Abdominal vs Vaginal Ultrasound

danielleacor

i had my first doctor appt this morning. I am exactly 6 week along. My doctor chatted with me a bit and then pulled over her abdominal ultrasound machine. I was surprised. This is my 3rd pregnancy and I only remember vaginal ultrasounds this early. We saw the sack and possibly a blur that she said could be the baby. No heartbeat. It was less than a minute that we looked. I'm so bummed and a little annoyed she would make me worry now that we didn't see a heartbeat. She told me I probably shouldn't spread the pregnancy news get until we see that heartbeat. Is this normal? Should I worry? I go back next week for a vaginal ultrasound which seems like a lifetime to worry. I could use some positive feedback. Thanks ladies!

FreshBakedBrownies

You can see much better detail with the vaginal ultrasound that early, but not everyplace has that probe. Do you know? Maybe they were limited by their equipment?

Knottie19458446

I wouldn't worry! I am 7 wks, and I had my first appointment yesterday. The doctor told my husband and I that she didn't want to give us an ultrasound yet because we probably wouldn't see or hear anything. She gave us an order to go get it done, but told me to wait until I was almost 9 weeks so that we wouldn't get freaked out if we didn't see anything! 

twinmom1121

I wouldn't worry until you get the next ultrasound. When I had my first ultrasound with my first pregnancy, I was 9.5 weeks and they did an over the belly ultrasound and even then she told me, "we'll see if we can even see anything this early. If not we'll do the vaginal ultrasound."So I think 6 weeks it pretty early to be able to see anything.

E3A7AGGIE

That is really strange they didn't try the transvaginal probe first. And the fact she will try that next week, but not this week, doesn't make sense. Try not to worry though. If you're 6 weeks today, this is just the beginning of probably being able to see something, so if it wasn't clear, I wouldn't put much stock into it. Sorry the first ultrasound didn't go as expected!!!

danielleacor

I know she has the equipment but the room was already booked with another appointment.

danielleacor

Thanks ladies! Hopefully the next appt will go better. Hope your pregnancies are perfect

FreshBakedBrownies

danielleacor said:

I know she has the equipment but the room was already booked with another appointment.

Ok that would bug me! Would it have disrupted their schedule too much to wait until you could use it? Grr!

jordans_wife

Don't worry at all. It was just too soon to see abdominally. You should for sure see next week transvaginally I would think.

BabySeaTurtles

Knottie19458446 said:

I wouldn't worry! I am 7 wks, and I had my first appointment yesterday. The doctor told my husband and I that she didn't want to give us an ultrasound yet because we probably wouldn't see or hear anything. She gave us an order to go get it done, but told me to wait until I was almost 9 weeks so that we wouldn't get freaked out if we didn't see anything! 

This is exactly what my doctor did as well.  She told me that she didn't want to cause any unnecessary worry since we probably wouldn't see anything. (So now I have to wait until 8+5 to find out.) I'm sure it's super annoying the way it went down in the office but try not to worry. 

Blinggal24

I had my first ultrasound on Tuesday. Found out that I was 6w6d and she did it on my belly. I saw and heard the heartbeat... She even gave me a print out with the measurements and FHR... Not sure why so many doctors are saying that you can't see/hear anything that early.

PaniaO

I just think it's weird that she told you when you should/n't spread the news. Seems kind of... Not her place..?

Life is Exciting

Interesting. I'm 7.5 weeks along and my ultrasound tech did both an external and an internal. She says you really can't get a good look externally until around 9 weeks. We were able to see the heartbeat at 7.5 weeks externally though. I'm not surprised that they didn't see yours so early.

kayjay44

I'm pretty sure they're doing an abdominal on me today (I was told to drink a ton of water and not pee, like they do for an NT scan). FX they are able to get a good view as I don't need any more stress after the spotting yesterday.

kayjay44

Blinggal24 said:

I had my first ultrasound on Tuesday. Found out that I was 6w6d and she did it on my belly. I saw and heard the heartbeat... She even gave me a print out with the measurements and FHR... Not sure why so many doctors are saying that you can't see/hear anything that early.

Because it depends almost entirely on the quality of the machines and the ability of the sonographer. That is why many places prefer not to do ultrasounds before a certain time. There is no need to needlessly freak others out.

lilie514

I'm 6wks 6 days and had an internal ultrasound a couple days ago where we saw the heartbeat no problem. It's definitely possible. Going back at 8wks for next us

purplepenguin3

with baby #2 i had an external at 7ish weeks and we saw everything.  they also told me to drink a lot and not pee as you're talking about @magnumJ.  It probably does depend on the person looking and equipment though.  I'm sure that's what I'll have again next week when i go.  

jordans_wife

I had an abdominal us today at 6 weeks 5 days and they could see the hb and get a CR measurement. It was tough though.

cheeni

Omg I was told to keep a full bladder and wen I got there I was told my bladder had to be empty so I spent ages peeing lol and then she pulled out the probe and I was like

cheeni

Omg but luckily my husband found me sat all shy and scared with my legs open on the bed very attractive hahahhaha xx