How I Get Through an Ultrasound Appointment
(Spoiler: With Great Anxiety)
As I write this, I’m less than 24 hours away from my 13-week nuchal translucency scan.1 I always get incredibly anxious ahead of an ultrasound, which is how I found out half-way through my first pregnancy that we lost Phoenix. It was also during an ultrasound in 2022 that there was no heartbeat around 10 weeks, so I had a D&C that day. But these scans are incredibly important to make sure things are progressing, and I also ironically have more of them because of my history.
After the scan, I’ll meet with my MFM2 who has known me since Henry was a little yolk sac. We’ll go over my medications (the trifecta of prenatal vitamins, a blood thinner, and antidepressant) and anything else different we’ll have to do (I had an echocardiogram when I was pregnant with Henry).
But despite the top notch embryo we transferred, the normal genetic tests, and the blood thinner, I can’t help but want to crawl out of my skin before I have an ultrasound. I cried on the way to my confirmation of pregnancy appointment when I was still with my fertility clinic, not because I was sad, but because I was so anxious about the ultrasound. It’s the most triggering thing for me, but there’s no way I can avoid it.
So, here are a few things I do before any big ultrasound appointment:
Meditate
Expectful is my favorite by far, because it’s tailored to different stages whether you are trying, pregnant, postpartum, or healing from a loss. They have tons of helpful guides, and courses on everything from hypnobirthing to infant sleep. You can also use it as a pregnancy tracker app, and they have tailored meditations for how far along you are. But best of all, they have meditations for before tests and scans, like this one for the 13-week scan which I’ll probably listen to tonight and again on the way to the hospital (since Grant is driving!). I highly recommend this app and I think it’s well worth the price!
Also try: Calm, Headspace, Circle + Bloom
The Anxiety Healer’s Guide
This book is awesome. I’ve worked through several chapters of it with my therapist, but it’s also good to come back to again and again. The Anxiety Healer’s Guide has everything from breathing exercises, distraction techniques, self-soothing ideas, journal prompts, etc. The things I’ve built into my Anxiety-Healing Toolkit are:
Self-soothing items: Crochet, kinetic sand or slime
Breathing techniques: Belly breathing, tracing my hand, or EFT tapping
Support system: Grant, Henry, our families and friends, other loss and infertility moms
Meditations: Expectful app
Ativan
This one is sort of my last resort, but one I’m glad to have in case I need it. Sometimes just remembering I have the bottle in my purse can put me at ease. Ativan (Lorazepam) is a benzodiazepine, so it’s not exactly pregnancy-friendly. I think so far I’ve only taken it once during this pregnancy, and that was before my second ultrasound. I’ve worked with my psychiatrist to develop a plan around taking my Ativan prescription, and it’s sort of my “break glass in case of emergency” option. If I start to get chest tightness or symptoms of a panic attack, I know that it might be time to take a half or whole tab. Mother to Baby is a great resource for reading up on different medications during pregnancy and can help you make an informed decision.
Today let’s take a look at the Gray Catbird!
Rather plain but with lots of personality, the Gray Catbird often hides in the shrubbery, making an odd variety of musical and harsh sounds—including the catlike mewing responsible for its name.3
Cute! Here’s another good one:
The oldest known Gray Catbird was at least 17 years, 11 months old when it was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in New Jersey in 2001. It had been banded in Maryland in 1984.4
Thanks for reading! Good Egg will be back on Feb. 7 with a guest post from my husband Grant! 😃
I can only imagine the feelings you have heading to the ultrasounds knowing what you’ve been through. I’m glad you have been able to find some things to help with the anxiety and that you feel like those things actually do help (for the most part)🥹 love you and wishing all the good things for this upcoming ultrasound 💕💕
Pregnancy anxiety is so dreadful and hard to explain. I cried all the way to my appointments every time. One piece of advice from my therapist was to make a playlist to listen to specifically on that drive (mine was 45 min long, LA traffic). I only put my absolute favorite songs on it, especially ones associated with happy memories or lyrics I liked singing to my baby, and that always helped.