Such an amazing experience (Ultrasound Scanning)

Member Name: SamPerry

Product:	Ultrasound Scanning
Date:	11/03/09 (75 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Get to see your baby and know that everything is ok.

Disadvantages: None

I remember the joy and elation myself and my husband felt when we discovered we were going to be parents for the first time. No words can describe the feeling of knowing you have a tiny little life growing inside you and that in 9 months you will be holding a gorgeous tiny baby and be a Mummy & Daddy!!

I discovered I was pregnant when I was 5 weeks gone, so I found out quite early on, we were trying anyway so the minute my period was late I suspected that I could be. The next few weeks for me were agony! I am very impatient anyway and I am also a worrier! So every little niggle and pain I got I automatically presumed the worst and worried that something was wrong with the baby.

Mainly for this reason and to set my mind at rest we decided to pay for an early private scan and had this done at Leeds scanning unit, it cost £90 but for my peace of mind it was worth every penny!!

I had this scan done at 9 weeks; I have to say that when you pay privately for a scan it is a completely different experience to having your routine scan done at the hospital!! Firstly, the environment is much nicer and not as clinical as a hospital. But then again they can afford for it to be like this as they are getting £90 for each scan that takes roughly 15 minutes!!

The one thing I like most about this private scan was that they had a screen on the ceiling so you could see this when you laid down, rather than at the hospitals, the screens are at the side of you so not always easy to view when you are laying down flat!

Before I had this scan I was so scared that something would be wrong and I felt physically sick while I was waiting. We were called in the room and I was asked to lie down on a bed. I then undid the top of my pants and pulled them down slightly so that my tummy was revealed right from the top of my pubic bone, as when the baby is so tiny they have to get very low down as it hasn't grown up past the pubic bone by this stage.

The doctor squeezed some cold gel onto my tummy which helps the scanner to scan more effectively and put some tissue around the top of my clothes so that the gel didn't get everywhere!

The moment of truth then arrived for the scan to start. The doctor rubbed the scanning implement all over my tummy and applied a bit of pressure so that she could find the baby. The first thing we heard was our precious boys' heartbeat; I was so relieved that everything was ok that i broke down into tears. The sonographer than went on to show us our tiny little baby boy. The scan was amazing, at only 9 weeks, she pointed out our son's heart, lungs, stomach and bladder. We could see the buds that the arms and legs would grow from and the complete outline of a perfectly formed little boy. We didn't know he was a boy at this stage as we wanted it to be a surprise!! After the scan we were give 10 pictures of our baby and a DVD to view! I would definitely get an early scan again, I am too much of a worrier to wait till 12 weeks for a scan and I think £90 is a small price to pay to stop me worrying!

I then had a routine NHS scan at 12 weeks and 20 weeks. I have to say that the staff at the hospital were great but the experience was nowhere near as nice as the private scan. But again the hospital don't get paid a fortune for this and have a lot of people to see throughout the day so do the best that they can under the circumstances.

The scan procedure was pretty much the same as outline above and they do give you one photo of the scan, if you want any more copies you have to pay for these, so we just opted for the one!!

Every scan I went to was one of the most precious and wonderful experiences of my life. I knew I had a baby growing inside me, but to actually see the baby in flesh and blood and get a tiny insight into what it looks like was just the most amazing thing ever! It is also a very reassuring thing to have done, as you get to find out if there are any problems with the baby, so this really set my mind at ease to know that everything was ok.

Summary: I cried every time i had one done!!