7+3 measuring 6+4?

[dreamerkr]

Hey guys, I had an early private scan this morning because I was having a bit of shoulder pain last night and I got scared about an ectopic. According to my dates, I’m meant to be 7+3 weeks today, I’m quite sure of when I ovulated. We saw a heartbeat but baby is measuring 6+4 so almost a week behind? I’m a bit worried now although the sonographer did say that this is normal at this stage as the baby is so tiny. Also, I don’t think I had a full bladder and the scan was a normal abdominal one, if that makes any difference? I’m scared because I have a history of recurrent miscarriage 🥺

Try not to worry. At this stage the baby is sooooo tiny that it's hard to measure accurately. The fact you saw a heartbeat is great news 😃

I think it's normal to measure up to a week either way at this stage as they are literally dealing in fractions of millimetres...and even harder to measure accurately with an abdominal scan at that stage.
I'd say if there was a healthy heartbeat and the sonographer wasn't concerned then that's a great sign.

It's so hard not to worry but this is quite common. It's actually quite difficult to date a pregnancy on scan at this stage because the measurements are so teeny tiny. You know when you ovulated so was it maybe later than the 'standard' day 14? That would alter the dates on scan. My last pregnancy I knew I ovulated around day 18 so pushed myself back by 4 days.
The day I went for an early scan I was supposed to be 7+2 based on the normal calculators, but I pulled myself back to 6+5 to account for later ovulation. Then on the scan I was 6+1. I could not account for another 4 days less and was devastated thinking the worst. The baby then grew 9 days in one week and the same again the following week. Bringing me back to the dates I had calculated. I hope that makes sense! (Healthy 4 month old sleeping beside me now!).
Can you get a follow up scan to check again in a week or 2? Thinking of you, it's such a worrying time💐

Thank you so much for your reply, I will definitely get another scan in a couple of weeks to check. I always have really painful ovulation so I’m pretty sure I know when I ovulated, which is why I’m so confused. The sonographer did seem to find it a little difficult to measure baby though as my bladder wasn’t full, she said it would have been clearer if my bladder was full. It is really worrying 🥺 I just hope everything is okay. Now I’m feeling annoyed at myself for getting the scan so early haha.

Ah it's so hard because you're just dying to know what's going on, but at the same time early scans seem to cause nothing but worry🤦🏼‍♀️ What CD did you ovulate? And how long are your cycles? Empty bladder and abdominal scan would definitely make it harder. It's a really positive sign that your saw a heartbeat! I'm sorry I don't have any great advice just wanted to send solidarity. Good luck!

Thank you so much, I ovulated on CD14 and my cycles are always 28-29 days long

Hi OP if you are sure when you ovulated then sadly this may not be good news.

What dpo did you get a positive pregnancy test? If you count back 23 days (9+14, which assumes earliest possible bfp and ovulation on day 14) from that date and plug that into a due date calculator as day 1 of your cycle, how many weeks pregnant would you be? If there is more than a couple of days discrepancy with the scan calculation (margin for error on scans) then I’d probably prepare for the worst.

Either way you won’t know until you are rescanned. Wishing you all the best.

I got my positive on 15dpo. I am preparing myself for the worst even though the sonographer said everything looks good, she had difficulty in measuring baby because I’m dumb and I didn’t have a full bladder (I drank about 300ml only). Definitely gonna book another scan for a couple of weeks’ time.

I’m not sure what you mean by counting back 23 days I’m sorry? I’m a bit confused? My positive test was on 13 Nov, if I count back 23 days from there (?) it would be 21 Oct? If I count from 21 Oct then I would be 6 weeks 4 days which is what I measured on the scan today.

Could you contact the epu to see if they would scan you?
I'm in this situation, I had an early scan at the epu but was 10 days behind, i should have been 7 and a half weeks. As soon as the sonographer saw I was closer to 6 weeks they switched to an internal. She arranged to rescan me in a 2 weeks but there wasn't sufficient growth. Right up to the start of the second scan all professionals had been optimistic. I have to go back in a week to have the miscarriage confirmed and management plan put in place.
I wouldn't say it's definitely miscarriage right now but you don't need me to tell you it could be. I'd be looking for an internal scan and a plan to monitor growth over the next couple of weeks

Good luck, I hope you get better news than me!

Do you think the epu would give me a scan if I told them I’m measuring behind on a private scan? Without any other symptoms etc? I did have shoulder pain yesterday which is why I got the scan done today, but the shoulder pain has gone away as has the cramping which I’ve had the last few weeks. What do I need to say to the epu if I call them? I have no idea I’m sorry 😫 I’m surprised they didn’t give me an internal scan today tbh.

I know it could be a miscarriage especially as I have a history of recurrent miscarriage before I had DS 🥺 I’m so so sorry about your miscarriage, I hope you’re doing as well as you can be right now 🥺❤️ if you don’t mind me asking, why did you have a scan at the epu? Did you have bleeding?

My epu offers scans at 7-8 weeks if you have had a previous miscarriage. When I had my first miscarriage I was told to phone them when I got to 6 weeks in an any subsequent pregnancy and they would arrange a scan.
I've since done some reading and they have a rainbow room. It's a self contained room with loo, waiting room and facilities for scans so your not with other expectant mothers and not formally in the epu either in case of bad memories. I've had 2 scans there now but not sure if the third is there or at the epu.

I would give them a call, say you are behind at a private scan, have a history of miscarriage and have had shoulder pain can they see you? If they say no you are no worse off but if they say yes you'll be in the system ready for monitoring and if any interventions are needed.

Thank you so much ❤️ your epu definitely sounds so much better than mine, but I’ll definitely give them a call today.

Yes so pregnancy weeks are calculated from the first day of your last period, which is assumed to be 14 days before you ovulated.

So if you got a positive test on 13 Nov then the latest you could have ovulated is 5 Nov (which assumes you got a bfp at 9dpo). 14 days before that would give you a notional LMP date for the purposes of due date calculation, to give you the earliest you could possibly be (for your bfp to make any sense). So 14 days before 5 Nov is 22 October, which makes you about 6 weeks pregnant, not 7 weeks. In which case the scan could be correct, (but does depend when you got your bfp).

So don’t give up yet! But definitely get another scan in 7-10 days. Best of luck!

Oh I understand now, thank you so much 😊

Hi OP,

Just to echo what the others have said, ring your EPU and say that due to your history of recurrent miscarriages you have been advised to contact them once you get to around 7ish weeks in pregnancy to check all ok. I had loads of miscarriages before my healthy child and this was the advice/pathway but again, as anyone who's been through them knows all EPUs are different and some are much better than others. If you were under a consultant for your recurrent miscarriages I would name drop them also - can only help! Fingers crossed for you, a heartbeat does sound very positive but once been there it never leaves you.

This is how unclear the ultrasound pics were, the sonographer was finding it difficult to measure because I’m so dumb that I didn’t have a full bladder 😫 is it possible that the measurements were a bit off because of how unclear it is?