any input welcome..

so i found a place sorta close to me (about 45 min) that does elective ultrasounds. i am 14wks 3d and my last u/s was at 9wks. as you can imagine im getting pretttttty anxious to see the babies and know theyre both there and doing well. ive been terrified of VT syndrome since we first found out it was twins.
for $75 they will do a 2d u/s for 15min...so is it worth it? my ER copay is $100 so it would be pointless to go to the hospital and pretty much lie, and waste the docs time, when they have PLENTY of other patients who really do need their help. im not even guaranteed to find out the sex of the babies since it's kind of early.
OR should i wait until next wed..thats when i have my first appt. with my new doc. i seriously doubt he's gonna do an u/s, just from what the receptionist said when i asked. but by some odd chance he DOES... my hubby and i really dont have the $75 but im almost willing to say screw it and put it on the credit card.
what would you do..?

 

If you need that peace of mind, then do it. Peace of mind is important. Maybe there is something you could cut out in order to use the $75 without feeling any guilt.

Dianna

 

I would wait until wed.. They did a u/s for me everytime i went into the Dr's office. Dont listen to the receptionist.. Twins are different..

 

i want so badly to wait. just to hear what the doc says...maybe i'll get lucky and since its my first visit with their practice they'll do an u/s...its ONLY a week right...? and if he says, we're not going to do an u/s until 18wks, or 20wks...jeez can i wait THAT long? okay so maybe that will only mean i have to wait 3-5wks to see them...but okay..in numbers that doesnt seem long but to me it does...lol i feel like a have those lil voices in my head, one is saying- be responsible! dont waste the money! and the other is saying- doooo it! you wanna see those babies! you wanna stop worrying! dooo it! hehe this is rotten. and dh is sooo sweet and just says, do whatever makes you happy baby. if you wanna see them now then go ahead, if you think you can wait til wednesday to see when the doc says, then do that. im so indecisive!

 

i would wait, that 75 bucks is 3 cans of formula

a week isn't that long..and while peace of mind is important, do you really want to be at an elective u/s place and find out something bad has happened to one of your twins? Also, they aren't always reliable....so what if they make a mistake.

 

You will be getting a lot of ultrasounds as you go through your pregnancy. I talked to an ultrasound tech at the doctor's office that I used while pregnant, and she was adimant that these elective ultrasound places are terrible! She said they tell you nothing about any problems if any and they are just exposing you to more ultrasounds than you need or should have. save your money and wait a few weeks. I know it is hard, but mostlikely you will be having them monthly and then bi-weekly and then weekly!

 

i think i will wait. money is super tight, so it would be wise. i hope they do an u/s next wednesday. it will be 6 weeks since i saw them, and that seems like an eternity. especially since last time they said i wouldnt be in the clear for VT until 14wks... please please pleaseee let them do an u/s next wed!!

 

I would wait too A receptionist isn't going to know what the doc will do. I get an u/s every 2 weeks, and I KNOW the receptionists would have had no clue about that! And if he doesn't, ask him. Tell him you are worried and he might give you one.

 

I hope you get an u/s at your appt! Tell the Dr about your worries! An u/s can give us mommies so much reassurance. I've gotten them at every appt and would have gone crazy if I hadn't!

 

My advice is to wait, you will need that $75 later when your babies get here! I was anxious my entire pregnancy. If I just had to see my babies, I could always talk my doctor into an u/s. Twins are so different so it was always pretty easy to talk him into it. Also since you are already 14 weeks, you will hear both heartbeats at every appointment. That always made me feel better. I went in alot just to hear the hb's before they started moving around. Good Luck!

 

I would wait also. I went through IVF to get pregnant and had ultrasounds at my fertility doctor every week up to 11 weeks. I went to my regular OB at 12 weeks and even though they had pics from all of my previous ultrasounds, they did another one right away so they could have their own to use. I think I had ultrasounds every 4 weeks with my kids. Twins mommies have all sorts of different rules during pregnancy. You will be going to the doctor a lot more and like a pp said, you will hear the hearbeats at every appointment and that made me feel a lot better also.

Good luck with your new doctor.

 

14 wks is to early to really enjoy that 75 dollar u/s! if u can wait til at least 20 wks or more to get those reallly good shots! is it a 3d u/s? or 2d?

 

I'd wait for the doctor's appointment. Request they do a T/V U/S measurement of your cervix (which they absolutely should be doing). You get to see the babies with that too.

My peri did a quickie U/S at each and every visit.

 

im getting so frustrated and anxious. all of you are getting so many u/s, so why was it that the doc i was seeing said no more u/s until 20wks? that makes no sense to me. maybe the new doc will be more like all of yours. i do plan on telling him how anxious and worried ive been.
and how did you guys find both hbs? i have a doppler and i can find hbs, but on the u/s i had done the hbs were very close together in rate, so i never know when im hearing the same baby or a different 1, or heaven help me, only 1 because i lost 1. i wouldnt know..my old doc was such an ahole. i cant wait til next wed..i hope i dont leave disappointed..

 

My peri did the quickie U/S at each visit mostly to check for both H/B's. It was close to impossible to pick it up on doppler, and the peri never even tried. When I was in the hospital the nurses sometimes spent over an hour trying to find both H/B's, and normally got frustrated and pulled in the U/S machine.

They also measured my cervix with the same U/S machine they used to check for H/B's.

 

I'd wait - the u/s they do at the elective places all include the disclaimer that they are not to be used for medical diagnosis. And they probably won't tell you if they see/suspect a problem anyway.

My peri did an u/s at virtually every visit. Just ask when you get there - tell him you have concerns and see if he'll schedule an u/s for you.

 

I had one u/s done with my OB around 12 weeks or so and then I'll have a level II done at 18 weeks. After that, I'll have one a month with the peri, unless they want to see me more frequently. My OB doesn't have an u/s machine in their office. I have to go upstairs to radiology to have the u/s done. I wish they could do a quicky u/s to make me feel better too. I think hearing the heartbeats is reassuring. I can't wait until tomorrow to hear them again.

 

QUOTE(cottoncandysky @ Jan 8 2008, 09:00 AM) [snapback]562540[/snapback]
im getting so frustrated and anxious. all of you are getting so many u/s, so why was it that the doc i was seeing said no more u/s until 20wks? that makes no sense to me. maybe the new doc will be more like all of yours. i do plan on telling him how anxious and worried ive been.
and how did you guys find both hbs? i have a doppler and i can find hbs, but on the u/s i had done the hbs were very close together in rate, so i never know when im hearing the same baby or a different 1, or heaven help me, only 1 because i lost 1. i wouldnt know..my old doc was such an ahole. i cant wait til next wed..i hope i dont leave disappointed..


I got frequent u/s at the beginning because first I was with an RE, then I went to BOTH and OB and the peri. I did not see my OB though from about week 11-20. I saw my peri a few times. Then starting at 20 weeks, my OB schedules me for a visit every 2 weeks. He does an u/s every time because he said it is too difficult to pick up 2 h/bs on a doppler. I also see my actual OB (except for this month month since he is out of town ) every time.

Are you getting the AFP and level 2 u/s? That is usually done around 16-20 weeks. After that, I would talk to your OB about how often you will be seen.

 

I got an u/s every 4 weeks for growth - in all seriousness you should be referred to a peri at least once...even if you're having a normal pregnancy - twins are just different...

also FWIW my doc did NOT recommend the AFP (triple screen or quad screen) becuase there is not enough data for multiple pregnancies and it will probably come back false positive - and scare the sh*t out of you until they can do further testing...I opted not to worry about it as there wasn't anything I would have done differently even if I'd have had a special needs baby

 

probably not doing the AFP testing, what is a level II u/s? im hoping the new doc is more understanding and compassionate. im glad i fibbed and got my appt. moved up 2 wks. lol. i called the new doc a few days after making an appt. and said my appt. wasnt for another 4 weeks but that i hadnt had a chance to call the old doc and cancel the appt. with them yet, and that they had called and wanted me to come back in 2 weeks instead of 4. im rotten. at least now if i hate this doc too (which im praying i dont!!!) i can switch to ANOTHER 1 now before im even further along.
my boss at work told me i should take out the u/s pics when i go get my records from the old doc. andwhen the new doc asks for the pics i tell him i never got any. haha and maybe they'll do an u/s that way to make sure both babies are measuring good. haha boss is so funny. i doubt i'll do that...dunno if im ballsy enough

 

If it makes you feel any better the first u/s I had with my twins was around 11.5 weeks. That's when i found out there were 2.... after that I had an u/s once a month until they started doing NSTs towards the end.

 

QUOTE(cottoncandysky @ Jan 8 2008, 08:17 PM) [snapback]563254[/snapback]
probably not doing the AFP testing, what is a level II u/s? im hoping the new doc is more understanding and compassionate. im glad i fibbed and got my appt. moved up 2 wks. lol. i called the new doc a few days after making an appt. and said my appt. wasnt for another 4 weeks but that i hadnt had a chance to call the old doc and cancel the appt. with them yet, and that they had called and wanted me to come back in 2 weeks instead of 4. im rotten. at least now if i hate this doc too (which im praying i dont!!!) i can switch to ANOTHER 1 now before im even further along.
my boss at work told me i should take out the u/s pics when i go get my records from the old doc. andwhen the new doc asks for the pics i tell him i never got any. haha and maybe they'll do an u/s that way to make sure both babies are measuring good. haha boss is so funny. i doubt i'll do that...dunno if im ballsy enough


I doubt the u/s pictures will be interesting to your new Dr - that doesn't even make any sense? I'm sure the new dr. will probably want to take new ones. I saw a high risk pernatologist and got a quickie u/s every 2 weeks from 8 weeks forward and then every week from 25 weeks forward.

A level 2 U/S is a detailed u/s usually done at 18-20 weeks (in both singletons and twins) to measure organs, size, sex etc. The u/s I got bi-weekly and weekly, were just quickie ones to check the HB. Then during my 3rd trimester she would take a few quick measurements every other week.

 

When my friend switched OB's, the new one gave her an ultrasound at the first appointment and she was having a singleton. I'd definitely wait until after your appointment before deciding to spend money on an ultrasound.

FWIW, I didn't get any ultrasounds between the first one at 8.5 weeks and the level II at 20. The babies were clearly di/di and I had no issues so I didn't expect any. I had a few ultrasounds in the 3rd trimester to check the cervix and monitor growth. I didn't see a peri but my OB has high risk certification and loads of experience.

 

I wouldn't worry about it too much! I get an u/s every month. The insurance company is picky about how often they will pay for it. As I get further it will be more often if I remember correctly. I wouldn't spend the money yet, especially if it is tight. It was tough for me to wait from my 9 wk to my 14 wk u/s, (I had just had a m/c earlier in the year and I was really nervous) so I know how you feel. Your babies are probably doing great, and if their heartbeats are close in rates, you probably won't be able to tell which is which at first anyway. As you get further along, they will move more into their own spaces and you will be able to find each of them. I had an elective u/s done at 16 wks, at my OB's office. I felt like it was worth the money at that point as I was able to find out their sexes before Christmas. Before that it is really hard to tell for sure what the sexes are, and they still don't look like babies. Pic below on my ticker is at 18 weeks. Even at that stage, they still look like little aliens! Give it time. If your new Doc doesn't start giving you u/s, I would definately ask for one and start looking for another doctor. Twins is a highrisk pg and you and your pg should be taken seriously for your health and the health of the twins. As for a level II u/s I am not sure what all it entails, but next Tuesday, I will be going in for mine and I will give you details when I get back if you want! Good luck and I hope all goes well for you and your babies!

 

thanks for all the replies. i think im just gonna take a deeeeep breath and relax. i get so anxious over the littlest things!

 

You need to do what will give you peace of mind. Last Friday, I was so hysterical that if I could have found a place that did elective u/s before 18 weeks I would have paid any price. Please don't assume you'll get extra u/s's. Much to my dismay after so many people say you "WILL" (definitively) get extra, it's just not true everywhere. I'm not trying to be argumentative, but I am in an extremely well respected (nationally) practice, and they don't do any extra until 20 weeks. In the 3rd trimester you will almost definitely get more (still almost, I never say always...), but it is really standard of care to not provide any extra in the first or second trimesters.

Talk to your doctor, but just be advised that many doctors, mine included and maybe yours, will NOT do an u/s even by request unless something is wrong, until the Level II at 18-20 weeks.

Your next tough hurdle to get over, if you're anything like me, is not getting INSANELY frustrated every time you read on the internet that "all" twin mommies get extra ultrasounds! I'm still not over that one....

Good luck to you!

ETA: Just wanted to clarify (since there are a lot in this thread :blush that I don't get frustrated with POSTERS getting lots of ultrasounds -- they only know their experiences, I realize ... it's just frustrating to be reminded that our doctors won't be as generous!

 

I was going in weekly for ultrasounds in the beginning... MY choice. My doctor understand my apprehensions and fears and he was nice enough to do it each week.

 

the wait.. the wait.. i cant handle the suspense. lol next wednesday we shall know! i think im gonna schedule an elective u/s for next wed, later in the day...that way if the doc says, nope, no u/s til 20wks, i can still see my babies..and if he does do an u/s i'll just cancel the appt. so either way, HOPEFULLY, next wed i will see my babies!