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Early scan dates?

5 replies

CupidStunt24 · 14/02/2022 14:31

Not sure what I’m expecting here, I know no one can tell me what’s happening or going to happen, I am just wondering if anyone can help me figure out where these dates are coming from…

I came off the pill mid-Dec, I didn’t have a period between then and finding out I was pregnant on 10th Jan on an early detection test. Because I have no LMP date, it’s a struggle to date it anyway, but we DTD 24th Dec and 27th Dec (and haven’t since). So I must have ovulated around one of those dates to have caught and gotten pregnant.

I went for an early scan today (I know, I’m a twat, wish I hadn’t bothered) expecting to be AROUND 8-9wks (rough conception date +2 weeks). I had told myself anything between 7-9 would be acceptable in my head. However, it’s measuring at 5w5d! However they did say that’s what they could measure as it’s so close to the uterine wall, but could guess a range between 6-7. BUT… and this is where I’m confused - it has a heartbeat. Surely if it had stopped developing at that gestation, 3wks ago, that heartbeat would have stopped by now? And if that is right; when I got that BFP on 10th Jan I wouldn’t have actually been pregnant at all!

I tried to ask all of these questions, and they were helpful, but they almost couldn’t understand why I was so concerned as they said it’s a viable uterine pregnancy with a fetal heartbeat! I’ve also been reading that a heartbeat is usually detectable from 6-7wks, so seems quite early to have picked one up, especially in something not developing? I asked if the heartbeat seemed slow or weak and they said not at all.

I have my booking appt on Friday, I now feel a bit of a fraud. I don’t know if I should mention this to the midwife or not? It was a private scan and I know NHS HCP aren’t too keen on them (I can totally see why). So I’m not really sure what to do.

I know there can be discrepancies between ovulation, sperm staying alive for a few days, later implantation etc… but 3 weeks difference? Surely not? Can anyone maybe help me see something I’m missing?

OP posts:
Eycaluptus · 14/02/2022 14:47

I work in obstetric ultrasound. Don't worry about your dates as long as you have seen a heart beat, that's a really fewest sign! Things are so tiny at the moment it's impossible to actually get the correct measurement which is why we go off your LMP. At your 12 weeks scan you will be dated properly. You'd be surprised how many womens dates don't match up, it's totally normal. Congratulations!

Dumbledoressister · 14/02/2022 14:49

Was it abdominal or transvaginal?

CupidStunt24 · 14/02/2022 16:24

Thanks @Eycaluptus! I busy can’t figure our a way to make the dates they’ve given me fit and it all work out to right/ok Sad

@Dumbledoressister it was transvaginal, so less room for error I’d imagine…

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CupidStunt24 · 15/02/2022 18:18

@Eycaluptus a question if you don’t mind. I know the general reasoning behind adding on the 2 weeks when dating a pregnancy because of your LMP, but because I didn’t have a period at all between coming off the pill and finding our I was pregnant, does that make that “extra” 2 weeks irrelevant? As in, to me, the dates are SO behind because I’m taking into account those 2 weeks, but they don’t really mean anything if I wasn’t having periods?

OP posts:
CupidStunt24 · 03/03/2022 18:23

Just to update thread for anyone ever searching a similar situation, I had a missed miscarriage and an MVA on Monday. Turns out whatever it was seen at the first scan was definitely not an embryo with a heartbeat, as it ended up just being an empty sac, which had grown in proportion to my gestation (and was still growing), but no baby. Lesson learnt about private scans…

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