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Pregnancy

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

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Original poster

How will they date my pregnancy, I'm worried!

31 replies

Yummysalads · 14/07/2015 19:27

Hi all, I'm currently pregnant, and really happy. Trouble is, I'm a young woman an haven't had a period since December 2014.

I continuously went to my GP (more than one), the moment I missed my third period in a row, and continued until about 1 months ago (by which time I got fed up). All they kept saying was 'it's hormonal' (since the bloods they sent me for returned as normal).

I've got no pregnancy symptoms at all, apart from frequent ruination.
I'm frightened they'll date me incorrectly, as I've seen people on MN complain of being dated fr about 5dpo, which is just silly.

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Original poster

Yummysalads · 14/07/2015 19:27

*urination

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TravellingToad · 14/07/2015 19:29

They'll send for a scan and take measurements of baby where they can tell exactly how old it is to the day almost.

Appleblossom82 · 14/07/2015 19:31

They will send you for an early dating scan and base it on that i would imagine.

Original poster

Yummysalads · 14/07/2015 19:31

Travellingtoad, can they make a mistake?
Also, would that be my 12 week scan or will they give me this special scan soon since I don't know my dates?

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Appleblossom82 · 14/07/2015 19:31

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polarbearshuffle · 14/07/2015 19:32

Congratulations! This has never happened to me but a couple of friends have been unsure of their last periods (because of contraption or irregular periods etc) and when they told the midwife they were sent for an early dating scan (usually the 12 week scan). Not sure if it the same for your area. The scans are fairly accurate too.

Appleblossom82 · 14/07/2015 19:32

They should send you for a scan asap to date you. Its pretty accurate but a few days here or there doesnt matter.

Original poster

Yummysalads · 14/07/2015 19:33

Thank you!
So if they send me for the dating scan asap, will I not get my 12 will scan too?

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Original poster

Yummysalads · 14/07/2015 19:36

If these scans are so accurate, why don't they send all women to them? I've heard they prefer to know the actual date of your last period, why is this?

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Appleblossom82 · 14/07/2015 19:38

No you should have both but i guess if you happen to be around 12 weeks then you may just end up with one iyswim.

When did you get your bfp and had you been testing regularly?

Original poster

Yummysalads · 14/07/2015 19:40

Got my BFP yesterday and I haven't been testing regularly. A friend suggested I do a test for a laugh actually... Lol
I haven't had any pregnancy symptoms as I'm pretty poorly anyway due to my Lupus flaring up

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Penguinandminipenguin · 14/07/2015 19:41

Because if you're only a few weeks there's not much to see. Just the yolk sack etc, and you can see the hearbeat from about 5/6 weeks, but sometimes you don't see it until 7ish weeks. So people would panic perhaps unnecessarily if they didn't see the heart beat. You'd still need the 12 week scan as the baby is bigger so can check for some abnormalities etc so an earlier one would just be a drain on the NHS as wouldn't medically be very helpful.

SweetAndFullOfGrace · 14/07/2015 19:41

Well. If they do it properly they should scan now and then scan again once they have an idea of how pregnant you are (if you scan at less than about 7 weeks when dating is inaccurate). Because they don't have any idea how pregnant you are so they can't wait for the "12 week" scan since how do they know when 12 weeks is?

But they probably won't because of funding issues.

In your position I would make up an LMP date that puts you at about 11 weeks when you book in. Then they will do a scan as soon as possible and you'll actually get an accurate dating scan. After 13 weeks the dating is increasingly inaccurate from a scan.

Appleblossom82 · 14/07/2015 19:41

They usually work on the basis of your last period until 12 week scan and then revise due date based on measurements.

SweetAndFullOfGrace · 14/07/2015 19:42

Scans aren't 100% accurate, even the most accurate point of scanning ie prior to 13 weeks is +/- 5 days.

DextersMistress · 14/07/2015 19:42

I didn't know the date of my last period when I got pregnant. We just guessed tbh and my 12 week scan gave us a good idea. I'm not sure what you're actually worried about?

AhoyMcCoy · 14/07/2015 19:44

I found out I was pregnant and wasn't having periods either (was breastfeeding 7month old DD and periods hadn't returned), and instead of sending me for a scan, they sent me for a blood test and the blood test dated me between 4-8 weeks, then they scheduled my scan based on the 'furthest' date along I could possibly be. So if you've had blood tests before that have tested for pregnancy and they have been negative, they might do another blood test before a scan.

Original poster

Yummysalads · 14/07/2015 19:44

I'm just worried that they'll date me and too forwardly and I'll end up with an induction or something because they think I'm further along than I actually am.

I once knew a girl who found out she was expecting at 23 weeks, I'm not sure how they dates that one.

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CuppaSarah · 14/07/2015 19:44

In my area they take your last period even if that has you as months pregnant as opposed to weeks. I had a scan at ten weeks as they wouldn't take my ovulation date, they could only date by last period.

So I would refer yourself to the midwives asap and let them know what has happened. This kind of thing is common so don't worry, you won't be the first or last woman the midwife deals with in this situation.

Appleblossom82 · 14/07/2015 19:46

You will be dated based on measurements. There is nothing to worry about.

Appleblossom82 · 14/07/2015 19:48

My due date based on last period was 28th oct. After 12 week scan it was changed to 3rd nov as the baby was a bit smaller than my original dates had suggested. Its no big deal. Its semantics anyway as babies can easily be up to 2 weeks early or late.

WinterOfOurDiscountTents15 · 14/07/2015 19:48

The don't send everyone for dating scans because it would be a huge waste of money and time and most people don't need them.

You will get a dating scan and they are done by highly trained professionals who know what they are doing, so you don't need to fuss about it.

Appleblossom82 · 14/07/2015 19:49

Your friend would have been dated on measurements in the same way.

RockerMummy184 · 14/07/2015 19:50

I had no idea how far on I was when I got my BFP in Feb as I also hadn't had a period since December. I was sent for an initial dating scan which dated me at 9 weeks, then they scheduled another scan at 12 weeks to do the NT test (for downs syndrome).
If, like Apple said, you are close to 12 weeks when they scan (usually between 11+6 and 14+1) they will be able to do the NT measurement (if you want the test) and you'll only have that 1 scan until your anomaly scan at around 20 weeks.

The scans are VERY accurate when dating a pregnancy, why are you frightened of being dated incorrectly? Is there a question of paternity? or maybe a medical reason you need to know?

AGnu · 14/07/2015 19:51

You could refuse an induction if you wanted. It's an option but they can't force you to do it against your will!

As others have said, the official dating will be done by a scan, not by your last period. They only use that as a guide for when the scan should be.

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