First prenatal appt at 11 weeks?

mikacoco · August 2019

I set my first prenatal appt at 11 weeks but now wondering if I should try to get in sooner. Most importantly, I want an ultrasound/bedside scan at first appt.

Also, when is the earliest you found out gender thru a doc/ultrasound?

harpseal135 · August 2019

mikacoco said:

I set my first prenatal appt at 11 weeks but now wondering if I should try to get in sooner. Most importantly, I want an ultrasound/bedside scan at first appt.

Also, when is the earliest you found out gender thru a doc/ultrasound?

Your doctor office got you in at 11 weeks, perfectly normal for a non-high risk pregnancy. You do not demand ultrasounds, they will schedule one if they feel it's necessary. My office will not do ultrasounds unless medically necessary, because they dont like exposing baby unnecessarily to ultrasound. They do not use doppler to find heartbeat until after 12 weeks.

Most doctor offices (at least around my area) do NOT do bed side scans (though some do) and will send you to a different department for imaging with a different appointment - ultrasound is not important until 20 week anatomy scan. They will tell you what is appropriate at your appointment.

You do not find out the gender of a baby through ultrasound. You may find out the sex of your child (gender =/= sex) at the anatomy scan, but that is NOT what the anatomy scan is for. The anatomy scan is to be sure your child is growing properly, has all of his/her organs, not bone length discrepancies, spine and skull look normal, heart looks ok, etc. Its not about finding out which way your baby will pee, but about if its health!

stassischroeder · August 2019

Man, must be nice for your biggest concern to be the sex of your baby.

I'm sweating bullets until I (hopefully) get normal NIPT and NT scan results, but that's just me.

bellebaby221 · August 2019

I had my first appointment at 7 1/2 weeks. They did an ultrasound only to confirm that I was as far along as I thought I was. Anatomy scan at 20 weeks. I think the earliest an a/s will be scheduled is 18 weeks but 20 weeks is ideal to get a good look at everything and make sure things are developing normally.
Not sure if you've considered this or not, but since you seem very anxious to find out if you're having a boy or a girl, I'm throwing it out there. I highly recommend not going to one of those u/s boutique places. Most of them are not regulated so you have no idea whether their equipment is maintained or if the person scanning you is qualified.
Just wait for your a/s at 20 weeks. It's really not that long to wait.

harpseal135 · August 2019

bellebaby221 said:

I had my first appointment at 7 1/2 weeks. They did an ultrasound only to confirm that I was as far along as I thought I was. Anatomy scan at 20 weeks. I think the earliest an a/s will be scheduled is 18 weeks but 20 weeks is ideal to get a good look at everything and make sure things are developing normally.
Not sure if you've considered this or not, but since you seem very anxious to find out if you're having a boy or a girl, I'm throwing it out there. I highly recommend not going to one of those u/s boutique places. Most of them are not regulated so you have no idea whether their equipment is maintained or if the person scanning you is qualified.
Just wait for your a/s at 20 weeks. It's really not that long to wait.

some terrible advice!

daffodil_shoe · August 2019

harpseal135 said:

bellebaby221 said:

I had my first appointment at 7 1/2 weeks. They did an ultrasound only to confirm that I was as far along as I thought I was. Anatomy scan at 20 weeks. I think the earliest an a/s will be scheduled is 18 weeks but 20 weeks is ideal to get a good look at everything and make sure things are developing normally.
Not sure if you've considered this or not, but since you seem very anxious to find out if you're having a boy or a girl, I'm throwing it out there. I highly recommend not going to one of those u/s boutique places. Most of them are not regulated so you have no idea whether their equipment is maintained or if the person scanning you is qualified.
Just wait for your a/s at 20 weeks. It's really not that long to wait.

some terrible advice!

Why is it terrible advice to tell her NOT to go to a US boutique?

harpseal135 · August 2019

daffodil_shoe said:

harpseal135 said:

bellebaby221 said:

I had my first appointment at 7 1/2 weeks. They did an ultrasound only to confirm that I was as far along as I thought I was. Anatomy scan at 20 weeks. I think the earliest an a/s will be scheduled is 18 weeks but 20 weeks is ideal to get a good look at everything and make sure things are developing normally.
Not sure if you've considered this or not, but since you seem very anxious to find out if you're having a boy or a girl, I'm throwing it out there. I highly recommend not going to one of those u/s boutique places. Most of them are not regulated so you have no idea whether their equipment is maintained or if the person scanning you is qualified.
Just wait for your a/s at 20 weeks. It's really not that long to wait.

some terrible advice!

Why is it terrible advice to tell her NOT to go to a US boutique?

Unregulated. You have no idea of who is actually doing the US or the credentials or if the equipment is functioning properly or not.

No medical advice if there is something is obviously wrong. If there are worries, that means you make a frantic call to the doctor office and another appointment and expose your child to yet another ultrasound.

Why expose your child to something that is medically UNNECESSARY, as we do not know the affects of ultrasound on a fetus? We do not know what prolonged exposure does to a fetus (nor will we, as it would be an unethical experiment). That is why doctor offices do them for MEDICAL NECESSITY ONLY, NOT FOR SHITS AND GIGGLES!

Practice having patience, because having kids requires patience and finding out the sex at the 20 week ultrasound (where the genitals are best developed for the most accurate results) is practicing patience without exposing your kid to unregulated ultrasound by a boutique.

I've known people who were told at a botique they were having a girl and it was actually a boy at the AS, and another where they were told boy at an elective and at the 20 anatomy scan were told girl and she was pissed, went and got another elective, because didnt believe the true medical doctor that interpreted the results.

Edit: Update- it's been brought to my attention that I completely misread the quoted text. I did a quick read and it was a misinterpretation and I apologize for the tangent. I will leave this as is, and will not dirty delete.

k_mama91 · August 2019

harpseal135 said:

daffodil_shoe said:

harpseal135 said:

bellebaby221 said:

I had my first appointment at 7 1/2 weeks. They did an ultrasound only to confirm that I was as far along as I thought I was. Anatomy scan at 20 weeks. I think the earliest an a/s will be scheduled is 18 weeks but 20 weeks is ideal to get a good look at everything and make sure things are developing normally.
Not sure if you've considered this or not, but since you seem very anxious to find out if you're having a boy or a girl, I'm throwing it out there. I highly recommend not going to one of those u/s boutique places. Most of them are not regulated so you have no idea whether their equipment is maintained or if the person scanning you is qualified.
Just wait for your a/s at 20 weeks. It's really not that long to wait.

some terrible advice!

Why is it terrible advice to tell her NOT to go to a US boutique?

Unregulated. You have no idea of who is actually doing the US or the credentials or if the equipment is functioning properly or not.

No medical advice if there is something is obviously wrong. If there are worries, that means you make a frantic call to the doctor office and another appointment and expose your child to yet another ultrasound.

Why expose your child to something that is medically UNNECESSARY, as we do not know the affects of ultrasound on a fetus? We do not know what prolonged exposure does to a fetus (nor will we, as it would be an unethical experiment). That is why doctor offices do them for MEDICAL NECESSITY ONLY, NOT FOR SHITS AND GIGGLES!

Practice having patience, because having kids requires patience and finding out the sex at the 20 week ultrasound (where the genitals are best developed for the most accurate results) is practicing patience without exposing your kid to unregulated ultrasound by a boutique.

I've known people who were told at a botique they were having a girl and it was actually a boy at the AS, and another where they were told boy at an elective and at the 20 anatomy scan were told girl and she was pissed, went and got another elective, because didnt believe the true medical doctor that interpreted the results.

She recommended NOT going to a boutique place, what’s wrong with that? Not trying to be rude just genuinely wondering why you went off on a tangent about a comment advising her to avoid extra ultrasounds when you went on to say why extra unnecessary ultrasound was a bad idea as well.

meggyme · August 2019

@harpseal135 she suggested to NOT go to a boutique since OP is so anxious about the sex and will probably be tempted.

kiki75 · August 2019

bellebaby221 said:

I had my first appointment at 7 1/2 weeks. They did an ultrasound only to confirm that I was as far along as I thought I was. Anatomy scan at 20 weeks. I think the earliest an a/s will be scheduled is 18 weeks but 20 weeks is ideal to get a good look at everything and make sure things are developing normally.
Not sure if you've considered this or not, but since you seem very anxious to find out if you're having a boy or a girl, I'm throwing it out there. I highly recommend not going to one of those u/s boutique places. Most of them are not regulated so you have no idea whether their equipment is maintained or if the person scanning you is qualified.
Just wait for your a/s at 20 weeks. It's really not that long to wait.

This one did agree that the boutiques are a bad idea. ETA: I can totally see how the wording of that sentence could easily lead to a misread. I misread it on the first pass and the next sentence sent me back for a reread.

*TW* As a member of the MMC club, I loathe the thought of not having an ultrasound on the earlier side to determine if things have developed normally up to that point. (Extra TW for those who rely on the viability rate charts to stay sane, serious, stop reading. But for others, side fact about the miscarriage rate charts, the * to them is provided the embryo has developed properly up to that point.) I think that around 8 weeks is a great standard for that. It gets most people who are not necessarily 100% on their ovulation date to a point where they're more likely to have a clear answer & skip the, "Maybe you ovulated late & it's just early still for cardiac activity so come back in a week to see if there's been appropriate growth." And, I will always prefer practices where the OB does the first ultrasound. It meant so much for that first one that went the, "I'm so sorry but..." route to be able to make a plan immediately instead of waiting for an appointment.

As for OP, I was with you until it was clear your entire desire for the ultrasound was to find out what kind of crotch this kid has. Please step back and get some perspective. Ultrasounds can be fun. To finally see your little squish. To find out the sex and go crazy buying cute clothes. But they are a medical procedure and their actual purpose is to inform you about the health of your baby and pregnancy. That's the important part.

harpseal135 · August 2019

I'm sorry, @bellebaby221, @meggyme, @k_mama91 and others - when I first read it, I completely misread the post. I apologize. I am not do a dirty delete, but wanted to own up to my misreading and the tangent - it honestly has been one of those days

But I will put an edit at the bottom about my misreading.

lovesclimbing · August 2019

It's not uncommon to not have an appointment until around 10-12 weeks for a pregnancy with no contrary indications such as a history of miscarriages or reproductive issues. If you have very irregular cycles (and I don't mean "it's irregular because it varies from 29 to 33 days"), you might mention that to the practioners because they may want to do a dating u/s to figure out more exactly when you're due. That will NOT tell you the sex. You won't be able to see much of anything except a blob with small knobs of appendages sticking out.

You will not be able to find out boy or girl sooner than 11 weeks or even at 11 weeks. 14 to 15ish weeks is typically the earliest you can tell with any certainty. Be careful trying to find out via u/s early because the earlier it is, the higher chance it is of being wrong. I know more than one person who were told one thing and later on found out, whoops, it's the other!

There are blood tests you can do, including ones at home, if you want to find out early.

delujm0 · August 2019

The only reason i'd be concerned about a first appointment at 11 weeks is that if you want to do the NT Scan, that has to be done prior to 14 weeks i believe for it to be accurate. So assuming they can get you back in for that testing within 3 weeks of your initial visit, that would be fine with me. My OB does a dating scan as standard around 8 weeks, but you don't really need one if you know when you ovulated.

You can find out the sex at birth, or *probably* at your anatomy scan at 18-22 weeks assuming the baby is cooperating. If you want to know earlier than that, NIPT is the most accurate option, though there is often an out of pocket cost of a few hundred dollars (and it tells you way more important things than sex, such as potential chromosomal abnormalities). Out of 3 pregnancies, i had the ultrasound tech take a guess at the baby's sex at my NT scan (11-13 weeks) only once. She was correct, but the other two times she didn't even offer. People who do OBGYN ultrasounds exclusively and professionally are your best option for finding out the sex via ultrasound, so i wouldn't try going to a boutique place because who knows what those people are doing. And also, don't ask strangers on the interwebs, because they are unlikely to know either. If your OBGYN ultrasound tech cannot tell you the sex before the anatomy scan, no one can.

bellebaby221 · August 2019

harpseal135 said:

I'm sorry, @bellebaby221, @meggyme, @k_mama91 and others - when I first read it, I completely misread the post. I apologize. I am not do a dirty delete, but wanted to own up to my misreading and the tangent - it honestly has been one of those days But I will put an edit at the bottom about my misreading.

No worries @harpseal135! After I went back and read it I can totally understand how it could be misread. Probably not the best choice of wording in my part!

harpseal135 · August 2019

I'm wondering if OP did a post and run, or doesn't like the responses, so she is avoiding to respond.

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