The Anatomy Ultrasound Says...

It's a....

BABY!

Sorry. The baby wouldn't cooperate this morning and reveal anything other than the fact that it is PERFECTLY NORMAL. Which, all in all, is enough for me.

It was, sadly, a rather unsatisfying ultrasound appointment. I'm not sure why--we only got good news. But it was all just a little off.

First, the tech immediately told us that we weren't supposed to have three people in the room (Sarah was with us), but that she didn't "mind." Whatever. My feeling is well, you know, last time I was here, my baby was dead, and if I need to bring a fucking cheer leading squad to make it through this appointment, well, I will.

Also, I couldn't see a goddamn thing on the screen the whole time. When I complained, the ultrasound tech turned it about a quarter of a centimeter towards me which helped just oh so fucking much. Charlie and Sarah could see more than I could, and even they couldn't see much.

At the end of the scan, most techs zoom out to the widest view and allow you a moment or two to bask in the image of your baby. But not this lady. She printed out some completely inscrutable pictures (we think they're of the head) and handed them to us and left, saying the doctor would be in shortly.

The doctor, whom we'd met before, breezed into the room and began spouting facts at us. Like, "It all looks normal, but there are no guarantees" etc. He was going on so long I finally said, "Dude, we know. We're very well educated." He said, "Oh, not everything your read on Internet is true!" Charlie and I rolled our eyes and said, "We know. We mean from the last pregnancy, dumb ass."

One thing that annoyed me was that the doctor and the tech both knew our history and made no effort whatsoever to be even remotely reassuring. Even though we told them that when we'd had this very same "anatomy scan" in the last pregnancy, we found out one baby was dead and I was very ill. They said nothing, not a word.

Very unsatisfying.

Toward the end, the doctor asked me if I was diabetic. I told him I'm not, but I've been diagnosed as being pre-diabetic, and he got all worried. He asked me my fasting blood levels (they've been in the high 80's to the low 90's mostly with an occasional 104), and I told him. These levels are well under what Dr. Mama is worried about, but this guy said they are too high, and because I might be diabetic, there might be a problem with the babies heart, so I should go get a pediatric heart scan.

Sigh.

I'm not worried. Really. I mean, I'm not actually diabetic. And the place that does the in utero scan is just around the corner from where I live, so what the hell. It's another chance to let me see the baby, and maybe this time they'll actually let me see it. Plus, the heart looked absolutely fine today (four chambers, beating, that sort of thing--yes, that I could see). So I don't think there is anything to worry about.

The appointment ended with him handing me the soggy towel and telling me to clean myself up. Charlie helped (hey, it's a big stomach), but we finally asked for more towels (I was really a mess). Then the doctor started repeatedly hollering "Congratulations!" and after the tenth time or so I realized he was actually saying "Get the fuck out!"

Unsatisfying.

But the baby's normal!

Comments

[Christine]

1.

Congratulations normal baby!!!

Sucky medical professional, those.

But congratulations normal baby!

[Cat, Galloping]

2.

Every ultrasound I had after 12 weeks was unsatisfying. I never again got that wide view of the entire baby as the tech zipped through and did measurements. Except for the one where she said the baby had a huge penis and printed out a picture. That one was kind of amusing.

[Korin]

3.

Yippie! I'm so so so SO glad that your US revealed a lovely healthy NORMAL baby. :D Congratulations... and by that I mean. Get the fuck out ;)

[Amy]

4.

Glad to hear that all is well, even if u/s appointment itself was crappy. You'd think someone who knows your history would at least make an *effort* to be reassuring, but whatever. The important thing is "normal"!

[christina]

5.

congrats! such wonderful news for you both.

[Gretchen]

6.

Yeah, normal baby!!! Sorry about the sucky tech and doctor.

[patricia]

7.

Fucking idiots. How they can be so condescending, insensitive and clueless at the same time is a true art form.

[Valerie]

8.

Glad to hear all is well. Sorry the Doctor and tech sucked!

[Dooneybug]

9.

Delurking to say what a shitty doctor and what a shitty tech. Sorry that the experience wasn't what you would have enjoyed, but glad to hear the baby is doing great!

[Baraka]

10.

Just discovered your blog yesterday & wish you the best! :)

[Anne]

11.

Woohoo for normal babie. WTF to the doc and tech, wish I could put you on a plane and fly you out here to see my ultrasound doc and tech. The day I went in they were either VERY slow or they just love their jobs b/c they even gave us a CD of all the picks.

[Erin]

12.

Yay. Normal = good. If you get a good "wide scan" think you'd let us take a gander. Or is that too weird. I'm a sucker for baby pics, even the in utero kind.

[Erin]

13.

Oh, and if you get scans of the bits, we can all play the ever-amusing game of "penis or vagina?"

[Mollie]

14.

Yay for healthy baby, boo for insensitive doctors/staff.

[Aisha]

15.

I'm so sorry to hear about the jerk ultrasound lady. You were patient not to have snapped at them. But happy to hear about the baby being normal. NBHHY :)

[Firebrand]

16.

I so think I would have had a little something more to say to that lady and the doc! Yay, though, that the baby is alright! :)

[Bluestocking]

17.

Go away! By which I mean, hosannas for a healthy baby.

I had lots of ultrasounds (kidney thing which turned out to be nothing, thankfully) and man do those techs vary. Some are great and nice and reassuring, and others are assholes. Sorry you got the latter.

When is the next U/S?

[Moxie]

18.

I want to poke them both with really long, sharp pins.

But congratulations on the live baby! And healthy, too!

[halloweenlover]

19.

Hurray for a beautiful normal baby! But GRRR for the shitty doctors. What asses. He could have been more reassuring, damnit.

[TracyB]

20.

Yay for the normal baby! Boo for the uncaring ultrasound idiots. We had a very scary and evil doctor give us a ton of assvice at our level II ultrasound. In fact, even went so far as to recommend "terminating the pregnancy." WTF? Needless to say, we spent the next three weeks worrying like crazy and me hysterically crying. Bottom line...our son was born five weeks early with a diaphragmatic hernia. Surgery at three days old and 15 days in the NICU, and he is now a normal healthy crazy two year old. And when he gets on my nerves, I think of the idiot doctor who told me I should terminate. While we did have issues, she (oh, yeah the idiot was a female Ob/Gyn who specialized in high risk pregnancies) never asked anything more about me than my age. Didn't know how we had been trying for 7 1/2 years to get pregnant. Didn't know how BADLY we wanted this baby. Didn't even know anything more about the issues except for the strange reading on the ultrasound. I often wonder how many other parents would have taken her advice and terminated the pregnancy with little to no further information. So much for bedside manner, huh?

When our son was born and he needed to be moved to a NICU, I **begged** not to have him taken to the hospital where Dr. Idiot was. Crying, pleading, begging - the whole range. Thankfully, the Neonatal doctors were much much more compassionate than the prenatal ones.

Be thrilled with the good news! Thanks for sharing all of your news. You make pregnancy real - not the lala belly rubbing spectacle the media wants us to believe. Thank you for that!

[Anna]

21.

suck-O tech and doc!!!!!!! did Charlie really say "dumb ass"? (I hope so!) I hope YOU get a good looksie soon, along with better bedside manners! but thanks for the good news!

[victoria]

22.

Godammit. I have a really skinny friend whose fasting blood sugar tested at 104. The doctor shrugged, saying "well, you look healthy." I told her to get the two hour glucose tolerance test. When she called the doctor's office to request it, they totally scoffed at her. The nurse said, "Listen, there is no way you are diabetic. If you were diabetic your blood sugar would be way up over 200."

They didn't even think she might be PRE-diabetic! They said anything under 125 is nothing to worry about. They just refused to give her the 2 hour glucose tolerance test, saying "we only do that for pregnant women."

Um, no. I've never been pregnant, and have never had a high fasting blood sugar, and I have the same doctor as my skinny friend, and I requested to have the 2 hour glucose tolerance test done because I'm overweight and Type II diabetes runs in my family, and they did the test for me. My blood sugar after this test -- just like my fasting blood sugar -- was well within normal limits, but I know that if I'd come in anywhere near 104 they would have had conniption fits and told me to eliminate simple carbs from my diet.

And it's just not true that my skinny friend had nothing to worry about. Skinny adults can and do develop diabetes. You can develop Type I until you're as old as 40, and Type II can occur in people who are at or below a healthy weight. It was totally negligent of them to scoff at her request for a glucose tolerance test.

Doctors treat fat people totally differently than skinny people. They look at a fat person and they think "this fat disgusting pig must have all sorts of health problems because they've been eating too much. This fatso needs to get religion and lose some of that disgusting weight."

My doctor even told me that the pins and needles sensation in my legs was caused by my weight, when it wasn't -- it was caused by my hypothyroidism. I know because it went away as soon as I started taking the synthroid. (Low thyroid can cause swelling which can pinch nerves.)

Grrr. Yes, excess weight sometimes causes health problems, and then again, sometimes it does not. There are skinny people who are unhealthy, and fat people who are healthy. Sometimes I think doctors are more fat-prejudiced than even the average layperson.

[KellyH]

23.

A normal scan- woot!

If your insurance will cover it, go for the fetal echocardiogram. I'm diabetic and had one with both my pregnancies. It's cool, because you get to see the heart up close and the blood flow in different colors, and my doctors always did an anatomy scan along with it. My last pregnancy we got a video of the whole scan for $5.00, 30 whole minutes of baby. It's pretty in-depth and I went to see the baby, not because I was really worried about her heart.

Yeah, will you post pics of your scans and let us guess the sex?

[schmutzie]

24.

I know that everyone else already said this, but hoorah for healthy babies!

[Kellie]

25.

Live and healthy is great!! Sorry the doc and tech sucked. Some people can be so strange.

[Dawn]

26.

WHAT an Asshole! You are tougher than me because I would have told him and his techie witch where to shove it.
So glad things are normal.
Dawn

[Jenn in AK]

27.

I'm so sorry you were treated poorly. I would have shown you EVERYTHING....several times!!!!! :-) Not that I'm an u/s tech, but if I WAS... ;-)

Your blood sugars are fine - kick that doc in the ass.

Jenn

[DoctorMama]

28.

HAHAHA, "Congratulations ... get the fuck out!"

Here's my insensitive U/S tech story: a friend of mine, A., had to have a second-trimester termination because the fetus had anencephaly (undeveloped brain). When A. was pregnant again, they ordered an earlier-than-usual anatomy U/S since she was at higher risk for having another fetus with an anomaly. The tech asked why they were having such an early scan, and they explained. "Oh," she said. Then she slapped the probe on A.'s belly, squinted at the screen, and said brightly, "Well, THIS one has a HEAD!"

At least it was good news ...

[SusieJ]

29.

OK, what the FUCK? I WAS diabetic, and they did non-stress tests (lie in chair with fetal heart rate monitor and contraction monitor, wait for baby's heart rate to go between resting and moving, or vice versa, twice) twice a week, but what you're describing doesn't sound like that. Maybe it is. My impression of why they did this was NOT for baby heart abnormalities, but to check the placenta. In fact, I'm certain that's what the very nice nurses told me.

Girl, I'm buying you a blood sugar monitor so that you can tell these fuckwits it's under control.

And now that I've vented my spleen ....

GREAT BIG FUCKING CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! The baby looks good, you look BEAUTIFUL, Charlie sounds curmudgeonly, and Hammer's still the best dog in the world.

Let's go kick some ass! (Not sure of what, but I've gotten myself worked up now ...)

--SJ

[Sarah]

30.

Wonderful news!
Sarah

[Susan]

31.

Get the fuck out! And by that I mean "Congratulations!"

[Sheri]

32.

I had a level 2 ultrasound with my last pregnancy and expected some big formal todo, but it was a lot like the other ultrasounds with a whole echocardigram thrown in. It made us crazy because our daughter was born with a heart defect, but this baby was fine. And we got to see the whole thing on this giant plasma TV on the wall. (Perks of being at the fancy ultrasound lab.)

And the baby had a penis! The tech who did the test stopped and took a penis shot and typed the text, "It's a BOY!!!!!" on the photo and burned it to a disc for us. I wish all techs could be like that.

Here's hoping your next tech is like my last tech! :-)

[Ninotchka]

33.

So glad baby looks good. I hate that it was a lackluster experience. Our sonogram with Anna Sofia SUCKED. I'll email you the link to the entry I wrote about it. And I was a goopy mess too. And the tech was sort of a flake.

Even Guy was like "what the...?"

[Mete]

34.

Yay for the good news, and boo to the idiot docs. I think they get so numb to the process, that the "normal" ultrasounds are BO-RING to them. If there's no excitement, they barely care.

I had a similar experience in my second pregnancy. Before the 20 wk u/s, my last time in almost the SAME room were followed by the words "he's not moving" and "emergency c-section". So my anatomy u/s the second time around was a BIG deal. We told the ultrasound tech, who did approximately 3 minutes of checks, said, "yup, everything's fine" and told us the doctor was too busy to see us (i.e. GO HOME).

It's so rare to find a compasionate person in the medical field. When really, most of their job is personal, life-changing stuff. You'd think they'd remember that once in a while.

[OnTheFence]

35.

I am happy that everything looks normal and well with your baby, but I too would be disappointed in the appointment. What asses.

I am not sure if you have considered it, but there are places that do the 4D ultrasounds for fun. Some doctors offices do them as well too. I am not sure how much they cost around the US but I paid $175 of mine which included lots of pics and a CD/DVD of still shots and three little movies. I think one of those chain places is called "FetalFoto" but I could be mistaken. Anyway, I think it was worth it to do. (some of the pics are on my blog)

I hope your next ultrasound appointment is a better one!

[maia]

36.

NORMAL is just what you want to hear :)

[Jill]

37.

What is the matter with these people? I mean, do they not realize when they go into medicine they are going to be dealing with people?

And great news on a normal baby! Yay! Now make some demands (nicely) at the heart scan and get a good look at him/her.

[Sonetka]

38.

Congratulations on a healthy child! (Are you getting another ultrasound at some point or are you going to let the sex be a surprise when the baby comes?)

My fasting blood level was 92 and my OB was not concerned in the slightest - for the record, I am 5'6" and usually weigh about 140 but had probably picked up twenty-five pounds by the time the test was done, so there probably is something to the idea that doctors look at your size more than your numbers. Ugh, now I feel *very* reassured. If it helps, though, my son was born full-term, no complications w/blood sugar or anything, so if you're in the 80s and 90s I'd say you and little John/Victoria are in good shape :).

[Sara]

39.

Congratulations! When I had my ultrasound, the tech told me she was SURE the baby was over 7 lbs. and that hopefully it wouldn't get "too big". That was 3 weeks before my due date. ONE WEEK LATER, I delivered the baby (and again, she was SURE that I wouldn't deliver before the due date) the baby arrived and weighed...6 lbs, 2 oz. And in that moment, I was sure that all of that other stuff didn't matter because I loved my baby oh so much. HOORAY for normal!

[Shazamama]

40.

Wonderful news....

Been there with the sugars. Normal human docs should have absolutely no problem with your numbers. I'm also "prediabetic" or whatever (and quite overweight) but did need insulin fairly quickly into my pregnancy. My goal was under 100 fasting, and under 120 2 hours after meals. My endo was wonderful and top of the field.

Went to the maternal fetal medicine folks at the local hospital for a level 2 ultrasound. The diabetes stuff was being well managed in my OB's view. The fancy pants doc flipped about the diabetes and just kept going on and on about how serious it was. My husband and I felt like we got pregnant by mistake the night of the prom, when really we had spent a year making sure my sugars were good and learning all we could about diabetes and pregnancy. The doc gave us a lecture and list of tests to take. It was awful. I was pregnant, but he made me feel like I had cancer.

Our groovy, earth-mother ob looks at the recommendations and says "oh, go for the fetal echocardiogram - it's really cool and you'll come away knowing your baby's heart is perfect. Forget about the rest." That's exactly what happened.

Now that we've been trying for ever to get pregnant again, my great endo has moved, and I'm dealing with a new guy. When I told him I would rather use a regular ob and endo if I were to get preg again, he told me about other pregnant patients who have been brought to the hospital due to the extremely low sugars demanded by the high risk maternal fetal med folks. It makes no sense on a number of levels and is completely unnecessary and unethical if you ask me.

So just taking waaaay too long to add my voice to those who have been there and agree it sounds like you are right where you should be and doing exactly right by you and the baby.

[ccw]

41.

Yeah for the normal baby!!

Sorry you had to deal with assholes. My tech at my 20 week US was chipper to the point of driving me crazy. It was great that she was so friendly and excited, but I swear it bordered on creepy. I can only hope that the techs at my new OB are somewhere in between the ass you had and the friendly I had.

[kim]

42.

I had a fasting blood sugar in the 90's toward the end and our babes belly was getting bigger than it should be. Apparently the hormones in the last part of pregnancy cause slight insulin resistance so if you are pre-diabetic it may worsen slightly at that stage. You should get it checked out cos you don't want the babe getting too big cos its got to come out! I took insulin for the last 10 weeks or so which was no big deal but kept the babe growing at the normal rate. Also the babe didn't get stressed etc. I passed the early diabetes glucos test but failed the one at 20 something weeks.

[Renee]

43.

I am so happy the news was good, even if the delivery of it sucked. I hope some drs. and u/s techs read this blog - it would really go a long way towards improving their bed-side manner. I am always flabbergasted by how awful some (and I stress some) of them can be. I mean, come on, they went into a profession where they are dealing with very sensitive issues, not to mention people! Would a little compassion kill them?

Rant over. Most importantly - congratulations on the healthy baby!!!

[Kaushal]

44.

Wooohoo... its great that things are looking good so far and that the baby is normal and all...Lets hope/pray for as many more NBHHY weeks as it takes to get you and the baby out safely!

[Cindi]

45.

Sounds as if all is progressing as NORMAL. Not saying that word I swear. But I had to say that I LOVED the cardiac ultrasounds cause the techs always seemed to have so much fun and I got to see lots and they always made me copies of the tapes. Glad all things are oh so well, oh so far.

C

[mijk]

46.

Oh it so makes all the difference to hear somthing that says: Hey I know what happened and I understand your scared. Don't understand why they don't make the effort I mean it makes their lives easier aswell! (I tend to be a alot more cooparative to someone who has read my file! )

[j]

47.

So glad you had a normal ultrasound. Too bad you couldn't get a good crotch shot. It would be fun to find out that way. I always found out from my amnio results. I can't believe the doc and the tech were so insensitive. That is mind-boggling. My big scan with my first pregnancy was great; the tech was so nice about showing us everything, and stopping at every good spot to take a picture. She even wrote "Hi Mom and Dad" on a picture that looked like he was waving, and we videotaped the whole thing. My twin ultrasound was a disaster. I was such a wreck about having twins, and had just started taking Zoloft, and having trouble adjusting to it, and had an anxiety attack on the table when I saw the two babies dancing around. I started getting dizzy and sweating and they had to stop the ultrasound. So embarassing. I HAD gestational diabetes and they didn't send me for a fetal echo. I had a fetal echo with my son, because I have a congenital heart defect, but for some reason never had one with my girls. I forget, maybe they were born before we would have had it.

Hope everything continues to go great for you.

[Bridget]

48.

I'm so happy for you and Charlie on the good news!

Are you having a fetal echocardiogram? If so.. I had one - just about the coolest thing I've ever seen. Absolutely fascinating.

[Lindy]

49.

Yay for the normal baby! Boo hiss for the horrible experience.

I'm hoping the extra scan gives us all a peek at the important bits.

[Menita]

50.

Hurray for a healthy baby that is doing well : )

[Elise]

51.

What amazes me is the way all the medical professionals with the worst bedside manner seem to gravitate toward pregnant you. Why is that? It's really unfair. Although your ultrasound report sounds a lot like the ultrasound I had at the beginning of my pregnancy with P. - mean techs bitching about who is and isn't in the room, not letting you really see what's on the monitor, and making a big speech about how the pregnancy is supposed to go, despite the fact that they are not your regular practitioner and haven't been part of any of the important decisions you've made. Yeah, I can see why it was unsatisfying for you. Instead of feeling glowy and happy about the fact that the baby is doing great, like they always get to feel on TV when people are pregnant, you end up leaving feeling abused and marginalized. Not fair at all! Hrumph. But I'm SO SO glad to hear that the baby is doing well.

[Linda B]

52.

I'm glad everything is ok! Too bad your appt sucked :(

That makes me sad, because once you find out everything is ok through the ultrasound, it should be an exciting moment for you. The tech and doc sound like they need some personality lessons.

[Melissa]

53.

Congratulations on the healthy baby. That is great news. Boo on the doc/tech. I think you must be made of stronger stuff than me -- I don't think I could have kept a lid on being pissed.

[CJ]

54.

I found out I lost my pregnancy at the half way through ultrasound. I didn't bring a cheerleading section for my ultrasound with Gracie... just Erick, which was good enough for me. I had a different experience - the doctor was happy and always reassuring, as were the tech's. Christ these people are in the baby business they should be cheering you on all the way!

Love hearing you upbeat!

[Julia S.]

55.

Aw, congratulations! This is very good news and I am happy for you.

The wild variations in ultrasound techs and radiologists baffles me. I have had some that are absolutely wonderful and others... yeesh.

[Jane]

56.

Yay hey! Good going! Let's have a big cheer for a healthy baby and a healthy mama!

[Jo]

57.

Yay baby!

And I can't stop snickering about Mister Awfuldoctor ("Congratulations! CONGRATULATIONS!"). What an ass. Gah. But you tell it all funny!

[Kellie]

58.

Congratulations on a great ultrasound. Boo, regarding the u/s tech and radiologist.

When I had my ultrasound at 5w3d, there were two gestational sacs. One measured 5w6d and the other 5w2d. The radiologist made the comment that the smaller one was "worthless". Now what do you think I wanted to do to that asswipe?

Anyway, congratulations!!

[Sue]

59.

YAY! For healthy normal baby scan!

Sorry about the sucky tech and doc. Hopefully next time you get a wonderful tech and doc.

[Naomi (changed from juliejulie just to be confusing)]

60.

Anyone else signing up to be on Cecily's cheerleading squad?

[Mimi]

61.

But weren't you secretly hoping for a golden retriever?

Seriously, though...itchy yeast infections all around for insensitive techs and doctors.

And YAY for healthy baby!

[Tanya]

62.

Dude, you are too funny. Your tech was a moron.

[Abby]

63.

I hate doctors.

I had a horrible weekend thanks to one in particular. Let's just say I pray to God he's wrong.

But I'm glad for you - and continue wishing you and Charlie and the soonn-to-be rugrat the best!

[Diatryma]

64.

On diabetes:
My understanding of diabetes is that being overweight can cause Type II-- if you lose some weight, sometimes the problem goes away entirely.
Being thin is a symptom of diabetes. Really. You control your blood sugar by making fat, making starch, and taking sugar into the cells. If you don't have insulin to tell your body to do that, your sugar goes out with the rest of the waste. Being thin-- rather, a large weight loss-- being hungry all the time, anything related to the fact that you're excreting all this glucose... all diabetes symptoms.

[Wendy]

65.

Wow, sorry about the crappy u/s. Next time take blank video tape. They should be able to do record that for you. I had a fetal heart u/s with my first son, and it's pretty cool to see it on video. Glad to hear the little guy/gal is well.

[julia]

66.

I HATE crappy ultrasound techs. It might not be big of me, but I never hesitated to lay on the fullscale guilt trip. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it just reaffirmed that the tech/doc was an ass.

I's so so so freakin' happy that the baby is looking healthy and happy to stay put. I think you're doing a great job keeping up with your various medical hot-spots and don't let anyone be overly alarmist.

I am excited for you about the next shot at an ultrasound, though, even the reasoning behind it is iffy. Maybe the kiddo will give you a nice crotch shot - or at least some photo-worthy profiles.

Kay, shutting up now.

Except to say, once more, YAY!

[Em]

67.

The sonographers see it all day, every day and fail to realise sometimes that this is a big deal for the people actually having the U/S!

[Melissa]

68.

YAY for healthy baby! And BOO for idiot u/s tech. I really think some people are just in the wrong freakin' job.

I'll share a funny story with you though... A friend of mine had a very similar crappy u/s experience, but it was her first u/s to confirm the pg. Needless to say she was upset with not being allowed to see the screen and just getting one lousy blurry pic. She called her Dr. to complain and mentioned it to the nurse as well. The nurse said "oh yes, Mr. u/s tech has be cranky like that since a mother shot him." LOL! Apparently when he was in training he told a woman that she was pg and she said "oh no I'm not" and he said "look, here's the baby" and she took a gun out of her purse and shot at him. Mr. u/s tech obviously survived and is carrying on his career nontheless.... just now with 110% more crank.

[Rivka]

69.

I also have a horror tech story--I went by myself for the 20 week ultrasound, and the technician TURNED THE SCREEN away from me so I couldn't see a damn thing!! She got all huffy when I asked for pictures, too. After she finally gave me the pictures, I realized that the name on top of the screen was totally misspelled!! I didn't get to see the baby move on the ultrasound screen AT ALL, and to top it off, the pics look like the baby's not even mine, but someone's with a different last name. It sucks.
I think it's those kids who love to play "I've got a secret" who grow up to be ultrasound techs.

[lb]

70.

Different labs are so totally different on how they do the scans. We have places here in my town where there is a separate screen up high on the wall so you can watch the whole thing without turning your head. And other places where you can see nothing and they aren't about to take the extra 10 seconds to show you at the end either! My advice is shop around a bit - ask friends, ask your doctor, and if you need another scan later, see if you can go to a place that's a bit friendlier!!!

[maia]

71.

Forgive me if this has been asked or answered but... are you two planning on finding out the sex of baby? Just curious.

[Lisa]

72.

Glad your baby is healthy, sorry the staff was so sucky and impersonal, and insensitive. Enjoy those inscrubale pics! Lisa

[Dana]

73.

Sorry the people sucked. I had a crappy level 2 too, what's with that? They had me beyond freaked out about a heart 'artifact' that the maternal/fetal spec couldnt even see. They were talking trisomy this that and the other thing. Again ZERO additional indicators of any issue whatsoever. Of course I spent two days in complete hell just to be sure. Blech. Glad you are keeping the big healthy picture in mind! So very happy for you.

[Dana]

74.

Yeah now that I think about it the specialist said 'that would be a shadow'. I forgot how angry I was about being put through that. Unreal.

Anyway you go healthy baby!!

[Ally]

75.

I am so happy the baby is healthy. And I can't believe they acted like such asses.

[sheilah]

76.

Getting a read on 'boy' or 'girl' would have been nice, but I know you are Charlie are much more excited to hear 'healthy' and 'alive.'

I want to wish you a hearty get the fuck out!!

(hehe...)

[yvonne]

77.

Also delurking. Just recently found your blog and have been following your pregnancy with bated breath. As a mom who also dealt with miscarriages, infertility and who finally delivered a healthy son at age 38 I have every finger crossed for you. Sorry the ultrasound tech and Doc were pissants.

[Libby]

78.

Yay for a healthy baby! fantabulous news my dear.

[Erin]

79.

Congratulations on your healthy baby!

The tech that showed us Ryan was the same way--but--if you think about how often these people are the first to know when a pregnancy has ended--when they're the ones that have to look into a mother's hopeful, terrified face knowing that she's about to have her heart ripped out of her body and thrown onto the floor--I suppose there might be a reason why some of them have to remain so cold.
I figure nothing matters so much as the fact that your baby is healthy!!!

[melissa]

80.

So glad to hear your ultrasound was normal...

So, do we now replace saying "Nothing Bad Has Happened Yet" with "Get The Fuck Out"? :-)

NBHHY... GTFO....hmmm

[Greta]

81.

Congratulations on the normal ultrasound.

I can't wait until the day I get to read your "the baby is here and healthy" entry.

[spit]

82.

every once in a while I read about someone accidently getting a really good, really compassionate Dr.
the rest of the time they suck, just like today but yippeee the baby is ok

[Diana]

83.

I like that Mimi cursed the assholes with itchy yeast infections. I would like to add to that curse, just not sure what to give them yet. Fuck them. They forget how to be compassionate. My u/s tech was new so she was as excited as I was, no complaints there. My delivery ob sucked ass. He was the lucky one to be on-call the night I went into labor and I hated him. (My ob's office does a rotation) I remember at one of my check-ups I asked him how much he thought the baby weighed, since I was told they could tell by measurements and stuff- he said "Oh I don't know maybe about..."
I never heard the end of the sentence because he was walking out of the room. Karma kicked me in the ass by making him the one to deliver...because as I was on my way to the hospital I said to hubby "I hope it's not Dr. So and so on call tonight..."
Normal=GREAT!
NBHHY!!!!

[Melanie]

84.

Just a thought - and apologies in advance if you already did this.

People have different expectations for these scans and different ideas of what they find comforting. Of course there are some things that are pretty standard for everyone - like needing compassion when a problem is found with the baby.

I make it clear at each appt that I need reassurance and have some anxiety issues. We don't really care about printouts but find the numbers comforting. We also don't care about seeing the overall baby but when they say something like "the spine is okay" I want to know what they are looking for and what would have indicated a problem. When they say 5 fingers I ask if that is just based on the bones or are they able to confirm muscles/tendons developing properly.

I was annoyed with a tech recently for fiddling with trying to get the printer working when I wanted her to start the scan. Then I remembered, from what I've learned in blogland, that good clear pictures are really important to people. When I said we didn't care about getting a printout, she happily moved on with the scan. She was probably glad she went ahead and started while she was dealing with my time consuming questions.