@Custard7891 Good luck for your scan :) Last time I waited awhile after the 12 week scan to say anything to people, but this time I'm like 'omg I can finally talk about it' 😁
@IVF23 A couple of spare pounds around the middle does help with keeping it private for longer 😂Its just the cervix thing that's making me be seen earlier. This is why I didn't pay for any private scans last time, as I was in and out a lot! The use the Badger Notes app here in Scotland to track everything so was looking at my appointments from last time. So last time I had 2 early pregnancy scans at the fertility clinic (because I had a big bleed got seen twice), then the usual booking in appointment (over the phone), then the 12 weeks scan. Then cervix checks at 14, 16 and 18 weeks (each one followed by meeting with a random midwife and then consultant). The 16 week scan they combined with the GTT. Then the usual 20 week scan. I had an extra midwife appointment at 23 weeks because they forgot to give me the Mat1b form at the 20 week scan. Then a community midwife appointment at 25 weeks for this being a first baby. And then growth scans because it was an IVF pregnancy at 28, 32, 36 and 40 weeks (again along with seeing a random midwife and seeing the consultant after each scan). I also apparently had an appointment at 39 weeks - not sure what that was for 😂Think it might have actually been just to see a midwife to check birth plan? Cant honestly remember.
I did have another growth scan booked in for 41 weeks, but I went into labour a few days before that scan 😂
The upside to having the cervix issue and being consultant led was all the extra scans were quite nice, as I got really frequent reassurance everything was fine, and never felt tempted to bother with any private scans. But it meant I only actually met my community midwife once I think, because they rolled all the usual midwife appointments into my extra scans, so I just saw whoever was on duty at the hospital clinic that day. It also took up a lot of extra time off work.
It all seemed a bit of a faff really as other than my cervix being a bit short, I was only 33 and had no medical issues or anything. Literally all those extra growth scans were just because my health boards policy was to treat my pregnancy as 'higher risk' because we conceived through IVF, which still to this day seems a bit overkill. As my DP said though if they're offering the extra scans and reassurance might as well embrace it.
I did feel though that I had to advocate more for my rights and choices - though I think in general there is a massive issue with the language used with pregnant women (lots of women being 'told' that they 'have' to do things, like being induced). I did a bit of reading during my pregnancy last time around pregnancy choices and so on, and quite recommend the book 'How to give birth like a feminist' - very much about making sure your choices around birth are heard and listened to.