It’s me again requiring your advise. I had my first midwife appointment with NHS yesterday and also received a letter for my 1st scan on 2nd December . It says I have to come full bladder, is this the case? I thought when pregnant, we don’t need to scan fulll bladder. Also , I am bit anxious, i had a scan on 24th October where the sonographer confirmed 2 heartbeats. But should i do another private scan , just to be relief if everything is going well, as 2nd December seems too long to wait. Also, when I told the midwife, I am expecting twins, she said the protocol is different, a consultant would ring me but she didn’t give any leaflets. How much does it differ?
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Lata7384
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hiya, I feel the same as you. We had a scan 3 weeks ago the next one is not for another 3 weeks. The midwife said we would get an apppintment with a consultant no letter has ever come 🤦♀️ Part of me thinks to get a scan and the other part of me thinks just relax and enjoy it xxx I have days when I feel tired and a bit Nauseas then the next few days I feel completely fine xxx
Hello Lata7384, congratulations on your twin pregnancy! I can sympathise with wanting to get some reassurance ahead of your 12 week scan in December. As you have a history of miscarriage (I am very sorry about that), it is worth checking with your GP if they can refer you to the Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit at your local hospital. The EPAU would typically offer scans from 8 weeks and most operate on referral from a midwife or GP. As for the full bladder for your 12 weeks scan, by that time your babies will be big enough for the sonographer to pick up a good image while doing an abdominal ultrasound vs a transvaginal ultrasound which you will be used to from your scans until trigger date. Fluid can increase visibility when doing an abdominal ultrasound but the sonographer may still ask you to empty your bladder after they've had an intial look (this happened to me frequently during my pregnancy ultrasounds).
As for the consultant led care, I imagine they will want to keep a closer eye on your pregnancy as you are expecting twins, i.e. may want to offer you additional scans and generally monitor you more closely. When I was pregnant in my forties I qualified for consultant led care due to my age and both times I eventually received a letter from the maternity unit at my local hospital confirming an appointment with a consultant for when I was 16 weeks but this may differ from trust to trust. As it was explained to me at the time, I would have received the community midwife care along with additional consultant appointments at the hospital for the duration of my pregnancy. Wishing you the best of luck for your pregnancy, keep well!
Take a look at nhs.uk and type in maternity and it gives you Your first midwife appointment - your antenatal care etc Also covers Pregnant with twins. The reason for the full bladder is it is an internal scan, and this makes it easier for the person who carry's out the scan. When the consultant calls you, I am sure they will explain the more frequent visits - you could ask then about any leaflets they may have. Are you aware there is a Pregnancy Support forum similar to this one that can give you support during your pregnancy
they will do internal scans when you’re pregnant? Surely that’s a risk, as as far as I know they put the scanner right through my cervix before? Surely they’re not allowed to do that in pregnancy? (Also, waghhh to more internal scans if I do get pregnant!)
I am under consultant led care for other reasons (singleton pregnancy). You typically don't get to see the consultant until 16 weeks, so I am sure the letter will eventually arrive.
The 12 week scan is external so that is why they ask for a full bladder.. no more internal scans hooray!
I think the private scan question is very much a personal decision. Be warned there is an even longer wait from 12 weeks to 20 weeks between scans so it may be that you end up doing quite a lot of extra scans for reassurance. I have found the anxiety crippling at times but have tried to carry on without additional scans and just stick to the NHS ones as I have read mixed reviews about the frequency of scanning and upsetting baby(s) etc. x
Hey,I totally understand your worries. I'm almost 9 weeks and have my 12 wk scan on the 2nd December too. It feels like such a long wait but as Daisy says the next one is even longer so I'm trying to just think I can't control anything but staying positive and calm and eating well and hope that is enough. It takes a lot some days though!
I've been told I'll be consultant led too as over 40 and used donor eggs and means more scans and checks but later on in the pregnancy. The NHS website is useful so do check that out and you can contact your midwife if you have any questions. Mine was quite helpful and said to message with any questions.
Wish you much luck with your twins and take care xx
just to reassure you, the second scan is a longer wait, but in between that you will get to hear the baby’s heartbeat at your midwife appointment, which is nice and for me provided the same amount of reassurance as a scan.
Hi Lata.I'm pregnant with twins too. I had private scans at 7 weeks to confirm pregnancy, again at 9 weeks, cos I was anxious, then the NHS one at 12 weeks.
I then had a series of extra scans because with twins they need to know whether they share a placenta and/or are in separate sacs. There's more risks if they share a placenta as one twin might get more nutrients etc.
Depending on what type your twins are, you will then have growth scans every 2 weeks if they share a placenta, or every 4 weeks if they don't.
All the extra scans have been very reassuring for me as I've also had miscarriages.
As for the full bladder, I've not bothered for the external scans and it's not been a problem. I think they like them for the internal ones.
As far as the consultant bit goes, I've had one conversation with my consultant on the phone at around 24 weeks!
I did see a different consultant twice for two of the scans as the sonographer couldn't tell whether my twins did or didn't share a placenta, but apart from that have been left alone by them.
If you want the reassurance before the NHS scan, I'd say go for it. The anxiety can be crippling and it definitely helped me in the wait.
All the very best. And feel free to reach out to me if you have any more questions xxx
I can’t remember about the full bladder but if they don’t want you to have one you can always go to the loo so nothing lost there. In terms of getting a private scan. Because I have experienced loss in the past I may get a private scan. But you can also go to your local epu and they can scan you there. They will ask why you’ve gone and because you don’t have an issue you may be the lowest priority and have to wait but they’ll scan you as you’re anxious and worry because of two heartbeats. Good luck 🤞
I think you should post this on a pregnancy page/forum and not a fertility page/forum which is designed for people who are struggling with fertility issues. The reason for this is 1) You are more likely to get advice/thoughts from people in the same position or who have been in the same position as you if you do this and 2) You don't run the risk of upsetting people who are struggling to get pregnant!
hi there, I have IVF twins! Yes the protocol is different but it won’t change until 20 weeks….. that’s when I guess they see your children as viable human beings and not foetuses to put it bluntly. Then you will be booked in for a scan every month and will have to see the consultant as well as the midwife. Your 12 week NHS scan will check all is ok. The fact that you saw 2 heartbeats at 7/8 weeks is amazing and more than most people have when they get to the 12 week scan……. most just have a positive test to go on so they really don’t know what’s going to happen. Safe to say all should be ok for you so don’t worry too much. I understand the constant need to check though…….. and it doesn’t get easier. You might find getting a Doppler for later in your pregnancy helpful - that’s what I did (as long as you heed the warnings about reduced movement and not just relying on it for piece of mind).
Yes, you should get one if you want one. There's no reason to deny yourself peace of mind. You'll never regret having it done but you'll keep feeling stress if you don't.
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