Natural Birth
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are weight estimates always taken?
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I see so many of these posts across the boards. For both my pregnancies I had 2 ultrasounds only. One at 11ish weeks (screening) and one at 20ish weeks (anatomy).
Even with GD I did not get a later-in-pregnancy ultrasound.
How many did you have? Is it standard practice or were there other reasons to get them?
promised myself I'd retire when I turned gold, and yet here I am
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Re: are weight estimates always taken?
I had about 4 or 5 with Ds. 1st at 7w bc I had bleeding and went to the ER. 2nd at 18w to check growth and anatomy. 3rd at 22w bc baby wasn't fulled developed at 18w to see heart. 4th around 34w bc I was measuing at 39w. And I had an elective 3d US sometime. Yeah, I was a little US happy with my 1st...
I will have 2-3 with this. I've already had 1 bc I was having a hard time dating my pregnancy.
The only other reason I had late-term ultrasounds was to monitor DD's heart defect -- and even then, they wanted me to come in every four weeks but I went every eight (they weren't going to intervene prenatally regardless so I didn't feel more frequent ones would change anything.)
With DS, I felt like I had close to a dozen, though none specifically for growth. I was with an OB office,I had a LEEP procedure before getting pg, so they were overly cautious, even though my cervix didn't budge from the first US to the last.
It was nice to get lots of pictures of him, especially early on, but with this one, once I could feel the baby moving, I haven't had as much anxiety and/or necessarily wanted another one (I had two total). I am also with a birth center and mw this time.
In my first pregnancy, it was standard for the practice to do an u/s at 30 something weeks. The one that was NOT standard at that practice, was the one I had at 12 weeks to date the pregnancy. They only did that one because I was having irregular periods (or... had been anyway... turns out that one cycle was totally normal!)
For my second, it was not standard to do one in third tri, but I was measuring large (fundal height) which is not normal for me (DS1 measured SMALL at that 3rd tri u/s) and during this second pregnancy, I barely gained any weight (11 lbs... I wasn't obese to start- about avg at 135). They had cause for concern so they checked his size and fluid levels. At 38 weeks, they estimated that he was already 7 lbs 9 oz. He was born 39 w, 2 d at 7 lbs 7 oz.
My OB with DS did a position check u/s at 36 weeks. He gave a weight estimate, but I tuned it out. For some reason, this very, very experienced OB who's been around since before u/s was huge didn't feel for baby's position manually, he relied on u/s. So , for him it was standard. If we ever did another low-risk PG with an OB, I would probably decline. It seems to needlessly raise concerns.
I am with a CPM this PG. She won't advocate one just for size, though there are some late PG issues that could possibly warrant a late u/s. (We did elect an anatomy scan, but a % of their patiens choose no u/s. She can tell baby's position by hand.)
More Green For Less Green
I didn't have one with DD or DS. With DD, I did have three ultrasounds at 41 weeks -- two to check on fluid levels, and one VERY quick one (literally about 5 seconds) at the hospital prior to starting my induction to confirm that she was still head down. But I didn't get a weight estimate with any of them. (Thank goodness, because it turns out she was 9.5 lbs...)
I just had one today with this baby, because s/he has a dilated kidney that we've been keeping an eye on. Slow growth would be a potential sign that the kidney is causing issues. Thankfully, all looks good!
I do know plenty of people who get them as standard practice.
Mommy to DD1 (June 2007), DS (January 2010), DD2 (July 2012), and The Next One (EDD 3/31/2015)
Last pregnancy I ended up having 4, the last of which was at 24 weeks.
The first was at 8 weeks to date the pregnancy - my cycles were varied in length so the OB wanted to make sure my date by LMP was not far off from the u/s date.
Second was 12 weeks, the NT scan.
Third was the anatomy scan at 20 weeks, and I had placenta previa. Because of this, a later u/s was scheduled.
Scan at 24 weeks was to make sure the placenta had moved (it had) and that was it. No sizing/weight estimate or anything at the end.
Last time, the only reason I had a late u/s was to check fluid pockets after being sick and going down in belly measurement. They measured for for funsies I guess, but they were inaccurate. Between the u/s and the midwives' hands, they all said she'd be no more than 6 lb. She was 7lb 2 oz.
They were amazed when she came out, asking me where I hid that baby!
This time, there's a chance I may have more u/s to check the baby's size as I am now seeing an endrocrinologist who is looking for information about my thyroid.