Vaginal or abdominal ultrasound?

allie92089 · July 2016

Ok so I am a first time mommy and I have been looking at ultrasounds all over. I know there are two different kinds. I am just wondering what is the difference between the two? I know one they go inside and one is just done on your abdomen but besides that is there any difference? I feel like the ones I've seen that are abdominal are less vivid and clear. I'm just afraid they'll do abdominal and I won't get a clear picture of my baby! Anyone know if you can request one over the other? Sorry for all the questions!

kjd291 · July 2016

It just depends on how far along your pregnancy is. Vaginal gets a superior picture than abdominal for pregnancies up to ten weeks to see smaller fetus. The con is with vaginal range of motion is limited.

ihateusernames* · July 2016

So if you are 9 weeks will the ultrasound likely be vaginal?

kjd291 · July 2016

ihateusernames* said:

So if you are 9 weeks will the ultrasound likely be vaginal?

I would say it is likely to be vaginal, yes.

kap1988 · July 2016

My 6 week was vaginal and my 8 week was abdominal. I much prefered vaginal, it was way clearer. I don't know if you can request one or the other though. During my 8 week one she said we might have to switch to vaginal because my uterus is tipped but she was able to get what she needed. I wish she had switched to vaginal though, it really was just a fuzzy blob. You could call and ask what your doctor's office usually does.

nursemama-2 · July 2016

6 weeks was vaginal and 8 weeks was abdominal. I didn't notice a huge difference in quality.

chrlyr · July 2016

When I went in at 5w, they tried transabdominal first (not sure of the point of doing that so early) and then switched to transvaginal when the tech couldn't see anything. I go back at 7w and I'm thinking it will be transvaginal again. I have a retroverted uterus, so I'm not sure how that affects my ultrasounds.

jmacd22 · July 2016

I went at 8w5d and they did vaginal. I think I got a clear shot.

kaylaef · July 2016

I had a vaginal at 7 wks with ds, it was far superior. They did an abdominal with this pregnancy (I thought I was 7w2d but was actually 6w5d and info to see my little cashew move and a heart beat but not nearly as clear.

Rappababy · July 2016

I had vaginal at 7 weeks. I believe the sonographer said they do all ultrasounds below 11 weeks at my practice.

meq124 · July 2016

It seems like it's all personal preference of the person doing it. My first pregnancy was abdominal and this one was transvaginal. The earlier you are the better the transvaginal US would be.