Weddingbee boards

I haven't had one since I'm still early on, but my sister got a 4D on at a place where they test new ultrasound machines on pregnant moms for free since you are a volunteer!  She walked away with a DVD full of images and video, and was thrilled with it.  Maybe they have something like that in your area.  And by the way, they made sure she had consent from her doctor to do it.   

Ooh, I voted incorrectly.  My OB ordered one for me because we were looking for some specific placental defects.  I did so love the images of her face though!  I wouldn't have gone to a boutique, but since they did it at my OB's office, I was all for it!

I had it done at my doctor's office to confirm the gender while looking for some defects and investigating some issues I was having.  I only had the one image though, so I went to a boutique and got the DVD/CD done.  It was cool, and I love the photos.  MB was stuck though, so we only ever got 3/4 of her face.  But we look back at those photos, and she looks just like the photos.  They were a great Sneak Peek of her!  We got them done at 28 weeks, and again at 32 weeks to see if she had moved (she hadn't).

We don't recommend them, because it isn't a radiologist reading the film.  So questions and issues may come up that these techs are not equipped to deal with.  Further, information about sex has a higher likelihood of inaccuracy and there is sometimes a false sense of security.

For all these reasons we recommend that Ultrasounds be done in conjunction with your provider :)                                              

@thelovecats:  I'm a pediatrician.

I don't understand why doctors are against it.  I go for the pretty pictures, not a diagnosis.  The techs at the boutique I went to were licensed, but I must have signed seven documents acknowledging that this was for fun and that I couldn't get any medical advice or information from it.  Which was my assumption anyway.

@MightySapphire:  The problem is that sometimes they make statements like " oh here are his boy parts" or "look 10 fingers, 10 toes".  Those are diagnostic statements.  Or sometimes they adhere to saying nothing but they find a cleft lip and palate etc.  I think it's rare, but it can happen.

@Mrs. DG: Ah, ok.  Ours asked if we knew the gender, and then pointed out the "hamburger."  They didn't point anything else out, that I remember.  But it all kinda blended together with so many visits.  (I had an u/s every two weeks and then every week after 32 weeks.)  The 4D was actually a little frustrating that way for me, because I was so used to my perinatologist's nurses telling me everything they were looking at.  Instead I was just watching them go through the same motions and having to listen to songs like "What a Wonderful World."