Early Viability Scan - what to look out for?

[Carelia]

Hello Ladies,

I am heading for an early viability scan in a few days. My clinic does these 2.5 weeks after positive pregnancy is confirmed with a blood test. I understand the early viability scan is all about a) checking the embryo has implanted in the right place (aka checking that it is not an eptopic pregnancy) and b) that there is a heartbeat => it is in fact still an ongoing pregnancy. Those who have gone through this before, please could you advise what are all the things that women should be asking during the scan? Are there more than the 2 aspects above to look out for?

Many many thanks for your wisdom

[Daisy-Delilah]

Hi Carelia, congrats on your pregnancy!

I’m no expert but I had my viability scan last week at 5.5 weeks. My blood and scan was done early as I’d had a bleed and my consultant advised me to go and get checked out even though it was slightly early.

I was told that if my HCG was low then it wasn’t necessarily anything to worry about but you might not see anything on the scan. He said they would need to be over 2000.

It was an internal scan which might seem obvious but I wasn’t expecting it, but apparently too early to see on an abdominal scan.

When I had the scan they were looking for the pregnancy sac which should contain the yolk sac and your tiny baby. I also got to see the heartbeat.

They may measure the CRL - again mine was early and there’s no standard for what it should be pre 6 weeks. Mine was 2mm! Super tiny 💓

They also checked out my ovaries.

Good luck- I hope everything goes well! 💕 xxxx

[Carelia in reply to Daisy-Delilah]

Hi Daisy-Deliah, thank you for the encouraging words and guidance! I got through the first viability scan. I hope your journey keeps progressing along nicely.

[Ivfgotadream]

They are looking for a gestational sac which is the “right” size and shape - eg not irregular, not too big not too small, a yolk sac and at 6.5weeks a foetal pole and heartbeat. The crown to rump length of the foetal pole should correlate roughly to your dates, the heartbeat should be over 100 minimum

[Carelia in reply to Ivfgotadream]

Thank you ivfgotadream for the super helpful brief!

I went on to carefully google every term after reading your, and Daisy-Deliah's, comments

During the scan, I felt in control, thanks to your and Daisy- Deliah's combined guidance.

I'm heading for a follow-up viability scan no. 2 in two weeks time (given my age at 41). Keeping fingers crossed and taking each day as it comes.