First time pregnant - advice needed

[TaTaForNow]

Hi all

first time posting but long time lurker as we have been trying to conceive.

My last period started on the 26th Jan 2023, prior to this I had not had a real period for almost 2 years until I came off my pills in September 2022 I had a very light bleed in October and then December.

i had a feeling I might be pregnant so decided to take two tests today including one of those digital date ones. The first stick had a really dark plus symbol, and the digital one says 1-2 weeks. I have a spare digital I will take in a few days.

myself and my husband are now sat wondering what’s next, do we call the GP or is it too soon to do that? Is the dark plus so early okay and nothing to worry about? When people say they have their 12 weeks scan or pay private for an 8 week scan is that from conception or from the date your last period started?

we are so happy, but now just a bit confused as to where do we go from here.

apologies for my late night rambling but any support/guidance is more than appreciated!

thanks everyone!

You date it from your last period, most gps don’t do anything for maternity care now, you self refer to your local maternity unit. Have a look online at your local trust and it should tell you. A dark positive is absolutely fine.

huge congratulations

Firstly, congratulations!!

It depends on your trust. In N.I we can self refer to maternity or phone GP and they will refer you for a 12 week booking appointment.

Some people pay private because they don't want to wait until 12 weeks and it's usually from last period.

Unfortunately it really is just a waiting game. We paid private at around 8 weeks because my periods are sooo irregular and I had no idea how far along I was.

Thanks @Twoinapod if my late night brain is working that means I’m almost 4 weeks then. Is 4 weeks too early to call the local maternity unit?

Thank you as well @Irishgirl55 we are in the south of England, but I will either pop my head into the GP to see what they say or try and figure out how to self refer here. The joys of not having family who have done this in recent years - at least I can use the wisdom on here!
Is that 8 weeks since the first day of your last period? If so, I might look to do the same just to make sure everything at that time is okay.

@TaTaForNow
Congrats!!
Yes it is 8 weeks from First day of last period.

So if your last period was 26 Jan, you are 3w +5d.
You can call your pregnancy unit or self-refer yourself online. If you Google your local hospital trust, their website should have links to self-referral forms.

4 weeks isn't too early, they will most probably send you an appointment for booking in around the 8 week mark.

If you'd like a private early scan, Google early reassurance scan and places nearby should pop up.

@pottypotamus Thank you! That all makes much more sense now. I kept seeing people say that they are 4+6 or 3+2 and I was like, what does that mean?!, but it’s weeks and days!

So my 8 weeks would be around the 23rd March (which still feels a lifetime away, but I’m sure it’ll be here in no time!).

I think my local is the Princess Royal near Orpington so I will have a Google today in my lunch break and look to self refer.

I shall take a look for an early scan place near us, I presume it’s best to wait until 8 weeks for that and not any sooner?

thanks again everyone!

Hey no worries! I was clueless until I found Mumsnet

I think some early scan places can scan from 6 weeks but I've been told that 6 weeks can be too early and if your dates are out then they may not be able to see anything and it can cause unnecessary alarm.

I went for early scans for all 3 kids and was always around 7-8 weeks. If you're dates are correct then they should see a heartbeat when you're that far along.

Thanks @pottypotamus i will do just that, wait until around the 8 week mark and have a private scan. I’ll likely book it around the “booking in appointment”.

in the meantime I need to look at the self referral form this weekend and try not to over think anything or worry!

I was saying to my husband this morning that it’s a shame that London has a baby show on I think next weekend, or in October. October might be too close to the date but this one might be far too soon to even go to have a look (and not buy anything but start to pull together a list).