What can I expect at my 3D ultrasound session at Wonder Time?

You’ve booked your 3D ultrasound appointment at Wonder Time. You’ve prepared by making sure you are well-hydrated, and you’ve had a light snack before you got in the car. You are so excited to see your little baby’s face! As you arrive at our office building, you enter the spa waiting room. Glenda greets you and leads you upstairs to the ultrasound room. After you fill out a few forms, it’s time to lie down on our comfy bed (you’ll be wishing your doctor had one like ours). As the lights go dim, you and your guests gaze at the 55″ flat screen TV, waiting to see that sweet baby. After some repositioning, baby’s face comes into view, in realistic 3D or true-to-life HD Live. You and your guests will be amazed at the new technology which makes baby seem even more real to you. You are getting the added benefit of early bonding with your precious little one. Watch for a yawn, a smile, a frown. This may be the first glimpse of the little budding personality. See little hands and feet in exquisite detail. If baby is being shy, we may have you get up and stretch, take a little walk, or lie on your other side. Let us know what feels comfortable to you.  If you know a way to get baby moving, let’s try it!  Picture after picture, you are falling more deeply in love with the miraculous being that is growing inside of you.

When the session time is over, you will be given a USB flash drive with all of the 3D and HD images and 4D video clips that were taken. We also print out black and white pictures and some color pictures, for your immediate enjoyment. Peruse our collection of heartbeat stuffed animals and photo frames, and decide if you would like an extra special souvenir.  As you and your guests leave our studio, we earnestly hope that you enjoyed our service. If baby did not feel like showing us at least 75% of the face, we would like to offer you a free redo session. We want the pictures you share with your family and friends to be the best representation of what our service can offer.

Recent study eases anxiety about ultrasounds and autism

A new article about ultrasound safety, in particular how ultrasound and autism are not related.  It is always good to know, and to confirm with new studies, that ultrasound is safe. Especially when performed by a trained and registered sonographer. If you would like to read more about ultrasound safety, in particular 3D ultrasound safety, please check out our prior blog post.

Here at Wonder Time, we minimize exposure as much as we can… utilizing frequent breaks, change of position, and machine settings.  If at any time during your scan you feel the need to adjust your position or take a break, please let us know. You are in charge here!

Is 3D Ultrasound Safe?

 

 

Is 3d ultrasound safe for my baby?

Perhaps you’ve asked yourself this question.  Maybe someone has warned you not to get a 3D ultrasound. I need to know…I need to know that I am not causing any harm.

I can remember in 2007 when it was a relatively new technology, someone told me “ 3D is a lot of ultrasound energy to be directing at a baby”. I believed them at the time. I also believed other sonographers who told me that you couldn’t tell gender at 12 weeks.  Like any person in search of a reliable truth, I went looking for answers. And I found a lot of them at the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.  Their mission is to advance the safe and effective use of ultrasound in medicine.

Let’s tackle this myth, and let the AIUM and FDA provide the anwer:

Myth #1:  3D ultrasound is a lot of ultrasound energy, and should be kept at a minimum.

Facts: Thermal Index or TI is one of two factors we can look at. If Thermal Index is 0.7 or less, there is no time limit for scanning.  3D ultrasound, on my GE machine, is  0.3 !  That’s a very very low Thermal Index.  2D scanning (regular black and white pictures) is actually more at ! 

 __________________________________________________

TI range                Max Scanning Time

                                (minutes)

____________________________________________________

                                3.0 < TI                        Not recommended

                                2.5 < TI ≤ 3.0                        <1

                                2.0 < TI ≤ 2.5                        <4

                                1.5 < TI ≤ 2.0                        <15

                                1.0 < TI ≤ 1.5                        <30

                                0.7 < TI ≤ 1.0                        <60

                                         TI  ≤ 0.7                        No time limit

 

Now, the other factor is Mechanical Index or MI. The FDA says that this should be kept below 1.9

It is at 0.9 during both 2D and 3D modes on my machine.

My personal practice is to allow 45 minutes for our longest session. Frequent breaks, repositioning of the mother allow us to get good images without constant scanning. Actual scanning time usually is closer to 20 minutes. I am also a registered technologist, and I make sure the machine settings are appropriate. Maybe all of this doesn’t make you feel any safer, but I surely do. If at any time during your scan, you feel uncomfortable about the time spent scanning, or any other concern…please feel free to speak up!

Preparing for your 3D 4D Ultrasound Appointment

So you are thinking about having a 3D 4D Ultrasound done…let’s make sure you get the best experience possible! 

First, schedule your appointment online at wondertimellc.com. Our Quick Peek-A-Boo and Sweet Baby Face Packages are best done between 28 and 32 weeks, with 34 weeks being the upper limit.  30 weeks is the best time, if it’s convenient for you. Think about inviting your family and friends. We can comfortably seat 7 additional guests.  If there is someone who would like to attend, but just can’t be there…we can use FaceTime or Facebook video on our office computer. The camera points at the screen, and we can capture the images and your reaction all at once.  You are welcome to bring your small children with you, but expect them to only want to be there for 5-10 minutes.  I have seen many mommies and daddies distracted from their experience, and aggravated by young children who are not happy to spend 30-45 minutes in our room.  Once again, this is your choice, and they are absolutely welcome to come to your session.

For 1-2 weeks before your visit, try your best to drink all of the water that is recommended. That’s 8-10   8 ounce glasses of water. Your urine should be pale yellow or nearly colorless. That is a good indicator that you are well-hydrated. Read more about the benefits of hydration during pregnancy here.  Our ability to get good pictures of the baby is directly related to amount of amniotic fluid.  The more fluid= the better the images will be.

Bring a snack with you to your visit, or eat a light meal before you arrive. Something cold to drink can be helpful, some people swear that chewing on ice cubes gets baby moving!

Expect to be at our office for at least an hour. Once you fill out paperwork, and everyone gets situated, we dim the lights and start your session.  If baby is not in a good position at first, we will have you change positions, drink, cough, empty your bladder, stand up, and take a drink to get baby moving. We have great success in getting baby to cooperate! During the session, you will see everything in high definition on our wall mounted 55″ TV. We will save 3D images, and 4D video clips. We usually see baby moving and catch a yawn…and some happy and sometimes grumpy facial expressions.  If you choose, we can record your baby’s heartbeat and put that heartbeat module inside a stuffed animal. We proudly offer My Baby’s Heartbeat Bear, designed and manufactured in Bear, Delaware. We also carry ultrasound picture frames, heartbeat/voice recordable frames in store. Stay tuned for new retail items coming soon!

After your session is complete, we gather up your printed images, send all images and video to a USB flash drive, and put everything in a gift bag. We aim to please, and our goal is to have you leave with images that market our business to all of your friends and family.  Thank you for choosing Wonder Time!

More about early gender determination

I know, you have been told to wait until 16, 18 or 20 weeks to find out if it’s a boy or a girl. I know that your sister found out at 14 weeks and it was wrong. 

Ultrasound is very operator dependent.  No two sonographers will get the exact same image. Most sonographers have never utilized nub theory at 13 weeks.  Some will correctly guess all boys ( boys can be easier) but guess wrong on girls. Some rely on the between the legs shot:

This can be somewhat unreliable, especially at 13 weeks.

Here’s what I did:  I read a pretty informative article about “nub theory” which explained how the angle of the genital tubercule could be used to determine a boy or girl. It made logical sense to me.  The genital tubercule of the female is aligned parallel to the body, and is receding inward ( known as the clitoris) and the genital tubercule of the male is angled at 30 degrees or more from the spine ( known as the penis in that case).  I then offered my patients at 13 weeks an educated guess of what the gender was…and I WAS NEVER WRONG.  200 correct consecutive “GUESSES”. I knew then that I had developed my skill. Upon further research, I found that other countries in the world use the “nub theory” routinely!

Check out this clinical study from 1999 ( when ultrasound was still unrefined and blurry, compared to today)

First-trimester determination of fetal gender by ultrasound.

Efrat Z1, Akinfenwa OO, Nicolaides KH.

 

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To assess the accuracy of fetal sex determination at 11-14 weeks of gestation.

METHODS:

Fetal gender assessment by ultrasound was prospectively carried out in 172 singleton pregnancies at 11-14 weeks of gestation immediately before chorionic villus sampling for karyotyping. The genital region was examined in a midsagittal plane and the fetal gender was assigned as male if the angle of the genital tubercle to a horizontal line through the lumbosacral skin surface was greater than 30 degrees and female when the genital tubercle was parallel or convergent (less than 30 degrees) to the horizontal line.

RESULTS:

The accuracy of sex determination increased with gestation from 70.3% at 11 weeks, to 98.7% at 12 weeks and 100% at 13 weeks. In the male fetuses, there was a significant increase in the angle of the genital tubercle from the horizontal with crown-rump length. Male fetuses were wrongly assigned as female in 56% of cases at 11 weeks, 3% at 12 weeks and 0% at 13 weeks. In contrast, only 5% of the female fetuses at 11 weeks were incorrectly assigned as male and this false-positive rate was 0% at 12 and 13 weeks.

CONCLUSION:

The clinical value of determination of fetal sex by ultrasound is in deciding whether to carry out prenatal invasive testing in pregnancies at risk of sex-linked genetic abnormalities, because invasive testing would be necessary only in pregnancies with male fetuses. Our results suggest that a final decision on invasive testing for sex-linked conditions should be undertaken only after 12 weeks of gestation.

 
Wow, even in 1999 they were still getting great results at early ultrasounds!  Why doesn’t your ultrasound tech know about this? Because these studies were done in London. Another reason that you won’t get a lot of cooperation out of a sonographer in a hospital or outpatient setting is that we don’t care about the gender.  We have bigger fish to fry, and the gender is a distraction.  Our main concern in that setting is making sure your baby is healthy, and not missing anything.  Here at Wonder Time, I am happy to do only “the fun stuff” and I am confident in my gender determination!
Read more here.