Early Scan

[annasun123]

Hi all.
Would love everyone’s opinion, has anyone been for an early scan?
The first day of my last period was 14th of November which would mean I am roughly 7 weeks and 5 days pregnant. In two days time (so when I’m 8 weeks) I can self referral in NI for my 12 week scan.
My partner and myself were just a bit worried so booked in for an early scan, we were told the baby is small so I could be roughly only 6 weeks pregnant but we did the math and we definitely didn’t convince 6 weeks ago. I am so lucky that I am pregnant but was just a bit disappointed because I’ve found this time period so lonely not being able to tell anyone and now I’m apparently 2 weeks earlier than I had thought.
If we hadn’t of booked in for an early scan I would still be under the impression I’m closely to 8 weeks so my question is would you go with the estimated 6 weeks even if you have your doubts or act none the wiser and go ahead and self referral in 2 days time?

Doctors, midwives etc will all go from the date of your last period. You could still be measuring small/behind if you ovulated late but things could be absolutely fine. Self refer as normal and as hard as it is - wait it out!

You know that because of them going from the date of your last period when you’re say - 5 weeks pregnant you actually are technically only 3 weeks pregnant (as you tend to ovulate 2 weeks into your cycle) - could it be something to do with that?

@annasun123 you go with the date of your period , regardless of how far along you think you are.
To be honest it's quite hard to know as theres different possibilities here. Unless you were tracking ovulation then how can you be sure when you ovulated? Even then ovulation can still be a few days out so you might be a few days behind.
Early scans are NOT reliable for dating you, Which is why the 12 week dating scan is important . You'll need to wait until the 12 week scan to be dated.
Lastly , yes it's possible baby could be behind . Often by 12 week they do catch up.
I'm also in N.I and was never told I had to wait until 8 weeks to self refer. I had an early scan at 7 weeks as I had ivf and the clinic told me to self refer straight away.
The advice on the self referral form from HSCNI says you can self refer as soon as you have a positive pregnancy test. I wouldn't think it would be wrong since that's the offical advice

@glasdee the measurements dont have anything to do with the weeks your not actually pregnant?
the scans take into account the average 2 weeks your not pregnant.
By the time your period is due and your pregnant your offically already 4 weeks pregnant. Completely irrelevant that your technically only 2 weeks . That's not how measurements are based.

Agree with pp the early scans are not accurate for dating . You can't go on the date a scan at 7 weeks tells you because they just aren't reliable at that early stage The nhs date you from about 10 -14 weeks.
Go from date of period .
Also nireland here. You don't have to wait 8 weeks. Not sure where you've got that information ? Go on to self referral website

By the way, at 7 weeks baby is TINY. Its around 1cm. It's so hard to measure it accurately on the monitor. The tiniest measurement out will knock your date off

I would go ahead with self referral when it's available for you and wait for your dating scan. These early scans seem to be hit and miss so I wouldn't worry about anything right now.

We have been trying so I have been keeping a diary of my ovulation and we were trying on the days I was in ovulation so only being 6 weeks doesn’t really match up. We only went for an early scan as we have had issues getting pregnant so we just wanted to make sure everything was okay.
My doctor sent me the self referral sheet and above says only complete when you’re in your 8th week which I’m just going to do in two days time anyway.

That was my advice from my general GP. He sent me the self referral website and on the website it says you can self referral but the actual application form it says about fill in during your 8th week of pregnancy, I’ve posted it above. I just want to make sure I’m doing everything right as this is my first pregnancy and it took us so long to get to this point x

@MoonIightDreamer
We have been trying so I have been keeping a diary of my ovulation and we were trying on the days I was in ovulation so only being 6 weeks doesn’t really match up. We only went for an early scan as we have had issues getting pregnant so we just wanted to make sure everything was okay.
this is the website I was sent from my GP. On the website it says I can apply whenever I receive a positive test but the actual application form says you have to fill it in during your 8th week for your 12 week scan. Is this different to the one you filled in?

@annasun123 ive had a look, it must be something to do specifically with southern trust.
I'm western trust and could refer at any time after a postive test . I didn't think there would be a difference between the trusts. I would print it and drop it into surgery as opposed to email as my referral actually got lost on the system. Apparently the system sent it to the wrong department or trust or something. As a result my booking appointment was delayed as I had to chase them up . Just had mine and now waiting for my scan. I'm 13 weeks on Tuesday

I measured behind at my 6 weeks scan but then measured a week ahead at my 12 week scan. It will all go off lmp dates until your 12 week scan x

Thank you so much for your lovely advice, that’s exactly what I’ll do❤️❤️

Hi! I'm no expert but I know that dating in these early scans can be inaccurate as what they are measuring is so so small and if they're out by a few mm when they click on the screen it can effect the dating by days/weeks! Personally, I'd maybe wait a week or 2 and go in for another scan just to check that the pregnancy is progressing and for my own reassurance 🧡. The space between scans feels like a lifetime! I'm currently 6 weeks 2 days (I think!) and I'm considering getting an early scan too... I wanted to wait until 8/9 weeks but it feels like ages!!

We had IVF so I know exactly when the embryo was implanted, however at every scan I've measured 4-5 days ahead of the IVF calculated due date. Babies grow at different rates and implant at different times.