Advice on early scans

[Thandeka]

Hello,
Am 5.2 weeks and off to Thailand from 25th for 3 weeks (between 7-10 weeks so crucial time. Referred to the Whittington on last tuesday and included Dr's referral for an early scan due to situation (want to know pregnancy is viable as miscarrying in Thailand would be terrible and may cause us to cancel).

Phoned the Whittington on Friday and they had lost my referral so had to resend it. Phoned them today and they have found me but told me it will take up to 10 days for an appointment. I explained the situation again (as I don't have 10 days!) and the woman was really arsey with me saying there was nothing she could do and I should phone again on friday! Cutting it a bit fine- I got a bit teary- pregnancy hormones!

Anyhow have phoned my doctors and she is going to chase it up with them for me but now a bit worried that I won't be able to get a scan before I go. I know normally you don't get a scan til 12 weeks but I am going to be incredibly paranoid and unable to relax on holiday unless i know its okay. Hmmmm perhaps we should pay for an early scan but the doctor seemed to think i was entitled to one on the NHS because of the situation. Also money is tight at the minute because of the holiday (is our honeymoon).

Nargh.

So questions a) Forget about the scan before the holiday.
b) go mental at whittington and try and get one.
c) go private for a scan.

Is it worth it! Can feel self getting stressed about it which is no good. Can you tell it's my first!

oh and just thought of another reason to have a scan. I have been suffering from pain on my right hand side (ovary fallopian tube area) for the last 4 months- scans etc revealed nothing. Despite being pregnant - that pain has not gone away so at the back of my mind is a possibility of it being ectopic and at least a scan should be able to tell me its in the right place. As having an ectopic in a foreign country would be more dangerous than a MC I imagine.

Okay quite possibily obsessing now. Just spoke to DH and we are going to think about it and see what happens with the Whittington- if that doesn't work possibly take myself off to St Thomas'.

Ack its a real dilemma. Head is telling me NO SCAN- Heart wants Scan! Hmmmm

(Yup I am also one of those women who started testing for pregnancy even before she ovulated!- never able to defer "finding out" despite the trauma it can cause.....!)

Am so glad mumsnet exists for support on these things! Would be lost otherwise!

and thankyou for sharing llareggub - sorry to hear about your MC's.
x

Ah well, an early scan should confirm whether the pregnancy is in utero, but again if there is no heartbeat (including for any number of non-worrying reasons) that is going to stress you out like you wouldn't believe.

As for the pain, if you have had it for 4 months then that wouldn't really lead me to worry about ectopic pregnancy (am not a doctor, BTW, but I have had 2 ectopics). You may simply have an ovarian cyst, which is perfectly normal in pregnancy.

Hm, I think you are obsessing a bit... You do realise that things to stress about only get worse after the baby is born??

To be honest, if you are going to miscarry there is very little you can do about it so I reckon you should just go and enjoy your holiday.

My main worry would be getting food poisoning or an infection while in Thailand that could cause you to miscarry. If that occurs, any scan prior to leaving wouldn't help in that regard.

Since you have relatives in Thailand I presume you have been before and now how to avoid food poisoning there?

Message withdrawn

Not mild or ordinary food poisoning, of course, but there are reasons why the NHS issues such strict guidelines on which food to eat etc. Making sure chicken, for example, is cooked right through is on their list of things to be aware of. I know when I was in Thailand I was served half-cooked chicken.

But I do know that infections (for example, from a cut finger that isn't treated properly) can cause miscarriages or early labour. I ended up getting a terribly infected foot in Thailand due a blister that didn't heal properly, the heat, and walking the street in sandals.

I love Thailand though so would still go on holiday but just be extra cautious : )

FYI miscarriage.about.com/od/infections/f/foodpoisoning.htm

And the NHS says here that "Food poisoning from campylobacter can cause miscarriage and early (premature) labour."

www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/917.aspx?CategoryID=54&SubCategoryID=131

They also mention listeria etc as causing miscarriage. CAmpylobacter is extremely common in hot climates and, yet again, I did catch that in Thailand (bad luck me)

Never been to Thailand before but going to be exceptionally vigilant about what I eat and drink. No ice or water except bottled. No salad. Only fruit i can peel (cept I hate bananas so that leaves oranges). Absolutely no seafood (hate it anyway!). Will make sure all food is freshly cooked in front of me (if out and about) or eat in reputable restaurants (macdonalds!? haha not) (I found out I was pregnant ages after we had booked it and wasn't expecting to "fall" as quickly as I did!)

A high temp/fever caused by any infection can potentially cause miscarriage apparently so will be vigilant about handwashing etc, especially on the plane.

Heck in fact wonder how much a hermetically sealed bubble would cost to live in until 12 weeks!

Sounds like you will be fine then. Have a great time!

Apparently you are supposed to avoid street food in Thailand but to be honest I thought it seemed more healthy than restaurant food since it is cook in front of you and there is usually a high turnover. Better than restaurant food that could have been sitting around for ages.

I ate lots of pineapple from the street vendors since they chop it in front of you and I think that is fine.

Okay just to update you all. In the end I did have an early scan- today at 6.3. Reason being on friday my cramps and pain were getting worse and the amazing midwife I spoke to on the phone sorted it for me at the Whittington.

Saw the sac and heartbeat which was fantastic (not sure quite what a fetal pole looks like embarrasingly since I teach Child Dev) but the lady doing the scan said all was great, the pregnancy was viable and she strongly hinted I would be unlikely to miscarry.

Little mutant pacman is only 3.4mm but that is in line with dates.

Phew!

Well thats lesson learned. I miscarried at 10 weeks the day after we got back from Thailand. Apparently the embrypo died at 6 weeks which doesnt make sense really given the healthy scan at 6weeks 3days. Is horrible to think I had 4 extra weeks of thinking I was pregnant when the embryo was dead already. I know that at 6 weeks even with a HB on scan there is still a 22% chance of miscarriage whereas at 8 weeks it would be 2%. Scans can't predict the future or prevent MC from happening.
Next time I get pregnant I will need an early scan (now for reassurance as if I got to 12 week scan and same had happened I would not cope at all) but I ain't going near a scanner until after 9 weeks.

Sorry just feeling the need to update threads I had started on this- since so many of you wonderful people had replied.

Thankdeka. I'm so sorry for your news. Take care of yourself.

Thankyou. Off to the hospital at 3.30 for a scan to check its all gone. Just need to get through that and for the bleeding to stop then I can start to heal.

So sorry to hear that Thandeka. I hope you manage to get pg again soon.

Yup sooner the better in my opinion. Then off to llive in a hermetically sealed bubble for 9 months (even contemplating whether they might be able to induce a coma in me for 9months to stop me stressing!) then it will be fine. I know chances are next time it will be fine. Fingers crossed.

I know how you feel. Just found out Im' pg again after two mcs in four months so trying to pretend like everything's normal, but it's really very hard. I'm currently sitting on my hands to prevent myself working out my due date as if I do mc again it's only another date in 8 months time to make me feel sad. I've got two other would have been due dates to get through, don't want a third. Take care and yes the odds are on your side.

Right headfairy I am cyberly sitting on your hands for you too.

Congratulations on your pregnancy and so sorry to hear about your losses. Fingers, toes, eyes all crossed that it's third time lucky for you. (maykes it difficulyt to type wit all thw crodding!)

Thanks! I'm petrified of the third time lucky thing, that's exactly what dh said last night. Made me think "yeah right, I'll be third time UNlucky for me I bet!"

Sorry to hear your news Thandeka Very interesting discussion on early scans though, given that I'm 5+3 after MC'ing quite suddenly and violently in Nov at 11+5. Had some bleeding this morning and am trying to decide whether to press the panic button and beg for something, or whether the worry of not seeing a sac / pole / heartbeat will be worse than the worry now

I get totally where you are coming from too Headfairy - only just told the GP about this PG yesterday and added myself to the Dec 09 a/n list - am now wondering if I've jinxed myself ...

Jools, sorry to hear about bleeding. It's so flipping hard isn't it? I'm very fortunate in that our local EPU has a walk in clinic and they're great about giving early scans, no questions asked, being anxious is sufficient, but at 5+3 there's not much chance of seeing anything is there? Still yo might get lucky.

I'm not even registering as pg with the gp until I've had an 8 week scan and seen a heartbeat. Then I'll acknowledge this pregnancy has a chance, but of course I know I'm not out of the woods at all at 8 weeks, but it does make me further along than I've been in a long time.

I debated not registering, but the EPU here is GP referral only and I'm away on hols next week, so thought if I registered this week and begged for an early scan, it might come through for when I'm back (7.5 - 8 weeks)

I think I'm going to wait and see if there is any more bleeding before I call and ask for a scan this early - boobs are still growing and I think I'm feeling nauseous still (although that might be sick with worry !) Fingers crossed for both of us

Sorry to hear about your miscarriage Thandeka.

Hope the holiday was good and that you heal quickly. Good luck.

Fingers here are crossed for you Jools. Do you have any pain? No pain is good although having said that I didn't have any pain with my mcs until I actually passed the sac. I hope things go well and you're able to enjoy your hols (we're off next week too, I'm taking a stash of sanitary towels with me just in case, can't face the idea of miscarrying in Italy and sending the FIL off to buy giant sanitary towels)

Headfairy - I have an MC emergency pack - dark towel, change of bottom half, maternity pads, Always Ultra and a selection of painkillers !! Will be taking that bag on hols with me

I had quite strong cramps on Sunday - possibly overdid it carrying in heavy-ish stuff from the car - but told myself they must be stretching pains as there was no blood

The last MC showed no warning signs - a bright red bleed before bed, pain and spotting all morning then a gush of waters and the bathroom looked like a scene from a horror film