14 week ultrasound: Why have it and what it can show

14 weeks mark the start of the second trimester in your pregnancy. At this time, it’s typical to start feeling better, experience an increase in energy, and start noticing the fast growth of the baby bump. And it’s also possible to have a 14 week ultrasound.

Generally speaking, a 14 week ultrasound isn’t usually a part of the standard prenatal care schedule. Most often, you should have at least one screening by this time, usually performed around 11-13 weeks. Still, it’s possible to have your ultrasound at this time in several cases:

• It’s your doctor’s habitual practice.
• You’re behind on your prenatal care.
• There is a need for a follow-up on your first-trimester scan.
• The uterine size doesn’t match the gestational age.
• The pregnancy is considered high-risk based on your personal medical history.

If you are scheduled to have a 14 week sonogram, it’s usually performed transabdominally. However, you might have a transvaginal ultrasound if the doctor needs a clearer image.

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So, you are now 14 weeks pregnant. This means that you’re finally stepping into the second trimester, and it’s a super exciting part of your pregnancy journey. This time is often called the “golden period” of pregnancy. During it, your early pregnancy symptoms should fade away, making you feel better and more energized. You will also see noticeable baby bump growth, which might be something you've been really looking forward to. And it also might be the time when you will see your 14 week ultrasound pictures. So, it’s natural to have some questions concerning it.

In this article, we’ll discuss all the questions related to this matter. You will learn how you will see your baby at 14 weeks ultrasound, how the procedure is performed, and find lots of important information for minimizing the unknown and preparing for your screening.

Do You Get a 14 Week Sonogram?

One of the first questions women have about a 14 week ultrasound is whether it’s common to have a scan around this time.

The short answer is “no.” A 14 week ultrasound isn’t usually a part of the standard prenatal care schedule. When you’ve gone so far along in your pregnancy, you’ve likely already had at least one screening. And in some cases, even two. For uncomplicated, low-risk pregnancies, the typical first ultrasound is performed in the first trimester. Often, doctors schedule it around 11-13 weeks.

It’s also possible to have your first screenings even earlier, around 6-9 weeks. Depending on your doctor’s practice, this might be done as a routine procedure. Otherwise, an earlier scan can be performed under certain medical indications, such as:

• Pain
• Bleeding
• History of miscarriage
• IVF

Your first-trimester ultrasound should typically involve a viability and dating scan, and you should usually have the option to do a nuchal translucency scan, which is also performed between 11 and 13 weeks.

So yes, having your first screening at 14 weeks is not very typical. But it’s not a definitive rule. Every practice is different, and some healthcare providers may prefer later screenings, which is when it’s possible to have a 14 week ultrasound.

Why You Might Have an Ultrasound 14 Weeks Pregnant?

Since it’s not a very common practice, it’s natural to wonder why you need to do a 14 week ultrasound in the first place.

The most common reasons include:

• It’s your doctor’s habitual practice. Every healthcare provider has a well-defined practice and adjusts your prenatal schedule to it. If the doctor prefers to conduct later screenings, you may have your first ultrasound at 14 weeks.
• You’re behind on your prenatal care. It’s possible that you’ve been scheduled for a first-trimester scan, around week 12, but weren’t able to be seen during that time. This can happen due to both your personal and your doctor’s circumstances. In this case, you might have it rescheduled for 14 weeks.
• There is a need for a follow-up on your first-trimester scan. It’s possible that your first screening showed an abnormal heart rate, insufficient fetal growth, or any other anomalies. In this case, a healthcare provider will perform a follow-up to confirm or refute previous findings.
• The uterine size doesn’t match the gestational age. If the doctor finds that your uterine measurements don’t align with pregnancy age and doesn’t find clear reasons, they will likely schedule a follow-up screening to check the dynamics. During a 14 week ultrasound, a doctor might reassess your fundal height and possibly detect that your due date is miscalculated, there are multiples, or find another cause.

14 Week Ultrasound in a High-Risk Pregnancy

When it comes to prenatal care, it’s important to understand that every schedule is unique. It’s planned based on multiple factors, including:

• Personal medical history;
• Obstetrical history;
• Expectant couple’s family history, etc.

Every part of a personal medical history helps predict potential risks and defects. And often, if a pregnancy is considered high-risk, a doctor will plan a more frequent and detailed supervision, which is one more reason why you might need a 14 week sonogram. In particular, it can be used to screen for congenital anomalies, chromosomal defects, and genetic abnormalities.

This is a new, more personalized and risk-based prenatal care framework recommended by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).

Ultrasound 14 Weeks Pregnant: Understanding the Procedure

Now that you know why you might need to have a 14 week ultrasound, let’s define how the procedure is performed. 

Most likely, a scan at this time will be performed transabdominally. At 14 weeks, your baby should already be 8.5 cm long. This is the size similar to a kiwi fruit, which should enable the doctor to see the fetus clearly enough using an abdominal ultrasound. 

In this type of ultrasound, a sonographer will apply some gel on your belly and use a handheld transducer to receive an image. Together with a doctor, you will be able to see your baby from different angles on the monitor.

The entire procedure usually takes about 30-40 minutes and is rather comfortable, except for the gel, which may feel cold. It doesn’t require any special preparation. However, you may want to wear loose clothes for comfort and drink more water before the appointment. This is thought to improve image clarity.

What Does a 14 Week Ultrasound Look Like?

If you do have your screening around this time, the exciting news is that you will see your baby at 14 weeks ultrasound. By this time, it has already developed its primary physical features, so you should be able to see the body, head, face, and limbs with little fingers and toes on them.

Here it gets even more exciting. According to prenatal techs, your baby may already start making some facial expressions as early as 14 weeks. So, if you catch your baby at the right time, you can see them smiling, laughing, or being grumpy, which can be a very emotional moment. 

You can also prepare to see quite a lot of movement. You don’t feel it yet, but your baby can already stretch, suck their thumb, kick, and even move their fingers and toes at 14 weeks.

It’s also worth noting that when you see your baby at 14 weeks ultrasound, it already has its major organs and systems formed. This means that a healthcare provider should be able to assess the health of the overall baby structure and its organs, though many anomalies can be detected even before 14 weeks.

Lastly, it’s also possible that you will see your multiples in an ultrasound. Typically, multiples are detected before 14 weeks, during the first-trimester screening. However, sometimes, the doctor may not see other fetuses if they are obscured by the other fetus or due to other reasons. If this is the case, chances are that your uterine measurement won’t match the suggested gestational age, and your healthcare provider will schedule a follow-up screening. A normal 14 week ultrasound should help detect multiples if they’ve been missed out of sight earlier.

FAQ

Why does the doctor freeze the video during an ultrasound?

It’s not a cause for concern if your healthcare provider occasionally freezes the video during a 14 week sonogram. Typically, doctors do this in order to make an accurate assessment and measurements of the baby and your uterus. Also, the doctor may freeze the video when they receive a very good and clear image of the baby so that they can print it out for you, which is another exciting part of this procedure.

Is it normal to have a transvaginal ultrasound 14 weeks pregnant?

Yes, it is. Although healthcare providers will often use a transabdominal ultrasound, sometimes, there might be a need for a transvaginal probe. Often, this is because the doctor needs a more detailed image of the fetus and your organs, or if your BMI is higher, which might affect image clarity. In any case, there is no reason to worry because this procedure is safe.

Can the doctor see my baby’s sex in a 14 week sonogram?

For many mothers-to-be, it’s rather common to count days until they learn if they are having a boy or a girl. So, when you prepare for your 14 week ultrasound, it’s normal to wonder if you can find out just yet. The good news is that it’s possible. Generally, gender predictions made before 14 weeks aren’t fully reliable. However, those made during and after 14 weeks show 100% accuracy.

Conclusion

As you now know, a 14 week ultrasound isn’t usually a part of a standard prenatal care schedule. Still, it’s possible to have your first or repeated screening at this time for a number of reasons, including your doctor’s practice and individual medical history.

Regardless of the reason, a 14 week ultrasound is used to follow up on previous findings, confirm gestational age and due date, and scan the baby and mother-to-be for any abnormalities that might be there. Use this guide as a roadmap for your next scan, so that you are prepared for what’s to come.

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