U/S Information

These are some questions that have been going around BZ for a couple years now. They are just questions that you can ask your u/s tech, this is stuff they will be looking for anyway. Keep in mind that sometimes they will not have the time to answer every one of these questions but they are looking for these things. These questions are not intended to cause undo worry but to educate you a little on what they are looking for and help you remember that the 20 week scan is not a gender u/s is it is a diagnostic u/s checking for abnormalities and other issues that could cause problems during your pregnancy.

(1) Does the heart have four chambers, all of roughly equal size?
(2) Do the heart valves open and close with each heart beat appropriately?
(3) Does the umbilical cord have three vessels (two arteries and one vein)?
(4) Is the umbilical cord inserted in the placenta appropriately (i.e. in the middle and not in the fetal membranes)?
(5) Is there a nasal bone?
(6) Do the bones of the spine align properly?
(7) Does the skin cover the spine?
(8) Are there two distinct hemispheres of the brain (a corpus callosum is present)?
(9) Appropriate amount of fluid within baby's brain?
(10) Are the hands and feet formed properly (no club feet, all ten fingers/toes)?
(11) Are there four limbs, all of appropriate length?
(12) Are there two kidneys, with normal urine flow to the bladder detected?
(13) Does the blood flow to both kidneys appear normal?
(14) Any signs of cleft lip or palate?
(15) Any signs of holes in the muscle separating the chest and abdomen?
(16) Does the baby's abdominal wall cover the internal organs?
(17) Does the stomach have a normal appearance (should resemble a black bubble which means it contains amniotic fluid, baby should be swallowing fluid by this point)?
(18) Is the location of the placenta away from the cervix?
(19) Appropriate amount of amniotic fluid?
(20) Any "white" or "bright" spots or "echogenic" masses or legions anywhere indicating calcification? (i.e. on heart, bowels, liver, kidneys, stomach, peritoneum, gallbladder)