Ultrasounds And Ostomies
Ultrasounds and Ostomies
I was really nervous to get an ultrasound when we got pregnant because of my ostomy (Sally). I’ve read several articles that said you can get an ultrasound with an ostomy without a problem, you just might need to change your bag afterwards. So, I came prepared with a new bag just in case.
Ultrasounds
I was extremely surprised when we went to our 20-week ultrasound and our ultrasound tech said she has given ultrasounds to women with ostomies before! I was very relieved.
One of the most intimidating things about having an ostomy is when you visit a doctor’s office and they’ve never treated someone with an ostomy. Now, this obviously only matters if the ostomy is involved in treatment or your medical care. This is less of a concern for a yearly physical! But, with being pregnant there’s a lot of firsts! My OBGYN is the absolute best, I love him to pieces and trust him regardless of whether or not he’s had an ostomy patient before. I will be his first ostomy pregnancy, but he has put so much research into deliveries with ostomies that I feel very safe in his hands!
Now, back to ultrasounds….
I was worried that a young new ultrasound tech would be intimidated by Sally. If you have an ostomy, then you understand. You can’t go into a regular doctor’s office or ED without a nurse or someone being nervous to touch you or care for you in some fashion if it has to do with your stomach. Let alone, someone who is trying to get measurements and pictures of a fetus growing inside you! Was the bag going to get in the way? Would it limit our view of the baby? Will the jelly start to remove the bag’s adhesive right away?
Sally wasn’t a problem at all! My ultrasound tech even said she prefers to give ultrasounds to ostomy patients because the colon and bowel don’t get in the way of the view! Ha! I thought that was pretty cool, there’s another perk to being an ostomate! There weren’t any limitations or anything obstructing the view of our sweet baby. She didn’t even get jelly on my bag or the adhesive, so I didn’t need to change bags afterwards!
My New Point-of-View
Stop googling everything and reading into every article you read. Sounds funny coming from me, right? As I’m writing a post for you to read… anyways. Take everything with a grain of salt. Since getting an ostomy, my experiences have all been different than the experiences I’ve read online. Your experiences will be too. They’ll even differ from mine! That’s perfectly okay! Read the articles for information and as a mental preparation of what could happen. But know, it isn’t guaranteed to happen. Roll with the punches, go with the flow, and know everything will turn out okay in the end. Even your ultrasounds (lol)!
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