Anatomy Scan Question

roundthree24 · January 2014

So we will be going in for what I *think* is our anatomy scan tomorrow at 18w2d. It is scheduled as two different appointments-the ultrasound first, followed by the appointment with the doctor. My question is this- will the tech give us any indication that everything looked good, or heaven forbid something is wrong, or do we only find that out after the doctor has reviewed the results? The reason I ask is because my husband is trying to take off work and it might be hard for him to stay for the second appointment, but we both want him to be there if something is wrong.

So for those who have had an anatomy scan before, did the tech say anything like "looks like a healthy baby in there!" or give any specifics about how the baby is doing?

Also, the reason I said "I think" we are going in for the anatomy scan is because when we were scheduling, my 16 week appointment was going to be around the holidays when I guess the office wasn't scheduling as many patients, so she suggested we just bump it back to 18 weeks when she said we'd be able to find out the sex. Since we're team green now, I don't even care about the sex, I just want to know it's healthy. And now I'm wondering if she just mentioned finding out the sex as a bonus or if they're doing the whole shebang of looking at the organs and whatnot. Has anybody had a full anatomy scan at 18 weeks?

PinkKEL9 · January 2014

Well I haven't had mine yet, but I'm going on Tuesday and I am 18 weeks.

chaysefaith · January 2014

Usually the tech won't say anything. They'll show you the baby and the heartbeat, but if anything is wrong they won't say.

MrsCase1 · January 2014

It depends on the tech. As far as I understand it, most won't say anything. My doctor's tech has her PhD in whatever that science is, so she freely says whatever she sees. I had a bleed last year and she was like, "This is a blah blah blah and the treatment is blah." I can understand the legal reasons for why this is not a good thing, but I was appreciative of her big mouth, LOL.

cMichelle0423 · January 2014

From my experience, the tech won't tell you much. They're not really there to diagnose anything but to let the doctor know what they found or noticed, then the doctor will look at whatever it is they saw, and talk to you about it. For the most part, the tech will just tell you the gender. It might be different in other places but I've been in Colorado for one pregnancy, and now Texas for my 2nd pregnancy and so far both of my experiences with u/so have been the same.

layersofmeaning · January 2014

With my son, our tech did tell us everything looked good but I know not all of them are the same. I wouldn't worry if they don't say anything.

snowpants · January 2014

I agree with previous posters...it just depends on the tech. Don't get worried if the tech won't say anything because he or she is probably just following the rules. I've had techs on both sides of the spectrum.

roundthree24 · January 2014

Thanks for the responses ladies! We'll just play it by ear then, but will act under the assumption that he'll need to stay the whole time. If the tech is the sharing type and it sounds like we're good, he'll go ahead and go to work and if not, then he'll stay and his work and boss can just deal. And I guess it sounds like this will in fact be the anatomy scan, so yay for that!

SecondTimeinMSU · January 2014

The tech just told us the gender and not anything else. It was the doctor that came in and told us that the fluid levels in DS's brain were borderline and that they wanted to do another ultrasound in a few weeks. I was really glad to have DH there for after that. I don't know if the tech would've said everything looks good it had but I am assuming they'd just wait. When they sent us for the level 2 ultrasound the person there was able to tell us that the levels were the same rather than make us wait for the doctor but she did say we'd have to talk to the doctor about how we should proceed. I think they want you to wait to talk with the doctor since they can answer any questions you may have about the results. Unfortunately my follow up for the first ultrasound was with one of the terrible doctors at my old practice so she was totally unhelpful and not reassuring which allowed me to freak out for 6 weeks until they concluded that everything was going to be ok.

ElTrain5 · January 2014

Maybe just let her know your concern and ask a general question like..."Would you say it's a good idea that my husband stay? I'd really like him to be here if there's anything concerning that might come up".

mattanda2011 · January 2014

With DD the tech told us it was a girl, and explained the heart beat and limbs and fingers while she was measuring and taking pictures. It wasn't until we met with the dr that we found out she had a cyst in her brain. There was nothing te tech said or did, or didn't do, that indicated anything out of the ordinary. We only got that from the dr. Now I don't remember correctly if she said "everything looks great" or something to that extent, but I rememebr leaving the tech office feeling like everything was fine.

And just so you know, DD is fine, no issues from the cyst, no one would even know that she had it unless they told us at the ultrasound.

kks4471 · January 2014

Legally we're not allowed to give any results, but we don't like being cold heartless sonographers, so we say some limited details. Some will say more than others, depends on who they work for etc. Patients always ask me how things look, and I reply with my classic "I obtained great images for the radiologist to read". They could be great images of something horrible though, I just can't say that to patients. Good luck!

MaidMarion25 · January 2014

Each time we have been in the tech has explained what we are looking at, like this is the brain development, this is the nasal bone, etc. however my first pregnancy we went to our first ultrasound and the tech just said, " you don't have a baby" hearing her day that crushed us, I really wish she would have said, "I will give the images to your doctor and they will speak with you". I just thought she could have been more tactful about it.

colllydon · January 2014

My tech said everything looked great and then the doctor came in and said the tech saw a white spot on the heart. I felt kind of blindsided. I don't think they are supposed to tell you, but I was just so pissed. I spent 20 min between appointments joking around with my sister and playing on my phone and then the doctor tells me there could be something wrong.

LegalLadyBug · January 2014

Depends on the tech and policy at the office. My tech will tell me everything she sees and what it means. She then types up her report and it goes downstairs to the OB for my appt with him. With DD the A/S was done at a different time than my appt and in the radiology dept of a hospital. My DH wasn't allowed in the room and I literally laid there in the dim room in silence while the lady took measurements, she wouldn't even let me see the screen.

Julie&Micah · January 2014

I feel as though I've had pretty open techs with both of my pregnancies so far. Both pregnancies have had anomalies and both times the techs did not tell me the specific thing that was off on the first scan, however they did point out all major parts and told me what they were doing the whole time. Each time the dr/perinatologist came in and discussed the problems right after while I was still on the table so they could point out what exactly they were looking at. At each following scan the techs have told me pretty much everything since we all knew what we were looking for.
I'm guessing you will probably know everything is a-okay before you go into your regular appt.

apmom · January 2014

My MIL is an ultrasound tech, and they really are not supposed to say much other than the gender, if you choose to know. They will walk you through the anatomy (here is the right hand etc) and let you know if there is anything they are having a hard time photographing. But as far as letting you know other details, they really are supposed to have a doc speak to you on that once they have reviewed the pics. That's mostly because a doc can best answer your questions should anomolies occur. It depends on the place though, how strictly they follow that protocol.

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