New here and newly pregnant w/ a Q

[mamajude]

Hello all.

After a loss at 12 weeks 5 days in March of this year I am now 5 weeks pregnant (if this sticks it will be our second child as we have a 3.5 year old). We are of course feeling very cautious and scared.

My OB scheduled an ultrasound for next Tuesday when I will be only 5 weeks and 6 days.

My question is, is this way too early to see anything? I emailed them again this AM and that's when they want to see me despite my concern

Sorry if this has been asked a million times already. I'm very new to the PGAL world.

Thank you.

[amylev80]

Congrats!

I had an u/s scheduled right at 6w, and they saw the yolk sack and the beginnings of the fetal pole with me. Sometimes though, they don't see anything just yet. It just depends. Good luck!

[chimomma19]

Congrats and welcome. Not too early at all. At 5 weeks we saw the gestational sac and yolk sac. Right at 6 weeks we heard a HB of 116. My RE had me come in to confirm pregnancy and to rule out ectopic.

GL!

[mrsg80intn]

Welcome and congrats on your pregnancy.  You've gotten solid advice thus far so I just wanted to offer that.

[mamajude]

Okay thank you. So I shouldn't freak out if we don't hear a heartbeat?

[chimomma19]

Jun 24, 2015 13:16:32 GMT -5 mamajude said:

Okay thank you. So I shouldn't freak out if we don't hear a heartbeat?

Definitely not. At this point most docs want to see a sac/yolk, and if there's a FHB it's an added bonus. 

[mamajude]

Thank you all for giving me a sense of peace in this strange limbo time.

[MrsPhD83]

Welcome and congrats!! At 5wk3d, we saw the gestational sac and yolk sac. We didn't see a HB until the following week. I would go in to this first ultrasound with no expectation to hear a HB! GL! Keep us posted!

[Smootiepie]

Congrats!! The only thing I'll add to the other ladies' advice is that, this early, things are changing really quickly. You could go in one day and not hear a heartbeat, but be able to hear it the next day.

[amandaree]

Ditto to all of the above. Congrats and welcome!

[lickwed]

Congrats and welcome!

[rachaeleigh]

Welcome.
At 5w6d, we only saw the yolk sac, not even fetal pole

[rslh10]

Congrats! Welcome ((hugs))

[emmylo413]

Congrats! And agreed with all above!

[mamajude]

Jun 24, 2015 16:18:52 GMT -5 rachaeleigh said:

Welcome.
At 5w6d, we only saw the yolk sac, not even fetal pole

Did you eventually see more? How did this initial ultrasound make you feel?

[ldubhawksfan]

Jun 24, 2015 13:16:32 GMT -5 mamajude said:

Okay thank you. So I shouldn't freak out if we don't hear a heartbeat?

Definitely not. The heart doesn't typically start beating until week 6. I had an US right at 6 weeks and even my RE was surprised to see a tiny little flutter of a heartbeat. You should be able to see a sac and hopefully a fetal pole, depending on how sure you are of your ovulation.

[nikiswimr]

Congrats and welcome!

[healz413]

In addition to individual variations in embryos as they develop and the possibility (if you didn't do IVF) of being off dates by a few days, what you see can also vary by how good the ultrasound machine is.
Am I correct in assuming you will have a transvaginal ultrasound? This is usually the best way to see early embryo development, but even then, it can vary a lot from machine to machine and from tech to tech.
Also, whenever you do get to see the heartbeat, you may not get to hear it on an ultrasound. Some ultrasound machines have a way to mechanize the heartbeat flashing on the screen into a sound. My clinic has never done this and the first time we heard the heart beat was on a Doppler at 10weeks even though we had seen the heartbeat since 6 weeks.

[mamajude]

Jun 24, 2015 17:43:59 GMT -5 ldubhawksfan said:

Jun 24, 2015 13:16:32 GMT -5 mamajude said:

Okay thank you. So I shouldn't freak out if we don't hear a heartbeat?

Definitely not. The heart doesn't typically start beating until week 6. I had an US right at 6 weeks and even my RE was surprised to see a tiny little flutter of a heartbeat. You should be able to see a sac and hopefully a fetal pole, depending on how sure you are of your ovulation.

I am not sure at all when I ovulated; I only have a rough guess. I wasn't temping and charting. This is my third pregnancy where things just happen fast (first: unplanned; 2nd: success in first cycle (then loss); and now this; success in 2nd cycle.). I'm a dunce when it comes to this stuff.

[mamajude]

Jun 24, 2015 18:00:00 GMT -5 healz413 said:

In addition to individual variations in embryos as they develop and the possibility (if you didn't do IVF) of being off dates by a few days, what you see can also vary by how good the ultrasound machine is.
Am I correct in assuming you will have a transvaginal ultrasound? This is usually the best way to see early embryo development, but even then, it can vary a lot from machine to machine and from tech to tech.
Also, whenever you do get to see the heartbeat, you may not get to hear it on an ultrasound. Some ultrasound machines have a way to mechanize the heartbeat flashing on the screen into a sound. My clinic has never done this and the first time we heard the heart beat was on a Doppler at 10weeks even though we had seen the heartbeat since 6 weeks.

It will defintely be the trans vag wand.

[ldubhawksfan]

Jun 24, 2015 18:15:26 GMT -5 mamajude said:

Jun 24, 2015 17:43:59 GMT -5 ldubhawksfan said:

Definitely not. The heart doesn't typically start beating until week 6. I had an US right at 6 weeks and even my RE was surprised to see a tiny little flutter of a heartbeat. You should be able to see a sac and hopefully a fetal pole, depending on how sure you are of your ovulation.

I am not sure at all when I ovulated; I only have a rough guess. I wasn't temping and charting. This is my third pregnancy where things just happen fast (first: unplanned; 2nd: success in first cycle (then loss); and now this; success in 2nd cycle.). I'm a dunce when it comes to this stuff.

That is totally fine, but why it's more important to go into the US not expecting a HB at this early of an US. I knew like down to the hour when I ovulated with my RE, so we were very confident in the 6w for me, and that was even kind of a surprise to see it. If you possibly ovulated a few days later than CD14, it may just still be at fetal pole stage. It's insane how quickly things change in those first few weeks. GL!!!!

Eta: per PP, that vag cam US we only saw the flicker and didn't get to hear anything. It wasn't until later US that he could zoom in and listen to it.

[rachaeleigh]

Jun 24, 2015 17:42:03 GMT -5 mamajude said:

Jun 24, 2015 16:18:52 GMT -5 rachaeleigh said:

Welcome.
At 5w6d, we only saw the yolk sac, not even fetal pole

Did you eventually see more? How did this initial ultrasound make you feel?

Yes, at 7w, we saw baby measuring 6w5d with a heart beat
I felt horrible due to my RPL history after that u/s and was mad that I went that early. But, we conceived with IVF and the u/s was to check for uterine placement, not heart beat

[meredithcarole]

Congratulations and Welcome!

[holdingouthope]

Welcome and congrats! I agree with PPs, go into the u/s with no expectation to see the hb because it will still be early and there's no reason to freak if you don't. If you do happen to see it, it's an added bonus.

[rae80407]

Congratulations and welcome! I had an u/s at 6w2days and saw and heard the heartbeat of 117 bpm. I wouldn't worry too much, my ob usually doesn't do u/s before 8wks because of the chance of not seeing a heart beat before and causing undue stress. I just had one because my previous pregnancy was an ectopic. It depends on a lot if things as to when the HB will form enough to be detected. At really early stages it's just a tube really making up 2 chambers. If your cycle was long or you o'd later it might not be far enough. I actually had shorter 23-25 day cycles and I o'd pretty early going by BBT charting.

I hope all goes well. Don't stress about the HB just yet but I hope you get to see the flicker, but if you don't just remember it's still very early. ((Hugs))

[Maggie0424]

Congrats and welcome! I had my first u/s at exactly 5w6d and we saw the baby with a hb. I was very surprised. If you don't see a hb that early try not to worry as it's still very early. Best wishes to you!

[flutterfly88]

PP's have given you lots of great advice, I just wanted to say congrats and welcome!

[mamajude]

You guys are all so kind! Thank you so much!!

One thing I do know is that I have longish cycles, between 30-32 days. So it sounds like that could affect things?

[rae80407]

Jun 24, 2015 23:39:01 GMT -5 mamajude said:

You guys are all so kind! Thank you so much!!

One thing I do know is that I have longish cycles, between 30-32 days. So it sounds like that could affect things?

It could depending on when you ovulated and the length of your luteal phase. Drs usually go by the standard "28 day cycle" with ovulation on "day 14" putting you at "4 weeks pregnant" when the period is missed. That is usually not the case as every woman and cycle is different which is why they have dating ultrasounds. The moral of the story is some people see a HB at 5-6 wks and some have to cook a bit longer to see it. Don't worry too much about it, easier said for sure lol. If you don't see a HB you could always ask your ob for another scan a week or two later to ease your mind. (((Hugs)))

[EmeraldEyes85]

You have already been given some good advice, so I'm just here to say hi and welcome! Congrats on your pregnancy. Praying for a happy and healthy 9 months - please keep us updated on the ultrasound!