Results from first OB visit yesterday...don't really know what to think.

[todzwife]

She did an internal U/S, and there was the sack and the yolk, but the "baby" was just a little bump. Too small to even see the heartbeat. She didn't sound concerned, and said everything looked really good, but she wants me to come back in 2 weeks. She said I am probably just not as far along as I thought. (ovulated later than I thought) Anyway, I just wanted to report what I found out. EDD according to LMP is 10/17, but it might be later.
Shandelle

[mamahill]

Congrats - and yes, it is a little anti-climactic. You expect a little face and smile and hand waving at you, and it looks like a parasite. Which, it kind of is - lol! Don't worry - and hey, another appt means something to look forward to. Usually they only see you every 4-6 weeks at the beginning!

[Rachels]

I agree-- don't worry! There's not much to see early on. I know it must be nerve-wracking, though. I found it helpful to get the book *Your Unborn Child* (or something like that), which has great info and photographs of what's going on in those early weeks.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[Momof3Labs]

Having gone through IF treatment and hanging out with a bunch of women who get these early ultrasounds, there's a few things that I have learned.

What you see on that first u/s really depends on the skill of the technician and the quality of the equipment. If you have top-notch, you will probably see the heartbeat by 7 weeks. If not, it's hard to say. But even if you do have top-notch, there still isn't much else to see at 6w! Kind of a squiggle, with a flicker of a heartbeat. The good news is that by 8-10w, it grows into a manatee and by the time you have your 20w u/s (at 18-22w), the baby actually looks like a BABY!

So don't try to think about it - just revel in being pregnant, and take good care of yourself. There's really nothing else that you CAN do right now, except drive yourself crazy!

Congratulations!!

[nathansmom]

I went through the IF treatments myself and had ultrasounds every doctors appointment starting at 6 weeks. The first one we checked to see how many took (at 6 weeks), he had me come back the following week and we did see a tiny flutter (of course the doctor had to point it out, I still can't see it on the video). I have to agree with Lori though it does depend on the technician and the equipment. Lucky for me the doctor I went to was very good at ultrasounds, he guessed the weight of my baby (only off by 1 oz.) and his equipment is top of the line, as we had several of the 3D ones done.
Congratulations and best wishes to you and your hubby!!

[egoldber]

LOL! I had an US at 7 weeks because of bleeding. The tech had to explain to us about 10 times which part was the baby. We did get to see the heartbeat which was about the coolest thing I had EVER seen in my life up to that point. :)

Those early US are VERY accurate, so their date is probably the correct one, especially if the next US confirms that date. US's get less accurate later in pregnancy, since there is a lot more variability in fetal growth later in pregnancy than in early pregnancy.

Enjoy!!!

[atlbaby]

When I was pregnant with Arielle, my dates were all screwy. And so when I went to the OB to hear the heartbeat (we thought it was 10 weeks) he couldn't hear anything and did an ultrasound and we saw the little flutter! :) It was a nice surprise too, because I wasn't expecting to have a photo to take home--and put in a frame by my bed until the next ultrasound pic!

But it was so small! My sisters-in-law named it 'popcorn' because it looked like a piece of popcorn! Of course I was all insulted and kept trying to make them see the limb buds and head...:)

Congratulations!! It's all very exciting!

-Rachel
Mom to Arielle Jill, 10/30/01

[brubeck]

Keep in mind that a couple of weeks makes a HUGE difference. With my first baby I had the initial US done at 8 weeks and all I saw was a blob with a pulse/heartbeat. With my second baby I didn't get in for the first appointment until 11 weeks and not only did I see the baby, but I could distinguish a head, body, arms and legs. This was at the same doctor's office with the same equipment. The nurse confirmed that in the first trimester even 1 weeks makes a HUGE difference. So all I'm trying to say is that in 2 weeks you will see a LOT more! Look forward to it!

[jojo2324]

I don't really have much to add (we didn't get out first US until 20 weeks...used a doppler to detect heartbeat at 12 weeks), but it sounds like the other girls have it covered! Keep us posted! :D

[kathsmom]

Hi, Shandelle!

Just wanted to tell you congratulations first of all. For DD and DS, with the first ultrasounds, I kept waiting for them to move! I was just so afraid something was wrong, but the tech told me that the only thing I would see moving is the heart, which I did. She told me DS was the size of a gummy bear when I was 9 weeks along. DD thought that was the funniest thing! She kept calling him the gummy bear baby. The next u/s for both babies was at about 20 weeks and it is amazing how much more developed they are!! Of course, I had to have several ultrasounds toward the end of my pregnancy with DS, because of high blood pressure, and it is so awesome to see them! I could see DS's hair, his hands covering his face, and his cry/frown when the tech pressed too hard on my stomach and bothered him.

Good luck with everything!

Toni - mom to Katherine (5/19/96) and Andrew (9/23/02)

[Momof3Labs]

Actually, the early u/s are +/- one week, so I don't know if very accurate is the right way to describe them - in our case, since we knew the date of conception, Colin was measuring 2 days ahead at 6w2d, 5 days ahead at 10w3d, and by the 22w u/s, he was measuring 8 days ahead.

[sweetbasil]

Congrats, Shandelle. The ultrasounds are tough to get at first (our family always has a hard time believing that we can actually SEE baby features in the pics- this, of course, nearer to 20 wks.), but that's great that you'll get to see you baby in an even more developed state in two weeks.

Take care,