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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

20 week scan!!!

25 replies

babyfev · 20/02/2013 17:46

Hi Guys,

I have my 20 week scan tomorrow do you know if you have to drink a pint of water before like you do for the 12 week scan? I havent got a letter to say if you do or dont.

Im feeling nervous about it as I know they do lots of important checks but i cant wait to see him/her again :) xxxx

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Ellypoo · 20/02/2013 17:48

I think you need a partially full bladder, so have a drink before you go, they can always ask you to go to the loo if your bladder is too full!!

soupmaker · 20/02/2013 17:49

I always err on the side of caution and drink a pint an hour before any scan. Am usually bursting!

Ellypoo · 20/02/2013 17:49

Oh, forgot to say good luck!!

MolotovCocktail · 20/02/2013 17:51

Aah, bless you, it is very exciting!!

I think you do need to have full bladder before the scan. I have 2 DDs: one born 2009 and one born in April last year. I had my 20 week scan with her in Decemer '11 and the imaging was amazing. It had come on leaps and bounds since the one I had in October 2008 with DD1.

A friend of mine had her 20 week scan last week. Her baby is due in June so I guess you must be, too?

Will you find out if you're having a boy or girl?

Good luck!

sundaesundae · 20/02/2013 17:51

You are supposed to really, but I forgot totally and it wasn't even mentioned.

Pascha · 20/02/2013 17:52

I drank a couple of glasses of water and the sonographer sent me for a wee as there was too much liquid in there! A glass an hour before should be enough, don't go mad.

Twinklestarstwinklestars · 20/02/2013 17:53

My 12 week scan letter said 850 mls and 20 week said drink 550 ml I think was def less than 12 weeks.

Original poster

babyfev · 20/02/2013 17:58

Im going to find out what im having, I think boy husband thinks girl and as im always right, haha lol!!

Thanks MolotovCocktail im due beginning of July :) xxx

OP posts:

Rache1S · 20/02/2013 17:58

Mine was last week. I completely forgot and nothing was mentioned. Good luck!

MisselthwaiteManor · 20/02/2013 18:41

I've got mine tomorrow too, I was told there's no need to come with a full bladder. I might have a small drink beforehand anyway though reading these replies.

Persuasion · 20/02/2013 18:48

I had mine yesterday. The info from my hospital said you only need a full bladder for 12 weeks scan, not for 20. I just didn't pee right beforehand and it was fine. The full bladder is to lift your uterus so they can see, by 20 weeks a lot of it is above your pelvis anyway so logically it shouldn't matter too much!

breadandhoney · 20/02/2013 18:51

My antenatal clinic had signs up saying a full bladder was not necessary for 20 week scan. Probably to reduce the number of complaints from cross-legged women about the long waiting time!!

Quilty · 20/02/2013 20:43

Yes you need a full bladder but a glass or two of water about 45mins before scan is fine, don't drink so much that you feel bursting!

A full bladder pushes the baby up out the the pelvis so that we can see it more clearly - to those who said they had empty bladder and it wasn't mentioned, you may of just been lucky and baby was in a good position anyway or the sonographer might of just being too polite to say anything!

Also with a full bladder it gives us the option of getting you to go to the loo and, by emptying the bladder, it often encourages baby to move or turn which is really useful if its in an awkward position.

RoomForALittleOne · 20/02/2013 20:46

I have mine tomorrow too and have been told that a full bladder isn't necessary.

Floggingmolly · 20/02/2013 20:49

You really don't need a full bladder at 20 weeks. Good luck!

muffins · 20/02/2013 20:52

I agree with quilty, plus a full ish bladder can help to assess edge of placenta in relation to birth canal.

sunshine401 · 20/02/2013 20:54

No it is just for your 12 week scan :)

cogitosum · 20/02/2013 21:00

Mine was on Monday.... I didn't have a particularly full bladder but I deliberately didn't go to the loo when I was waiting.

So exciting! I found out we're having a boy which I'd guessed. Apparantly mums to be have a 71% chance of getting it right! Come back and let us know!

Quilty · 20/02/2013 21:09

Very surprised to hear how many people are told not to come with full bladder, I suspect this is to do with avoiding complaints when appointments run late. An empty bladder can make scans very difficult and we often have to get people back because we couldn't complete the scan for this reason, maybe we just have better standards then other places! As muffin says, our protocol states we should be assessing the placenta at 20 weeks when the bladder is full.

snickersnacker · 21/02/2013 07:49

Quilty, you might know this - am I right in thinking that the newer scanning machines are less likely to need a full bladder? I was expressly told that it wasn't necessary for any of my scans and in fact was sent to empty my bladder before my internal scan (which is routine at my hospital at all scans).

Dogsmom · 21/02/2013 08:09

My letter said didn't need a full bladder so I had wee while I was waiting then the sonographer was narky with me because apparently I DID need one, I explained about the letter but she just said that every scan needed a full bladder and she now couldn't check my bladder as it couldn't be seen. She mentioned it 4x!

MisselthwaiteManor · 22/02/2013 13:30

I went with an empty bladder to mine yesterday (had a wee right before!) and it was fine. She could see everything.

BraveLilBear · 22/02/2013 14:35

I have also been given no advice, unlike for 12 week scan. I drank a whole bottle of Oasis in the 40 minutes before 12-week scan, and was promptly sent to empty the lot as it was stopping baby from moving!

I guess the key is if it's comfortably full they can always ask you to get rid. If they don't have the option, then you may have to go away and come back which obviously delays things.

Quilty · 22/02/2013 14:52

Hi snickersnacker, newer machines have better image quality yes, but the full bladder is mainly to do with pushing the baby a little higher out of the pelvis as at the 20 weeks stage they can still rest only just above your pubic bone if they want to and this means its really hard to see all the anatomy we need to see.

As I mentioned earlier, sometimes we ask ladies to go for a wee as this often encourages baby to change position which can be a very useful trick! Obviously if the ladies bladder is empty already then we don't have this as an option. I think sometimes there is confusion as ladies get asked to empty the bladder but it is not explained why so they assume they didn't need to have it full in the first place which is perfectly understandable.

Internal scans don't require a full bladder because we are placing a probe inside the vagina and so get very close to the baby anyway!

Also for third trimester scans you don't need to worry about having a full bladder as by this stage baby is a lot bigger and the bladder has no influence on babies position in your pelvis.

It can all be very confusing and half the problem is that hospitals send out really rubbish letter and give contradicting advice!

Hope that helps and makes sense!

CitizenOscar · 23/02/2013 22:05

My hospital says explicitly no need for full bladder for either 12 or 20 week scan. Scans have always been fine for me, easy to see baby clearly.

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