is first scan quite late?

[highrise]

Hi,

I'm new to all this, currently 10 weeks since the start of my last period.
Got a letter from NHS this morning witht the date for my booking appointment and scan.
The date means at that time I will be 14.5 weeks when scan takes place. Is this a bit late?

Due to my age I was hoping to have NFT which my hospital does offer, as far as I've read thus far, this has to take place 12-14 weeks?

I was going to give them a call on Monday to see if I can reschedule, any idea if they're likely to accommodate?

Also and this is an aside, we were hoping to have scan prior to xmas, which would be 12.5 weeks.

Sorry for the ramble, but any advice would be appreciated.

[SeamusTheElf]

I don't think it's too late - I am sure mine was later but you could maybe book a private scan before Christmas?

[mrsboogie]

I think that 14.5 weeks might be a bit late for the nuchal scan to be honest - do they know you want this done? I would check then book a private one if they can't accommodate you. Not many places do the nuchal on the nhs - I had to go private for mine.

[Ginni]

Definitely worth calling to rearrange, or better still go in in person. When I found i was pregnant I had no idea how far gone I was, so I went there in person and they offered me a range of all the available options from the next day onwards, I could have been seen pretty much any time I wanted. I had a lot more luck in going in person than I did on the phone when I had to rearrange at a later date.

[cece]

I think you have to have the nuchal measurements done before 13 weeks plus 6.

[me23]

it will be too late for the nuchal scan, so if you are certain you want the nuchal screening done, make sure you call them on monday. If the hospital rountinely offers the scan then you have a right to have it.

[highrise]

I'll definitely call on Monday, unfortunately I won't be able to go see them in person, so I'll call first to see what the options are.

Thanks for all the vey helpful advice.

[elkiedee]

It may well be the Christmas period that's making it so late, but it does seem a bit later than ideal, especially if your hospital does offer NHS nuchal fold testing. Have you been to see a GP or anyone and when did you make contact with the system etc? Are there any phone numbers to call on the letter? There are other tests they can do for screening purposes but of course it depends on what your hospital offers to women of your age.

I would say if you're anxious to have testing that it's worth thinking beforehand about what you'll do if you get results which are worrying - with my first baby at 37 my results came back low risk so I really wasn't prepared for the phone call I got second time round asking me if I wanted more tests (in the end I did go for a CVS test, results were better and I'm now coming up to 33 weeks).

[chaya5738]

Mine is also at 14 weeks, I presume because of the xmas period. My doctor put in the request when I was 5.5 weeks. At least we will see a lot at 14 weeks and it won't be such a long wait til the next one!

[strawberrie]

I had my dating scan at 15+0; where I am (Edinburgh) it seems the maternity services are just pretty stretched due to increased demand. Nuchal scans aren't offered on the NHS here, neither are 20 week scans.

[crokky]

I don't think the nuchal thingy can be done after 14 weeks. I may be wrong. I didn't have one with DD, but I was given it routinely with DS at 13+2 and they thought that was fairly late on.

[questions2008]

this happened to me too, my booking in/first scan date was initially set at about 13w + 3, so i called up the hospital and they basically told me that was their earliest appointment at the moment but I should keep calling back everyday to see if there had been any cancellations, which I did for a couple of weeks until I got an earlier appointment at 11w + 5.

[ComeWhineWithMe]

I am having mine next week I will be 16 weeks .

[highrise]

Update - managed to get scan moved to just before xmas which is brilliant. Admin staff were a little reluctant, but midwife was etremely helpful and found me a date and time. Contrary to what I'd been told previously, NFT is not offered at my local hospital, so we're going to mull over going with bloods at 16 weeks and see what we decide. It's not an easy decision and doesn't really give a definitive answer so lots to think about.
Also manged to sort out earlier booking appointment which is great.

Thanks again, for all the helpful advice, so glad I found this site, it's exrtemely helpful to a first time pregnant lady!

Still don't know what the xxx weeks + x means, but hopefully I'll figure that out over time!

[CookieMonster2]

13+4 would mean 13 weeks and 4 days pregnant. The number of days is pretty redundant since every time someone spins the wheel of dates they get a slightly different answer. You might also see it written as 13/40 meaning 13 weeks pregnant, and once the baby is born you might see 10/52 meaning the baby is 10 weeks old.