Philip Marcus, MD 6405 France Avenue South, Edina, MN 55435

"I told them I wanted to schedule my first ultrasound at 12 weeks instead of 8 weeks as I wanted to let the baby be a bit larger before subjecting it to any ultrasound waves. They originally told me that I can't wait until 12 weeks and need to have it at 8 weeks. I pushed back and said that I was going to wait until 12 weeks regardless. They said they had to talk to their manager and then agreed to let me wait until 12 weeks. After struggling with hyperemesis gravidarum, I was really looking forward to my 12 week ultrasound and seeing our baby amidst the struggle. I was SO excited for this "special moment" that everyone talks about until after waiting an hour in waiting room (which is fine), my husband and I got to see our baby on the ultrasound screen for less than 1 minute. The entire ultrasound experience was no more than 5-8 minutes of which 2-3 minutes was spent looking at a cyst on my left ovary and the remaining time was getting the probe in/out, getting dressed, etc... I asked if I could do an ultrasound on the tummy instead of the vaginal probe and they informed me that 12 weeks is too early to use anything other than the vaginal probe and the probe was my only option (which I later found out from multiple sources is false - I am guessing it just makes them more money?). I believed them and proceeded to see our little miracle baby for about 1 minute (or less - 1 minute is generous). I told them I was in a bit of pain from the probe while looking at the cyst specifically and the tech/nurse did NOT seem to care. She was focused and doing her business routine in a very impersonal way. They got a snippet of the heartbeat for about 1-2 seconds and we didn't get to hear it again or know that it was coming. She was a quick tech/nurse and rather cold throughout the process. She did not explain what the heartbeat rate was at (our midwives told us later with a doppler), and she did not say anything about the baby. She was not talkative or friendly during this ultrasound. I asked for pictures after the ultrasound as we barely got to see the baby and I was asked "did they take pictures?" I replied that I thought so because I had an ultrasound, but I guess I wasn't sure since this was my first ultrasound experience. I asked the next nurse if I could get pictures and she was abrupt and said that they could mail them to us. So we left thinking that they were going to come into the mail. Fast forward a week later and 4 different follow up calls to get the pictures, I still have no clear response or resolution on if they are going to send pictures. I have spoken with multiple nurses and all of them tell me something different and ask if the last nurse got them sent, and then they transfer me to a voicemail line to leave a message. One of the nurses told me that "12 weeks is too early to have photos of the baby on an ultrasound" to which I replied that "I have multiple friends that have received photos as early as 8 weeks on.... ". She eventually hung up, but just said she would look into it. I am unsure what to think entirely because my experience with this clinic is that they are very helpful when it comes to them offering advice on procedures, surgeries, medication, blood draws, etc... (the stuff that they make money off of), but not very helpful and short when I ask them about anything alternatively or other options, or just general questions about baby/pregnancy/etc... I don't have space to post my ENTIRE experience here, as it involves years, but if you get a bad report from them, I highly suggest getting a second opinion before spending thousands here. I have learned many valuable and costly lessons (emotionally, physically, and financially) in coming here. I still have not received ultrasound photos and transferring my records is another hurdle I am struggling with from them right now."