should i have an early scan or not?

[lizzie9442]

Hi i really can't make up my mind. i have had two mmc the last one of which was in july this year with twins. I thought if I speak to the doctors they might let me have an early scan because of my history. The problem is I can't make up my mind if I want to or not. what does everyone else think?

I do have 3 healthy children.

Hi Lizzie. Sorry to hear about your miscarriages. I had one last year, but I decided not to push for an early scan or pay for a private one. I thought it could potentially be worse if I had one at say 6 or 8 weeks and it looked fine, but then it went wrong after that. So I waited and had it at 11 weeks. (Luckily it all seems to be going ok.)

But everyone is different, and I know lots of people do find it reassuring to have an early scan. I don't know if it would stop you worrying - what do you think? Have you discussed it with your partner? It might be worth talking to your doctor or midwife about it.

Wishing you all the best for a healthy pregnancy. xx

yes as it'll set your mind at rest

thats what I think that it will set my mind at rest but in another way like MsG said it might be worse as something could still go wrong before the 12 week scan. I'm just so paranoid

lizzie maassive sympathy having had 2 mmc myself - I would go for it. and fwiw the rates of m/c tail off hugely after 9 weeks so if you can hang out til then or aroudn then that helps.
and fingers crossed for you - the 3 healthy kids does indicate good things...

I have had 3mcs and had early scans I found them reassuring and I would rather know the worst early on than wait

i asked for an early scan during my last pregnancy due to anxiety and a previous miscarriage and now wished i hadnt.it was at about 6 weeks and the sac looked empty.They did blood tests all week to measure my hormone levels and told me they were so low a baby had never survived such levels.so i grieved the baby i thought i had lost.However they re-scanned me a week later just in case and their was baby&heartbeat.he is now 21mths& i am 8wks pregnant again.Wish i had waited a bit longer b4 having scan they can be misleading.

it is hard, isn't it. I had two m/c before DS, and hate scans now. With DS I did have early scans, but TBH it didn't stop me worrying, and I was always really upset after them. Realised afterwards that it was because I expected to be reassured, but the thing was that I knew (from having had a fine early scan before and then m/c) that all they tell you is that things are ok then - doesn't guarantee that the baby is still fine days/weeks later. This time I waited till 12 weeks, which I think suited me better. It's completely up to you though, drs should refer you if you want one. Hope it goes well this time.

I had a scan at 7 weeks with this pregnancy as had previously miscarried. We were going on holiday that weekend and I wanted to be sure it wasn't ectopic/ was viable given this was the point at which I had miscarried previously. The scan was a bit inconclusive - they found a heartbeat but the measurements were a few days out and because a day can make such a difference at that point they weren't able to give me a definite 'yes its fine'. So, I knew it wasn't ectopic but still had the worry it was about to go wrong. I went back at 10 weeks and the growth was fine.

From my experience, I would say having one too early won't set your mind at rest but maybe one at 8 or 9 weeks might. I was pleased I did have the scans in the end as it made the first trimester a bit easier but in hindsight I would have had the first one a bit later (and then probably would have saved myself the cost of the second early scan !).

Last pregnancy I had a scan at 6+3 that showed a fetus with a heartbeat, but a scan after some spotting at 11 weeks showed no heartbeat and a fetus that measured just 7 weeks. I'm likely to go for an early scan this time around 8 weeks - while I know that things can still go wrong, I'd rather know earlier than later if I have a mmc again.

hi lizzie
sorry to hear about mmcs. I had a similair dilemma as am pg with no.4 and have had 2 early mcs and a mmc. I decided not to in the end as I discussed it with the mw and even she said it would probably only reassure me for a day or two. I have my 12wk scan on tues and bought a doppler second hand 2 weeks ago so have heard the baby and know everything is ok.

I have no children and my mc at 11+4 was on the day of my first scan

The thing that bothers me the most is having no real idea of when the baby died (other than an estimate that it was close to 11 weeks because of the size of what I had to pass) and never having seen him / her alive My GP has offered an early scan next time and I will take it just so, even if the worst happens again, I will have seen my baby.

I will wait certainly till 7 weeks and quite possibly longer as I will want to see a heartbeat and for there to be no question about "viability" causing anxious waits for growth and blood tests - I have seen too many anxious thread on MNet and the wait must be agonising.

I know it is only transient reassurance, but I NEED to see there is something there.

I hope it all goes well for you