worried about how to drink loads of water pre-scan

[muslimah28]

hello

i have a scan in 2.5 weeks when i'll be 12.5 weeks. its at a different hospital to where i had ds1. this hospital has an old scanning machine, the type where you have to drink a pint and a half of water before the scan to make it worse my appointment is at 8.30am, so they're asking me to drink this at 7am i honestly don't know how im going to down that much water that early in the morning and keep it down and not throw it back up again.

should i (try to )reschedule my appointment? i know its not guaranteed they'll have another date within the 11-13 week window.

a friend of mine (a trained dr but now a SAHM) sugested getting there at 8am and downing as much water as i can then. has anyone else done something similar?

please reassure me as right now i'm just feeling sick just thinking about it!

thanks!

Do you know (roughly) the capacity of your bladder?I got a letter which said "drink between 1-2 pints of liquid an hour before the scan".I knew straight away it wouldn't be possible.
I drank a mug and a half before leaving the house(scan place an hour away) and returned some of that immediately(ms).When it came to the scan I was so full that my bladder was aching and was told to go to the loo as I was "overfilled".
So what they tell you is one thing and your common sense is another(use it).
Good luck!

You really dont need massive amounts i don't think! I had 2 cups of tea and 2 little glasses of water, i had to go for a wee half way through the scan to half empty my bladder then in the end she told me to empty it fully, i'm gonna wait till i get to the hosp to start drinking on Monday for my next scan, was in pain last time!!

i don't know my bladder capacity but i know i go to the loo alot so could that mean my bladder capacity is less? do you think a coffee is fine then, instead of water? i'm really having difficulty drinking anyway, i'm having to force myself so a combo of coffee and water may be easier.

am reassured tho that you both were OK without so much liquid in you. and i would be seriously annoyed if i forced myself to drink all that and then was told i was 'overfull' it really is going to be hard enough as it is!

i just checked my letter again after seeing your posts, and actually i need to drink it one hour before like you, i think before my head was spinning after i read the one and a half pints and so the rest of the letter became a muddle!!

I was told 1 pint was plenty and they ahd no problems! A woman went really OTT and was sent out to half empty her bladder so don't worry!

I just took a large bottle of water with me and drank it in the waiting room. Dont want to drink loads at home to find your appointments been postponed.

I would'nt worry too much...if you havent drunk enough then they will ask you to drink some more & go back & if you have drunk too much then they will ask you to empty your bladder a little. (Which is much harder than it sounds... once you have started sooooooo hard to stop!!!)

I drank 500ml in the car before going in and it was way too much. They were running 45 minutes late and I got so desperate that I had to give in and go for two 'half' wees before I was called, which was tricky to say the least. Then when I got in the sonographer said my bladder was still VERY full. They told me you just need some liquid, but shouldn't be bursting, so perhaps go a bit easy. If you drink so much that you can't resist completely emptying your bladder right before, you're defeating the object!

Oh yes, I agree with Belle! It is very hard to stop yourself mid-flow...

Well,if you go to loo a lot then forget about a pint of water.Seems to be better to go there half an hour before and drink some water then.
Single i misread your post -read wine instead of water

I would wait til you get there. Even at 8.30 in the morning you could be delayed, and that is agony. All the waiting rooms here have water dispensers. I don't think the old equipment makes any difference tbh, our maternity unit has had new ultrasound equipment put in since ds was born, but the advice on what to drink is the same. Has your BMI been flagged as a problem? I know if anything makes a view difficult then BMI could be it, hence wanting you to drink so much? If they really can't see then they'll do an internal scan anyway, but all 3 of mine have been fine just from a few glasses of water once there.

I'd say drink some good amount of water this evening so you're well hydrated when you wake up and then when you start drinking, you'll get a sense of how quickly you're filling up as none of it is having to deal with dehydration and all going straight to your bladder quickly.

Like others said, you don't need as much as they say. I didn't drink enough for my first scan - I thought I had but it was hot and I think I was dehydrated so made it hard for me to tell if I was full up. For the second scan, I went OTT and was cross-legged due to being waterlogged as I'd hydrated the night before well but didn't want to partially go as was confused about just how full I should be. The sonographer said my bladder was at bursting capacity and that she would let me go and have a wee as she felt sorry for me but the baby was sitting in such a perfect position on my full bladder it would be a shame not to carry on. Had to wait til half way through before she let me go partially empty

I'm usually quite sensible. Don't know what got into me that day but I can honestly say that I don't think I have ever enjoyed a wee so much

I just drank a small bottle of water on the way & they sent me out almost straight away to empty my bladder. It seems to be a very inexact science!

The full bladder just pushes the womb up and makes it easier to see. If you aren't overweight they can see it with a less full bladder. I was hospitalised with hyperemesis at 7 weeks and had a scan. I hadn't kept any fluids down for over 24 hours but they still managed to do an abdominal scan. She showed me my bladder and it was literally the size of a grape lol.

If they really can't see they will probably ask you to empty your bladder and do an internal scan. I've had these and they aren't that bad. Just drink what you can comfortably and see how it goes.

thank you so much everyone i feel soooo much better now. honestly, i wasn't joking before when i said the thought of it was making me feel sick! but now i know i can be more reasonable and drink as much as i can and it should be ok. bmi is nearly 23 so normal (though i had a lot of difficulty shifting preggie weight from ds1 i worked hard at it and got rid of most of it ).

good idea to drink well the night before too. i find it much easier to drink at night right now than the morning.

why do they make the letters sound so precise and specific as though it will only work if you do exactly what they say and nothing else!!!

i think i just have visions of being 19 and having a scan for continuing abdomenal pains after a stomach bug and then being told off for not having drunk enough water