What you can expect

During the procedure

During a transabdominal fetal ultrasound, you'll recline on an exam table and expose your abdomen. Your health care provider or technician will apply a special gel to your abdomen. This will improve the conduction of sound waves and eliminate air between your skin and the transducer.

Your health care provider or technician will move or scan the transducer back and forth over your abdomen. The sound waves reflected off your bones and other tissues will be converted into images on a monitor.

Your health care provider or technician will measure your baby's anatomy. He or she might print or store certain images to document important structures. You'll likely be given copies of some of the images.

Depending on your baby's position and stage of development, you might be able to make out a face, hands and fingers, or arms and legs. Don't worry if you can't "see" your baby. Ultrasound images can be hard for an untrained observer to decipher. Ask your health care provider or technician to explain what's on the screen.

The procedure for other types of fetal ultrasound exams is similar. If you're having a transvaginal ultrasound, however, you'll be asked to change into a hospital gown or undress from the waist down. You'll recline on an exam table and place your feet in stirrups. The transducer will be covered in a plastic sheath, like a condom, and be lubricated with gel. Your health care provider or technician will place the transducer in your vagina.

After the procedure

You can wipe off any residual gel or lubricant. If you had a full bladder during the ultrasound, you can urinate after the exam.