The 20 week scan

[maria1995xxx]

Hi all, I'm feeling a bit anxious about the 20 week scan because it tests for so much. Can anyone give an insight on what it's like? My first 13 +3 week one was ok ... has anyone had an ok first one then they discover something differently for 20 weeks? Down's syndrome test has come back low risk so not worried about that anymore nuchal translucency was 2.1

It's exactly the same as the 13 week scan but you may find out the sex.

The process is the same as your first scan. Except, with the 20 wedk scan, you will be told the outcome of things they're hecking for straight away, unless they need to do further checks, in which case you'll be told. You'll also find out the gender if you want to and the positioning is good.

Sorry about the typos!

They look at things in a lot more detail at the 20 week scan. I was anxious before mine as well OP.

It's also actually quite fascinating if you get a nice person doing it who will explain what all the different bits are.

My tip would be to eat or drink something sugary before so baby is nice and active. My first did not want to move around to get her measurements done until I went and drank a sugary drink. Second time I drank it before I went in and there were no issues 😁

The 20 week scan shows more detail than a 13 week scan would because the baby is bigger. So some things that wouldn't show up at 13 weeks can be seen at 20 weeks. I had a problem picked up at my 20 week scan with dc4 when everything had looked fine at 11 weeks.

We had excellent care for the rest of the pregnancy and dc4 is an absolute joy.

@elliejjtiny

The 20 week scan shows more detail than a 13 week scan would because the baby is bigger. So some things that wouldn't show up at 13 weeks can be seen at 20 weeks. I had a problem picked up at my 20 week scan with dc4 when everything had looked fine at 11 weeks.

We had excellent care for the rest of the pregnancy and dc4 is an absolute joy.

Thanks for your reply. Glad to hear everything is ok now. What was it that was picked up at your 20 week one?

@alaiahagsv

It's also actually quite fascinating if you get a nice person doing it who will explain what all the different bits are.

My tip would be to eat or drink something sugary before so baby is nice and active. My first did not want to move around to get her measurements done until I went and drank a sugary drink. Second time I drank it before I went in and there were no issues 😁

Thanks for your reply, on my 13 week one I tried to drink cold water to get it moving while the scan was happening (had a lot before too) but it didn't help much. The woman pushed down on my stomach and then it turned around and also asked me to shake side to side whilst raising my waist when lying down -that worked but was effort with a full bladder lol

They just look at baby in a bit more detail, take measurements of head, tummy and femur bone, look at kidney function, bladder, chambers of the heart, blood flow, arteries, brain, spine, limbs, cord, check amniotic fluid levels etc and hopefully be able to tell you the sex if you want to know... If you are anxious, maybe you can ask them to tell you what they are doing as they go along. I was soooo nervous I was literally staring at the technician's face whilst she was examining baby, trying to figure out what she was thinking before she even said anything... My heart sank every time she hovered over the same area more than once but it's normal apparently. It's tricky to get a good view of everything and it can take some time. My DS was in an awkward position so I had to be rescanned, and then ended up having an internal scan to check his spine as he just wouldn't move, no matter what! Good luck 🥰

@Giraffaelina

They just look at baby in a bit more detail, take measurements of head, tummy and femur bone, look at kidney function, bladder, chambers of the heart, blood flow, arteries, brain, spine, limbs, cord, check amniotic fluid levels etc and hopefully be able to tell you the sex if you want to know... If you are anxious, maybe you can ask them to tell you what they are doing as they go along. I was soooo nervous I was literally staring at the technician's face whilst she was examining baby, trying to figure out what she was thinking before she even said anything... My heart sank every time she hovered over the same area more than once but it's normal apparently. It's tricky to get a good view of everything and it can take some time. My DS was in an awkward position so I had to be rescanned, and then ended up having an internal scan to check his spine as he just wouldn't move, no matter what! Good luck 🥰

Thanks for your response, do internal scans hurt?

@maria1995xxx Oh no, not at all :)

I was really anxious before mine. As baby wasn't in a good position at dating scan I had to go back at 16 weeks when they couldn't do some of the blood tests so they were having to check at 20 week scan.
Because I had an underlying health condition as well and on medication, I had to have my scan done by a Dr specialising in fetal medicine.
All was okay but I would say, dont worry if they are quiet, it's really important that they are checking for everything and they will be concentrating on baby and all the checks they need to go through.
We were told at the time everything looked good and also confirmed it was a boy and had a little laugh as he was proper flashing us 😂

Beforehand, I just tried to keep in my mind that the chance of them picking up anything is a very small percentage.
Good luck x

@maria1995xxx the scan showed that dc4 had a cleft lip.

[quote elliejjtiny]@maria1995xxx the scan showed that dc4 had a cleft lip.[/quote]
Oh, did they say the cause etc?

I had mine last Thursday at 19+6. This is what the report issued afterwards showed that had been checked:

• Cardiac activity
• Fetal movements
• Umbilical cord
• Amniotic fluid levels
• 8 body parts have been measured (I can't crack the acronyms but it was thinks like femur, stomach circumference etc)
• Fetal weight
• Head, face, neck biometry (not quite sure what this was, but I do remember him getting a shot up her nose and of her mouth to confirm no cleft palate)
• Observations on the following structures: cranium, brain, neck, face, heart, thorax, abdominal wall, GI tract, urogenital tract, spine, arms, legs, skeleton. For example, he pointed out that the baby had been swallowing etc

He also confirmed the gender (first predicted at 12w scan) and the position of my placenta.

The 20 week scan is so much more detailed and they check for several conditions like cleft palate, heart diseases, issues with spine etc. They'll also confirm gender if you consent to them revealing that information.

I was holding my breath throughout. But the guy was very nice and explained every step. They also discovered 2 fibroids but told me they were nothing to worry about. It was so thorough and I'm glad everything got the all clear. The scan lasted about 15-20 minutes.

I had to come back the following week as the baby's spine was not fully visible. So fingers crossed your baby is in a good position if not you might have to make several trips.
Good luck!

I always thought of the 20 week anomaly scan as "the biggie". It is much longer - mine was 50 minutes as I also had a trainee sonographer - and they are looking at the vital organs/ limbs in great detail. I recall they spent at least 5 minutes on each the heart and brain for my daughter.

At the end, they also will tell you the assumed sex of the baby if you ask. However, this is not their priority.

Hi @maria1995xxx Congratulations on your pregnancy!
I am currently 24+3 so have only recently had my 20 week scan. I found the whole thing amazing! It is a lot more in depth than the 12 week scan. As other posters have already mentioned, they check for lots of different things and could tell you whether you are having a girl or boy if you wanted to find out (providing baby is in the right positions for them to check!) . I was lucky enough to have a nice sonographer who explained what she was checking and I just couldn’t get my head around how much they were actually able to check!
There was a couple of measurements the sonographer couldn’t get at first because of baby’s position (he was wriggling around all over the place!) so we were told to go for a 10 minute walk and to come back. Luckily after that they were able to see what they needed.
One thing I will say is I expected to have the scan with a full bladder but got told to have an empty bladder when I checked in for my appointment. So maybe worth checking beforehand just so you know
All the best with your scan Xx

@maria1995xxx no, and 8 years later they are still not sure. In some cases it's genetic, some cases it's part of a syndrome (there are lots of syndromes that have cleft lip/palate as one of the symptoms) and in some cases it just happens for no reason. Dc4 has other issues that were discovered after he was born (he has global development delay and enlarged ventricles in his brain). He also has 2 slightly dodgy genes, one inherited from dh and the other from me. His dr thinks the 2 dodgy genes have come together to make a new syndrome but they don't have the technology to confirm that yet.