16 WEEK 3D ULTRASOUND

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Everything you need to know about 16 week 3D ultrasound

Pregnancy comes with a lot of mixed emotions – happiness, eager and anxiety. Happiness because you will soon be a mother and experience the joy of motherhood, anxious to see and hold your baby. This anxiety to know and see your baby is one of the reasons why ultrasound is done.

The pregnancy journey starts from a day and ends on the ninth month which is the 36th week, but the average length of pregnancy is estimated at 40 weeks. Every week shows a significant amount of development for the fetus. 

FEATURES OF 16 WEEK OLD PREGNANCY

16 weeks pregnancy means you are 4 months gone and you may begin to feel slight or little movement of the fetus. In fact, in some people, their belly bump starts to show. A 16 weeks baby will weigh about 144 grams and measures 7 inches – that is the length of a pack of baby wipes!

There will be many developments like:

  • Hairs appearing on the chin, brows and lips
  • Their eyes begin to move and they can start touching their eyelids
  • The heart beat increases to around 150 to 180 times per minute,3 and it’s pumping approximately 25 quarts (24 liters) of blood a day.
  • The baby’s taste buds starts working. They can even start selecting taste preferences.
  • Though their hearing ability is still undeveloped and limited, they can hear sounds faintly.
  • More muscles and bones develop to add to the body skeleton.
  • Some people in this stage can feel slight movement of their baby, while others will not notice till about 18 to 20 weeks especially first time moms. 

As the baby is growing, you may still feel some symptoms at this stage. Symptoms like:

  • Vomiting
  • Food cravings
  • Dizziness
  • Heartburn
  • Headaches

These signs are normal with your pregnancy.

WHY HAVE AN ULTRASOUND?

Ultrasound is a test done to show the picture of the baby in the womb using sound waves.. It is a prenatal test used to see the baby’s development and status. Ultrasound can be done before 14 weeks. 
There are many reasons to have an ultrasound of your baby.

• To confirm if you are really pregnant. Some health conditions like fibro can make the tummy swell and look like pregnancy.
• The know if you are carrying twins, triplets or miltiplets.
• To check if the baby’s heartbeat and other developments are in order.
• To know the sex of the baby
• To know your due date
• To check if the baby’s position is good and healthy.
• To check for complications like miscarriage, breech or etopic pregnancy.
• To check for defects in the baby 

There are many types of ultrasound that can be done in pregnant women:

Doppler Ultrasound

This kind of ultrasound is done to check the baby’s blood flow and determine if it is okay. This is done to prevent complications and defects during birth. It can also be used to know if the baby is growing normally. This procedure involves using a transducer to listen to the heartbeat of the baby and to measure how blood flows in the vessels and umbilical cord. It can also be used to know if the mother has Rh disease.

2D Ultrasound

2D ultrasound is done to know the baby’s gender, size and how well it is developing. This examination shows you the image of the foetus. A gel is rubbed on your tummy and a  transducer will be placed on your tummy or inserted into your vagina. The function of this is to send sound waves through the body. These waves bounce off internal organs and fluids, and a computer converts these echoes into a two-dimensional image (or a cross-sectional view) of the fetus on a screen. 

16 WEEK 3D ULTRASOUND

A 3d ultrasound shows a clearer and sharper image of your baby unlike fake ultrasound pictures that fly over the internet. They look like high quality photographs. It uses high-frequency sound waves and special imaging software to create images of your baby’s soft tissues, organs, and other body structures. 

Just like other ultrasound, the procedure is the same. A gel is rubbed on your tummy and a transducer is placed and directed to the area while the waves produce a picture of your baby. 

Although this examination can be done anytime, medical doctors may prefer to do it between 23 and 34 weeks. This is to get a clearer view as the baby would have developed more then. 16 week 3d ultrasounds are safe for the baby as they do not involve radiations or x-rays. 

BENEFITS OF 3D ULTRASOUND

One of the reasons why this is preferred is that you can get a clearer and enough view of your baby. It can also give you and the medical professionals the knowledge of how the development process is going and any issues.

With 3d ultrasound, you can easily detect any abnormalities or complications. “There are some real benefits to doing a 3D ultrasound, compared to a traditional 2D ultrasound, including visualizing fetal anatomy much clearer because of the ability to see an infinite number of planes,” says Michele Hakakha, M.D., an OB-GYN in Beverly Hills and author of Expecting 411.

CONCLUSION

Ultrasounds are used to calm down our anxiety of the baby’s sex or how our baby looks. They are not harmful and have no complications. In fact, specialists have concluded that since the use of ultrasounds for over 30 years, they have not found any risks.

16 week 3d ultrasound or 23 and 34 week 3d ultrasound does not cancel or rule out antenatal and checkups. Your ultrasound might show a healthy baby and pregnancy, but you must continue going for checkups to make sure you continue being healthy till delivery and after that. No matter what your scan shows, be sure to get the best care.

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