6+3 scan - internal or belly?

[BettySwallocks2012]

Hi,

6+3 and experiencing some bleeding and cramps. Normally I wouldn't be overly concerned but i am slowly weaning off meds that you are not meant to take in pregnancy :-/ and can really only think the worst because if this.......

I have an EPU scan at 10.30 tomorrow but will it be done with via the "lovely" internal camera or will it be a external normally belly scan?

Thanks

Don't take this badly but it all depends on how much fat you have round the middle. I had a scan at 6 weeks and had the external one and was able to see all the detail but was told by the sonographer that this was a bit unusual for that gestation.

If you have a high/high side of normal BMI you usually have to have the 'dildo cam'. What you can do is just ask them to try the external first and see if they pick anything up that way you can avoid the internal where possible!

Lol! Was hoping to avoid "dildo cam" if at all possible ;-) I will ask them to try the external first but also be prepared for the other but your experience has given me a little hope of keeping a bit of dignity (at least for a wee while yet!)

What was visible at your 6wk scan? I presume no heartbeat yet?

I had the external scan when I was 6wks luckily, I was dreading an internal as I was mc at the time.
Hope your scan goes well.

I've had an external scan at just over 6 weeks with this pregnancy and measured 5+5 and there was a heartbeat. But i had assumed it'd be an internal so had started to whip my pants off! But have previously needed dildocam at slightly later gestation and it's not as hideous as i'd feared. Good luck x

I had an internal scan at 6 weeks and I was pretty slender (size 10) - in fact, at 11+5 they still insisted on an internal to get a better view. It obviously depends on the hospital.

I had an internal but am not slender. However neither am I very big on tummy; not like the mental image you might have of someone very rounded with rolls of fat.

It was fine though.

I've always had internals up until around 8 weeks, I've had at least 1 early scan in all my pregnancies. I'm normally a size 8-10. Internal scans give a much better picture, and whilst they aren't the most dignified thing in the world they don't hurt, and they mean that you don't have to sit there waiting with a full bladder which is a bonus!

Good luck, I've had 2 good outcomes and 1 bad from my early scans, it's doesn't necessarily mean the worst.

I was 6+5 I think (with bleeding) and I had to have an internal -- it really isn't that bad at all. Nothing like a smear or test. I saw the sac and a heartbeat. Fingers crossed everything is ok for you, I've had on/off bleeding in both my pregnancies during the 1st tri, and it's a worrying time, but it is very common and doesn't mean anything is wrong.

I had to go in for a dating scan plus I had bleeding and cramps - I'd convinced myself it was all going to he'll again.

There was the sac, with a little wafting shrimp inside and and you could see a heartbeat - but that really does depend on whether your as far along as you think you are!

Good luck with today!!! Xx

The transfanny scan is nothing to worry about! Less uncomfortable than a smear... It's fine!

I was exactly the same as you 6+3 and I have both - they do the inny one as its highly sensitive and can pick up the heart beat.

Before the scan, I also had a "highly sensitive" preggy test done at the drs I went back next day and she called the lab up and got the results there and then.

I was very, very nervous as had had a MC previously and was convinced this was the same but happily everything was great. I went for scans every 2 weeks and each week I was so scared but everytime they found a heart beat.

They told me the bleed and cramps was either a twin MC'ing or a hyematompia - build up of blood that gushed away

let us know how you get on - sending you lots of hugs

I am a size 12 with a wobbly belly and had to have the internal scan at 6 and 5. They tried the external one first but it didn't work. However no one had told me I needed a full bladder so maybe that's why.

However I agree with the others who said it really isn't that bad at all, not as bad as a smear.

I was a size 10-12 when I had a scan at 6+4 with DS
they did an external and said there was signs of pregnancy but didn't see anything, they said I could either come back in a week or have an internal, I had the internal and they saw a heart beat, they said that it was "just" there and had I been even a day earlier it might not have started yet, so be prepared for the possibility of having to go away and wait for another scan in a week or so

good luck x

I was at a different period, but had to have an internal scan at 10w after a fall. I think this was be because they thought it was eptopic. It's not nice but getting answers is most important IMO. Hope it's good news, I bled a few times and DD is now 12 weeks old! X

Well just back from EPC, not sure what to think? External scan showed nothing but a full bladder, dildo cam showed a very feint shadowy area in womb but nothing definite. I have an appointment to go back next Monday to see if there is any progress.

The nurse did do a pg test which did come up positive but I forgot to ask whether it would be worth getting HGC levels tested at my own GP? What do you think?

Thanks for all reassurances of the internal, it was absolutely fine & nothing to worry about!

So to request HGC test or not? Or wait it out til next Monday til repeat scan?

if you get HCG test make sure its not just one as that doesn't tell you much (and don't let anyone diagnose you on a single result), they need to be every 2 days to get a picture of what's going on

I would say it still could be positive, I was told I was lucky to see the HB at 6+4 as it had literally JUST started. This time I had my scan at 7 weeks and there was a much bigger clearer HB on the external, its amazing how things change in those few days!

in other words, you'ld still have to wait till the end of the week for 48hourly HCGs to tell you anything

Hmm I see where you are coming from about the end of the week really to get a comparative picture with at least 2 bloods being taken....

I will maybe just wait & see what happens then, as you say so much changes in the early days so next weeks scan could show something.

At your 7wk scan monkey, was your pg visible on the belly scan as opposes to the internal?

Thanks

yes I had no internal this time as it was 7 weeks, it was COMPLETELY different to my previous early scan.

with the first one at 6+4, it was only visible on internal, and then only just, it looked like a diamond ring - just a TINY flickering dot on a round sort of ring/sac.

at the 7 wk external one it was a little shrimp shape and the HB was VERY strong and visible straight away

I had internal scans until my 12 week scan (which I ended up having at 14 weeks), it's not painful or uncomfortable. I was a size 6/8 pre-pregnancy.

I had an internal one at 5-6 weeks and I was very slim, they told me they can't see enough at that stage on an external scan partly as its low down in the pelvis. I had another, again internal, at 6+ weeks. Was very clear both times (I'd also had some spotting) and not too hideous as I was concentrating on the screen.

betty - easy to say but I would try and wait another week...a week is a huge amount of time, I had my 1st scan at 6+3 - very, very tiny shallow and faint heart beat, 2 weeks later I had another and the change in size was unbelievable.

Also one thing to note, between the scans I had terrible nausea and cramping which is A GOOD SIGN my GP kept saying. I was very negative as I had MC'ed previously but all worked out perfectly so hang on in there and please keep us up to date