First Trimester Screen

I too found out the sex of my daughter in the first ultrasound, but I was very leery and didn't want to start buying anything yet just in case they were wrong. When they told me in my second ultrasound that is when I finally believed them. I also did a 4D Ultrasound about half way through the pregnancy and it was wonderful! There they said to drink a juice before the ultrasound because the sugar gets the baby moving around, and it worked.

hi W.,
drinking at least 20 oz of water and not going pee gave me a real clear pic when i had mine. Depending on how far along you are, they might be able to tell what your having. we knew at seven weeks. but its really up to whether your baby will cooperate or not. hope this helps.

W.,

I have seen Dr. Erin Koster at Presby for each of my screenings. Do not drink excessive water. They have you empty your bladder before you have the ultrasound. This is where they will measure your baby's neck to determine the likelihood of downs. There is a possiblity that you may get to know the sex, but that is only if the baby cooperates. My little girl did not cooperate until I was 15 weeks. Of course if you are having a boy, it may be easier to determine.

Good luck and congratulations!

Jodi

Hi W.,

Congrats!! Girl, I found it very early simply because my son had an erection at the time! It is usually tough to tell at that first sono. On girls, their sexual organs are very swollen and they look the same, but sometimes those techs are good. I had my son at Plano Presby too, great hospital btw!!

Good Luck and don't be too disappointed if you don't find out now. You will!

Do drink some water, but not to bursting or you will need to pee girl while they are doing it!! It will distend your abdomen, for better viewing; but don't drink too much! Some techs have you empty your bladder, others dont', it all depends on who is doing your sono! When I went, they wanted me to drink some water....

G. B.

Hi W.! My doctor told me to empty my bladder, and then drink 8 oz of water on the drive over (about 30 minutes before the appointment). I think they get a better view with a full or partially full bladder. You may want to ask what your doctor recommends. Our sonogram was too early to determine the sex.

Good luck,
A.

W.,
I've had this screening/ultrasound done. No, I didn't drink a lot of water before the u/s. I think this is probably a myth unless your doctor suggests otherwise. The baby was not big enough for us to determine the sex, so I wouldn't count on that. I did cry though because it was the first time I got to see our little one. Also, I was still at that point in my pg that I was always so nervous of the 'what-if something is wrong' stage. Seeing him active was GREAT! We saw his profile of his face, kicking his legs, and rolling over.
Good luck and enjoy seeing your baby!!
-T.

I just had that test done last Monday. The anxiety about the results was much worse than the test. They do an ultrasound, where you see a clear picture of the baby (which is really cool!) and then a blood draw. Just enough blood for 5 little drops on a card then will send off to a lab, unless they do it in-house. It took exactly a week to get the results back. Our results came out fine. They will tell you if they see anything on the ultrasound right there in the office and you will probably meet with a geneticist first so they can explain everything (in great detail) about the testing and what the results will show.
We don't want to know the sex of our little one (our first pregnancy too) and we made sure to tell the doctor that before he started. I was 12 weeks 5 days along when we did the test and he said you might be able to tell the sex, so he kept the looking to above the belly. That is where the markers are for what they are looking at anyway.

Yes I am waiting for my morning sickness to go away too. I really had to go potty when I got there, and they said to get a clearer picture it is better if you hold it.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

D.

I had a level 2 ultrasound done at wk 17. I don't know if this is the same thing or not. I did not drink water before and they asked that I eliminate before hand. It was amazing seeing the baby in such detail. They were able to tell that it was a girl but I had to wait for my 22 wk ultrasound to find out for real since wk 17 was still early. Ours was done b/c some blood work came back as possible Spina Bifida. Everything turned out ok and the baby is doing great. I have had a rough pregnancy as well but luckily the baby has not. I am like you, looking for the light at the end of the tunnell. Good luck and I would love to hear your results!!

W.,

I'm 14 weeks pregnant with triplets - this is my 2nd pregnancy (with my first child who is 4.5 they didn't do this test) - I had mine done, also at Plano Presby. Because I'm carrying triplets I could only do the ultrasound portion (and not the blood) but mine came back normal (thank God). I had to empty my bladder before the ultrasound, but you could ask them at the doctor's office. At this ultrasound the doctor did guess on gender, but the very next week he changed his mind on one of the babies - so I personally think it's a little too early for a good guess.

Good luck!
T.