4D scans? Am I missing out?

EleanorKr · March 2014

My doctor told me last week that I can schedule an appointment for a 4D scan soon. I told him I'm not interested and he looked at me like I'm crazy.

I totally understand that other people would want this, but for me and my husband, it's just not that interesting. The scans look funny and are we really ever going to watch a DVD of our unborn baby in my womb? And the ones I've seen on the internet look kind of... creepy.

I asked the doctor if there was a medical reason he would recommend it, but he assured me it's just something fun that parents enjoy. I just don't want to take another afternoon off work for something my husband and I don't really care about.

I would love to hear your opinions. Am I missing out?

July15Mama · March 2014

I've never had one but I agree with you that they look a little funny. I think if it requires you taking off another afternoon of work just for that it's definitely not worth it. I feel like I'm at the doctors more than enough already! Plus I'm all about saving money!

AutumnBonfire · March 2014

What's the difference between 3D and 4D?

I personally wouldn't take more time off work to get one. Its not really important to me at all. I agree with being at the doctor's enough. I wouldn't decide to have a not medically important, optional visit. When I had my anatomy scan last week, they switched it to 3D a few times to get me a picture of the baby's face. It was pretty cool, but towards the end I just kept thinking we've been here for 90 minutes, hurry up. With DS, they didn't even do that, so all my ultrasound pics were the regular ones. It doesn't bother me at all.

pantherRN · March 2014

No thanks.

brooklynesque · March 2014

Not planning on getting one. I find them creepy also.

Skeemer · March 2014

@pantherrn I think 3D was sooo last year & 4D is what they offer now. They've probably just made improvements in the scanning & etc.

OP, to each their own. DH & I really enjoyed getting our 3D of DS in 2011. We did pay about $100 I think but to us it was worth it. If you don't want to, then it's definitely not something you're missing out on. For those that want to it's a fun experience.

Unknown · March 2014

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Soon2BMrsN · March 2014

Nah. Creepy and a waste of money, imo.

mamaloaf · March 2014

I completely agree. Not worth taking the time off work or the added expense. And no, it's not something I would probably ever watch again and I don't want to be that girl that tries to make my family watch something that really only I'm interested in.

EleanorKr · March 2014

@AutumnBonfire The fourth dimension is time, so it's not just a picture but a DVD.

It's actually free, can you believe it, but still it holds no appeal to me.

Glad I'm not alone in this.

PregsMcSnoozalot · March 2014

There's a medical college near my house that offers them for 25 bucks! I'm very tempted...but kinda worried about someone "practicing" on my belly. Do you guys know if they can really do any harm?

mrscurlygurl · March 2014

PregsMcSnoozalot said:

There's a medical college near my house that offers them for 25 bucks! I'm very tempted...but kinda worried about someone "practicing" on my belly. Do you guys know if they can really do any harm?

What kind of harm do you think they could do? I know some people worry about ultrasounds in general. I see a perinatologist for gestational diabetes and they do ultrasounds at every appt to check growth. I wouldn't think a specialized doctor would do something that is potentially harmful in the name of making sure everything is okay with the baby. I don't think there would be any harm in going to the medical college. I'm sure a doctor would be present. It could just take longer than a normal ultrasound might as the students learn what to do.

As for the OP, I would be super tempted since it is free...although I understand taking off work would be a pain. DH and I went to a boutique type place with DH and paid about $100. At the time I thought I would pretty much only have one ultrasound with my practice (this was before I was diagnosed with GD and realized how many times I'd get to see him at the peri). This time we likely won't pay out of pocket like that, but I do kinda hope one of the techs will switch it to 3D one time, just so I can get a comparison shot of this baby with DS

I'm a picture hoar though, so I think the whole thing is pretty neat.

honeybee434 · March 2014

Our u/s office switches to 4D everytime we go in for an appt and we get a few 3D pics added to our CD. So far they've been a little weird bc 12 weeks and 18 weeks still leave a lot of developing to do. I don't know that I would pay separately for that experience or not but I may feel differently as the baby grows. I would probably take the time to go if it was something that my insurance would cover, but if it was something out of pocket I would probably pass.

cuntasaurusrex · March 2014

The difference between 3D and 4D: 3D is just a still shot. 4D is actual live movement on-screen. It's just a fancy way of saying you get to see your 3D baby moving.

We did get 4D with our early sex scan (which was right, yay!). DH's parents had never seen an ultrasound (they only did them back in the day if something was wrong) and this is the first baby in the family since DH was born, so it was totally worth it to spend $100 on a Saturday to be able to give his parents (and mine) that experience. But I wouldn't be interested in paying for it again, especially now that we know the sex and there's not much more to find out between now and birth time. At this point I want to see my boy's face for the first time for real, instead of a melted-wax picture of him.

livkight · March 2014

we didn't get one, but it wasn't offered to us. at our a/s, baby was mostly turned away from view, so it wouldn't have turned out very good! They do look a little creepy to me, also.

Katieryan13 · March 2014

If it was free, I would do it. Any chance to see the LO again!

katnipeverclean · March 2014

We did a 4d with DD and decided not to do it with this little one. They did it at 22 weeks so to us it wasn't creepy, but DD did keep her hand up my her face the WHOLE time so we never got a great shot of her face. We decided early on this time that the $200 wasn't worth is so we declined. We joke about this baby having second child syndrome already, but I'm glad we made this decision. This LO had his/her hand up by his/her face the whole time at the AS just like DD.

ETA: The coolest thing about the 4d with DD is that she STILL sleeps with her hand right up by her face and always has so we did get a little peek at her personality.

ETA2: If it were free I would totally go for it, though. It was just not worth the extra expense for us.

tourqeyes · March 2014

I have no interest in paying for one. However, if it for whatever reason was free, I don't see the harm in it.

drunkenhandstand · March 2014

Whatever. We had one for the first time yesterday and it was the coolest thing I've ever seen! You won't be creeped out by your own child. It's amazing! Wish they would have been offered to us with our first two children. Made DH tear up!

EllaSmella · March 2014

I haven't been offered one and I don't think I will be. We didn't get any 3D images at our 20 week scan and weren't offered either. My insurance has a pretty high deductible, so I won't be doing anything that's not medically recommended at this point.

krdesi · March 2014

I'm a picture whore like @mrscurlygurl so I will probably elect to have one later on out of curiosity! My doctor doesn't offer them, so I am a little jealous that yours does, but maybe the doctor I switch to, does offer them!

My cousin had a 3D one when she was pregnant with her first and I thought it was so cool because it really looked like her face! I guess it just isn't for everyone!

The difference between 3D and 4D apparently is that the 4D is a moving image of the baby in real time. I saw this national geographic "In the womb" documentary and they explained it in there.

pfeilele · March 2014

I think too many surprises get ruined. I have no desire to see what my baby looks like until they take that kid outta me!

mrscurlygurl · March 2014

aliletz said:

The difference between 3D and 4D: 3D is just a still shot. 4D is actual live movement on-screen. It's just a fancy way of saying you get to see your 3D baby moving.

We did get 4D with our early sex scan (which was right, yay!). DH's parents had never seen an ultrasound (they only did them back in the day if something was wrong) and this is the first baby in the family since DH was born, so it was totally worth it to spend $100 on a Saturday to be able to give his parents (and mine) that experience. But I wouldn't be interested in paying for it again, especially now that we know the sex and there's not much more to find out between now and birth time. At this point I want to see my boy's face for the first time for real, instead of a melted-wax picture of him.

hahaha...melted-wax. It does kinda look like that

beff12 · March 2014

At my 11 week ultrasound, she switched it over to 3D a few times, and it was pretty awesome to see. They didn't do that at the a/s, but I was okay with it. You could tell from the regular ultrasound that little girl's face is still pretty skeleton-esque, so I would rather see her chubby cheek face IRL this summer

It was totally awesome seeing it on the big screen at 11 weeks, but I don't know that I'd make a special appointment or anything just for the 3D!

ahjahbaba · March 2014

My mom really wants to do one with me. I wouldn't pay for it myself but she said she wants to so I say why not. Just another chance to see LO

mrscutforth · March 2014

DH and I don't care to do one either. All ours friends are think we are crazy for not wanting to do one. Our insurance doesn't cover the 4D scan and I could think of a few other things to spend that out of pocket money on. Saying that makes e sound shitty but I don't care.

Artistmom30 · March 2014

We've had 3D/4D done with both babies but we lucked out and got a mini session with our a/s. That's not normally done. It's really cool actually but I would not pay extra to have it done.

BBColt78 · March 2014

If it were free, I'd be all over that.

@pregsmcsnoozalot I'm no doctor, but I did read in one of my thousand books that the 3D and 4D ultrasounds do use higher power than a regular machine. Because there is not enough research out there, the book recommended to keep those ultrasounds to under 15 minutes.

Again, this is from a book, but sounds ok to me.

fmb2011 · March 2014

I would never pay for it but since I'm high risk I get weekly u/s towards the end and it was pretty neat to see the baby in 3D. But like others said I'd wait until baby gains some weight and looks more baby-ish.

TG07 · March 2014

I work in the same building as an elective ultrasound boutique, they have offered to do one for free. If it wasn't free I would still probably pay to have it done to send to both our families since H is military and we live thousands of miles from any family member. I think they will enjoy those extra pics.

dobbyisfree · March 2014

I also find them creepy... people insisted I wouldnt once it was my kid... and we got a 3D picture at the AS and yep. Its a creepy little voldemort. I told the ultrasound technician that and she said youve just ruined babies forever for me. I will compare them all to Voldemort :-)

AMcLaws · March 2014

If it was free, we might consider it. Otherwise, pass. But I don't understand the need to go out and spend money on anatomy scans earlier than needed (unless of course, there's a circumstance like DH home on leave from deployment, for example). Is it REALLY that hard to wait for the 20ish week mark? I just don't understand the lack of patience surrounding that particular scan. I guess I don't get the 4D scans either. They're not very accurate in showing what baby will look like.

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