4D ultrasound scan: See your baby before she is out in the world

What if you could see how your baby looks couple of months before she arrives in the world? With the advent of technology it is now possible to see just that. A 4D ultrasound scan can help you visualize what the features of the baby are and how the baby’s body looks.

With my daughter, due to some white spots that my doctor saw on her heart, she asked us to go for a 4D ultrasound. As a really panicked mother, I started frantically searching for information about what exactly is a 4D ultrasound scan. This is exactly when I thought that I had a God-given opportunity to see my baby even before she landed on my lap.

It is an awesome experience to see the baby move and that too with such accuracy and detail. Each and every part of the baby’s body can be seen on the screen. You can see the baby yawning, if you are lucky, and also flexing her fingers. My friend was the luckiest to even see her baby smile during the session.

So, the baby features start to take proper shape at around 26 weeks to 30 weeks. This is exactly the recommended time when you can opt for this scan. Also, doctors recommend the similar weeks. The day I went to the doctor, my daughter was just not in a mood to show her face. We had to wait some time for her to change her position such that we could see her face. The doctor poked her quite some time with the scanning machine in his hand to shake her to face us. Finally, after a lot of trials she managed to show us her face. But still, during the whole time, she refused to remove the hand away from her lips.

There are some tips that we followed and doctors gave as well to make a stubborn baby turn around:

• Drink lots of water: As long as the baby is floating in good amount of amniotic fluid, the picture clarity is good. So, drinking water always helps the baby move better.
• Walk: I still remember how my daughter used to move like a fireball every time I went for a walk. Walking for some time helps make them move.
• Eat something sweet: Ok, this really helped me! I ate some chocolate and my daughter just went bonkers. This is exactly when most of the pictures were taken.
• Come back later: If your doctor fails to show you anything except toes and hands, come back later another week so that the baby can be seen properly.

Though the scans cost some money, the amount of happiness it gave me to imagine how the baby looks before it arrived was beyond explanation. I wouldn’t have refused another opportunity as well. But, no matter how the baby looks in the scan, holding the actual life in your hand is beyond comparison to the baby you see in the scan.