8 week scan?

[aliceholland246]

Hi ladies, I'm 22 and pregnant with my first little on ❤️ I'm just hoping everything goes ok! I'm 5 weeks and 6 days.
I was wondering if everyone gets to have an ultrasound at there 8 week appointment.

Or if it is worth paying for an 8 weeks scan!

Please let me know your 8 weeks scan stories

If you're in the UK you won't be offered a scan on the NHS until 12 weeks ish. It is entirely up to you whether you want to pay for one earlier, but try and hold out until 8 ish weeks if you can. Before then there may not be much to see or may not be a heartbeat, which can cause unnecessary worry. Prices vary significantly across the country and different companies, from £50 ish up to hundreds of pounds. Your appointment around 8 weeks will be with your midwife and is just going through paperwork etc. It can be as late as 10/11 weeks though.

Your 8wk appointment will be your booking appointment with the midwife. It is very dull! They are basically filling in a form to create your pregnancy notes so expect questions on your health, partner's health and things like mental health, how much you drink and smoke and whether there are any domestic issues (it's right that they ask even if it feels a bit intrusive!) Assuming it's in person (COVID differs by area) they will take blood and a urine sample. They won't even check that you are pregnant - they assume you read the test right! Definitely no ultrasound that early - you have to wait until 12 weeks for NHS.

Re 8 wk scan - it's totally up to you and what you want to get out of it. 8 weeks is a good time to see that there's a heartbeat and you would be able to see teeny arms moving about (with the guidance of the sonographer!) Risk of MC drops significantly after seeing HB at that point and your partner can definitely go to a private scan with you - you'd have to check the rules at your local hospital. The only slight downside of a private scan (and it is slight) is that they don't always tell you if there's a potential issue whereas NHS would - I've had a private scan where I came out thinking everything was OK only to lose the baby and have NHS tell me that there was a problem at the scan I wasn't told about. Honestly though - if I'd been told there "might" be a problem I would've spent the whole time worrying about it and there's absolutely nothing you can do to change the outcome that early. While it might seem unprofessional of them, if anything I'm glad I didn't know.

If you're in the UK, your booking appointment between 8 and 10 weeks is just a bunch of health questions and then blood tests.
You only get scans at 12 and 20 weeks

@BlueberryPancake21

Your 8wk appointment will be your booking appointment with the midwife. It is very dull! They are basically filling in a form to create your pregnancy notes so expect questions on your health, partner's health and things like mental health, how much you drink and smoke and whether there are any domestic issues (it's right that they ask even if it feels a bit intrusive!) Assuming it's in person (COVID differs by area) they will take blood and a urine sample. They won't even check that you are pregnant - they assume you read the test right! Definitely no ultrasound that early - you have to wait until 12 weeks for NHS.

Re 8 wk scan - it's totally up to you and what you want to get out of it. 8 weeks is a good time to see that there's a heartbeat and you would be able to see teeny arms moving about (with the guidance of the sonographer!) Risk of MC drops significantly after seeing HB at that point and your partner can definitely go to a private scan with you - you'd have to check the rules at your local hospital. The only slight downside of a private scan (and it is slight) is that they don't always tell you if there's a potential issue whereas NHS would - I've had a private scan where I came out thinking everything was OK only to lose the baby and have NHS tell me that there was a problem at the scan I wasn't told about. Honestly though - if I'd been told there "might" be a problem I would've spent the whole time worrying about it and there's absolutely nothing you can do to change the outcome that early. While it might seem unprofessional of them, if anything I'm glad I didn't know.

I looked into private scans and you can only have one from 8 weeks onwards, I'm so inpatient!
Thank you xx

Not in the UK, dating scan is usually after 11wk. If you want an earlier scan and have no issues like bleeding you'll have to go private.