20 week scan what to expect?

[Twinkletwinklelil]

What to expect at the 20 week scan?
will they check the gender?

im nervous! Haven’t been feeling baby regularly at all 😢 just hoping all is ok..

I hadn't felt much from baby by 20 weeks and it was fine! He didn't really start moving in a way that I was sure about until just past 21 weeks. So don't panic.

The 20 week scan is important to check the anatomy of your baby in detail to make sure they are developing how they should be, so it lasts a bit longer than the 12 week one. The sonographer will measure lots of aspects of your baby and will look at things like their brain, kidneys, heart etc to make sure they are looking okay. If they have trouble seeing something clearly due to the baby's position then you might need to come back for another scan later (doesn't mean anything bad in itself!). They might be quiet while they're doing it as they're concentrating but they ought to let you know at the end if it all looks good.

And yes, you should be able to find out the gender at this scan. We did. Again if the baby is in an awkward position it might be more challenging but usually they would be able to see at this point. Our guy asked if we wanted to know or not so that he could tell us to look away at the right moment - we're having a boy and it was pretty obvious as it turned out - but it sounds like you want to know anyway!

Yes the sonographer will ask if you’d like to know the sex (not gender! That’s a social construct!). But it’s low priority they will focus first on checking all organs, taking measurements etc. they may get you to move around or use toilet to get baby into a better position.

the 20 week scan is amazing! It's quite long as they look at every part of your baby's body, but really fascinating as you see things like the chambers of the heart, lobes of the brain, the spine etc. I have always found it reassuring that they are so incredibly thorough and can see so much. With both of my 20 week scans I was asked to come back for a second go as baby's position meant they couldn't get good images of everything they wanted, but this was a nice bonus and nothing's been concerning.

They'll tell you the sex if you want. I promise you will come away feeling so reassured - you'll see so much of your baby and they really do look like a baby by that point. I think it's really helped to make it feel real for my partner.

Don't worry about feeling movements regularly. They don't expect you to be able to track a pattern for a little while yet. When you have the scan you'll see how much your baby moves that you just don't feel yet. In a few weeks you'll definitely be far more aware of their wriggling!
Good luck x

@ladycarlotta thank you. So I’ve been asked to go back next week because they couldn’t get some measurements - little one was so wriggly!!

thank you all for your reassuring messages. It was a good experience

So glad it went well!