These days, a lot of women have an ultrasound at about 11 or 12 weeks. I didn’t.
It’s been a bit weird not getting the scan. It was such a marker of really believing that B1 existed when bean had hers - it was magical to see that tiny baby appear on the screen. And if there is any one feeling that I have had very strongly so far in this pregnancy, it is disbelief. No matter how hard I try, and how many people I tell, and how nauseous and tired and I am, and how my period keeps not coming and my boobs expand, I just simply don’t really believe that there is a baby inside me.
Despite this, despite the comfort that a scan may have given me, I have decided not to have one anyway. These are the reasons, in no particular order:
I don’t really trust ultrasound, and I’d rather expose B2 to as little of it as possible.
This is a complex one - most people get the 12 week scan in combination with a blood test. This screening then gives them a risk rating for genetic abnormalities such as Downs Syndrome and Trisomy 13. The problem is, that the results only come back as a risk level, not as a diagnostic yes or no. And the false positive rate is kinda high - for every 12 or so women who are told they are ‘high risk’ only one of them actually has a problem. And some women are told they are ‘low risk’ and go on to have a baby with genetic abnormalities anyway. It’s a pretty unreliable test. The only way to be really sure is to do an invasive diagnostic test such as an amniocentesis or a CVS, both of which carry a significant risk (1-2%) of miscarriage. There is absolutely no way that I would place B2 at risk of miscarriage, so I figure there is no point doing the screening tests, because if I was given a high risk rating I would just have to spend the rest of the pregnancy freaking out. I’d rather not raise my levels of anxiety. And besides, even if I did know for certain that the baby had something wrong with it, I am not sure that I would terminate. So, no point getting a scan for screening purposes.
The final reason is deeper. I had a termination at about 13 weeks pregnant when I was 19. At the time, I knew I was doing the right thing - in fact, I am still absolutely sure that I did the right thing. But it was traumatic nonetheless. Back then, I didn’t see a scan of the baby - they protected me from that, for which I am truly thankful. But I still don’t want to see a scan of a similar size baby right now. I still don’t want to face the reality of that decision I made.
But I will get a scan at 19 weeks, mainly because I am planning a home birth, and I want to know if there are any problems that might make it dangerous for me or the baby, like placenta previa, or any problems with the baby. I am still wary of ultrasound, but at least this way I will hopefully be getting the maximum benefit with the minimum exposure.
So there. That’s why I didn’t get a 12 week scan.
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