Early pregnancy help

[Dogsmum2022]

Hi everyone, we have Been trying for over a year and this week tested positive, I can’t believe it! My app says we are 6 weeks.

but I have quickly gone from excitement to pure fear. I feel ok, I think I may feel sick but I’m not sure really or am I just overthinking it, I am very tired but I also suffer from low iron, I am paranoid something is going to happen because I am feeling ok.

can anyone give any reassurance from being so early on thank you

Hey, I don't have any reassurance as such but I'm in the same position as you. We have been trying for 18 months or so and just got our first positive test a few days ago so just over 4 weeks pregnant. I don't have any symptoms yet and I'm struggling to get too excited because I feel like it would be "just our luck" for something to go wrong.

I think it's understandable to feel this way though, the last year has been quite a journey for sure!

1st baby - sickness came on hard around 8 weeks
2nd baby - no sickness at all
3rd baby - awful sickness from 12 weeks till almost 30 weeks.

All pregnancies are different, no sickness is not an indication that something's wrong, in fact it's a blessing...trust me!! Enjoy it because it may not last 😂
Congrats!! X

This is so reassuring as with my DD I felt sick as a dog for weeks but I'm 4+5 and feel fine apart from slightly sore boobs! Thank you, guess I'll just enjoy for now 😂

Hey so I'm 9+3 today. have had a few bouts of vomiting or nausea when brushing teeth/opening fridge etc but I expected a lot more to be honest. I hardly have any symptoms but baby is growing very well. Everyone's different x

@Dogsmum2022 I didn't have any symptoms throughout! Well apart from needing the toilet more in the night in the latter stages. I now have a nearly 1 year old daughter! Everyone is different in how they feel. Congratulations and hope all goes well ❤️

I'm currently twelve weeks pregnant with our first and long-awaited IVF baby. I had exactly the same worries as you, especially in the early weeks. I have felt a little nauseous occasionally, but nowhere close to actually being sick, and my breasts were a little tender but, apart from that, nothing really which I found very concerning. However, thank god, the scans have so far shown that baby is developing well so I'm trying not to set too much store by what pregnancy symptoms I do or don't have. I know that every woman's pregnancy experience is entirely individual and I also try to remind myself that my mum never once suffered from morning sickness with any of her three healthy and straightforward pregnancies. However, I've been a bundle of anxiety since the moment we found out we were expecting, over-analysing every little twinge or symptom and terrified lest I do something to harm my baby, even though the logical part of my brain knows that nothing I'm doing could realistically cause problems, so I know how impossible it is not to worry, especially during these early crucial weeks.
I still panic sometimes because I don't really feel physically pregnant yet, but I hope this will improve when I start to show and when I can actually feel our baby moving.
While I haven't suffered from the best-known pregnancy symptoms I have had the delights of an asymptomatic UTI and chronic constipation leading to hemorrhoids which, while not much fun, are apparently quite common in pregnancy.
Congratulations and I hope these comments give you some reassurance.

Thank you so much for your reply, although I know everyone is different it’s nice to hear someone else feels the same.
I just wish I could skip the next few weeks and get to the point where you can relax a little more.

I just feel that something has to go wrong, we never get any luck and it’s something we’ve been. Dreaming of for so long all feel surreal.

I am thinking of booking a early pregnancy scan but we have to wait until 10 weeks

massive congrats to you to xx

Also I’ve not told my GP yet, at what stage do you need to do that?

First of all, congratulations!

It is a tough journey.

My first i had symptoms from 6 weeks which was nausea and being tired.
With my second (which took us 3.5 years to get here) i only had exhaustion and that started when i was around 6 weeks but i also experienced bleeds on and off.

If you need some reassurance, book a private scan to ease your mind. Massive good luck and try not to symptom spot too much as the symptoms can come and go!

I completely understand how you feel, I'm still living in constant fear that something is going to go wrong. I'm a very anxious person generally but I just can't shake the feeling of dread, especially after it's taken so long to get here.
We had treatment at a private IVF clinic who offered us a viability scan at 7 weeks as part of our package but I think it should be possible to book a seven week scan for extra reassurance though it may have to be private. I had a few days of respite after the seven week scan when the sonographer found a good strong heartbeat, but I did go back to worrying not long after! We also went for an extra reassurance scan at 10 weeks to tide us over between the viability scan and 12 week NHS scan and that really did put my mind at rest, been feeling much more relaxed since then. My husband couldn't believe how much our baby had grown in 3 weeks. At the 7 week scan all that could be seen was a little been but by 10 weeks there was a tiny person with arms and legs and even a nose, it's utterly amazing. I only have a few more days before my NHS scan and, while I'm still anxious, the 10 week reassurance scan really helped. I'd highly recommend these reassurance scans, they may not benefit everyone but as someone who suffers from severe anxiety I've found them helpful. Best of luck with everything!

Thank you so much, I have just looked at a viability scan, we can book one for this Sunday, but that scares me a bit as well. I don’t know what to do for the best x

It really is such an individual decision to make and you should only do what feels right for you. We were quite lucky in that we didn't really need to make a decision about whether or not to have the viability scan since our private IVF clinic just automatically booked us in for one as soon as I notified them the test was positive. I personally know I just wasn't capable of waiting for the 12 week scan so I'm glad we had the option of both the viability and reassurance scans but, as I said, I know this is not for everyone. If the idea of the viability scan is causing you more anxiety then maybe leave it a few weeks but, if you think it might help to put your mind at rest, if only for a short while, then I'd say it's definitely worth going for. I too was very nervous in the few days directly prior to the viability scan but, once I'd had it, I felt incredibly relieved. Best of luck with whatever you decide. x

The clinic advised me to refer myself to the midwives as soon as I'd had my viability scan at 7 weeks which I did. You can ask your GP to refer you but it is easy to refer yourself and I had my initial appointment with a midwife very soon after my self-referal which was a great experience. My midwife was very thorough and helpful. She refered me to the specialist midwife unit as I am disabled and also flagged my pregnancy as high-risk due to my pre-existing medical conditions, which means I will be offered more monitoring especially later on.
I also notified my GP and specialist that I was pregnant early on because I have conditions which need special management and monitoring in pregnancy. My GP and specialists have been excellent too.
Even if you self-refer to a midwife I'd still notify your GP now, particularly if they're usually helpful and supportive as if they are aware of your pregnancy they can be more proactive in supporting you in any concerns you may have. Hope this is helpful.

I’ve just booked a early viability scan for this Sunday, I don’t think I can mentally wait until 12 weeks.
today I haven’t felt sick or not that tired at all and that worries me now to. But I can see by reading all the posts everyone is very different.

has anyone had a viability scan at 6weeks 3 days ? Did you get much joy as I’ve read mixed reviews on how much you will see

This was my 6+5 scan and only just saw a flicker of a heartbeat and baby was 5.2mm. You won't see a heartbeat until fetal pole is 5mm at least so I'd wait closer to 7 weeks as much as possible as if I went couple days earlier I feel I would've panicked myself x

Was this done over your stomach or internally?

They will usually always do internally until 10 weeks as things are so hard to see

Early congrats. I would really advise postponing your scan for another week, ideally two weeks. Most women have their dates changed at the scan so you could easily be less weeks/days than you think, and it's much better to wait til 8 weeks so it will be definitive whether there's a heartbeat, and you'll get a much better picture at 8 weeks. And obviously remember the scan doesn't change anything about the outcome. I had an NHS scan at 6wks3days due to bleeding, but there was really nothing to see (luckily did see heartbeat). I had a private scan two weeks later and it was a much better view. Good scan places should only be offering scans from 8 weeks onwards. and if there's a heart beat at 8 weeks and foetus measuring fine, it's more promising for the pregnancy to continue well.

I really want to postpone it but my mind is going into over drive. I think because I feel ok, I am paranoid that something has gone wrong. However mad this sounds but if I had more symptoms perhaps I would be more reassured. Xx

If you do, just be prepared for there not being a heartbeat yet as that's quite possible if you're dating a few days behind. I only found scans reassuring for about 5 minutes afterwards! It's pretty common to not have many symptoms at 6 weeks.

There's such a range of what's normal in early preganncy.

I fell pregnant the same time as 2 co workers.
They had zero morning sickness but I got it bad. However, it only started from 6 weeks.

I never felt tired but one of my co workers was having daily naps from the start!

I know it's hard, but try to enjoy. Such a magical time.

I just wish there was something I could do regularly just to make sure everything is ok- because even testing isn’t accurate in terms of loss, because the hormone remains high weeks after xx thank you everyone

I was 7 weeks and 4 days when I had my viability scan. This is an IVF baby so it's much easier to work out exact gestational age than it often is with natural pregnancies. It was an internal scan which I believe is standard for scans prior to 10 weeks. The scan found the heartbeat very quickly and the baby's measurements were just what they should have been at that point. My 10 week scan was performed externally and sonographer again had no trouble getting a good picture. All the advice I've read suggests that is best to wait until at least 7 weeks for an ultrasound scan. As other posters have said, while earlier scans can detect a heartbeat it is less reliable and I think it may significantly increase your stress if they couldn't find a heartbeat, especially when it may well be because it was still too early to detect it on an ultrasound. Perhaps consider postponing for a week if you think you could wait that long, if not by all means go now, just be aware that not seeing a heartbeat at this point doesn't automatically mean anything is wrong. I know waiting that extra week can be agony, the three weeks between my positive pregnancy test and viability scan felt like the longest weeks of my life! All the best with whatever you decide is best for you.

I’ve pushed it back another week, I didn’t fully understand the date and how it can be so different to when you ovulate. So another long week of worry ☹️