12 Weeks for first ultrasound??

bartels8

I'm almost 7 weeks along today, and I was getting jealous of all the ladies that have been posting that they heard the heartbeat on u/s already. So I called my doc to see if I could get scheduled for one. My doctor won't schedule my intake appointment until next week (8 weeks), the first bloodwork appointment until 10 weeks, and the first u/s at 12 weeks.

 Does that seem right?? Why does it seem everyone is getting theirs between 6-8 weeks?

tmcox12

I was honestly surprised when they let me make an appointment for before 8 weeks. With DD they scheduled me at 6 weeks and my doctor said they weren't supposed to do that and I had to come back and 8 weeks for the ultrasound because she doesn't want her patients to worry if a heartbeat doesn't show up at 6 weeks. This time around, they would have seen me before 5 weeks if I set it up that way, which I thought was strange...So no first appointment until 8 weeks seems ok...but no u/s? That does seems strange to me. But then again, I think some places still only do one u/s at 20 weeks.

meltoine

Some doctors do an ultrasound between 6-8 weeks to estimate the age of the fetus. If the mom has seriously irregular periods or doesn't know when her last period was, this can be important. Otherwise, they're really not necessary. 

The standard practice, as dictated the ACOG, is to have 1 ultrasound at 20 weeks, so 12 weeks is still early.  

supersarah77

My first u/s won't be for a while either. My provider sent me a folder with a bunch of info when I called and made my first appointment, including a chart of what happens when. First appointment with blood work at 8-10 weeks, fetal heart tones and review lab results at 10-12 weeks, first ultrasound at 15-16 weeks. Although my first appointment will be at 9.5 weeks and my second appointment is already booked for a month later so who knows how they will split things up. The nurse did tell me that my OB will look for fetal heart tones at the first appointment. We're waiting to hear it before we tell people we're expecting (aside from our parents)!

Rvnsgrl81

Some of us have gone in early because we needed fertility treatments to conceive. So I had my first u/s at 6w and was a day ahead. I have another next week at 7w3d and I will have one more around 8 weeks before being released to my OB.

luvmyducks

I know a lot of Dr's wait until then.  Technically u/s should only be done for medical reasons.  If you know how far along you are, if you've experienced no spotting, and don't have a history of loss, you shouldn't need one.

I have early ones bc I have a history of loss.  Trust me, you don't want u/s for that reason. 

cincybee82

I don't get one until 20 weeks in February.

KikiCohen

In my case, my early u/s and appts are for two reasons.  First, this is my second pregnancy with my first ending in a loss.  We literally had 0 indications that anything was wrong until I started bleeding, so my OB is doing some extra monitoring.  Sorry if that's TMI, but it's the truth.  Second, since my m/c, my cycles have been all over the place, so my dates were way off.  LMP put me at a EDD of 6/19 whereas my O date put me at 7/4.  I needed the u/s for dating purposes.

FWIW, I didn't have an u/s with my first pregnancy until 8 weeks.  I have a few friends who saw midwives and never had ultrasounds till 20 weeks and then that was all they got.

LittleMommaBlueHen

I probably won't have one until 20 weeks unless there is a question about my measurements based on internal exam at my first appointment at 8.5 weeks.  I don't appear to need a dating ultrasound at this point and I prefer as few ultrasounds as possible.  I ended up with way more than the norm with both of my other kids due to a variety of reasons and I hope to avoid that with this baby.

ilovemyducks21

cincybee82:

I don't get one until 20 weeks in February.

Same here. A little bummed but I guess it's better than needing one early for issues with the pregnancy.

jlemo

i wont have my first u/s til about 11 weeks, but once i hit 16 i will have one every 2 weeks to check my cervix  

jennyqt103

I had my first u/s yesterday, but I conceived with fertility treatment and second I'm high risk.

macncheese0712

I had bloodwork done at 4 weeks, but won't have my first real appointment/ultra sound until 11 weeks and my second ultrasound at 20 weeks. I think this is normal, but I can't help but feeling like a kid who is waiting for Christmas! Ironically, my ultrasound will be a few days before Christmas.