Help - 20 week scan tomorrow - how to cope with drinking water and no loo visits!

[PeahenTailFeathers]

I would love some help with this. TMI; I'm running to the loo every 30 minutes and it's not a little trickle :o so if anyone has any tips on coping with drinking 2 pints of water and holding it in for 2 hours, as well as dealing with the discomfort of a 40 minute, bumpy journey to get to the scan, I'd be extremely grateful!

I'm going to wet myself, aren't I? :o :o :o

I thought you didn't have to drink water by the 20 week scan?

Are you sure you need to drink 2 pints of water? I had my anomoly scan last week and was told there was no need to drink extra water before hand (unlike the 12 week) scan, as the baby/womb is large enough to visualise easily at this point of pg.

It was the same with DS a few years ago.

All I did was drink normally throughout the day.

You don't need a full bladder for a 20 week scan - certainly not 2 pints' worth! You will be fine :)

I remember getting a letter before my 12 week scan to remind me to come with a "moderately full" bladder, but it doesn't apply to the 20 week one. Good luck. :)

Nobody told me about needing a full bladder at either 12 or 20 weeks - how strange! All the poking and prodding around at the scan would have definitely made me want to wee even more.

In any case for both scans I had an internal probe (the so-called magic wand) as well as external so for that to take place, they asked me to empty my bladder before the wand was, um, inserted.

The sonographer made a point of telling me I don't need to have a full bladder for my 20 week scan.

Hi,

I recently had my 20 week scan and was actually asked to ensure that I did not have a full bladder as the baby is big enough to see. Woops I had a fulll bladder on the day and I didn't even realise.

xx

You don't need 2 pints at the 20 week scan. Ur only told that at 12 weeks so your full bladder can push the baby up n out your pelvis. There is no need at 20

I wish someone had told me that I didn't need a full bladder for my 20-week scan! I was in absolute agony and the first thing the sonographer said was "Wow - massive bladder!". They actually made me go and empty it part way through because they thought that it might be the reason why DD was so agitated!

I was worrying because my appointment letter specifically said to drink this much but I have no chance of holding it in! I didn't drink anything at the 12 week scan and the baby showed up fine. Wow, the relief that I don't need to drink anything beforehand!

I was told I had to have a full bladder for my 20 week scan - I had to drink about a pint of fluid.

Then they kept me waiting for nearly an hour after my appt time.

THEN the baby wouldn't move around so all the measurements could be taken.

THEN I had to HALF EMPTY my poor bladder. Half empty it! The sonographer clearly thought I have pelvic floor muscles of steel

The relief when I could fully empty afterwards was AMAZING...

I didn't need a full bladder for any of my scans

I was told I didn't need full bladder for 20 week scan. There is no way I could drink two pints of water beforehand let alone keep it in!

Hmmm. I was told that I did need a full bladder for the 20 week scan; was kept waiting for an hour and had to go to the loo then 'refill' again; then when I got in the sonographer told me my bladder was TOO full, and like saltyair to PARTLY empty it! I really had no idea how to part empty and she had to send me to the loo twice until it was the right level.

I think the best thing would be to drink normally in the day, and about ten mins before you arrive drink a small bottle of water (giving it time to go down, assuming the scan won't be on time - mine never were!). You'll then have something in there, but not be bursting...

Thtas strange cause on my letter for my 20 week scan it says come with a full bladder. I hate going in the car with a full bladder :(

My letter for all my scans said to come with a full bladder. In reality, for the first one at 9 weeks, the sonographer told me I should have just drank as normal beforehand, as she could tell I was going to wee everywhere when she came near me, so sent me to empty my bladder to a count of 8. So for later scans i didnt drink anything extra at all and was fine.

I think it's a bit of a historical thing. My sonographer said that with the older scanners they weren't as good and needed to have the full bladder to kind of push the baby up or something and make it easier to see. However, with the current scanners this is no longer necessary and the full bladder can just get in the way. My letters for my 12 and 20 week scan both specifically said not to have a full bladder. I rather suspect that there are some hospitals that just haven't got around to updating their letters or procedures yet (having worked in the public sector for many years now I can say this is not as unlikely as it sounds) or maybe some places just have newer scanner then others.