Does my bladder need to be full when they do an ultrasound?

You say "this is just my 20 week scan," but it's the 20 week one that's the biggie - and might just be the last one you get depending on your health plan and whether or not your pregnancy is high risk. This will be the one they do "over the belly" and will check for development milestones (spine, heart, brain, etc) as well as gender (if you want to know).

I was asked to finish drinking 16oz of water 30 minutes prior to my appointment time. Yes, they usually want you to have a full bladder but please check with the instructions your doctor has given you. You should have received detailed instructions of what to do/what not to do before your visit. If you did not get any, call the doctor's office to verify. In my case, the first half of the scan was done with my full bladder and then the tech asked me to empty it because she said it was too full. She did the rest of the scan with an empty bladder but got most of the measurements earlier. She said that it wasn't uncommon to make people take a pee break part way thru - but I did have to have a full bladder to start.

Long story short, check with your doctor. Good luck and congrats!

This is going to sound nuts, but when I had my ultrasound with my first son they made me drink a 32 oz bottle of water one hour before my appointment and I had to come like that. I could not walk, I thought I was going to pee myself (I almost did), and I was so nauseated from it. Turns out my bladder was over full. If they tell you to drink anymore than 16 oz, they are nuts. I know many places that don't require you to drink anything. I'm on a military post so the hopsital is cheap and they only want to have to do it once so they water log you so they can get a clear picture of the baby. It's ridiculous. I hope you are lucky and get a hospital that doesn't require any water drinking. My friend had her's with an empty bladder and the sono tech saw everything just fine.

yes your bladder should be full. it helps push things (organs) out of the way so they can get a very good pic of the baby. if i were you i would call back and make sure about this. if they are told you wrong info and you walk in with an empty bladder they will not perform the ultrasound

ps it hurts like hell (holding that much pee for sooooo long so be prepared. i am not trying to scare you but i had to pee soooooooooo bad i was crying)

where i go i have to come with a full bladder just to check my cervix (the full bladder makes your cervix stick up alot further) and as soon as shes done then i could empty and finish with the ultrasound! hope this helps!!!

I had to drink 16 oz of water before my 20 week ultrasound. Some places have you drink more than that. You should check with your doctor just incase.

They usually ask you to empty your bladder before the u/s but it's not completely necessary. You may want to only because when they start pressing on you with the wand it may make you have the urge to pee really bad.