Early scan reassurance

[Kittens1237]

Hi, I'm looking for a bit of reassurance after some early scans this week. I had a miscarriage last year (first pregnancy) and am an anxious mess.

I had a private scan a few days ago due to a big bleed, which showed a good heartbeat which was great to see. She dated me at 6+1 and measured CRL as 5.4mm. I then had a scan 3 days later at EPU (had already had this booked in due to ongoing spotting), and they dated me at 6 weeks with CRL as 3.4mm which they said is normal. Heartbeat was still visible and on pictures it does look as though things have progressed, bleeding has also settled.

I am not as concerned about the different dates as know these are hard to pin down, but about the fact that things seem to have gotten smaller. I questioned the difference in sizes with the NHS sonographer and they didn't seem worried at all, they said at this early stage measurements are hard to take accurately. I really want to be positive after what should have been a reassuring scan, but my brain is fixating on this one detail.

Ultimately I know that what will be will be, and have another scan booked in for 9 weeks which will hopefully show a healthy progression, but does anyone have any experience of this or reassurance to get me through in the meantime?

You are right in the what you said, what will be will be and try (although easier said) to relax and not let ‘what could happen’ take over your life.

As long as heartbeat is visable, bleeding is nil/minimal, no severe cramping and sonographer/midwife happy then please try not to overthink.

Congratulations and take care of yourself. Wishing you the happy and healthy pregnancy that you deserve x

@Feelingcrappy2 thank you so much, I will really try to relax xx

It’s also worth reminding yourself that you can always book in a private scan at any time if you are feeling particularly anxious. Sometimes it helps calm the mind just reminding yourself that option is there x

The baby can't get smaller so it's likely a variation between the people measuring. Most places won't worry about a comparison with a scan done elsewhere, I had this with the NHS and a private scan I had late in pregnancy, they didn't care what the private scan said as it was done elsewhere. Different places also have different references for dating, but in your case you me many worry seems to be the different CRL. I would try not to focus too much on it because we are talking about mm and fractions of mm at this stage and a good heart beat is really amazing. I will say that my baby was in the high 90th centiles on numerous scans and was born on 50th so measuring with ultrasound can't be that accurate.

@Gardenlady543 thank you for posting, this is reassuring. Fingers crossed all goes well and congratulations on your baby 🙂

At such an early stage I’d take the heart beat as an amazing sign and just try to put the rest out of your mind OP. I know it’s so hard, I honestly think sometimes these early reassurance scans cause more worry and anxiety and don’t often provide much reassurance! X

Just wanted to share an update in case anybody is in a similar position in the future - everything perfectly fine with a healthy baby at the 12 week scan :)

Thank you to those who replied and sending positive vibes to anyone that needs them!

Fab news!
I had a mc last year, absolutely horrendous.
i am now 7 weeks pregnant and have an early visibility scan next week and dreading it.
Not sure how I’ll get through it to be honest x

@BostonMA I have only just seen this but hoping everything is going well for you. The waiting is so so hard and I found the scans so nerve wracking, it helped me to ask the sonographer to narrate as they went along xxx