Ultrasound

What can an ultrasound detect?

What is ultrasound?

to evaluate movement, tone, and breathing,
to identify sex (not 100% reliable),
to assess the amount of amniotic fluid,
as an adjunct to cervical cerclage or suture,
to look for molar pregnancies,
to determine the structure and position of the placenta (particularly useful if placenta previa is suspected),
to determine the cause of bleeding,
for fetal surgery.

What is 3D 4D?
With 3D ultrasound a volume of echoes is taken which can be stored digitally and shaded to produce life like pictures of the fetus. 4D just means that these life like pictures can be seen to move in real time so the activity of the baby inside your womb can be studied.

How accurate is the due date with an ultrasound?
Not as accurate as you may think! It depends on at what point during the pregnancy the ultrasound is taken.

5 - 7 weeks: Measurement of the sac at five to seven weeks gives an accuracy of plus or minus ten days.
7 - 14 weeks: Measuring the crown-rump length gives an accuracy of plus or minus three days at seven weeks
14 - 26 weeks: the measurement of the biparietal diameter of the baby's head, the femur length, and the head and abdominal circumference is used; the accuracy is plus or minus seven to ten days.
26 - 40 weeks: Later in pregnancy, the accuracy declines, and may be plus or minus twenty-one days.

Sonogram of a baby at 10 weeks pregnant.

Do you really have to have a full bladder for an ultrasound?
Women getting an ultrasound are encouraged to drink several glasses of water an hour before the exam and not go to the bathroom until after the exam. The full bladder helps the doctor locate the pelvic organs and get a clearer and more accurate picture. However, this advice only applies for some ultrasounds, depending on the kind of probe used and the point in pregnancy when the ultrasound is done. This is why different women report getting different advice from their doctors about whether a full bladder is required.

When can you see What?
1st trimester: to determine whether a pregnancy is properly located within the uterus or is located in an abnormal position (ectopic pregnancy), or to confirm suspected miscarriage
2nd trimester: sex, spina bifida, disorders of the skeleton, central nervous system, heart, kidneys, or urinary tract.
3rd trimester: detect problems that may affect planning of delivery, such as intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR).

What can't you see?
Ultrasound does *not* detect:

the severity of spina bifida, only whether it is present.
DOWN syndrome
abnormal heart beat

Remarkable:
Some places (e.g. India) are considering outlawing informing the parents of the sex of the child based on ultrasound, because of the tendency for female children to be aborted.

Comments: Ultrasound

Comments 1 to 24 of about 63.
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krose - 4 days ago.
this video is so amazing i cant wait till i get mine on the 20th of july :D

piecesofyoukp - 9 days ago.
Linz88 I was 4 wks pregnant when i found out w my first son and 8 wks when i found out with my second....I am now carrying twins and i didnt find out i was pregnant until i was 6 wks alomng so its very possible...

fourthtimeround - 10 days ago.
Linz88...........Hi I am the same. I thought I was eleven weeks on they said i was two weeks earlier. The time they gave me does not equate. I read on this website that scans between 5 and seven weeks are not as accurate and can have a difference of ten days either way. I am waiting for my next scan to find out for sure. Congrats!

Linz88 - 11 days ago.
i had an ultrasound today i thought i was weeks but she told me she couldnt see a yolk sac so thinks im earlier than i think..has that ever happened to anyone?i found out i was pregnant on the 10th of june so i dont understand how i could be 3-4 weeks when i found out 13 days ago

Bri - 15 days ago.
Megan20 - I had a 4D done with my son. The lady that did it said the best time to get the best pictures are 28-30weeks. This is because everything is fully formed and baby has already been putting on weight, but, baby hasn't put on so much weight that s/he can't move and the face is pressed up against the uterus wall. I have several pictures on my page from when Kekoa was 29weeks. I got so many really good photos. I actually have some that look just like him. I got a side by side picture frame and put one of him inside and one outside making the same face. It's wonderful. HAHA! Have fun!

Megan20 - 15 days ago.
i was wondering if anyone can let me kno when a good time to get a 3d/4d ultrasound would be? i wanna get one ealry cus i wanna know the gender, but i wanna get one later cus i want the baby to be more developed in facial features and stuff. Can you still get really nice close up pics of hand/feet if u get a 3d/4d at like 16-18 weeks? If anyone wants to answer their opinion, could you please post it on my page instead of on this chat? :) Thanks!

amberzon - 26 days ago.
silverlily- I had to go for the in depth ultra sound last pregnancy and it took over an hour. My doctor had concerns about down syndrome. Since I was self pay we decided not to do the amniocentisis. I didn't feel the vibrations but it was warm and terribly uncomfortable. Olivia is fine and healthy, so I don't think the u/s was detrimental to her in any way.

clairegonz - 30 days ago.
LBM - im 10 weeks and one day and have got my u/s today im very nervous and hoping everything is ok. I though a few times I casn feel the baby like a flutter but maybe this was wind I cant be sure although looking at this picture it seems strand that you wouldnt feel it x

LBM.newmom - 32 days ago.
I'll be 10 weeks tomorrow. Can anyone feel anything yet?? That movie of the little baby moving around like crazy looks like you must be able to feel something! look at em go!!

catatori - 39 days ago.
Silver lilly - I'm really sorry to hear that you're feeling panicked and frustrated that your husband was not able to handle your fears respectfully. I don't think men realize how easily our fears can be triggered. Just call a medical someone that you trust and talk to them. I am sure you will get the reassurance you need. I would also bet that you have to have about 100 of those long ultra sounds for negative effects to occur. I think you'll be fine.

silverlilly1 - 40 days ago.
I went for my 18 - 20 week ultrasound last week and it took just under an hour, and I could feel the vibrations from the machine really strongly, to the point that it felt warm sometimes, and the tech also pushed REALLY hard on parts of my stomach - I was sore the next day still. Now I've read some things about ultrasounds saying they should be lmited to 30 minutes, and that the vibrations and warmth created can be bad and are even possibly tied to things like autism and dyslexia. And I'm panicking. Because I felt the vibrations so strongly it was bordering on uncomfortable, and it was a super-long session. I called my husband to talk and he hung up on me, and now I'm just scared. Anyone else have an ultrasound like this? What happened? I know there is no way to know about any consequences like this until after the child is born and starts to get older...

chiquita - 54 days ago.
cheyne, i think it's maybe because u ovulated later in your cycle when u conceived. it happened to me too, as my u/s said i was 5 days later than my edd. i calculated 6 dec, and the u/s gave me a dd of 11 dec. HTH!

Beautiful Bre - 54 days ago.
ok so i had an ultra sound at 12 weeks. i am now 20 weeks. but when they did the u/s at 12 weeks they found a kidney shaped deal. and so i had to go to another dr and have another u/s and so i find out i have a pelvic kidney.. my left kidney is in my pelvic area and the right one is in the normal spot. but i was just wondering if any other lady has a pelvic kidney and if they had any complications with the delivery part. i had my first baby but he was only 4 lbs 7 oz and we didnt know about my kidney then. so just curious.

cheyne - 56 days ago.
I am CERTAIN of my dates. I should be due 24th December. I must be 7 weeks pregnant - my LMP was 19th March. My cycle was a regular 28 days. On the odd occasion it wasn't, it was never shorter than 27 days and never longer than 30. I got a strong positive pregnancy tests over 3 weeks ago on the 17th April. Yet I went for a scan at 5 weeks 6 days and they saw nothing but the yolk sac. I went back the other day at 7 weeks exactly and they saw a fetal pole and heartbeat and gave me a hospital letter for my doctor saying they clearly saw these things - but it was so tiny I couldn't see it - barely a grain of rice. They said I am 5 and a half weeks. Impossible. What's going on? I think its stopped growing. What if it's died inside me. Help!?

mirtik - 57 days ago.
hi did any of u ladies had o Combined First trimester Ultrasound and Serum Screening for Birth Defects ?Just wonder should I have one or not ?

mommy2b-dec16 - 72 days ago.
i had a scare over the weekend, i was bleeding and we didn;t know if it was spotting or a miscarriage. we went to the ER and they did an ultrasound and my husband got to see the baby, and the doc told us he or she has a heartbeat.. im scheduled to have my 'first' ultrasound with my OB/GYN on the 5th and I can't wait to be able to look for myself...

nana582002 - 72 days ago.
do u ladys belive in internet gener predictor? it saying im haveing a boy but not sure i have 2 boys already and not even close to what i flet like wen i pregant with them? wat u do think

monstamama - 92 days ago.
We didn't opt for the nuchal scan or any screening. God gives us what we can handle...and I certainly wouldn't consider other options so it was the right choice for us.

44dream44 - 92 days ago.
I had my first dr. appt. on 3/30 and the dr. didn't see anything in my first u/s. From LMP, I was 6w 2d, so she thought it might be ectopic and sent me to the ER, even though I didn't have any pain or bleeding. They did another u/s and saw nothing. They took blood and told me to come back in the morning. The next day 3/31, they did another u/s and saw TWO gestational sacs! The ER dr. said I was probably closer to 5w rather than 6w, meaning I ovulated a little later than expected. Just wanted to give you some encouragement. I wish I hadn't scheduled my dr.'s appointment so early! I got quite a scare when she was telling me it was *probably* ectopic and I might have to have surgery that day! I have my next appointment with her on April 16th. We'll see how it goes. I might switch doctors. Still haven't been told what my hCG levels are or were, but all my HPTs are still coming out darker than the ones before, so that is encouraging!

lin - 93 days ago.
They test for Downs here using a triple screen test, which is a blood test. It can test for Downs, Spina Bifida and other Trisomy's. The test doesnt come back neg. or pos. but as a result such as 1/5 chance or a 1/10000 chance your baby will have a disorder. If your results on this test come back as 'abnormal' they will then suggest an amnio and proceed with an ultrasound to look for further indications of a disability. The triple screen is done around 14-16 weeks I believe. So we do usually know if somethings fishy before the 20 weeks scan..however this trip screen can have false positives. I like this better than the idea of an ultrasound to determine if the child has a disability because i find ultrasounds are very decieving and like a few people have said if there are 'markers' for a disabilty they tell you and you stress about it the whole pregnancy. My first son showed a few light markers for downs, we refused to do the amnio... a needle in the tummy freaked me out, plus I wouldnt have terminated anyhow...but I did freak out the whole pregnancy only to have a healthy baby.

PreggersAgainYippee - 93 days ago.
Muddyboots - It may be due to your age that you had the blood and NT ultrasound screening. I live in the U.S. and had the same done (sequential blood draw was 90+% accurate) around 13 weeks. They also looked and noted nasal bones. One important thing to remember is that both blood and ultrasound only screen and are based on probabililty vice certainty like a CVS or amnio. I still elected to have another ultrasound at 16 weeks just in case something changed, and I would opt for an amnio to keep my options open. All again was great and doc actually recommended against an amnio as there were no indications of a problem. Now I'll have the big 20 week ultrasound in a couple weeks.

muddyboots - 93 days ago.
I understand your points of view, but what I am trying to say is, if you do wait until 20 weeks and something is wrong then it is in my opinion very late to be thinking about options. However I do find your own experiences rather scary. At our 12 week scan they do a blood test in conjunction with the nuchal scan that supposedly finds 89% of down's babies. I would rather know early. My mother waited for an amnio instead, and my sister is Down's as a result. By the time you are 20 plus weeks it must be almost impossible to take the decision to terminate. I know I couldn't. But I also know that although I love my sister, what she has been through is not fair on her or her mother.

tina27 - 94 days ago.
Kebler98: the same thing happened to a friend of mine. the doctor told her her baby would have downsyndrome. she greived openly and was depressed thourgh out her pregnancy but she to would love the baby no matter what. after several months of grieving she gave birth to a buitiful and perfect baby. not only did he not have downsyndrome but he had no complications to his health at all. this is why i wont have one done because they dont really Know and you are not supposed to be under added stress during pregnancy which is what this brings in the end

kebler98 - 94 days ago.
I know that my aunt was told that her last child was going to have down syndrome when she had an early u/s. They kept the baby not caring what was wrong, needless to say the baby was born and guess what she is perfectly healthy with no down syndrome so I don't know if I would use the u/s as a gudie for that. But this is just me and a personal expierence.

muddyboots - 94 days ago.
I don't know much about the U.S but I'm thinking it must have something to do with the laws on termination. What happens if you find out at 20 weeks there is something wrong? it's very late to be thinking about options isn't it?