I am off to the hospital tomorrow (EPU) to have a scan. I am only six weeks but have been having bad tummy pains so guess they are just being careful....no bleeding which is good.

I spoke to a nurse today when i went for my flu jab and she said that as the cut off point is six weeks, if they cant pick up a heart beat, they may do an internal scan??

I just wondered if anyone has had one of these and what is it like?

Sorry to ask this following question but if you have a miscarriage, would you know? would you always bleed if it happened?

I know that bleeding doesnt necessarily mean anything bad, but i am worrying about the opposite, it might die and i wont know...
sorry to ask such a stupid question....but you know how we all like to worry!!

Wishing everyone a wonderful pregnant Christmas!!
xxxx

hi just wondering do you mean that the cut off for the swine flu jag is 6wks? - i had mine recently and they said they would not do it in first 12 wks but later on was fine (im 26wks).

if you mean the cut off for the external scan is 6wks then i can maybe help.

i have had early internal scans and it has been this early. 6wks may be too early to see a heart beat, im pretty sure they said 7-8 wks at earliest. what they may see is a sac. I was asked back for further scans every 2 weeks to see how sac had grown etc and they kept me coming back every 2 weeks til they def saw a heart beat.

your pain could just be cramps of things stretching and settling in (which turned out to be the case for me). i also had a collapsing cyst (common in early preg) which caused pain (they discovered this on scan).

as for knowing if youve had a miscarriage, i have heard of "missed miscarriages" whereby the mum doesnt know shes had a miscarriage as there has been no bleeding etc. i have no experience of this, but i think you are worrying (understandably of course!)but everything will be fine. your scan should put your mind at rest as they will be able to see "something" although prob not a heartbeat yet.

xx

hi thanks for putting my mind at rest....sorry i meant the 6 wks thing is for the scan...

i am only 6 wks pregnant and had the swine flu jab today! i hope that was ok!?

An internal scan isn't as bad as it sounds.
They will probably try the external one first but if they can't see anything. It looks like a wand. It doesn't hurt and its all very dignified and nothing to worry about as they will cover you up. They will put a bit of lube on to make it easier and then insert like you would a tampon (its just a bit wider than a tampon). They then get a better view of your womb.
I had two early scans due to some bleeding.
One at about six weeks, where they saw the yolk and gestational sac, but no heartbeat but I was reassured it was just too soon. A repeat scan two weeks later confimred the heartbeat was there, and all was fine.
Good luck with it, easier said than done, but try to not worry too much.
Lou
33+2 x

Also, don't worry at this stage if the dates they give you don't match yours - its not accurate at this stage as they grow at different rates which is why they wait til 12 weeks to do the dating scan.

Hiya, I chose to have a private early scan at 8+3 just for reassurance and needed an internal scan as they could not pick up anything via external ultrasound. I didn't think this would be necessary in advance so only had a few mins to worry but understand your anxiety as I was initially nervous. I can reassure you that there was absolutely nothing to worry about and I soon relaxed. It's the same as what loobylou above described and really absolutely fine.

Via the internal scan I got to see a blob (!), the flashing hb and also heard the hb but I reckon it could be too early to see hb at 6 weeks if honest so try not to worry. You also get clearer images via internal scan!

I had tummy cramps until about week 9 by the way so it may just be everything settling down and embedding.

Hope all is ok with your little bean.
LK xx
23+5

I agree with LL, I have had numerous early scans due to 3mc's and it is very dignified and doesn't hurt or feel uncomfortable. As LL says depending on how accurate your dates are (were you using opk's to pinpoint your exact ov?) then you may or may not see a HB as 6-7w is the point where they can normally detect that. I am quite sure they will see very little at this stage with an external scan so don't feel worried when they ask you to undress for an internal as it is quite normal to have an internal at this stage and even up to 8w.

As for a mc and not knowing, yes it is very possible, I had a mmc (missed miscarriage) at 11w, I went in for my scan thinking all was ok but they found the baby had died and my body had 'hung on' to it. I had to have a D&C. Please try not to think like this though - the stretching pains you feel are actually a good sign as it sounds like your uterus is growing which means your baby is forming so I am sure all will be fine. Once you see a HB the chances of mc also reduces a lot, although does not diminish entirely. Of course once you get past 13w your chances of carrying to term are much better.

Good luck tomorrow and let us know how things go.

I had both scans at 7 weeks and they couldnt see anything on the tummy scan, but when they did the internal scan they saw a heartbeat and a tiny prawn-like embryo. Hope everything went okay - try not to worry too much. My pain turned out to be trapped wind. Just remember your baby is less than a centimeter at the minute and may be just too tiny to see on the external xxx

hi. i recently had a miscarriage (i was 5 to 6 weeks pregnant) they done an internal scan due to the bleeding. This was my first pregnancy and miscarriage. my doctor said i can start trying again straight away but i was just wondering if when im next pregnant will they do a internal scan to check the baby is ok due to me having a miscarriage before??

If they dont suggest it does anyone know if i could ask for it at least??

Thanks for anyones help

 

Would be best if you started your own thread as this was originally started in 2010 - you need to start a new one so people can give you advice specific to your needs.