Am I being forced to wait?

sbride68 · November 2014

So I have been seeing several friends and others who are due in May around the same time or shortly after my EDD that are already having or have already had anatomy ultrasounds. My dr has said that they do not do them until either 21-22 weeks or 22-23 weeks. I cant remember which one for sure. But to me that seems really late. Others are having them done anywhere from 16 weeks at the earliest but most are around 18-20 weeks. Anyone have any advice on this? Does this seem late to you all? When is your anatomy scan?

CTri17 · November 2014

18-22 weeks is the normal range. I will have mine at 20 weeks

sbride68 · November 2014

I wanted to have mine earlier than 21 weeks so we would find out in time for Christmas and my dr pretty much flat out told me that wasnt even possible. It made me kind of sad

CTri17 · November 2014

Well you can do what you want right? It seems silly for justc a week difference.

Poppy715 · November 2014

They are running the risk of not being able to see everything they are looking for. The anatomy scan checks chambers the the heart and tons of other stuff. There's no reason to do it at 16 weeks. The baby hasn't developed enough. When I asked when they wanted to do mine the MFM insisted at least after 19 weeks. 20-22 is the norm.

lakingsfan2015 · November 2014

You can go to a boutique ultrasound place to find out the sex of your baby but your anatomy scan to look for the size of your baby and your baby's organs should be between 18-22 weeks.

Edited: missing words

Poppy715 · November 2014

CTri17 said:
Well you can do what you want right? It seems silly for justc a week difference.

Not really. Most offices won't schedule the appt earlier than when the dr advises.

sbride68 · November 2014

I am really hoping that she said 21 weeks. That would put us right at the week of Christmas. This also falls right in line with my every 4 week appointments so fingers crossed that is what it will be

[Deleted User] · November 2014

The user and all related content has been deleted.

tinyjoys · November 2014

I'll have two, technically. My doctor will do a "quick", not quite as in depth one in office at 18 weeks. He'll give everything a once over and tell us the sex. Probably all of 10-15 minutes. He'll then outsource the longer, more in depth scan, closer to 45 minutes to an hour, to the lab in the hospital between 20 and 22 weeks. They'll do all of the official measures and whatnot.

18-22 weeks is the norm, though, for anatomy scans.

LexiSophie55 · November 2014

I scheduled our Level II with a pediatric cardiologist just over 20 weeks. They start scheduling them at 19, but I chose to push it out a week. If something is wrong, I don't want the extra week of worry. It sucks.

rivieramaya · November 2014

Mine is scheduled for 20 weeks.

samiamagirl · November 2014

Like other's have said 18-22 weeks is the best time for the anatomy scan. Are you sure your other May '15 mom friends aren't talking about the Nuchal Translucency scan? That's just as in-depth a scan as the anatomy where they look and measure a bunch of different things at a certain point of the baby's development.

anh311pmk · November 2014

My Dr. said she does all her anatomy scans at 20 weeks. Mine will be done then which will be the week of Christmas.

jbj 7497 · November 2014

Mine is at 20 weeks. We are doing an elective US at my drs office to find out the sex at 15 weeks, it was $70 and we wanted to do it with our son without it being an official US. If you want to find out sooner you can do something like that.

spanx21 · November 2014

With DS they did an anatomy scan at 18 weeks and they could see most everything. They couldn't see the heart as clearly as they would like, so they made us come back at 20 weeks for another scan. It was awesome to get to see the baby again, but insurance didn't cover the second anatomy scan. My doc said they weren't sure why they did it at 18 weeks anyways because they normally wait until 20 weeks.

FreddyisReady · November 2014

No one on this board has had an Anatomy Scan yet. I think you are confusing it with the NT scan, which is done around 12 weeks.

xxstephh · November 2014

I'll have my anatomy scan at 18 weeks.

a316b · November 2014

Mine is scheduled for 21 weeks.

With my daughter, we had one at 19 weeks (couldn't see between her legs), returned at 20 weeks (couldn't see between her legs) and finally she cooperated and was much easier to tell the sex at 21 weeks.

With my son, ours was at 20 weeks.

It's honestly just what fit into our schedules.

brose1117 · November 2014

I asked our dr at the last appt and he said 21-22 weeks. We went in for our nt scan u/s Monday. After talking with that dr that actually reads the u/s, she said "Would you like to go ahead and schedule your anatomy scan? I was thinking Dec 17." This puts us at 18 weeks exactly, which is what I was originally hoping. I decided not to question her and schedule it.

bonj212 · November 2014

We have ours at 20 weeks on dec 29th.

sunnyday016 · November 2014

With my DD it was at 21w, with DS it was at 18w, and with this baby it will be 18-20 weeks. I haven't scheduled it yet.

ladydimom · November 2014

They schedule at 17 weeks at my doctors office.

teamspaghetti_a&j · November 2014

Anatomy scans are to check for specific organ development not necessarily for the sex. If you get it done sooner, there is no point because the baby hasn't developed everything yet. 18-22 is the range because they can see the heart, lungs, kidneys, etc. Bonus is the sex determination.

mpiemont · November 2014

I've always heard 18-21 weeks. If you have concerns, I would ask you doctor/midwife.

sbride68 · November 2014

FreddyisReady said:
No one on this board has had an Anatomy Scan yet. I think you are confusing it with the NT scan, which is done around 12 weeks.

It was a couple girls on my Facebook that were talking about it. They aren't due until late May and were talking about getting their anatomy scan done around Christmas time which seemed early to me since that would be 21 weeks for me and I am due early May. Just seemed odd to me

sbride68 · November 2014

FreddyisReady said:
No one on this board has had an Anatomy Scan yet. I think you are confusing it with the NT scan, which is done around 12 weeks.

It was a couple girls on my Facebook that were talking about it. They aren't due until late May and were talking about getting their anatomy scan done around Christmas time which seemed early to me since that would be 21 weeks for me and I am due early May. Just seemed odd to me

squeezebean · November 2014

I'm having mine around 18 or 19 weeks only because I'm not sure if I want the quad testing. I'll have time to do the a/s, see if there's any concern, and still have time for the tests before 20 weeks (if I choose). Otherwise my a/s would be at week 20 or 21. Week 22 is still not too late from what I've heard.

Charmedseed · November 2014

I'm getting extra ultrasounds because of blood pressure stuff, so I think we're going to take a peek anyway at 18.5 weeks. If there's no goods to be seen then, I'll be waiting until 22!

MrsPDX · November 2014

My office won't schedule anything earlier than 20 weeks.

I second the boutique ultrasound idea though. Here for $60-200 (ranging based on 2D, 3D, 4D and if you want DVD, the length ect...) you can get a sex determination done with a "gauruntee" as early as 17 weeks.

If early May-ers are finding out the sex now than it's because they either had other tests done, non-anatomy u/s done, or their doctor's office did their anatomy u/s at or before 16 weeks which is way too early!

jesslfar · November 2014

I was told they could not do them until 18 weeks. My office prefers 20 weeks when they can get clear results. The reason being things are more developed by then and if they have to repeat the ultrasound not every insurance will cover it. With 2 of my 3 pregnancies I had mine at 21 weeks because of scheduling. This time I am 20 weeks on Christmas so I have to wait an additional week.

icajesica82 · November 2014

Mine is at 20 weeks right before my appointment. You can set it earlier but that is usually an optional scan that is paid for. Like a previous poster said the u/s is actually to check on baby and organs, they just tell you the gender if you want to know.

catmentzer21 · November 2014

Mine is at exactly 20 weeks but my Ob refuses to do them before 20 weeks. She prefers 20-22 weeks to make sure they can check everything is ok with the baby.

bdbrandt2 · November 2014

I'm assuming that your friends didn't actually have an anatomy scan but just went to some 3rd party to determine sex.. According to the Ovia app at 15-16 weeks the whoo-haa/pee-pee (I'm very scientific) has already developed and should be visible. But your anatomy scan is wayyyy more than that: read all the above posts. ultrasounds are fun for us but for our doctors and midwives they serve an actual medical purpose.

But You can't discount how exciting it is! Keep your original scan because they won't do it early if not advised by the doc but go to a little boutique and see if you've got a turtle or equal sign!

Want a personalized experience?

Am I being forced to wait?

Re: Am I being forced to wait?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards