Scan dating wrong?

[Liss85]

Hi,

I had my first scan today. The consultant did it at the last minute, I wasn't supposed to have one and wasn't told until I was in the room. According to my dates I should be 11 weeks today. I saw the baby after a while and a heartbeat but the doctor said that I'm between 9 and 10 weeks but she'd say 9 to be safe. She didn't measure anything, it was from looking. Could it be wrong? I thought my dates would be about 2-4 days out due to an irregular cycle but I didn't think they'd be so far out. Plus I had cramping around the time my period was due, breast pain shortly after and morning sickness at bang on 6 weeks. Any ideas? Thanks.

I would say the consultant got it slightly wrong, given that she didn't measure the baby and was basing it on "looks" alone. Presumably you'll have a more detailed scan later, and that might put you back where you think you are in terms of dates.

It's more a concern in regard to the detailed scan timing, but the scanner will have seen all ranges of early/later scans, so don't be too concerned.

As for the "due date", don't give it another thought until much later, babies don't get the memo and tend to stick to their own plans for delivery dates. Tell everyone the latest date you could possibly be due (or add a few weeks), because when you're big, heavy, tired and generally over being pregnant, being asked 20 times a day if you've gone into labor gets very irritating! Better to surprise them with the news a week early than endure the "any signs?" "wasn't baby due today?" conversations over and over!