Why do I feel so deflated after 12 week scan?

[MrsBB89]

Hi, I'm hoping someone else will be able to relate and I'm not just being crazy. I was a bag of nerves before my 12 week scan today, so much so, I was shaking. Then in the scan itself, we saw baby and saw a heart beat which was a big relief and lovely but I kept getting sent out the room to empty my bladder more and more. She said she couldnt get the baby at a good angle. Then sent me off for a walk and then tried again and still couldn't get any measurements, couldnt perform the NT for downs and didnt get an image good enough for any pictures to be printed. They said they will try and get me back in a week. I know I should be happy the baby all seemed fine which they said there was nothing to worry about , and I do, but I feel really flat and worried that it might be measuring wrong next week or if that the NT fluid will measure high risk. Can anyone else relate to this or should I stop worrying and just be grateful my baby seems to be fine so far?

Hi op, are you overweight at all. This can cause issues getting good measurements in scans but they don't say it's due to weight. Just wondering as this happened with me

It's totally understandable you feel deflated. That 12 week scan is a huge milestone and you want to leave feeling confident as opposed to uncertain. It's disappointing but it happens-just keep chasing them to go back and get rescanned x

I think the problem with pregnancy is that - and I mean this with all the care in the world - until baby is viable outside the womb, medical professionals are somewhat blasé. It’s not that they don’t care for you, and for the way you feel, but early pregnancy is such a SLOG. Until at least the midway point you don’t really get much out of it - no kicks, one measly scan where they look like a sock in a black bin bag, just feeling crap while simultaneously feeling like the biggest miracle in the world is happening inside you. The disconnect between the flipping amazing thing that’s happening to you and the ‘yeah, pregnancy happens all the time’ thing that it feels like to medical professionals is so tricky to deal with, and not getting the picture and measurements you were hoping for are of course going to make you feel down when you’ve built up to this moment.

All I found that helped was realising that having a baby is both the most exceptional and unexceptional thing that will ever happen to you. If the HCPs seem a bit bored and routine that’s a good thing!! The ‘we’ll see you next week for another go’ means they’ve seen this a million times before and aren’t worried.

Good luck for next week and I’m so excited for you to see baby again! Just think about all the things you’ll be able to do after next week when you get the OK - shopping, nursery planning…

Thank you for the reassurance both!

HPmagic - this was actually the opposite for me they told me that because I'm slim, I shouldn't have filled my bladder so much and it pushed on the baby too much which is why they kept sending me out. I feel like you can't really win whatever your size!

Newtolineofduty - yes, I think you've summed it up! They said I will get a letter in the next couple of days with a new date but it needs to be quick as I'm 12+5 already so only a week and 1 day left to get it done.

Thank you dollywilde! I guess that's a good way to look at it. The way they didn't seem bothered was really frustrating but you're right, it's a positive that everything just probably seemed so routine to them.

This happened to me with my second child. She HATED being scanned. During the 12 week one she just turned her back on us. We got a lovely view of her spine.

We had to go back a few weeks later for the rest of the measurements. All was fine she just didn't want to play.

At 20 weeks she curled into a tight ball and they couldn't see anything. Luckily we didn't want to know the sex as they couldn't see anyway. We had to go back for that one as well.

They weren’t able to get a good photo at my 12 week scan either and weren’t able to do the NT measurement. I’m overweight and had the same issue that my bladder was too full, kept getting sent to empty my bladder and the shuffle to try and reposition baby. Baby wasn’t having any of it. They did the screening for me via blood test at 17 weeks and my result came back really low risk.

I was anxious for my 20 week scan as a result in case the blood test had missed something or something wasn’t picked up on the first scan. Everything was fine on the 20 week scan. They had no problem getting measurements. Well, the only problems they had was when baby decided to start spinning as the tech tried to grab a measurement.

I just had my 12 week scan last week (was actually only 11 weeks) and a similar thing happened to me. We managed to see the baby and heartbeat we even seen them wriggling around and everything measured as expected but the sonographer couldn't get a good enough look at the anatomy due to the fact my uterus tips back a lot instead of forward. She was having to push down pretty hard on me because of this and was trying to get me to shake about to try get baby to change positions as she said the position baby was sitting in wasn't helping matters but they never budged. Luckily she did manage to get the NT measurements for the downs test. So basically I got told to come back in a week so they can't try get a better look at the anatomy. I was a bit gutted after having looked forward to that moment since finding out I was pregnant so I know how you feel. For me it was not being able to announce my pregnancy as expected as I thought I'd be able to start telling people after the scan but felt like I'd better wait until the get a proper look at baby's anatomy. The only good thing I keep thinking to myself is that at least I get to see baby again on a scan and get another photo (hopefully a better one this time) and that the sonographer reassured me she had no concerns from what she'd seen. I'm sure all will be fine good luck for your next scan xx

Im sorry to hear you both had frustrating experiences as well, Twizbe and Inthenight. But it's nice to hear there are others who have felt the same as me and it's obviously not too rare for it to happen when baby won't play ball. I suppose the only good part was that I kept seeing it move around which made it feel more real in a way. Just really hard that there's still things that are uncertain and feel like I can't get too happy yet.

Thank you, lisamxx. Good luck for you're next scan as well. Hopefully we both have a better experience second time around.

A similar thing happened to me. I had drank loads and had to keep going for a wee. In the end the sonographer was unable to get the NT measurements. Lucky for you you are being brought back in a week. I was told that I had now missed my NHS chance because baby was in the wrong position and that if I wanted NT done then to go and pay privately. They said they would not call me back in a few days.

To be fair the private scan was a 100x better and much more thorough. The NHS is a joke these days.

I also had to come back a week later for another scan - the measurements suggested I was 11 weeks rather than 12, so the sonographer couldn’t get the measurements she needed for the screening.

I also felt a bit uncertain as the whole thing was quite short and we didn’t get much info beyond “it looks fine, come back in a week” and it felt a bit rushed. But when I went back the next week the whole thing was a much better experience. The sonographer (different woman) was absolutely lovely, really spent the time on looking at everything and made me and the baby feel really special. Hopefully this will happen to you too!

I think the first woman just figured that since she couldn’t get the measurements there wasn’t a lot of point going overboard on anything else, which I sort of understand, but the comparison made the second experience seem extra lovely!

This is what happened with my second baby. I ended up having bi weekly scans after the 20 weeks scan because they found an anomaly, we had to have genetic testing and all and the last consultant who saw me said: it's all probably because you're so slim. I was like WTF, I've had weekly bloods, genetic testing, bi-weekly scans because I'm skinny?

Can you afford to pay for a private scan? The sonographers there tend to be much more patient if baby isn’t playing ball and basically won’t let you go until they’ve got all the information they need. I also found the scans much much clearer than the NHS ones (even though they claim to use the same equipment). I had a private scan at 11 weeks, when partners still weren’t allowed to the NHS ones due to Covid and then went back at 16 weeks to find out the gender because we loved the experience so much!

I still went to the NHS ones as well, as they are the ones who make a medical record of everything related to your pregnancy and will make referrals if anything is wrong (which I’m sure it won’t be). But the private ones made me feel more at ease and were more of a special event than the NHS ones were, where as you say, the sonographers don’t always seem too bothered.

I also recommend a private scan. Our experience there has been so much more positive than with the NHS. They really take time to do it well and give a lot of feedback.

Thanks all for your replies. I was luckily rung by the hospital and offered a second scan just 2 days later. All went more to plan the second time and it was a much nicer experience. Just need to wait for the results of the NT now but they said the measurements all looked as they should so feel more reassured. What a difference when things go the way you want them to!