Update in #11 - Fetal echo?

[TwoBees]

I'm having a fetal echo today. What should I expect?

[pb&j]

A fetal echo is an ultrasound, done with a fancier machine than found at your typical ob's office, and done by a person trained in looking at the heart and its vessels and the cardiac function of the fetus. In my practice, the MD (fetal echo special guy) himself did the echo, though IIRC, the u/s tech did a basic anatomy scan first. I also had a pediatric cardiologist present, as well as my regular OB (who was a MFM doc), and my genetic counselor. Because my first child had severe heart defects, it was full court press for my subsequent pregnancies.

If you have a good doc/tech, they will explain the anatomy of the heart and vessels to you during the exam. They use doppler technology to study the blood flow, so you'll see red and blue and hopefully not much green on the screen. My docs were great about explaining to me what they were seeing, as well as the limitations of what they could diagnose and rule out. We were offered a cardiology checkup for my (healthy) kids a couple of weeks after their births, but as their echoes had been clear and they had no murmurs or other indications of cardiac problems as newborns, we declined.

We did have an echo with my first child, and that experience was very different, as major and rare heart defects were found. If you need info about that, PM me.

Good luck!

[elektra]

Was basically just like a regular ultrasound IIRC. However, at mine, the dr. was showing us the screen the whole time, explaining what was going on, the colors, etc.

[lizzywednesday]

I also have experience w/fetal echo and hope your DD2 cooperates, TwoBees!

DD did not at our first. They sent us for a walk & made me drink some juice before trying again.

It's a longer, more in-depth, more focused ultrasound as rprav8r said.

We had so many of those - and 3-D & 4-D diagnostics - with DD that the only thing I noticed with them was the opportunity to take a nap.

My only other recommendation is to go without your DD1; they can take a LONG time and she will get bored. (IDK if this is an issue for you, but just wanted to toss it out there.)

[TwoBees]

Thanks for all the info. I'm not entirely sure why it is being done...I thought it was because I have chronic hypertension, but I can't seem to find any info online about that.



My only other recommendation is to go without your DD1; they can take a LONG time and she will get bored. (IDK if this is an issue for you, but just wanted to toss it out there.)

Fortunately or unfortunately I'm going alone. DH was supposed to be there but now can't shift his schedule around, and it's very hard to reschedule. *sigh* He'd probably be bored after 5 minutes anyway TBH, he's not very interested in sciencey things. Maybe I should bring a magazine. (I'm joking, I know the room will be dark. Should have thought to bring my Kindle Paperwhite with me today.)

[lizzywednesday]

...


Fortunately or unfortunately I'm going alone. DH was supposed to be there but now can't shift his schedule around, and it's very hard to reschedule. *sigh* He'd probably be bored after 5 minutes anyway TBH, he's not very interested in sciencey things. Maybe I should bring a magazine. (I'm joking, I know the room will be dark. Should have thought to bring my Kindle Paperwhite with me today.)

DH used to sit on one side and listen to XM on his phone, so we didn't get the explanations of what was going on during the echo.

Like I said, I used to use the time to nap. I will also recommend bringing juice to drink, just in case your baby is being "difficult" - the sugar will prompt her to move.

Did something concerning come up during your full-anatomy scan? That's when our DD's defect was diagnosed and when we were sent for the first echo.

[TwoBees]

Did something concerning come up during your full-anatomy scan? That's when our DD's defect was diagnosed and when we were sent for the first echo.

No, the dr mentioned having one at my first appointment around 6 weeks. I'm pretty sure it has to do with my history, I'm just not entirely sure why. I'll have to double check at my routine appointment tomorrow.

[bostonsmama]

Yeah, I don't think there'd be insurance justification for an echocardiogram without either a personal history of heart problems/congenital heart defect, having a prior pg/child with a heart issue or an incomplete anatomy scan of the heart. We were referred when a sonographer couldn't get good pictures of where the blood exited the heart to the lungs, then an MFM made a preliminary diagnosis of some defects while the pediatric cardiologist (at a children's practice) did the official fetal echocardiogram to confirm our son's diagnosis.

I've never been able to sleep during a fetal echo, and I've had a few now. They always play the soundwaves of the various arteries/vessels/veins, isolating a complete single wave to make calculations, looking at bright blue and red (blood going away from or towards the doppler) flashing on the screen, and verbally coaxing baby (as if it worked) to cooperate by turning or holding still. The machine has a lovely, soft hum, though! I was asked recently to hold my breath a few times when sound images were being captured...although not so much the first time. They'll scan all of baby's heart parts, including arteries that go into the brain and other parts of the body to make sure the flow is correct and that there are no holes or missing pieces.

[trcy]

I had one one with DD as there was a family history of heart defects. It was done at the 20 week anatomy scan. Like PPs said it was just a more detailed look at the baby's heart. Good luck with everything!

[AngB]

No, the dr mentioned having one at my first appointment around 6 weeks. I'm pretty sure it has to do with my history, I'm just not entirely sure why. I'll have to double check at my routine appointment tomorrow.

My not-medical professional guess is that maybe they want a blood flow study (doppler) done to check the blood flow to the baby and are sending you to the people who are the specialists at this, from what I've read here and experienced. After my pregnancy with DD (severe pre-e/HELLP at 23 wks), in my next pregnancy my MFM had the high risk ultrasound people do a blood flow study for DS1 to see how his blood flow was. Some people think that 'notching' in the blood flow can be a warning sign/risk factor for preeclampsia and/or IUGR. (In my case, there was notching on one of the uterine arteries, but I did not go on to have pre-e or any issues with growth.) I know a few more people who had the same thing, notching noticed but normal pregnancies, so the evidence for the extra testing meaning anything I'm not sure is there, but it doesn't really hurt anything to do, either. (And if they don't see any notching then that would be great.)

I would hope they would have told you about any concerns related to a heart defect if that was a concern, so that's my guess of why they may want it?

[TwoBees]

My not-medical professional guess is that maybe they want a blood flow study (doppler) done to check the blood flow to the baby and are sending you to the people who are the specialists at this, from what I've read here and experienced. After my pregnancy with DD (severe pre-e/HELLP at 23 wks), in my next pregnancy my MFM had the high risk ultrasound people do a blood flow study for DS1 to see how his blood flow was. Some people think that 'notching' in the blood flow can be a warning sign/risk factor for preeclampsia and/or IUGR. (In my case, there was notching on one of the uterine arteries, but I did not go on to have pre-e or any issues with growth.) I know a few more people who had the same thing, notching noticed but normal pregnancies, so the evidence for the extra testing meaning anything I'm not sure is there, but it doesn't really hurt anything to do, either. (And if they don't see any notching then that would be great.)

I would hope they would have told you about any concerns related to a heart defect if that was a concern, so that's my guess of why they may want it?

This is really interesting, and makes a lot of sense. I didn't ask specifically about this reason, but I did ask why I had the echo, and I was told that it was for 2 reasons: 1) a medication I am on that has a very slight chance of causing problems, and 2) because of my hypertension, they wanted to make sure there weren't any heart issues with the baby.

Nonetheless, the scan was clean, thank goodness. And I got to see the baby, and got some great photos, and her weight is right on track (1 lb 10 oz). So all in all, it was a good appointment. :)

[bostonsmama]

Yay! What a blessing! :)

[lizzywednesday]

Great news! Thank you for the update, TwoBees!

[AnnieW625]

Yay! Thanks for the update.

[elektra]

Glad the scan went well!