Answered by miniray - Jun. 12, 2015 7:21am
You should be able to request a schedule from your Doctor explaining when your appointments should be and what they are for - I had a confirmation scan at 8 weeks where the OB checked for a heartbeat, 12 weeks is normally the dating scan and to show a good growth rate (it's normally after this one that you can share your wonderful news :-)). I'm in Belgium, and my detailed anatomy scan is scheduled for 21 weeks, with an 'fyi' scan at 16 weeks to check progress. Any scans after that should be for progress and positioning checks. Hope this helps :-)
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Answered by pbc910 - Jun. 11, 2015 3:21pm
I will echo tmhess - all that is very accurate to the experience I have had so far. I though my 11 week ultrasound was going to be way more detailed but it literally took all of 10 minutes, if that. If you want reassurance and your doctor's office will do an "elective" ultrasound, you could request it. There are also ultrasound offices you can go to and pay out of pocket. I know many people who have done that, especially for 3D and 4D scans.
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Answered by tmhess - Jun. 11, 2015 2:02pm
It all depends where you are and how high risk you are. But normally, they do one early ultrasound just to verify the pregnancy is viable, number of babies, etc. I am in the US and around me they do that around 9 weeks. It is also popular to have the first scan around 12 weeks. After that first ultrasound, (as long as everything is going ok) you probably won't have another one until your detailed scan around 20 weeks.
Most doctor's appointments in between scans consist of them checking the heartbeat with a Doppler and asking you how you are and if there are any questions or concerns, taking a urine sample, etc. Mine last about 5-10 min tops.
If you are higher risk they may do more ultrasounds and they will follow you a lot closer. But it isn't normal to have one at every exam.
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Answered by mnor0406 - Jun. 11, 2015 1:09pm
I had 2 early ultrasounds at 6 and 7 weeks and those were just to look quick, determine where the pregnancy was, how many babies, look at the heartbeat and give an estimated due date. I then opted for a first trimester screening ultrasound at 12 weeks which is very detailed, it lasted about an hour and checked all baby's body parts, checked blood flow to and from baby, listened to the heartbeat, screened for downs and other abnormalities, etc. Not all places do them, I had to request it and go to a special maternal fetal medicine office associated with a large hospital in the city. If you don't do that screening, you will get the detailed anatomy scan around the 20 week mark. I did mine at 17 weeks and that's when they check all the baby's body parts, organs, chambers of the heart, sex if you want to know, etc.
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Answered by Lonwy77 - Jun. 11, 2015 9:50am
Usually the really detailed scan is done around 20 weeks. The 12 weeks scan is pretty much a dating scan which confirms that there is indeed a pregnancy and your estimated due date etc
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