unclear ultrasound, how to do it better for next time?

[nosleepforme]

ive had a scan which came out extremely unclear. they said that it looks like there is room for 2 babies but the scan was so bad they are not even sure if there is one or two (gulp!). you can see that there is definitely a baby there. the scan also measured the baby's age younger than it should have been, but they said it could be because it was a "bad scan". ive been told to go for another scan within the next 2 weeks so they can try again.
i am not 'heavy' or 'overweight', although i am not so skinny that you can see my bones.
any advice? what can i do to make the picture more clear?

Did u drink water? The sonographer had trouble with my baby's nt measurements but I threw up all the water I had drunk 🙈

Full bladder is the only thing I think. Your weight etc wouldn't cause it to be unclear as far as I know. How many weeks are you and how many weeks did they think you were? If you're less than 7 weeks time will make it clearer!

@mysecret321 oh no! must be funny to look back at. i didnt try that, i wasnt sure it would make a difference, but will try for the next scan. thank you for sharing your experience!
@YoureNotASausage will try that. i am 11 weeks but the scan came up as 9+4, quite a difference! i know its silly, but google led me to believe that if you have fat it might have an effect on the scan. i know i should not believe everything, but wanted to know why it should be so unclear. does google-ing that make me crazy? hope that at the next scan things will make more sense.

I'm by no means slim but my scans have all been clear- I did (try) to have a full bladder for 12 week one as the gubbins they sent out advised it. But when you're pregnant and the appt is 20 minutes or so late, you tend to have to go to the loo!

I haven't had to go back for repeat measurements, fortunately, although going for growth scans every 4 weeks wasn't much fun either

Having a high BMI does affect the quality of the scan image, as all my scans helpfully had posted on them! But mine were fine as a size 20 so doubt it was your weight.

I never had a full bladder-I was told it isn't necessary. My scans were pretty clear although sometimes my placenta got in the way and made it harder (anterior placenta).

@HandbagFan that helped me understand thanks! from what youre saying, its def not my little bit of tummy! that makes me feel better

could it be the person who did it? the sec it came on screen she said "i can see a heartbeat but its a bad scan" and sent me out. didnt bother trying! didnt want to let me hear heartbeat either...

I don't know if this helps but this scan literally took the woman 5 minutes, she said we were I think it was 10+4 and to come back in a few weeks. When we went back it measured about a week further so we should have been over 11 weeks at the first one. It was definitely a shock how much had changed in a few weeks as there seemed to be a huge baby in there. I had a scan at 9 weeks with my first and he was basically a little blob with wiggly bits in the scan. So maybe sometimes standard scans can just be a bit vague before 12 weeks?

It's usually the machine but baby might also have been in a slightly difficult location which at this stage is difficult to isolate because of its size. It's not your fault though.
This is my early scan for this pregnancy (8weeks) and it's pretty rubbish. I've had much better in previous pregnancies (this is baby 3 but preg 5) but this was a different US machine.

My scan at 12 weeks. They said to have a very full bladder which I did and drink plenty of water a week leading up to the scan. I think mine can rout pretty clear. Excuse the daddy of all daddies it was for OH card PS. I'm a size 12 so not super skinny but not fat too x

I was very bloated for one scan and it made it very blurry. It could be that?

Forgive me as I'm not in the UK right now, but I'm on my second pregnancy and have never heard about having a full bladder. Is this really true? My clinic here actually has me do a urine test for glucose at each appointment from 16 weeks onwards so I definitely have an empty bladder each time.

www.nhs.uk/Conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/Pages/dating-scan-ultrasound-10-11-12-13-weeks-pregnant.aspx

In order to create a clear view of your baby, it’s worth drinking a pint of water an hour before the scan.

‘This pushes the uterus into a better position so we can see the baby more easily,’ says Dean Meredith who is a Sonographer at The Portland Hospital, London. But don’t overdo it – we all know how often you need to pee these days.

@Oddsocksforeveryone @calimommy (sorry for your lost angels.) @Confuseddot wow, thank you so so much for sharing your scans with me, it's so good to be able to see and hear about others experiences. (now im more convinced it's twins cos the black part around baby is very large compared and it does look like there is another grey 'blob' next to baby, but it is very faint. non identical twins run in my family from both my mum and dad side.)
@Lules it is interesting that you bring that up. i am very often bloated - runs in the family! ill try the full bladder and eat foods that make me less bloated. thank you!

Sometimes the day is just morning n a very good position to be seen.

My scans with DS2 were always really unclear as he was an uncooperative little beggar and was in a really odd position. I ended up having to go back several times for a few of them, just so they could get a (semi) good view (one sonographer had me doing star jumps to get him to move - that was a sight with a bump I'm sure!). Try not to worry too much.