Early scan - how early and what could be seen?

[Meid]

I had an early scan today as I've been spotting. The sonographer couldn't see a thing and said its because its very early days - I'll be 6 weeks on Friday.

This surprised me. I knew it was too early for a heartbeat but I thought they would have at least been able to see a foetal sac or some sign of pregnancy.

I just wondered what other people's experiences were with early scans?

Thanks.

[feastofstevenmom]

what can be seen depends firstly on what type of scan - internal scans show things up to a week ahead of abdominal scans, and on how good the equipment is.

when I had an abdominal scan at about 5.5/6 weeks (my dates got mucked about a lot, so can't be precise) all they could see was a foetal sac

then I had an internal scan 4 days later, which showed the fetal pole, and a heartbeat, and indicated I was about 6.5 weeks. I was told that I was very lucky to see a heartbeat that early.

i think on an internal scan they would expect to see a fetal pole by about 6 weeks, and a heartbeat by at the latest 8 weeks.

if your periods are at all irregular, i.e over 4 weeks, then your dating could be off - I recall that my dating was either 1 week or 1 week and a half behind what my last period would have suggested.

are you going for a repeat scan?

[whimsy]

I had a 6week scan with ds, although it was an internal one. We could see a little heart beat and got a picure. Maybe they didn't do that sort of scan due to spotting.

[strawberry]

I've had early scans to check whether a pregnancy is viable. Whilst they might be able to see something they can not confirm the pregnancy until they see the heartbeat. I wanted a scan before going on holiday but would only have been 6.5 weeks and so they said there was really no point as they wouldn't be able to say for sure. Have they asked you to go back in a week or so? It's not easy waiting at the best of times - are they open next week? Good luck.

[Meid]

Thanks.

It was an internal scan and my periods are regular so I have no reason to assume the dates are incorrect.

I had a blood test and am due to have another on Friday to check the hormone levels. I'll be seeing the doctor that afternoon to get the results and hopefully it will be a happy Christmas for me!

[Colinsawmommykissingsantaclaus]

I wasn't sure how far along I was with DS, so they sent me in for an internal scan. I could have been anywhere from 6-12 weeks, and was told that if I was closer to 6, I probably wouldn't see anything, somewhere in betweeen, something that looked like a raisin with a heartbeat, and if I was farther along, something that resembled a baby. I was determined to be almost 11 weeks, so I got to see a baby, but they really prepared me to see not much of anything, because they didn't think I was that far along.

[hester]

I had a scan at five weeks - they couldn't see anything, not even a sac, but they said that wasn't surprising and they count themselves lucky if they can see anything that early. Many EPUs won't scan anybody before six weeks becaue it's considered a bit of a waste of time. What they can see is changes to the thickness of your uterine wall and other signs that show that you are pg or have been pg very recently. However, to know that the pregnancy is alright right now they need to see a heartbeat.

So you really shouldn't worry that they couldn't see anything - that is very normal and expected at this early stage. Really hope that your spotting stops soon and you have a great christmas and a happy, healthy pregnancy.

[hoxtonturkey]

i had an internal scan at 6.5 weeks. the baby was 7mm long, & they saw a heartbeat. they tried an abdominal one first but couldn't see anything. i was reassured when they dated me what i thought i was if that makes sense. hope everything is ok for you.

[eidsvold]

with dd1 had an abdominal scan at 7 weeks and we were able to see the heartbeat.