Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Ultrasound

Today I had my ultrasound at the hospital. I know the burning question is "What was it?", but it was still too early to tell. The measurements they took came out to 16 weeks, 3 days today, just a few days different than the ultrasound on Friday, and pretty much exactly what I had thought. It looks like my placenta is just fine--a little low, but not too close to the cervix or anything. The baby was really active the whole time, kicking away.

The ultrasound was a little disconcerting, however. The ultrasound tech was a fairly young girl, and it seemed like it took her awhile to get all the pictures she needed (the scan took about an hour), so I was kind of thinking she hadn't been doing this for all that long. After she was done, she told us that she had to show the pictures to the radiologist, who may or may not come back in to see us. She disappeared, and we waited about 20 minutes. Finally she came back with another tech, who also scanned me and took some more pictures. This tech seemed more competant, and took her pictures a lot faster. I asked what she was looking for, and she brightly answered, "Nothing!", which made me really suspicious. She focused a lot on my cervix, but she said everything was fine there. Then she took so me more pictures of the baby, and she and the other girl made some comments to each other that we couldn't hear. At the end she said she was trying to see the nose and mouth area, so I asked, "For cleft palate?" She said yes, but that everything looked fine. Still, it was taking so long . . . Finally they went off to show the pics to the doctor, and after about 20 more minutes (during which we were getting VERY anxious), the doctor and the original tech came back in. He said he wanted a better picture of the bottom of the spine or something, and he said everything looked fine, but that I should come back at 20 weeks for another scan, since it was hard to tell everything this early. He said they just needed to get certain things documented, and some things didn't show up well in her pictures, so they had to take some more. So I guess she is newer, and that's what was going on, but still, it was really weird, and I'm still not totally convinced. It makes sense, and I'm sure that's what I would tell someone who came to me with this story, but . . . I guess I'll feel better after I have the next scan, or even after my doctor looks at the pictures. I go back in Dec. 8 for my next appointment. So, all you medical people--would the radiologist have told me if something was wrong instead of saying everything looked fine? Does it sound like it was just a combo of newer tech and young baby?

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Well, I just have to channel Butterfly McQueen here Claire...

"I don know nuthin' 'bout birthin' no babies".

Sorry sweetie. Best guess? I don't have one. Trust your instincts...you've been doing this a lot longer than I. And actually, I've never done it.
♥Pam

Dy said...

I'm not sure. I wish I could tell, though. If it helps, Emily's head was enormous at her u/s. My first question was, "Down's?" There was a lot of furrowing of the brow and pointing and clicking and the tech didn't really shoot me straight until she got a good shot of the femur, at which point she opened up a little. But even that was later, at 23 weeks.

I think a lot of it is that they don't want anyone to panic, particularly if they suspect it's a technical issue (ie. newbie tech, or just unable to get a good angle). Plus, 16 weeks really is a little early. A good part of the body is still is the ossification stage - turning from cartilege into bone. So it's hard to tell what's going on at that point, unless it's blatantly obvious (which is sounds like is not the case).

Anyway, all that to say that it sounds like a new tech and an early u/s, and really, I'd just relax, wait and see. (Easier said on this side of the fence, I know.) {{{hugs}}}

Dy

Beverly said...

Hey there...finally catching up on your blog. Just to empathize with you, I have to endure another full-bladder ultrasound in the morning because they apparently didn't "get good images of the spine or the brain." What the heck the lady was doing for half an hour while pressing on my full bladder, I have no idea. When we went for our "gender-guaranteed" ultrasound off base, the guy (who has medical experience) didn't seem at all concerned about anything, though I know those ultrasounds are purely cosmetic as opposed to medical...still, I was thinking if something was blatantly obvious, maybe he'd say something.

Here's hoping we both get some good info soon! It's definitely hard to wait with such uncertainty. I remind myself that I was called in for additional ultrasounds with Arden because my triple screen results were "abnormal," and Arden is about the healthiest, most normal kid you could imagine.