Early Pregnancy Sonograms

Time Frame

• When you first find out you are pregnant, your doctor may not want you to come in until you are about eight weeks along. At this visit, your doctor may do your first sonogram, or ultrasound.

Types

• Because it is so early in the pregnancy, your first sonogram will likely be a transvaginal scan. Depending on your health care provider and how far along you are when you have your first sonogram, however, it might be a standard ultrasound.

Function

• During a transvaginal scan, your doctor or a technologist will insert a wandlike instrument into the vagina. In a standard ultrasound, the doctor moves an instrument across the abdomen. In either case, the instrument creaties images of the fetus, according to the American Pregnancy Association.

Features

• Your first sonogram will confirm pregnancy and tell how many babies. According to the American Pregnancy Association, these early sonograms also confirm a heartbeat and let the doctor measure the baby from crown to rump or determine the gestational age.

Considerations

• First trimester sonograms also can show potential problems, such as ectopic pregnancy, in which the fertilized egg begins to develop outside the uterus and cannot survive.

Warning

• Ultrasounds are considered safe to both mother and baby because they emit no radiation. This doesn't mean, however, that you can see a picture of your baby at every doctor's visit. Your health care provider will perform a sonogram only for medical reasons, such as to check on the health of you and your developing baby, to make sure the pregnancy is proceeding as it should or to diagnose potential problems.