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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

should i be worried 20 week scan not complete?

24 replies

amoney · 25/08/2010 08:16

Hi all

First time mum and first time MN poster just wanting a bit of advice / reassurance please...

I had my 20 week scan yesterday (i'm actually only 18+5), baby wouldn't move position so sonographer couldn't check everything / couldn't tell us the sex of bump.

After 1 hour of trying they just handed me my notes and said i had to come back at 23 weeks to finish the scan, didn't explain anything written on my notes and didn't really say that baby was okay? I thought they would go over everything with me? Should i be worried or is this routine if they couldn't complete the scan.

Husband says not to worry, they would've told us straight away if something was wrong but what do people think / anyone had experience of this?

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bigstripeytiger · 25/08/2010 08:26

Sounds routine. They would have told you if they had any concerns, and wouldnt leave it 5 weeks till the next scan.

addictedisgettingexcited · 25/08/2010 08:26

that sounds normal for my area anyway. here they dont go through the scan with you, after doing all the measurements they need to do they turn the screan round and let you watch for a while. at teh beginning she said, if theres a problem i'll let you know and get the doc to come and take a look.

it just sounds like your baby didnt want to play, so they couldnt complete the scan. and if they couldnt complete the scan and get all teh measurements they needed, they cant say babys fine no problems, because they dont know that for definate.

dont worry yourself over it too much, be happy that you get to see your baby again in 5 weeks!

mmmmmchocolate · 25/08/2010 08:30

The 20 week scan is to check for any abnormalities so if the baby was lay in one position then they wouldn't have been able to check all of the organs. Presumably everything was fine with what they could see. Don't worry next time hopefully the baby will be in a better position to see everything. Some sonographers have no people skills, in a couple of weeks you'll see your baby again and if anything was found to be wrong this time they would have told you.

Original poster

amoney · 25/08/2010 08:42

Thank you for your quick replies...

She was a trainee sonographer so maybe that explains the lack of reassurance? Most things were ticked off the list, just one or two things that they couldn't check

Yes, i suppose i am lucky in that i'll get to see the baby again in 5 weeks

Cheers all for the advice...

OP posts:

addictedisgettingexcited · 25/08/2010 08:55

if she was a trainee she would have been focused on doing her job right and not been thinking about talking to you. i've found the best sonographers are the older ones with many years of expearience. she may have even been worried about explaining why she couldnt finish the scan to her manager so you as an expectant mother wouldnt have entered her thoughts.

dont take it personally, she would have said if there was a problem

babybunting2010 · 25/08/2010 09:01

I've heard this happen to a lot of people, babies can be so disobedient! If you are really panicking then give your Midwife a quick call, when I had my 20 week scan the Sonographer just said "We're going to book you in for growth scans every 4 weeks" and that was that, worried the hell out of me, but when I spoke to my MW she just went through my notes with me and said that it was just because my baby is a little on the larger side for her gestational age, so totally put my mind at rest.

But I agree with everyone else, the Sonographers will always call a Doc straight in if they are worried about everything! Hope you enjoy your 23 week scan! :)

undertheduvet · 25/08/2010 09:11

I had to go back for a repeat scan due to my son being in an awkward postion where they couldn't check his spine properly. Despite numerous prods and walking and going to the toilet he would not budge!
Try not to worry yourself, if they had seen anything this time they would have called in the doc, they wouldn't leave you for 4 weeks worrying.
Just think of it as another chance to see your baby.

NamedAfterTheBandActually · 25/08/2010 09:17

It's fine. It's difficult but try and remember that the scan is just a medical procedure (I know how that sounds, I do) and they are checking for abnormalities. I had 3 scans around 20 weeks as dd wouldn't unfurl long enough to be examined or measured and it was all very matter of fact. They were just doing their jobs (and were always very busy indeed so it was good that what they focussed on was getting the measurements and not showing me things in minute detail or explaining things. I assumed I would be told if there were concerns). During the 3rd scan they spent a lot of time 'hitting' my stomach with the ultrasound probe thing to get dd to wake up and move. She never did open her legs though.

AxisofEvil · 25/08/2010 09:38

At my 20 week scan I got a lot of " these are very active babies you've got". They managed to get everything key in the end but if the baby won't move into the right position there isn't that much they can do. Which bits did they not tick off?

Original poster

amoney · 25/08/2010 09:52

thanks everyone.

Axisofevil - it was one thing that had an acronym (don't remember off hand now though) and apparently they need 3 views of the spine and they only got 2? everything else was ticked off

I also found out via my notes last night that my placenta is anterior. The first thing i said when i went into the scan room was that i couldn't wait to see the baby move as i haven't felt any movement yet. I've since found out via google that having an anterior placenta cushions the baby's movements so this could be why i've not felt anything - i just thought they might have mentioned something about this at the time seeing as i had brought it up as a concern?

Hey ho, i'll just ask more questions next time

Cheers guys

OP posts:

nigglewiggle · 25/08/2010 09:58

I had exactly the same experience as undertheduvet i tried walking around, weeing, drinking more water. The sonographer was just about to suggest that I make another appt when DD2 had a little wriggle and she could see her spine.

It sounds like they haven't done a very good job of reassuring you, but I wouldn't be worried.

ProfessorLaytonIsMyLoveSlave · 25/08/2010 10:04

Agree with everyone else -- if she had seen a problem then a doctor would have been called in, and the chances that there's a hidden problem with the one thing she couldn't check at all are vanishingly slight.

Sonographers vary hugely in how approachable they are and how much they tell you about what they are doing. The one who did my 20 week scan last time was fantastic and explained everything she was checking (it was fascinating, actually, quite apart from its being our baby) but I've never had another one quite that good.

NamedAfterTheBandActually · 25/08/2010 10:58

It's normal to have no movement felt at 18 weeks. There are probably more people pregnant for the first time having felt no movement at 20 weeks than people who have felt movement, anterior placenta or otherwise.

I too had an anterior placenta with dd (though felt movements from 17 weeks). I too found this out from my notes. Don't worry, you'll feel lots and lots once your baby is big enough to prod your ribs/bladder/sides/kidneys/nerves.

tablefor3 · 25/08/2010 11:39

Along with everyone else - I had an unco-operative baby so was referred for second scan. No problems at all.

As for movements, I didn;t have anything that I was prepared to definitively call a movement until about 21 weeks. I suspect that I was being over-cautious about not categorising the little things I was feeling, but please don;t worry when other people say that they can feel movements from very early. Maybe they can, maybe they are just keen to, who knows....

Anyway, by the end you may feel black and blue from the kicking - I know I did!

Original poster

amoney · 25/08/2010 11:47

Thanks all, i feel so much better about everything now and will stop worrying so much

OP posts:

TheUnmentioned · 25/08/2010 11:59

Dont worry. I had to have 2 anomaly scans with both pregnancies. With ds they couldnt see the spine, and this time they couldnt see the eyes or measure the head.

23 weeks seems a long wait though, Id look into getting scanned again before then if pos just for peace of mind

Mahraih · 25/08/2010 12:00

I had exactly the same thing at 16 weeks. Baby not in a good position to see anything (legs crossed, head down!) really, so couldn't get a gender or a picture.

They just measured what they could (not much) then the doctor got really irritated and said, 'this is highly irregular' a lot, while poking the baby with the ultrasound-stick-thingie, until I got worried about it getting whiplash and made her stop. Hah!

Anyway, she reassured me at the end that it was fine. And said I should expect to feel movement between 18 and 22 weeks.

prettysunset · 27/08/2010 01:05

Whoa! You must've been extensively scanned to make such a judgement! I'm a Sonographer an believe me the extensive (and largely un-noticed by the public!) medical side of the scan is a very fine act to balance alongside the 'social' side of the scan- which is actually done as a courtecy, not a requirement. I love my job and take great pride in it, I have trained and studied long and hard to get here, please do not tar us all with the same brush! Xx

prettysunset · 27/08/2010 01:10

Soz, that was to mmmmmmmmchocolate...
To original poster- Please don't worry, all babies are different, purely positional I'm sure! Xx

ProfessorLaytonIsMyLoveSlave · 28/08/2010 14:09

Which bit of what m[etc.]chocolate said was unreasonable, though? I can only see "Some sonographers have no people skills" which is almost certainly true -- some [any profession you care to mention] have no people skills and it would be remarkable if sonographers were the sole exception to this. And how is that tarring all sonographers with the same brush.

I am also shocked to hear "keeping the patient informed about what the heck is going on" described as "a courtesy, not a requirement". Unless you are a fictional character played by Hugh Laurie then not leaving your patient confused and distressed is surely an important part of the practice of medicine? It doesn't mean you have to hand around canapes and make small talk.

Wanderingsheep · 28/08/2010 14:16

This happened to me. DD was sat so low down in my pelvis (and wouldn't budge) that the sonographer couldn't see all of her spine to check for spinabifida. I went back and all was fine. DD is a healthy 3 year old (still stubborn though!)

prettysunset · 28/08/2010 15:14

ProfessorLaytonIsMyLoveSlave, the 'coutesy, not a requirement' part pertained to the social 'here's baby yawning etc' and letting the parents have a really good look at the little one part of the scan. Keeping the patient informed what is going on is something I and my collegues do throughout the scan, explaining every part or the process and why we're checking it. Where I trained the Sonographers tended to explain at the start that they would do the 'medical bit' in silence and then explain it all at the end...I know some ladies have had a bad experience just giving my side...Xx

ProfessorLaytonIsMyLoveSlave · 28/08/2010 19:07

But neither the OP nor anyone commenting (AFAICS) are talking about "here's baby yawning". The OP didn't want to be told whether her baby was yawning, she wanted to know whether there was anything in particular she should worry about given she'd been told she had to come back for another scan. If someone is sent away from a scan unsure even of that then I think it's fair to say that that particular sonographer's people skills are at least somewhat lacking.

The best sonographer I've had did the medical stuff, but not in silence so it was (e.g.) "Now I'm looking at this to see whether there's any indication of spina bifida I'm going to look at the rest of the spine in detail, but if there were a problem we'd probably see some distortion here but in this case it's this shape and that's a good sign...." or words to that effect -- sounds like what you said you do. It didn't seem to take her any longer than other sonographers who adopt the "strong but silent" approach, and I left that scan far better informed than when I've been scanned by an "I'll explain it all at the end" type.

hoolabombshell · 28/08/2010 22:48

I hear you, prof.

I went for my dating scan last week and, apart from the excitement of seeing my beloved LO for first time ever, was fairly underwhelmed by the rest of the experience. It's not as if I'm wanting a medal and a 'you must be so excited' from the sonographer or anything, but even a smile at least would've been nice!

There was scant explanation of what was going on, mainly silence, typing, clicking (okay, I know that's what's meant to happen) and much hard pressing on my stomach from frustrated sonographer who, when I winced, simply said 'yes I know I'm pressing hard but your stomach muscles are so tense for some reason'. Erm, that may be because you do this all day every day and the number of scans I've ever had in my life amount to, well, this one. And you've not told me what to expect, nor tried to put me at ease.

I simply took heart in the fact that at the very end she brusquely said 'well I'm happy with that' and swiftly printed our scan pics. Listen as long as there were no major issues with my baby I was happy! My poor DP was a bit deflated though, bless. I think he really did want a medal...

Don't worry OP, I'm sure time may seem to drag ahead of your next scan but just hang in there and make a list of every single question you have.

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