Tell me about your 20 week scan experiences

[Alpinebetony9911]

Just that really, I have mine soon and just wanted to hear others experiences good and bad.
Thank you

Erm, I went in and the sonographer scanned me, showed me bits of the baby that would be interesting such as face, toes, etc and then she printed the pics out. It was pretty strqight forward for me thankfully.

Mine was good takes a while defo longer than 12 week, u don't need a full bladder tho I had to go empty mine. The measure lots of parts on the baby, I got called back to look at her spine as she wouldn't turn over

You want people to tell you about their bad experiences of a scan to check their baby’s health, growth and development??!

Mine was a good experience. No anomalies found. That's all I cared about.

There’s a difference between bad experience “I couldn’t see much on the screen and it took a while to see what they needed and it was stressful and I needed a wee” and “I found out my baby had a disorder which meant they wouldn’t live”. What are you asking? Will it help you? Are you anxious about what might happen or just wondering what it’s like? It’s primarily for checking in detail the babies organs, limbs and face to make sure that there are no signs of abnormalities or problems. So it’s often done in silence to begin as the sonographer will be concentrating and taking measurements. When that is over you should get some time to see the baby, ask if they can see what sex the baby is (if you want to, I did) and get a picture. But it is a serious health check first and foremost although of course it’s nice to see the baby.

Sonograpger checked all the important bits first and took measurements and let us know that the placenta was slightly low lying so we woyld have to come back for a scan at 32 weeks (which I did and it has moved now!). Then asked if we wanted to know the gender, which we did and that was it really. Very exciting day!

Thank you everyone.
I'm sorry of it seems odd to ask for all experiences but I just wanted to get a bit of reality. I'm nervous and although it's reassuring to hear peoples good experiences I think it would also help to be aware of the reality. I guess I was just wondering how common it was to find something wrong, but in hindsight that will probably just make me worry more.
I know it's a health check for the baby and that's why I asked although it will be nice to see the baby moving again, We have decided we won't find out what it is and leave it as a suprise.
How long does it usually take?

With my first they were quiet, with this pregnancy the sonographer talked through everything she checked. I commented that it felt so much more detailed than with my 5 year old and she said it would have been all the same checks but what I meant was that she was talking us through it more than with my first.

They check everything is there and healthy, they take measurements, check placenta etc. Then she asked if we wanted a picture and had a look for gender as we requested it. I can't remember how long we were there for though, it was definitely longer than the first scan!

Had mine 2 weeks ago. It was at 8:30am which was good as no waiting all day!

I drank so much water I was sick on the way (whilst driving ) as last time had been told to "make sure your bladder is fuller for next time", as it happened the sonographer I had said my bladder was still so full I could go to the loo!

She was great talked through everything, asked if I wanted to know the sex, took measurements needed and sent me away for 20 mins to try and get baby to move as she couldn't see his heart properly.

When I came back sonographer told me that baby's femur measurements were 'on the lower side of normal' was taken aside and they tried to find consultant to talk to me about it, but no one was available. They called Fetal Med Unit at another hospital with the measurements and they weren't too concerned. They were really great and very thorough, but sent me in to instant "baby definitely has Down Syndrome" mode.

Hope your scan goes smoothly

Forgot to say they didn't just send me away wondering, I have another scan tomorrow to monitor!

We found out that DS2 had an anomaly at his 20w scan. It was incredibly upsetting as the problem was linked to an increased risk of Downs Syndrome.

Scan took around 30-40ish mins (baby was being stubborn and wouldn't let the back of her neck be checked over) but it was a lovely experience! Got to see her little hands and toes and even right inside her eye sockets which was pretty creepy lol. I was really nervous beforehand too in case anything was wrong but as soon as I seen her pop up on the screen it just felt magical x

Mine was pretty quick. The images are great- looks a bit more like a baby. You get to see it's internal organs working away. We didn't announce the pregnancy until after the 20 week scan as we'd been ttc for so long and wanted to make sure. We also kept the gender a surprise like you. Hope all goes well, Enjoy!