WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO GET A 3D/4D ELECTIVE ULTRASOUND?
The best time to get a 3D ultrasound is when you're about 26-28 weeks pregnant. If you go in too early, your baby may not be big enough – you'll mostly see skeleton. If you go in too late, your baby's head might be hidden down in your pelvis.
How to prepare for your first 3D ultrasound?
Drink plenty of water for 1-2 weeks before your appointment. This means eight 8-ounce glasses a day. This helps clear up the amniotic fluid and ensures that there is enough fluid around the baby. Start well in advance; it doesn't do much good to only drink water the night before or the morning of your 3D ultrasound.
WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO SEE THE GENDER OF MY BABY?
The best time find out the gender of your baby is between 18-22 weeks. So if you're counting by months 4.5 to 5 months is best.We then recommend keeping yourself well hydrated (2-3 litres of water) daily for at least 1-2 week before your appointment to improve the amniotic fluid volume in the womb. The amniotic fluid is the space that you see around your baby. Many times, mums think it’s a full bladder that creates clear 3D/HD images but in fact it’s actually the fluid in the womb around your baby’ face providing better image results. The more space around your baby’s face the clearer the image. This means that the baby has more space to move with less obstruction from body tissue and limbs. If your baby is right up against the placenta or has arms covering the ultrasound waves have to travel through these thicker layers to obtain the images and this can create a cloudy appearance in the pictures.
Can having a high BMI affect the image quality?
BMI is the body mass index, unfortunately having a high BMI can affect the image quality.
If you are overweight, this will mean that there is more body tissue and layers for the sound waves to travel through as the baby is further away from the transducer probe. Ultrasound sends sound waves through your womb; these waves bounce off your baby and the receiving echoes are turned into an image on the screen.
This increased distance between the transducer and baby will distort the beam as the body tissues absorb these soundwaves as a result the images will become less clear with a fuzzy appearance.