Week 17th or Week 20??

Chanimalynn · October 2015

Today I scheduled my Maternal Fetal Ultrasound. In my head i'm thinking it's to find out what the gender was. I've had my heart set on the weekend of Thanksgiving. That would put me into my 17th week.. well, the person I spoke to on the phone was really really pressing for December 12th... that would put me at about 19 weeks almost 20. She expressed to me that I she might not be able to tell me much about the baby, including gender. I explained to her my need to have the ultrasound the week of Thanksgiving, due to some other family matters. My date is scheduled for November 23rd. Does anyone think this is too soon? I am looking for some positive confirmation I made the right choice! haha.

Thank you! Any help is most welcome.

littleredx2 · October 2015

I think most physicians strive for anatomy scans between weeks 18 to 21. My OB schedules at 20 weeks and won't do anything more than a day or two before that mark. This ultrasound is to measure different anatomy of the baby, determining sex is just an added bonus, but not at all why the ultrasound is done. In order to get the needed measurements, it's recommended to have done during the 18-21 week time frame so that different parts (ie: spine, heart, etc.) are at their desired development. For these reasons and knowing the importance of the scan, I wouldn't push to have it performed earlier. You could always pay to have an elective ultrasound done sooner to determine sex, as that can be seen anytime after 14-15 weeks typically if you need to know earlier.

cortney626 · October 2015

Ditto @littleredx2 The anatomy scan is usually done around 18-20 weeks at my dr's office. Their concern isn't gender. I would recommend going to an elective place and getting an earlier ultrasound done. That's what we're going to be doing.

Sarcasm101 · October 2015

Why do you care if your anatomy scan is the week of Thanksgiving?

Personal, I would want mine to be scheduled for when the doctor thinks they have the best chance of getting the information they need. (which is generally around 20 weeks) The purpose of the AS is not to tell you the sex, its to make sure getting is developing as it should, and to look for any problems.

Motiejmr · October 2015

It's better to wait until 20 weeks bc if you go too soon they may not be able to get all the measurements, sending you back later to complete. This too can cost more depending on your deductibles.

NachosAndPeaches · October 2015

Ummmmm yeah I'd go based on what your dr recommends. I'm confused, are you wanting an earlier ultrasound because you want to find out the sex? Why don't you just get an elective then? The anatomy can is extremely important for major organ systems etc and you don't want to do that early. Most doctors aim for an average of 20 weeks.

Ready4theParty · October 2015

I agree with pps. Go with what your Dr reccomends. I also agree that you should do an elective if you need to know by Thanksgiving. I understand wanting to do the us before then..my dad's bday is that day and we want to do a gender reveal for his bday. He is set on this one being a girl.

Chanimalynn · October 2015

I appreciate the information. This is my first baby, I guess my doctor/nurse must not be doing a great job explaining the difference between ultrasounds. Thanks, all!

KMJames15 · October 2015

My OB requires patients to wait until 20 weeks. I have my gender revel scheduled for this Saturday the 31st at an elective place. They have different packages to choice from. For $85 I get a 10-15 minute session. Photos. DVD. As well as a stuffed animal that plays the heartbeat.

Mailmans Baby Momma · October 2015

Yes, it's too soon. It's quite a no-no to rely on the anatomy scan to determine the sex of your baby...while it's an exciting bonus, you should be more concerned about development. I'm actually surprised they let you schedule it early.

jonesl12 · October 2015

We encourage patients to have it during the 20th week and if it's not possible then a few days before or after is ok too.

Lilpenguin3 · October 2015

We have our anatomy scan set for week 19. We went to an elective place last week for $75 to find out but lo did not cooperate so they are having me come back this week. The A/S is an in depth look to make sure your baby is healthy and growing and a bonus is finding the sex. If you want to know sooner Google an elective place.

imrachellea · October 2015

I have said it before on this board and I will say it again. The anatomy scan is for FAR MORE than finding out the sex. A friend of mine found out her son had a congenital heart defect at hers, so my "need to know" has diminished quite a bit as I am far more concerned about the health and development of my child this time around. And I hate to burst your bubble, but there is always a chance the baby won't cooperate and you won't be able to tell anyway. Do not go against the doctors recommendations on this. They know when they need to see you for this scan. Honestly, if I was in your shoes I'd be questioning whether I wanted to stay at that practice if they were actually willing to bend on this to give you an early anatomy scan for the sex alone. They should know that what they need to see at the anatomy scan should be at 18 weeks at the earliest (mine happens to be right at 18 weeks next week as per the scheduling department).

kcbarbo78 · October 2015

I'm surprised they let you argue them into an earlier date. My OB will only perform the anatomy scan at 18 - 20 weeks, the closer to 20 weeks the better. It's non-negotiable for them because they don't feel that they can see what they need to see if they do it any earlier. (This very important mid-pregnancy scan is done for medical reasons and not to determine sex, as other posters have pointed out, so not to beat a dead horse ...) I do understand the desire to know the sex early (I'm one of "those" people who really, really wanted to know as soon as possible), so I sympathize. On the other hand, I just got the results of the free cell DNA test today and received confirmation that my baby is probably not affected by any chromosomal abnormalities like Trisomy 18 or Down Syndrome, so in the end his health really is all that matters. (I know ... I sound like a trite, clichéd broken record. I've had a difficult, high-risk pregnancy, though, so all the horrific possibilities literally keep me up at night, and today was the first bit of good news that I've gotten in a long while. I've learned A LOT about what my priorities really are in these past few months. When I started IVF, I thought I would absolutely need to have a daughter to be happy, but now that seems like the most trivial aspect of this whole experience. I only speak for myself, though. No woman going through pregnancy needs to justify her feelings to strangers.) And since this is also my first pregnancy, I agree that it's sometimes difficult to keep everything straight, especially if your doctor's office isn't explaining things well. For instance, I really had no idea whatsoever what was going on with the nuchal translucency test until I got the results, and I didn't ask any questions or request any explanations or anything. I felt like a major dummy in hindsight.

mumidi · October 2015

Our Maternal Fetal Medicine will not schedule earlier than 18 weeks. And they recommed 20. They can't always get all the pictures they need of the heart and other things before than. I'm waiting for mine to be scheduled. I'll be 20 weeks on Thanksgiving so I was hoping for a few days before so we could do a gender reveal on Thanksgiving, however, I know this might not be possible.

pinottoparenthood · October 2015

KMJames15 said:

My OB requires patients to wait until 20 weeks. I have my gender revel scheduled for this Saturday the 31st at an elective place. They have different packages to choice from. For $85 I get a 10-15 minute session. Photos. DVD. As well as a stuffed animal that plays the heartbeat.

Man, I also got tons of photos and a DVD... don't you wish they would lower the price and JUST tell you the sex? That's all I was after haha

Wils0722 · October 2015

My doc said gender was an added bonus of the "20 week ultrasound". But really it's to make sure there are 4 chambers to the heart, all organs are functioning well, etc. It's about the development of the baby, and they need it to be at or after 20 weeks. There's a clinic in my city that does ultrasounds for between $50-$200 depending and they are 4D and amazing, it's like a photo studio for your womb. You might consider that if you need to find out gender before thanksgiving! I'm sure there's something close to you. Best of luck to you!!!

Mrsstasisantos · October 2015

If it's just for the gender go to elective place I found out at 12 weeks and I went again at 15 weeks to confrim and he's still a boy!

Ddel1109 · November 2015

First pregnancy i found out 15 weeks and there was no doubt at all and this pregnancy im finding out through the bloodwork on wednesday which ill be 18 weeks and ultrasound at 20 but dr did say now they wait till 20 to do it.

RoseShadow873 · November 2015

pinottoparenthood said:

KMJames15 said:

My OB requires patients to wait until 20 weeks. I have my gender revel scheduled for this Saturday the 31st at an elective place. They have different packages to choice from. For $85 I get a 10-15 minute session. Photos. DVD. As well as a stuffed animal that plays the heartbeat.

Man, I also got tons of photos and a DVD... don't you wish they would lower the price and JUST tell you the sex? That's all I was after haha

The place here I made an appointment at has a thing to just tell you the sex but it's still 75 dollars! Now I feel like it's more of a rip off than I did before.

samkmommy · November 2015

I would call and talk to your OBs nurse and see what she says. I agree that I don't think they will see everything they need to at 17 weeks. I had my scan at 18 1/2 weeks with my son and had to get a second because they couldn't get a good enough view of some of the things they needed to see. The closer to 20 weeks the better. Unless your insurance doesn't make you pay for ultrasounds, I would pay the $100 or less for an elective to determine the gender and reschedule with your OB for 20 weeks... At my office those ultrasounds are around $300 after insurance because they are so in depth.

kyraaD · November 2015

why is everyone so focused on only finding out the sex of their babies at their anatomy scans??
dont get me wrong, it's exciting & fun to find out. but when i went for mine (lurking from March2016), my main focus was making sure baby was still developing normally & was healthy. finding out he was a boy was just the cheery on top of the cake.

NachosAndPeaches · November 2015

@kyraaD I think people don't realize how real it can be that something can go wrong. Until it's happened to them or someone they know, or someone of some relation to their life, it's something that happens to other people. So they just assume all is fine and are excited to find out sex. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with this, and as I've never had to wait til an anatomy scan to find out sex I don't know how I would be, but I think that's the main reason for most people.

ivyvines6 · November 2015

Well for me personally, if anything was wrong it probably would have come up with the first three ultrasounds I had over the past two months. And I've been putting off shopping until now...

NachosAndPeaches · November 2015

Knottie9983816 said:
Well for me personally, if anything was wrong it probably would have come up with the first three ultrasounds I had over the past two months. And I've been putting off shopping until now...

Knottie, that's unfortunately not true. Congenital heart defects and several other things are too hard to find on such small babies which is why they recommend to wait until the 20th week (or as close as possible) so the baby's organs can be large enough to really evaluate.

Chichi93 · November 2015

I found out the sex of my son when he was 10.5 weeks. I went to my first appointment with baby2 on the 22nd of October (I was 15 weeks then) and he said he's 99% sure it's a girl this time.

Chichi93 · November 2015

As for the developing normally thing, sometimes they don't catch it. My profile picture is of my 6 month old baby boy, Cohen. He just had his first open heart surgery on September 30th. He has congenital heart defects. In case anyone is familiar he has DORV ( Double outlet right ventrical ), pulmonarysterosis, and VOS ( ventricular septal defect ) straddling mitral valve and another I can't spell. They didn't catch anything because during a normal ultrasound they don't look closely at the heart to tell. That and they don't use the blue and red filter to see the blood flow. His heart mixes purple blood. He has to have multiple surgeries (starting back at 1 year) and will eventually have to have a total heart transplant. I didn't know any of this until he was born on May 4th this year. They had him in the nursery for 5 hours and wouldn't say anything to me until they came in with papers for me to sign while I was showering so he could be taken from me... we spent his first week in childerens hospital.

So at 20ish weeks my OB is having me go to a hospital to have a fetal echocardiogram to see the blue and red blood flow.

With both babies I didn't ever care to know boy or girl.

mzbkworm · November 2015

Mine is scheduled for next Friday, week 18.... And although I know the Dr is looking for more, I think most people are just anxious to find out sex.
I see no reason with it being done now.
That being said, if it is unsuccessful, check out the ultrasound places in your area... There's one by my house that will only charge me $50 for gender ultrasound

Week 17th or Week 20??

Re: Week 17th or Week 20??

Choose Another Board

Search Boards