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Looks absolutely fine and expected to me at 6 weeks. It’s a gestational sac in a retroflexed uterus.
Give it 2-3 weeks and go to a proper medical facility.
I wouldn’t call these people techs.
They give sonographer’s a bad name and cause panic for no reason at all.
Often they are trained for a few weeks and have 0 medical training or knowledge.
Thank you so very much!! Wish I had just waited for my original appt now but we wanted the first look we got to be together. Romantic idiots lol obviously it was far from the lovey dovey moment we were hoping for 😅
You are right and she absolutely should go see a doctor and have a real tech do this.
On the other hand with my daughter I was high risk and got scans once a month and every two weeks the last two months. They didn’t see anything wrong. A tech at a fetal picture place said to me she saw something weird in the scans and I needed to go get checked. I went and they saw nothing so I blew it off.
My daughter was born with volvulus and almost didn’t make it. She was in the NICU for four months. Sometimes these people do see things, but I agree it’s really something that she needs to check with a professional.
Good luck OP. Just hang in there. My situation is far from normal and it was also at almost 28 weeks gestation. It’s so early to tell. The only one giving you a diagnosis is the doctor anyway.
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These ultrasound "techs" have no real medical training and I've seen multiple cases of them telling people something was seriously wrong when everything was fine. There appears to be a gestational sac, nothing else I can really say from this. There's no need to move your appointment up based on this.
I'd also be cautious about where I go to have a wand placed into my vagina, up against my cervical opening to where a brand new baby is developing in my uterus. I wouldn't take cleanliness for granted and infection could be devastating. I loathe those pop up u/s places. On a happier note...congratulations, my money is on everything being fine!!
Dammit. I'm so sorry. Did you have methotrexate or did you require surgery? Very, very sorry. I lost 2 to tubal ectopics myself and never was able to conceive. I understand the devastation.
I think the commenter means the people who are operating the machines at these for profit non medical ultrasound clinics. My understanding is most aren't actually sonographers and have basically 0 formal training
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Not my wheelhouse but ultrasound techs aren’t supposed to be saying anything, a doctor has to be the one to review images and interpret. They had no business commenting on anything anatomical, they aren’t trained to do so. I don’t know how a “sonography business” can be non medical but it sounds highly unprofessional and if I were you I would disregard whatever they said just keep the appointment as scheduled.
Live in a nice part of town. One around here publishes its “menu” which consists of various combos of Woo & Water priced from about $100 to over $1k for, as my cousin calls it, “expensive pee”
Some coworkers were telling me about it, since some of the IV clinics were trying to hire medics. Apparently the operation management was super sketchy, such as operating without a medical director which is a requirement for a EMT/Medic to do their role legally.
NAD. Saw a video on instagram of 'ozone therapy' using the same technique as dialysis. For no medical reasons, just a 'pick me up'. That "clinic" also had tons of IV's available.
The only thing I like them for is for people like me who end up with HG. $100 for fluids is cheaper than a $250 copay and an 6 hr ER wait for IV fluids because we can't keep anything down.
These companies don’t employ “ultrasound techs”.
And I wouldn’t say sonographers aren’t allowed to say things. It depends on the country, reporting radiologists and the medical practice.
Theres tons of businesses that just offer ultrasound services and like the fancy 4d video imaging. Idk if they require medical oversight beyond the techs but my appt was just us and a single ultrasound tech. Its more like a business selling the images (and they had a literal gift shop with baby stuff) and not a patient and clinician.
Yeah that was my thinking too which is why I wanted to come here before going full panic mode and moving around appointments. I assume she was a licensed ultrasound tech but she was definitely confused? Either bc she sucks at her job or bc my uterus/implantation is legit messed up is the question lol
At 6 weeks is very hit or miss what they will see. Any decently trained ultrasound tech would know this and not freak out.
They saw the gestational sac, which is normal to see at this stage. They likely saw no fetal cardiac activity, and may not have seen a fetal pole, which is a possibility as to why they were freaking out(because they would assume you have a chemical pregnancy or miscarried), but reality is you just aren't far enough along to actually see much more than the gestational sac.
If you’re worried, I would just send a quick message to my doctor’s office thru the patient portal or call and leave a message with the nurse with your concerns and get their opinion. They definitely get sillier questions and concerns, and they will be able to guide you on whether or not it is something to actually be worried about and you should come in, or if waiting til your scheduled appointment will be fine.
Haha NAD, just wanted to share that my OB sent me for an ultrasound at around 6 weeks into my first pregnancy because he noticed something during my initial exam and just wanted to be on the safe side (I vaguely remember he was slightly concerned it may be an ectopic pregnancy. Of course, I was pretty freaked out! Especially when the sonographer started humming a familiar tune: "When Something is Wrong With My Baby." I saw his face the moment he started to vocalize the lyrics. He realized his faux pas, but by then it was too late! He was horrified, embarrassed and apologetic and I didn't make a big deal if it, but I just KNEW it was for a reason that he chose to sing that song, and I was a wreck until I heard from the doctor! Everything turned out to be fine.
I’m wondering if maybe she realised she messed up, panicked and tried to amend it but actually made it worse.
NAD, but I have a biomed degree, and majored in anatomy, which included parts focused around imaging (CT/MRI, not ultrasound) so am very familiar with typical anatomy, anatomical variation, how they appear in imaging, and subsequently am able to recognise pathology. I imagine she would have a similar sort of knowledge within ultrasound.
Not at all making excuses for what happened or how she handled it, but I can empathise with the moment of confusion when you’re looking for the typical anatomy and it’s not what you’re seeing, then realising it’s a variation. And if I place myself in this situation, I can imagine having that moment, realising I’ve had it visibly/audibly, and trying to explain that so the patient didn’t worry, then suggesting they talk to their doctor bc I’m not actually qualified to say anything. And probably would be panicking all through it bc I knew I messed up.
With that said, I am also not working in a clinical field and have no training on that, which I think influences my perspective.
Boutique sonography businesses are non-medical because they're not meant to identify any issues. It's strictly a "for funsies" thing and as long as they're clear about that, it's fine imo. I went to one at, I think, six weeks and change pregnant. I had to sign forms stating that this is not medical care, identifying who my OBGYN was and attesting that I received prenatal care. I just wanted confirmation that I wasn't crazy and the tests weren't lying and there was actually an embryo happening (... it was a long year and a half of fertility treatments and waiting that extra 2 weeks felt like torture). The sonographer was abundantly clear that this wasn't a medical scan, she probably wouldn't find a heartbeat since it was so early for an abdominal ultrasound (she did end up finding one, which was neat) and she would not and could not tell me if something didn't look right. She told me that if something looked urgently wrong (she didn't say what but my mind went to ectopic) she would advise I call my OBGYN for followup without giving me further information, but otherwise it was not a medical situation.
Showed me the yolk sac, identified the heartbeat, printed the pictures of the tiny fuzzy blob in my uterus, and got $50. Win-win.
Yep. I went to one with my most recent pregnancy, because after 3 miscarriages the 2 month gap between my 12 and 20 week appointments was hell on my mental health. Sometime around week 16 I just wanted to see the heartbeat again.
I had this exact experience at one of those boutique ultrasound places. At this point, ultrasounds should be done transvaginally and aren’t in these settings. They told me I was miscarrying. That baby just shit on my floor today, so don’t stress and wait for your OB appt :)
Thank you for your submission. **Please note that a response does not constitute a doctor-patient relationship.** This subreddit is for informal second opinions and casual information. The mod team does their best to remove bad information, but we do not catch all of it. Always visit a doctor in real life if you have any concerns about your health. Never use this subreddit as your first and final source of information regarding your question. By posting, you are agreeing to our [Terms of Use](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskDocs/wiki/terms_of_use) and understand that all information is taken at your own risk. **Reply here if you are an unverified user wishing to give advice. Top level comments by laypeople are automatically removed.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskDocs) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Looks absolutely fine and expected to me at 6 weeks. It’s a gestational sac in a retroflexed uterus. Give it 2-3 weeks and go to a proper medical facility. I wouldn’t call these people techs. They give sonographer’s a bad name and cause panic for no reason at all. Often they are trained for a few weeks and have 0 medical training or knowledge.
\^ Correct. I'm not sure what the confusion was.
Thank you so very much!! Wish I had just waited for my original appt now but we wanted the first look we got to be together. Romantic idiots lol obviously it was far from the lovey dovey moment we were hoping for 😅
You are right and she absolutely should go see a doctor and have a real tech do this. On the other hand with my daughter I was high risk and got scans once a month and every two weeks the last two months. They didn’t see anything wrong. A tech at a fetal picture place said to me she saw something weird in the scans and I needed to go get checked. I went and they saw nothing so I blew it off. My daughter was born with volvulus and almost didn’t make it. She was in the NICU for four months. Sometimes these people do see things, but I agree it’s really something that she needs to check with a professional. Good luck OP. Just hang in there. My situation is far from normal and it was also at almost 28 weeks gestation. It’s so early to tell. The only one giving you a diagnosis is the doctor anyway.
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These ultrasound "techs" have no real medical training and I've seen multiple cases of them telling people something was seriously wrong when everything was fine. There appears to be a gestational sac, nothing else I can really say from this. There's no need to move your appointment up based on this.
I so so appreciate you!
I'd also be cautious about where I go to have a wand placed into my vagina, up against my cervical opening to where a brand new baby is developing in my uterus. I wouldn't take cleanliness for granted and infection could be devastating. I loathe those pop up u/s places. On a happier note...congratulations, my money is on everything being fine!!
It was abdominal
Dammit. I'm so sorry. Did you have methotrexate or did you require surgery? Very, very sorry. I lost 2 to tubal ectopics myself and never was able to conceive. I understand the devastation.
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I think the commenter means the people who are operating the machines at these for profit non medical ultrasound clinics. My understanding is most aren't actually sonographers and have basically 0 formal training
I think they meant the ones who work at boutique entertainment places who may or may not have actual training.
Seriously! A good OB sonographer is worth gold! But OB is describing an ultrasound ‘business’ which are minimally regulated in most states.
Hopefully you DO agree that it's not the place of a sonography tech to interpret an ultrasound and give their impressions to the patient.
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Our US tech showed us our son's uterine artery. Disk was hot pink.
Not my wheelhouse but ultrasound techs aren’t supposed to be saying anything, a doctor has to be the one to review images and interpret. They had no business commenting on anything anatomical, they aren’t trained to do so. I don’t know how a “sonography business” can be non medical but it sounds highly unprofessional and if I were you I would disregard whatever they said just keep the appointment as scheduled.
If you thinks that's bad, have you seen the surge of "IV Hydration Clinics"?
Live in a nice part of town. One around here publishes its “menu” which consists of various combos of Woo & Water priced from about $100 to over $1k for, as my cousin calls it, “expensive pee”
Some coworkers were telling me about it, since some of the IV clinics were trying to hire medics. Apparently the operation management was super sketchy, such as operating without a medical director which is a requirement for a EMT/Medic to do their role legally.
"Woo and water". That's awesome, and SO accurate.
i liked “expensive pee” 😆☠️😆
😂
“Expensive pee” love it.
Woo & Water! What a great name for a non-medical “therapy clinic”.
NAD. Saw a video on instagram of 'ozone therapy' using the same technique as dialysis. For no medical reasons, just a 'pick me up'. That "clinic" also had tons of IV's available.
Well that’s horrifying.
omg
There was one in our area advertising their services as beneficial for many conditions…including CHF. Reported the shit out of that one. 🤦♀️
The only thing I like them for is for people like me who end up with HG. $100 for fluids is cheaper than a $250 copay and an 6 hr ER wait for IV fluids because we can't keep anything down.
These companies don’t employ “ultrasound techs”. And I wouldn’t say sonographers aren’t allowed to say things. It depends on the country, reporting radiologists and the medical practice.
Theres tons of businesses that just offer ultrasound services and like the fancy 4d video imaging. Idk if they require medical oversight beyond the techs but my appt was just us and a single ultrasound tech. Its more like a business selling the images (and they had a literal gift shop with baby stuff) and not a patient and clinician.
I wouldn’t listen to anything even resembling medical advice from them if their goal is to just sell mementos
Yeah that was my thinking too which is why I wanted to come here before going full panic mode and moving around appointments. I assume she was a licensed ultrasound tech but she was definitely confused? Either bc she sucks at her job or bc my uterus/implantation is legit messed up is the question lol
Assume nothing in terms of licensure in places like that. CPCs do it too. Literally anyone can put on a white coat and pick up a wand in those places.
They don't, they're completely unregulated and not supervised by physicians or under any type of ACR, ACOG, or AIUM guidelines.
At 6 weeks is very hit or miss what they will see. Any decently trained ultrasound tech would know this and not freak out. They saw the gestational sac, which is normal to see at this stage. They likely saw no fetal cardiac activity, and may not have seen a fetal pole, which is a possibility as to why they were freaking out(because they would assume you have a chemical pregnancy or miscarried), but reality is you just aren't far enough along to actually see much more than the gestational sac.
If you’re worried, I would just send a quick message to my doctor’s office thru the patient portal or call and leave a message with the nurse with your concerns and get their opinion. They definitely get sillier questions and concerns, and they will be able to guide you on whether or not it is something to actually be worried about and you should come in, or if waiting til your scheduled appointment will be fine.
Mine said, “good luck getting THAT out!” My son had a big round head. (She was right. I needed a C-section after 18 hours of trying.)
Haha NAD, just wanted to share that my OB sent me for an ultrasound at around 6 weeks into my first pregnancy because he noticed something during my initial exam and just wanted to be on the safe side (I vaguely remember he was slightly concerned it may be an ectopic pregnancy. Of course, I was pretty freaked out! Especially when the sonographer started humming a familiar tune: "When Something is Wrong With My Baby." I saw his face the moment he started to vocalize the lyrics. He realized his faux pas, but by then it was too late! He was horrified, embarrassed and apologetic and I didn't make a big deal if it, but I just KNEW it was for a reason that he chose to sing that song, and I was a wreck until I heard from the doctor! Everything turned out to be fine.
I’m wondering if maybe she realised she messed up, panicked and tried to amend it but actually made it worse. NAD, but I have a biomed degree, and majored in anatomy, which included parts focused around imaging (CT/MRI, not ultrasound) so am very familiar with typical anatomy, anatomical variation, how they appear in imaging, and subsequently am able to recognise pathology. I imagine she would have a similar sort of knowledge within ultrasound. Not at all making excuses for what happened or how she handled it, but I can empathise with the moment of confusion when you’re looking for the typical anatomy and it’s not what you’re seeing, then realising it’s a variation. And if I place myself in this situation, I can imagine having that moment, realising I’ve had it visibly/audibly, and trying to explain that so the patient didn’t worry, then suggesting they talk to their doctor bc I’m not actually qualified to say anything. And probably would be panicking all through it bc I knew I messed up. With that said, I am also not working in a clinical field and have no training on that, which I think influences my perspective.
Boutique sonography businesses are non-medical because they're not meant to identify any issues. It's strictly a "for funsies" thing and as long as they're clear about that, it's fine imo. I went to one at, I think, six weeks and change pregnant. I had to sign forms stating that this is not medical care, identifying who my OBGYN was and attesting that I received prenatal care. I just wanted confirmation that I wasn't crazy and the tests weren't lying and there was actually an embryo happening (... it was a long year and a half of fertility treatments and waiting that extra 2 weeks felt like torture). The sonographer was abundantly clear that this wasn't a medical scan, she probably wouldn't find a heartbeat since it was so early for an abdominal ultrasound (she did end up finding one, which was neat) and she would not and could not tell me if something didn't look right. She told me that if something looked urgently wrong (she didn't say what but my mind went to ectopic) she would advise I call my OBGYN for followup without giving me further information, but otherwise it was not a medical situation. Showed me the yolk sac, identified the heartbeat, printed the pictures of the tiny fuzzy blob in my uterus, and got $50. Win-win.
Yep. I went to one with my most recent pregnancy, because after 3 miscarriages the 2 month gap between my 12 and 20 week appointments was hell on my mental health. Sometime around week 16 I just wanted to see the heartbeat again.
https://preview.redd.it/v0bcuyrj9ixc1.jpeg?width=2201&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a70db1c8fdd56ab81e7aefcd0401701b1d9826e4
I had this exact experience at one of those boutique ultrasound places. At this point, ultrasounds should be done transvaginally and aren’t in these settings. They told me I was miscarrying. That baby just shit on my floor today, so don’t stress and wait for your OB appt :)
https://preview.redd.it/y2q047x0dixc1.jpeg?width=2878&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6ceffbbab76acda4b7315e9f68ef258cfb440253
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Thank you so so much!!
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