How reliable are dating scans?

[cookiewuk]

I had my dating scan today believing I was nearly 14 wks only to be told Im about 9.5. I am probably over reacting but i feel pretty devastated as i was so sure i was further on. Now i feel like my family and ds family think Im an idiot for not knowing as its a whole months difference! A friend of mine had an early scan and was then moved on a wk at her 2nd dating scan. I was wondering if anyone has had a similar experience? Feeling pretty miserable right now :(

[mummy2benji]

They are most accurate when they are done around 12 weeks and vary by a few days, rarely more than that. It sounds like your body missed a period the month before you fell pregnant, if you'd calculated your dates as being so different. I can imagine that would be a bit of a shock and also a disappointment when you thought you were further along. Did they see a heartbeat though, and otherwise the scan looked okay? Try to focus on that and ignore what any relatives might think - it's perfectly reasonable to get your dates wrong by a month if you'd missed a period. Yours is a better scenario than mine was last pregnancy when I went for my scan only to discover that baby had died. If baby was well and had a heartbeat then try to concentrate on that and you'll start to feel excited again soon I'm sure.

[Paradisefound]

I had an early scan at 7 weeks as I was very sick. At that point I thought I was 11-12 weeks .. So it was a bit of a shock to hear I was only 7 weeks. I felt a bit stupid .. For a week or two!

[cookiewuk]

Thank you for your replies. I did see a heartbeat and was told everything looks good and I am truly thankful for that! I feel even worse now thinking how bad it could of been and what other people go through. I will try to buck myself up and concentrate on the positives. I guess i was just hoping that the scan was somehow wrong.

[HavingALittleFaithBaby]

When did you first get a positive pregnancy test?

[cookiewuk]

I didnt test until august 19th as we had been trying for nearly 18 months and i didnt want to get my hopes up only to be disappointed as i had in the past.

[Worley]

this happens a lot! lots of ladies are further or not as far as they thought. scans have a five day accuracy and we can give an edd from 9 weeks anyway..

[coronalover]

Ah, don't be miserable, here have some

Congratulations!

[coronalover]

I obviously meant !!!

[HowToChangeThis]

If you look at the scale on the graph you'll see that the margin to move the dates is relatively big. The scans are really accurate at that point, to within a few days. A 14 week foetus looks incredibly different to a 10 week on. Have a look at some foetal development timelines with the pictures and compare it to your scan.

I didn't want to agree my current dates but look carefully at the graph, even if the baby is 9th rather than 50th centile, like my first, it moves the date by 2 days.

[cookiewuk]

The lady wouldn't give me an edd as she said it wouldn't be accurate enough :(
Is the graph in the maternity notes? The midwife kept mine at the booking appointment and I won't get them back until my next scan.
Another thing that concerned me was that I was due to see the consultant this wk as I had severe pre-eclampsia last time but now that has been put back until Nov 22nd as it had to be after the dating scan (now Nov 9th). It seems such a long time to wait but she is going on holiday.
Am I just having a bad day and getting worked up over nothing?
Thank you all for the support btw :)

[weeblueberry]

I can understand you must be disappointed - I admit I think I would have been too.

But I think, as HowToChangeThis mentioned, the foetus looks so differently at these stages. I had a private 9 week scan and it looked like a bean. Then I had an emergency 11 week scan on Sunday and it was far more 'formed' with little legs and arms etc. Very very different.

[cookiewuk]

The baby looked much more formed than a bean and we clearly saw wriggling, hand waving and foot movement. My ds however compared baby to Rayman as the hands and feet didnt look attached to the body! Think i will be spending all my time scouring ultrasound photos now!

[Worley]

if they didn't give you an EDD then you won't have a growth chart started yet for the fetuses growth.
don't worry about the consultant appointment. even if uou do t get to see the cinsultant there will be registras still there to see you. how far were you when you had pre eclampsia before?