Inconclusive early pregnancy scan

[BeOpenBiscuit]

Hello

bit of background to my story I came off the pill last May and ever since I’ve had irregular periods ranging from 42 days to the longest being 99 days! anyway we started trying to conceive and the first day of my last period was the 1st March 2024 and I got my first BFP on 24th April 2024 (I tested around a week before this and it was negative due to my irregular cycles) I’m sure I ovulated on 14th April as I have been suing OvuSense to detect ovulation we were both super exited and decided to book an early pregnancy scan which we attend on Friday 24th May however it was declared inconclusive as they could see the gestational sac and a yolk sac but no embryo the sonographer wasn’t the most explanative or helpful tbh but said it could be either two things: I’m either less along than I thought or that the pregnancy hasn’t progressed.

I reached out to my midwife as we had already had an appointment with her the day before and as my last period would put me at 12 weeks which I know is way off she has arranged a scan through the NHS for a couple of weeks time.

just wondering if anyone has any similar stories and their outcomes either negative or positive?

thank you in advance and sorry for the long post! It’s all very overwhelming!

I didn’t want to read and run.

If you ovulated / conceived on 14 April then you’d be about 8 weeks (6 weeks from ovulation, plus 2 weeks because traditionally measured from LMP which in a “normal” regular cycle is 28 days). There is a chance your dates are out, especially as your cycle is irregular. They’re tiny at this stage so it’s really easy to measure incorrectly.

I did have an inconclusive scan after some bleeding in early pregnancy but I was about 6 weeks and I was measuring a week behind, no heartbeat. In the NHS they would ask you to come back 2 weeks later to confirm a miscarriage or not (and the next steps). When I went back I was measuring further along and a heartbeat was seen. It’s worth remembering babies don’t grow along linear lines.

I found it helpful preparing for the worst, and knowing that there’s absolutely nothing I could do to change the outcome. That might sound weird but I suppose I was fatalistic. I’m also aware I had a happy outcome.

Given your history of irregular periods, I would advise against “souvenir” pregnancy scans. They don’t have an obstetrician or specialist midwife to explain any irregularities. Which is possibly why you’ve found yourself not receiving much advice or guidance. Early scans can be reassuring but look for obstetrics lead ones (they cost a few hundred pounds). I was told I may not be able to conceive due to PCO so I had one with a really helpful obstetrician before we tried and she was able to reassure me (yes I have PCO but not PCOS).

I hope this is helpful and I’m sure others will be able to offer their experiences too. Thoughts are with you, I know the wait feels endless.

@PurBal thank you so much for your reply above and yes the private scan only cost £80 so I’m assuming it wasn’t the best! We only did it with it being our first pregnancy and being really excited and yes I’m just going to wait it out until the next scan and think the worst rather than being optimistic and then getting bad news x