I definitely have more respect for preggo women now...

[fireheart]

Well, I had an interesting experience with getting an ultrasound today.

Before anyone asks, no I'm not pregnant unless its invisible to the ultrasound techs, but I'd been having some issues with my woman bits and the doc needed a screening.

So I had to do the whole "drink water before your appointment and hold it in" blather which was interesting to say the least. At least unlike last time, I was doing the toilet dance only five minutes before my appointment, not 25 minutes before...

We get in, the tech sets me up and I get to see my bladder there in pretty black and white. Then the tech informs me that we need to do a trans vaginal ultrasound. Why? Because apparently my uterus decided to hide from the techs ultrasound wand and wasn't willing to show us anything. (I knew this had been the case before from my last one, but last time they hadn't done the trans vaginal ultrasound)

So I go through the process of getting set up for the trans vaginal ultrasound. For some reason, they had me lie on a "pillow" (felt more like a rock!). Then the tech couldn't get the wand in....she almost had it up my ass before the lady with her guided it in place.

Then my ovaries decided to play peekaboo and refused to cooperate. The tech almost had the wand vertical at one point, which is NOT comfortable let me tell you. We eventually get through the process of getting my ovaries sized up.

On the plus side, having the wand shoved up there wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. The tech reassured me that it would be like having a Pap test. This was MORE comfortable than having a Pap test!

[kpzra]

I never had to do the drink water thing for any of my ultrasounds. The tech said if she can't find the baby (I was ~14 weeks at the first one) that she should not be doing it.

[fireheart]

Last time I was doing it mid-UTI, so I could barely hold a thimble of urine, let alone a full bladder. It was torture.

Luckily both times I've been told that it only needs to be 1L of water, not 2L like I've heard in previous weeks. But man, if I could only just hold it, I do have to wonder how women who have babies dancing on their bladders can do it.

[Miss Maple Leaf]

I had to do the drink 1L of water before ultrasound for a kidney/bladder ultrasound. It was indeed torture.

I'm sure I broke the sound barrier running to the bathroom when it was over.

And not even 10 minutes after relieving myself and leaving the hospital, I had to pee again.

[raudf]

[U]

But man, if I could only just hold it, I do have to wonder how women who have babies dancing on their bladders can do it.

*grins* We just cross our legs and hope like heck we make it to the toilet in time!

Of course, during both my pregnancies, we had do to do the whole "pee in the cup" the moment we got into the office. It was like, "Hi, I'm here for my appointment.." and you got the cup handed to you. 5 minutes later, I'd be doing the potty dance again.

You kind of start planning all of your trips around the nearest bathroom towards the end of it. And pray you don't sneeze or cough!

[fireheart]

I had to do the drink 1L of water before ultrasound for a kidney/bladder ultrasound. It was indeed torture.

I'm sure I broke the sound barrier running to the bathroom when it was over.

And not even 10 minutes after relieving myself and leaving the hospital, I had to pee again.

They had me empty my bladder midway through the test both times I had it done. The difference was that last time they were looking at UTIs and this time, they weren't. This time, they wanted my bladder empty for the trans vaginal one.

I too let out a giant "ohhhhh...." When I had to empty my bladder. I swear to the reception ladies, I sounded like I was having an orgasm!

And yes, I had the "I need to pee feeling" 10 minutes after leaving the clinic.

[kpzra]

I too let out a giant "ohhhhh...." When I had to empty my bladder. I swear to the reception ladies, I sounded like I was having an orgasm!

And yes, I had the "I need to pee feeling" 10 minutes after leaving the clinic.

I had one of those moments during my last appointment (2 days past my due date). It felt like DD was tickling and poking my bladder and I'd made the mistake of drinking over a half pot of herbal tea that morning.

I think they had 5 bathrooms for 15 exam rooms, 3 on the OB/GYN side alone.

[fireheart]

I had one of those moments during my last appointment (2 days past my due date). It felt like DD was tickling and poking my bladder and I'd made the mistake of drinking over a half pot of herbal tea that morning.

I think they had 5 bathrooms for 15 exam rooms, 3 on the OB/GYN side alone.

I made the mistake of drinking lemon water....

[AnaKhouri]

Usually with pregnancy ultrasounds they don't do the water thing, it's just a scanner on your abdomen.

But I have done the water thing and the transvaginal thing, and boy did that suck. I am someone who pees a lot anyway (pregnancy didn't make it worse until late in the game, last trimester) and it was pure torture, especially when she started pressing on my abdomen when I already had to pee so badly!

[DeltaSierra]

I had to do the transvaginal ultrasound prior to my hyster, and as soon as it was over, the tech pointed me to the bathroom that was right inside the exam room - they'd had too many women have accidents running to the bathroom on the other side of the building after the exams that when they had a renovation done, they made sure to have a bathroom added on!

[Seshat]

I ALWAYS wear either continence pads, or generously-sized menstrual pads (slightly forwards) when doing a full-bladder ultrasound test.

[TawnyMyst]

The last time I had an ultrasound, I drank the water like they told me too, got to the clinic and then had to wait an hour after my appointment time to have it done as an emergency had come in. I couldn't sit down, it was too uncomfortable. Then halfway thru, the tech tells me my bladder is too full to get a good picture and could I go let a little out. They wanted me to only go for 10-15 secs and then come back. I ask you, how do you stop when you're that full?

[fireheart]

Usually with pregnancy ultrasounds they don't do the water thing, it's just a scanner on your abdomen.

Might vary between clinics/hospitals. The two that I've been to both make it a requirement that you drink at least a litre 1 hour beforehand. This goes for pregnant women too.

Funnily enough, when I mentioned this to my male friends, they all kept asking me "are you pregnant?"

[CoffeeMonkey]

My lay-person's stab at why pregnant women don't need to drink before ultrasound and others do.

My doc said that the full bladder is to act as a magnifying glass for the uterus/ovaries. Also, the bladder is in front of the uterus normally.

When a woman is getting along in her pregnancy, the uterus moves towards the front, the bladder is underneath, so no need to fill the bladder. Not to mention that there's plenty of fluid in there already. Early on, this hasn't happened yet, so it would make sense that some pregnant women would need to drink and others would not.

Thus ends my shot in the dark.

[Mishi]

So I go through the process of getting set up for the trans vaginal ultrasound. For some reason, they had me lie on a "pillow" (felt more like a rock!). Then the tech couldn't get the wand in....she almost had it up my ass before the lady with her guided it in place.

I had the same with the tech that did one years ago while I was miscarrying. The maneuvering sucked! Most painful thing I have ever experienced. The last trans-vaginal ultrasound I had was making sure that my abdominal pain wasn't an ectopic pregnancy or ovarian cancer, and that tech was absolutely lovely. The policy at that provider is self-insertion and removal under a sheet, which saves everyone a lot of time and hassle.

As for the peeing for a 10-15 seconds, and then stopping? I've had to do that while pregnant, and I am so very glad that I listened to my midwives and did kegels. I would not have been able to do that without them. 2 and a bit kids later, I don't have any problems with incontinence, which is awesome!