Wow! Look at this 3D ultrasound footage!

[anorak]

here

Wow! It is amazing how clear that is. Would have loved to see DD like that. I find it fascinating.

Before and after pictures

Can't bear these scans. Think they're v creepy.

Hmmm,they give me the willies tbh.I always think they look like aliens.Never was temted with any of my 4 dc's

Tempted doh!!

I love them

I think they are gorgeous and cant wait to get to 25 weeks or whatever it so that I can get one!!

There has been a lot of contoversy about these scans especially as in the US some places have been set up offering these on a commercial basis i.e not for diagnostics but just for people to have a "peep" at their baby. The FDA have warned that they are not licensed for this and don't recommend it. I too find them a bit creepy. And they do subject the baby to a much higher level of ultrasound radiation than a "normal" scan. It's not been proven harmful - but it's not been proven completely safe, either. Scans have only been around for the past 20 years or so - who's to say that we won't see some research in a few years telling us they have had some lasting damage, say at a cellular level? Remember that it wasn't that long ago they thought that x-rays were safe for unborn babies, now they know differently. I guess if you are having them done for a specific medical reason that's different, but just for "routine" use, I personally am not so sure. Anyway, I think there is something amazing about that first precious glimpse of your newborn - I personally wouldn't want to spoil the surprise by "peeping" first!

I never wanted one with dd1 (thought they were overrated and a bit creepy), didn't much this time either but dh did - and I was persuaded as had potential placenta problems and was anxious about waiting till official 34 week scan to know if they'd resolved themselves.

Ended up genuinely enjoying it, felt like the first time I'd had a decent scan all pregnancy (the others were very rushed), sorted my worries, and wasn't a bit creepy when it was happening. Just interesting, and got to see dd2 moving her hands in exactly the same way dd1 did when she came out of the womb....amazing.

I don't think I'd have had it, if I hadn't had a need other than looking at my baby, but as it was - am a reluctant convert

geordie - I know it seems like a waiting around game that lasts for ever, but the longer you leave it, the better they are!

We had one at 28 weeks - and the baby looked really cute etc, but a friend of mine had one at 34 weeks, and the baby looks amazingly more real... if you understand me

God thats ages away!!!!! I tihnk I will burst of excitement before then!!! Its really rubbish up here in Scotland - only get one scan at 12 weeks..... me thinks we will paying for one at 20 weeks..

amazing

I know its wrong but thats freaking me out a bit.

I dont find it creepy, and I can see the appeal but I wouldnt expose my baby to uneccessary ultrasound. They`ve just done a study on ultrasound with mice and found that long exposure in the womb alters their brains. They say its possible that routine scans have contributed to attention deficit, hyperactivity and increased left handedness in humans. But basically nobody knows.

Just a note on that mouse study....from what I understand, the distances between the u/s probe and the foetuses was miniscule compared to human ones, and the intensity was comparably much, much higher. Things remain the same: no one knows for sure, there isn't really any evidence either way.