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December 2015 Moms
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*Job Rant--The Trials of a Sonographer*

rhonashrhonash member
in December 2015 Moms
I just have to get this off my chest...and since we are all recent mothers, I figured this would be a good place to do this. 

Let me start off by saying that I love my job. I scan babies for a living. I worked hard to be here and it's a blessing to be part of the emotional rollercoaster of pregnancy.

That being said, I get so irritated by the majority of expecting mothers when it comes to the 20 week ultrasound. It is an ANATOMY scan, not a gender scan (and yes, that is what 99.9 percent of the mother's call it--the GENDER scan). When I ask if you want me to tell you the sex of your baby, don't tell me that that is the point of this scan. Get off your high horse. This exam is to make sure that baby is OK. Finding out the sex is just a bonus. It's an hour long exam for a reason. There are a lot of pictures that we take to make sure that baby will be healthy when it's born. If it was for the sex of the baby, the exam would only take a few seconds. 

My other pet peeve? Don't cry and get mad when I tell you the wrong sex. It's not my fault. It really irks me when I have pity parties in my room. Especially because ij just scanned someone who has miscarried 3 times and is going through another one. Or I just had a mother in my room who I just performed an anatomy scan on who's baby has a fatal condition. Just be happy that you have a beautiful, healthy child. 

BTW, I love patients who don't want to know the sex of the baby, or who tell me that they don't care what the baby is, the only important part of the exam is to make sure baby is healthy.

Sorry for the long rant. I mean no offense to anybody in particular. I just had a bad week at work and needed a chance to vent. Hopefully next week is better! Hug your precious angels. We have so much to be thankful for!
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Re: *Job Rant--The Trials of a Sonographer*

  • ammnam14ammnam14 member
    I think everyone here can and will agree with you. You rock! We do have so much to be thankful for! 
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  • cdv2015cdv2015 member
    edited April 2016
    I couldn't imagine having your job at this point for the exact reasons you pointed out.
    *POSSIBLE TRIGGER WARNING*
     My first pregnancy was textbook. Second was a mess emotionally. My sonographer found a cystic hygroma very early (I owe her everything for ultimately saving my daughter's life by finding the hygroma which led to mire in-depth testing). Long story short: several scans, fetal echos, cvs later and DD (now almost 3) has Turner Syndrome and several heart defects. The follwing pregnancy, we saw a heartbeat and a week later lost the baby. It made me very grateful for my third HEALTHY girl in December. It bugs me when people say I need to keep trying for a boy. Yes, I would love to have a son. Can I just be thankful for now that all of my daughters are alive, please? Thank you.
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  • Knottie1456179799Knottie1456179799 member
    I have a neo-natal nurse my family who says many of the same things.  I cannot believe that people can get angry at a health professional for something as trivial as sex of the baby when so much else can go wrong.

    (I was one who didn't want to know sex, but let my sonographer tell me anyway, so I could cut down on the names :smile: )
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  • groovylocksgroovylocks member
    I remember ours.. Hubby wanted a girl. I wanted a boy. But ultimately, I was so in a twist about health issues, I asked a bazillion questions about everything she was seeing. After all the health nagging, I said "Ok. Girl or boy?" and she said she saw definite girl parts. So I told my husband i owed him a coke. 

    I mean.. you know, we ask. But yeah, couldn't imagine that ever having been my main concern. You have to understand, i spent my first trimester so sure i'd lose her. I'd had a loss before and it affected me very powerfully. So I was pretty much absolutely positive she'd not make it or be horribly sick or non-viable or something. 

    She was perfectly healthy. So everything else was details. 
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  • navyblueladybugnavyblueladybug member
    For me and the anatomy scan, I focused a lot on finding out the sex of DD because it's a scary scan! It was something to look forward to and something happy instead of letting the thought of something being wrong with the baby creep in my mind. I got to think, "cool, I get to find out if it's a boy or a girl" and not, "ah, I'm finding out if my baby has a physical problem." I totally understand where you're coming from, the scan really is for a medical reason, but knowing you'll find out the sex is something amazing to focus on! And thank you for doing what you do... I've had some amazing sonographers and some not so good ones and they totally make the difference when you get a good one :blush: 
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  • misamimamisamima member
    What's your professional opinion about the increasingly popular gender scan boutiques? 
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  • ecsmall08ecsmall08 member
    When I went in july for my anatomy scan the sonographer told me that she had a couple the day before who cried because they found out it was a girl and I was livid. There i was laying on the table trying to make sure my baby (boy, girl or unicorn) was healthy and people are crying because it is the wrong gender. It made me sooooo mad. I went home and cried and told my bump over and over that it didn't matter what sex it was it was already so loved.

    I know your job can be rough. My mom is an L&D nurse and always has stories (good and bad). Keep your chin up! 
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  • celainevcelainev member
    Our ultrasound tech loved that we didn't find out what we were having. Except here they aren't allowed to tell you the sex anyways... 
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