Confused after many scans. 7 weeks, ivf.

Hi,

My Name is Sarah.

I recently had IVF which was successful luckily.

Last Thursday I went for my viability scan at 7 weeks at the ivf clinic, which is to determine wether I am still pregnant and that it’s not ectopic etc.

The nurse carried out the scan transvaginally, she congratulated us that she could see one heartbeat but she was concerned as she could see a black blob just above the foetus. She thought maybe it was a blood clot.

She got in another nurse to carry out another scan who also was concerned so she referred to me to the IVF doctor.

He carried out another transvaginal scan, who advised me that he was 90% sure that I had a conjoined twin, where one was alive and one was dead. He advised me that soon the alive one would die or I would have to have a termination.

He referred me that day to my local EPU unit in the afternoon for a rescan and possibly to book me in for a termination.

At the EPU the sonographer advised me she could only see one foetus which was of healthy size. We were obviously confused as earlier that day we had three scans by different people who could all see a black blob.

She then decided to get another sonographer in to rescan, who also confirmed only one healthy foetus. They said the measurements they were measuring were longer than that of the IVF clinic.

We came out feeling rather confused so I decided to make an appointment the following day at the London fetal medicine clinic in Harley street for another scan.

They performed an external ultrasound, took lots of various scans and also confirmed just one foetus!

Some people will think I should just believe them, but part of me feels what did the ivf clinic see? And what happens if I get to my 12 weeks scan and I’m told I do have a dead conjoined twin?

I’m just worried, and need reassurance really....

[jenna01]

Sorry to hear you’ve had such conflicting news - i can’t give any actual factual advice, but if I were in your shoes I’d probably wait and see what happens. At 7 weeks everything is SO small and difficult to see even for highly trained sonographers. It’ll become clearer as the foetus grows bigger (or doesn’t if your first scan is to be believed). Fingers crossed everything is ok and the blob is just a blood clot!

[WeeMrsH]

You could ask for another scan in a couple weeks, say 9 weeks, by then should be a bit clearer x

[Hidden in reply to WeeMrsH]

They said last week it was the size of an 8 week foetus. Think I might go for an 11 scan.

[WeeMrsH in reply to Hidden]

Sometimes they just grow that bit quicker with IVF so I wouldn’t worry too much about it being bigger than your dates. And perhaps with the fact it’s a little further on, the “blob” they seen was just some other part of the baby they weren’t expecting if it was the 7 weeks xx

[Billywhizz10]

It sounds like you have a healthy baby, try not to worry. After IVF it's easy to worry so much after you get the BFP, we did.

I would arrange a 10 week scan and harmony test. We not only saw a real baby shape, they can do a gene test for downs and other abnormalities and even tell you the sex of the baby! It was a big relief for us, its not too expensive neither (compared to IVF that's for sure)

[Jay2017]

Congrats on your pregnancy darling.

I am really sorry to hear how confuse you are. I understand that this time is very daunting but try to keep yourself calm and if everything is right your pregnancy will carry on.

At the beginning of my pregnancy I spent so much time at the EPU. I also had a blob. I bled throughout my pregnancy apparently it was a bruise when my little angle implanted as apparently didn’t do it properly and got detached a bit?!?!? Who knows. Anyways her parameters where wrong she wasn’t developing properly and was advised that I will have a miscarriage. This was the worst time of my life. I wanted to get an abortion However one sonografer together said to wait that you don’t know what could happen and as well due to my age that it was better for my body to get rid of if it was unhealthy. To cut a very painful and long story short everything changed at 4.5 months, all the tests started to give us good news and now I have a healthy 13 months old.

Have faith darling and take good care of yourself and your little one. Good luck.

[Hidden in reply to Jay2017]

Oh wow that sounds like a very stressful time but what a beautiful outcome!

[Jay2017 in reply to Hidden]

Indeed it was, will keep my fingers crossed for you. X