The best time to have an early scan?

[oliviacrumble]

I am currently 6wks and 4 days, and anxious to arrange an early scan (am 44, have had 4 mcs in a row).

However I don't want to have a scan only to be told it's inconclusive/too early to ascertain viability of the pregnancy.(This has happened to me in the past).

Is there an optimal time? Or does it depend on the individual pregnancy?

Ideally I would like as definite a conclusion a possible, so should I hang on til 8wks+? (Assuming pregnancy 'holds')

Many thanks in advance.

I had a scan at 7wks and could see the heartbeat. Good luck.

Thanks CrystalQueen!

Just my experience but I had one at 6 weeks and had to go back at 8 weeks to confirm viability but whether that's down to the individual pregnancy or not I don't know. Good luck - sending you lots of 'sticky' vibes.

Sorry for your loses.

Here the EPAU won't do a scan till 8 weeks as they say this is the best time for checking. They only do earlier ones if ectopic is suspected.

Not sure it may depend on individual hospitals.

Hope everything goes well for you this time.

If you wait till 8 weeks, you should be able to see the heartbeat. You can sometimes see it as early as 6 weeks, but it's less likely.

I waited until 8 weeks for the same reason and was glad I was as they dated me as being 7+5 (which was fine), not 8+2 as I was based on my LMP. So unless you know for sure when you ovulated, you may be less pregnant than you think anyway. If I'd gone in at what I thought was 7 weeks for example, I'd have only been 6+3 and it might have been too early to see the heartbeat.

Thank-you so much for all your very helpful responses. Yes my instinct is to hang on for eight wk scan.

japhrimel you seem to be the pregnancy guru of these boards! Your posts are so well-informed and you are very generous with sharing your knowledge.

Thank-you for the 'sticky' wishes - am trying to stay realistic, but it's difficult...

So sorry about your m/c's. Can i ask a personal question? When have you m/c in the past? I tried to wait till after i got past my usual time before having a scan as seeing it on the screen makes it so much more real iykwim. I had a scan at 7 weeks last time and could only see the sacs (2 of them) but still had to go back at 9 weeks to make sure everything was still ok. Im now 27 weeks so think they decided that it was safety in numbers lol.

BTW congrats on the positive.

I am sorry for your losses. I had 3 MC before current PG (am 19 weeks now). I saw a heartbeat at 5+4 with this one (we were being monitored weekly due to previous MCs). If you can hang on, it's clearly sensible to wait as long as poss (8 weeks ish I'd say) because you are likely to see something conclusive and not be sent away. However, I know how the waiting is agony, so if I were you, I'd go ahead now and see what they can identify. You may well see a HB and if you dont, dont worry and just go back again in a week or so. There are plenty of EPAUs where they will see you early without a referral. I was seen at St George's in Tooting with some of my previous MCs and they will scan you without a referral even if you are just anxious. You dont need to have bled or anything.

Good sign though if all is looking good so far! Good luck.

oliviacrumble - lol at that. I just seem to have been on the getting-pregnant journey for ages now (started TTC 18 months ago and had 2 MCs last year) so have learnt quite a lot on the way.

I've been to EPU three times, once ending with m/c, and other 2 times OK (so far! am only 14 weeks with this one). WIth DS, went in about 7 weeks (LMP) and had heartbeat. 5wks 4 days (LMP) with this one and had heartbeat. So you can see a heartbeat early on, but I wouldn't pin your hopes on it, unless perhaps your cycle is like clockwork.

Like KFW, have been to St Georges all three times, self-referral. If you have concerns, I would go in and get scanned. They can check for pregnancy location/yolk sac, etc. and perhaps give you some reassurance and maybe even a heartbeat.

Oliviacrumble,

Had a scan at 7 weeks 2 days yesterday and saw a heartbeat, but my previous scan 2 weeks before, when I thought I was 6 weeks along, turned out I was only 5 wks - resulting in a letter saying 'unable to confirm viable pregnancy' which was worrying.

I know it's hard but maybe try and wait another week and in the meantime, fingers crossed, 'no news is good news'.

Echoing what Oliviacrumble said about japhrimel - you're a very generous person. Very sorry for you losses; wishing you the very best of luck for your journey in the future.

Thanks for all your replies. I have generally run into 'trouble' around the 7 wk mark.

I did have one mc where there was a heartbeat(small for my dates tho) at 7wks, and at a subsequent scan at 11 wks, it showed mmc.

I live in Ireland, so have to go through my GP to get an appointment at the EPU in my local hospital.

Am thinking I should ring GP today, and try to get an appt for the week beginning June 14th.

Japhrimel you ARE truly wise in these matters!

I really hope this pregnancy works out for you olivia but if not, have you had any exploration of why you keep having early mcs? Just that my friend was in a v similar situation to you and was treated by Dr Regan at St Marys and she took an aspirin every day through her next pregnancy which meant that it went to term. I don't know if that's dangerous to do when you don't know why you're losing the babies but it might be worth some investigation.

wait till at least 8 weeks since LMP, that way if you're a week less than you expected, you should still be past the "inconclusive" stage. Lots of luck. x