Oh, so that's what an appointment is supposed to be like!

Lexilynn345 · October 2012

We went in for my first ultrasound yesterday and I was a nervous wreck, which I'm sure you can all relate to. My ob has an old ultrasound machine (which I think is ridic...he is an ob! It's over 15 years old apparently) so he warned us that we probably wouldn't see anything, which stressed me out so much.

Anyway, he quickly found the baby and after zooming in was able to see the heartbeat. His machine is too old to pick it up, but by looking at it he guessed it was going at 120 bpm. By my calculations I thought I was 6w3d, but I was measuring 6w1d. He said that's ok and variations are normal, plus I could be a day off on when I Oed. But, my PGaL brain is worried about this, of course. At what I thought was 12 DPO my hcg was 192, so I think that's REALLY high if I was only 10 DPO then. I just assumed his machine would be new and high tech enough to measure the heart rate. It was very visible when we were watching it.

Either way, I'm relieved and happy with what we saw and heard yesterday. Dr said no sex or exercise until after 12 weeks. It was the first of many, many Dr appointments that went well and I left grinning instead of crying. Such a relief and very refreshing to FINALLY understand what a normal ob appointment is like!

Anyone else's ob have a machine that old? My old gyn's was the same way. Anyone else measure a few days behind?

Cricket55 · October 2012

I am 26w5d now and when I went for my first U/S I was measuring 3 days behind. It is measured by millimeters at that point so even the doctor can be a little off. My LO caught up and is measuring correctly now but I would not worry about a couple days (easier said than done, I know!)

jobiann · October 2012

I'm so glad you had a good u/s despite an older u/s machine...I can't believe they don't invest in something new, you think it would drive away business.

I think only my two early u/s I measured two days behind until I hit 8 weeks. I was never too worried about it...now when my doctor measures my bump I always measure one week ahead!

Junebug060609 · October 2012

My obs office doesn't even have a machine on premises. This LO measured two days behind at my u/s on Tuesday. A swing of 3/4 days is totally normal. This early on them being a mm off on where they click makes a big difference.

bumpuser2669861 · October 2012

Glad you had a good u/s! I wouldn't worry about measuring behind at all. That tends to change almost every time you have an u/s. They don't even adjust your EDD unless it changes by a week or more.

TMWarren85 · October 2012

When I went for my dating US I was thinking in my head that I should have been 6w5d, and if it was anything different that something was wrong. I was already thinking negatively because I had a normal cycle and randomly POAS one week later and it was a BFP. Totally freaked out, assumed the worst, maybe my lining wouldn't support a healthy pregnancy, etc. So when I measured at 6w0d it didn't really give me any relief, so it was until an U/S at 12w (when they struggled to pick up a heartbeat on a doppler) that I finally started feeling better because I was measuring ahead and LO looked great.

Try to keep your PGAL brain on lock down Congrats and good luck!!

bananers · October 2012

At 7w1d I was measuring 3 days behind and it worried me some, but the NP said their equipment has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 days, so she wasn't concerned. Just a week and a half later, at 8w5d, I was only measuring one day behind.

Congrats on a great appointment!

Lexilynn345 · October 2012

Thank you ladies sooo much for the encouragement!

This is the furthest I've gotten with a good ultrasound (made it to 8 weeks with my first pregnancy, but things weren't looking too great from 6 weeks on). So, I'm trying to focus on the positives and enjoy every moment!

xxswebbxx · October 2012

I had something similar happen to my at my first appointment. I dunno why they do ultrasounds so early on old machines. I know the are looking to the heartbeat but my OB wasn't able to see much of anything but he said it was "fine". I was completely stressed until a week later when I had a u/s in radiology. Well my LO is fine!

I agree they should have at least 1 up to date u/s machine if they are going to to in office u/s.

I'm glad you had a good appointment!