Something thats been bothering me.....

[MissCKitty]

Hi lovely ladies, Just want to pick your brains about something thats been going round and round in my head. Going from my LMP and average cycle date I think am 8+3 today, due to the mc scare I had last week I have had a scan and thank god it showed a heartbeat and that everything was where it shoud be. However something the sonographer said has been bothering me. She said the baby was only 6mm which would have put me, last week, at just 6 weeks. Nearly a week and a half behind where I thought I was. Would she be going from the LMP or likely conception date? I am really worried that maybe bean is too small and something has gone wrong. Also as some of you ladies know I am an insulin dependent diabetic and I know there's all sorts of complications with my condition. I have my booking in appt and scan on tues 22/6 which should give me some more info but tuesday seems soooo far away right now. Any advice or reassurrance would be greatly appreciated xx

I'm afraid i don't know about how much they should be growing etc, but if she didn't worry about it neither should you. Tuesday'll be here before you know it, try not to worry.

They date from LMP. If you've been irregular it might affect it? Are you 100% sure... you mention 'average' dates. Bear in mind that estimated dates of conception are just that...estimated. Everyone ovulates at a slightly different time mid-cycle.

At this stage, a difference of 'mm' sounds huge but really is only relative.

If you're IDDM I think it puts you at risk from larger babies, but this doesn't manifest until later in the pregnancy.

Try not to worry (Yeah, I know!)

Good luck for Tuesday

MissCKitty, the sonographer dates the baby based solely on the babies size. It seems that they all grow at almost exactly the same rate for the first few weeks. Using LMP can be way off if you don't ovulate spot on 14 days and have a 28 day cycle. For instance, in my situation, I usually have a 33 day cycle and ovulate around cd 23. So, if you go be just my LMP, I would be 9 weeks along instead of the 8 I am. To make it even worse, I ovulated a week late the cycle I conceived, so by LMP, I should be 10 weeks. However, I track my ovulation, so I knew exactly when I conceived and sure enough, during the ultrasound, the baby measured exactly to that date.

The most important thing is that your baby is measuring and developing at a good rate. Your baby has a heartbeat- that's an excellent sign! It seems you probably just ovulated a few days later than you thought.

Good luck on Tuesday!

MissCKitty, When i first found out I was pregnant the doctor and midwife said that my due date was 20th September, when I had my 20 week scan the sonographer said that I am due on the 27th September, the whole thing completely confuses me! From what I can gather, most hospitals go by the scan dates as opposed to LMP. Let us know what happens on Tuesday!

They go by scan dates but I would raise it with your midwife if you are worried

DD was like this, turned out she was conceived quite late into my cycle - apparently some people try to go for gender selection by timing things this way so maybe it's a girl?

I don't think you should worry if the heartbeat is there and the sonographer didn't refer you for any other tests or anything.

Don't worry. To be blunt, if things were already wrong you wouldn't have seen a healthy heartbeat. If you ovulated a few days later than average then implanted a few days later than average, there's a week of a difference straightaway.
Then the scan image is magnified many times, so if the sonographer has measured it a fraction too small, then in real terms that could equate to a mm out too. The 12/13w scan is the one they use for giving you an estimated due date cos it's the most likely to be measured more accurately without human error