First scan appt still not received, when should I chase it up?

[K8eee]

I'm going to be 11 weeks pregnant on Monday, and had my first midwife appt Tuesday just gone. I was told that in our hospital they scan between 11+6 weeks and 13+6 weeks. The hospital are going to send me an appt, and I have been told to chase it up if I don't receive it anytime soon; but how long should I wait before giving them a call? I have no idea how quick the process is of a referral :-/

you should call asap as appointments get filled up weeks ahead of needing them.

say you have a gp app at 7 weeks pg,, they send you back a note with scan appt the next week - so you know for about a month ahead (also if the given appt don't suit you there's time to change it.)

don't panic though, call today or Monday, I'm pretty surw they can fit you in as there are available slots due to cancellations all the time.

congrats btw!

Thanks Zing! Apparently my referral wasn't sent until just recently as my gp has nothing to do with the process. Shall try and give them a call soon then. Also, is it a case of drink loads of water before you go or do they not need you to do that with baby scans?

My mw had to ask the hospital to arrange it and the appt came through a week after my booking appt. the info with it said any scan up to 15 weeks needs a full bladder.

Ergh great, dh will take a lot of enjoyment in poking me in the bladder. I'll wait until Tuesday I think then ill have nearly 3 weeks or so to get them to sort it.

My midwife booked mine too. Don't worry if your scan seems to be a week or 2 later than 11+6, when I went for my first one DD was a little too small to do all the measurements so had to go back again a week later. Lovely to get to see her twice but PITA for me & DH's work! I didn't need a full bladder for any of my scans, in fact if you accept the transvaginal scan as well, they get you to go & pee first. When you get your appointment details, the info should tell you. If not just give them a ring.

Oh & congratulations! :)

yes, you need to drink - but there might be a delay so don't over do it or you'll be bursting to go!

what worked for me - empty bladder about an hour before app then drink up 500ml water (from a bottle while you are travelling) in the next 10-20 mins.

there reason for full bladder is that it pushes the uterus enough that the sonographer will get a better picture of baby.

grumble - yes, some times they ask you to pee first, but it is better to go with a full bladder, then wait around for an hour for it to fill up if you went with an empty one!

I agree Zing that it's better to go prepared with a full bladder if you need to but that was never a requirement for any of the scans at the hospital (Kings College London) where I had DD (and I had about 7 for various medical reasons!). I'm sure the info from the scanning department will let the OP know and if not, as I've said she can call to double check.

My worst nightmare was turning up with a full bladder for a scan and them running nearly 2 hours late (gynae not ante natal incidentally and a different hospital). In the end I was hopping around telling them they'd better get me in in the next 5 minutes or I'd be leaving a puddle on the floor! :)

grumble I snorted @ puddle on the floor!

glad we agree!

I didn't know some hospitals don't require it at all, so thanks for that info.
and I'm pretty sure the full bladder thing is only for the dating scan, I don't remember I had to keep it in for 20-week ones or later....

ah, all this talk - I need a pee now!

Thanks for the heads up from you both! I remember having to have a scan of my ovaries and being told to drink 2 litres of water an hour before my appt, getting there and them telling me is drunk too much and to go and wee a little bit out. THE MOST PAINFUL WEE OF MY LIFE!!!

oh no, wee out a little bit! wtf? how?

I'm not surprised it was painful

talk about making you do your pelvic floor excercises!

Haha I know I was nearly in tears. I just remember gawping at the nurse like 'you're having me on'

I can imagine it being the opposite of trying to feed an unwilling child!

"just a few more drops out, come on, you can do it. yes, that's in. ok, last spoonful..."

Haha zing I think you're right! How lol do the scans last actually?

Ah I knew this would happen, I've just received it this morning for exactly 12 weeks yep it's a pint of water an hour before my appt. I'm just hoping my midwives don't make me change my appt as they mentioned this week they want to see me before my scan.

K8eee that's brilliant! :) "just wee a little bit out....not too much mind or you'll have to start again!"

From what I remember the scans last 30-60 minutes. Think the anomaly one is the longest. Of course it all depends what they see & if LO is cooperating. There was a lady in the clinic when I went who had been sent out for a walk about 3 times because her baby just wouldn't move to a position where they could do what they needed to! Talk about stubborn - hope it wasn't a sign of things to come!

Oooh, I'm getting quite jealous thinking of you having a scan. It is amazing seeing that little one in there & hearing the heart going :)

Ahh! Just remembered, the scan was maybe quicker than that but they took bloods as well to help work out the risks of abnormalities. So we had bloods (in the clinic), then a scan then had to wait an hour for the bloods to come back so they could give us all the info together. Felt like we were there ages - the nuchal measuring does take a while though.

When you mention about the bloods, is that the routine ones like for HIV, syphalis and to check your blood group etc?

And thanks grumble lion! So excited I nearly got all teary bloody hormones! Only just over a week to go until we can let the cat out the bag

Hi k8eee, I'm 11 weeks on Monday too!!!

I've got my scan on Monday 16th - very exciting!!

I got given my scan date at my 6 week booking in appointment so I'm glad it was organised but it has been the longest 6 week wait EVER!

Definitely chase them up! I did everything my GP asked - I had betas at 3w2d so they knew I was pregnant but told me to come back at 6-7 weeks. I duly did so for the referral. Two weeks later, nothing. I rang and they said the referral had been made. Another week and nothing.. turns out they made a mistake and the referral hadn't been made. The earliest booking appointment would be when I was 13 weeks, and I couldn't get a scan sorted out until the booking appointment.

Utterly disgusted I am. I did everything "right" and even chased it up and was lied to. Luckily for me I already arranged an NT scan with Harmony testing at the FMC in London but 99.9% of women would be relying on the NHS. I'm 11.5 weeks now so even if they pulled something out of nowhere, it's cutting it ridiculously fine, so I told them yesterday when I was in for something else to screw their NT scan if they ever offered it.

I should have guessed something like this would happen after some of the major GP-related bureaucratic screw-ups I've had in the past.

So when you do chase it up, get as much confirmation of things as you can, and take names as that makes them feel more "liable"!

Think the HIV ones etc were done at my midwife booking appointment - the ones at the scans were for a study they were doing into pre-eclampsia risk factors but I'm sure they also used them somehow to calculate the risks of trisomy abnormalities etc. Those are the ones we had to wait for to get the whole report after the scan and was quite normal at Kings (I didn't have them specially IYSWIM). Though it's quite possibly done differently at other hospitals - look at the "to wee or not to wee" advice!

Yes, I remember the hormone readiness very well Some days it's still there 8 months later too :) The first scan is the worst one to wait for - I was going mental! Totally worth it though :)