Doctor Question

leiniew

So I had my first doc appointment a little over a week ago and was very excited for an ultrasound. I was told that she doesn't do ultrasounds until week 20 unless there are concerns that come up.

My sister-in-law has had two already and is in week 15 and said that I should get a new doctor who does ultrasounds more regularly to monitor things. My friend said that her doctor didn't do many ultrasounds and the first one was at 20 weeks and things worked out just fine.

Do you think I should be concerned and find a doctor who does more or maybe even ask my doctor to do one since I have about 8 1/2 weeks til I hit that 20 week point or is this typical for doctors to do?

Thanks ladies!

shortsweet&sassy

Most doctors only do one u/s at 20 weeks unless there is a medical reason. Most of the time its because insurance companies wont pay for more than one. I only had one with my first pregnancy and I will have two with this one (I had ectopic concerns so my Doctor said it was medically needed) otherwise my doctor would have only done the 20 week woht this one. There is no need to be concerned, your Dr will know if there is a problem and an u/s is needed.

NicoleD715

Mine OB is the same way, the only U/S (if there are no problems) is done at 18-20 weeks. At first I didn't like the idea of having to wait that long, however after reading a lot of posts it seems like it is pretty much a split of OBs that just do one and the ones that do more. You can ask for an U/S however I would suggest checking with your insurance to see what is covered. My insurance is pretty good however if there is no problems they will only cover 2 U/S (one for anatomy scan and one for position checking towards the due date). 

KYRN

This is pretty common practice (waiting until 20 weeks).  It is becoming more and more popular for offices to do an early u/s now but I wouldn't say it is out of medical necessity.  There's nothing that your Dr is missing by not monitoring you with u/s.

kristin172429

The u/s at 20 weeks is pretty standard.  The only reason we got an earlier one was to date the pregnancy because my last few cycles were pretty wonky.  Is your sister-in-law considered high-risk or advanced maternal age?  That may explain the more frequent u/s she is getting.

leiniew

Thank you! That makes me feel better about things

Angiee930

I have had 2 already and I am not high risk, every Dr is different. 

avalovesart

It may depend it they have in-office ultrasound equipment. My doc did one at my first visit, but it was as simple as moving to the next room. However, for the NT scan (a much more specialized u/s,) I would have had to go to another facility (in the end I couldn't get the NT because of my insurance.)

But more likely, as others said, it probably is an insurance reason. If you want one earlier, you may be able to find an elective u/s location in your area. I'm going to have one of those tomorrow!