictures to take home. I was super nervous beforehand but was lucky our little one looked great!