Hi Bagpuss
I am going for my 20 week scan on Wednesday and am really excited to see the difference in my little bean
Having your first scan is wonderful, seeing your bean for the the first time just can't be put into words
You are advised to drink plenty of water, I think I had about 4 pints before going to the hospital and thought I was going to wet myself, I really didn't know how I was going to get out of the car and walk into the building
when I checked in at the desk I was told there was a wait and was advised to sit down with a drink!!!!!!! I politley told the lady that I couldn't drink anything else and so she told me to go to the toilet and empty my bladder and start again - pure relief
Thinking back to all the other PG ladies in the waiting room, they all came in with a bottle of water and were drinking whilst they waited- something that I will do this time round rather than filling myself up before I get there!!
I was pushed in for the scan as I had been having really bad pains and the hospital were worried that I was having an ectopic pregnancy so as I was waiting I was really tense and scared rather than being relaxed and excited.
I was called into the room by the sonographer an hour and half after I was told that I would be scanned and layed down on the bed. DH came with me and sat on a chair at the foot of the bed. The sonographer rubbed the jelly on my tummy (which again at this point was full of water and I was beginning to get a bit uncomfortable
) and started the scan. The screen was faced away from me (not sure if this is always the case or because they suspected that I might be ectopic) but DH could see the screen from where he was sitting and from his expression I knew that my bean was fine
Once the sonographer was happy that everything was ok she turned the screen round for me to see and pointed out the babies arms and legs etc to us. I thought that I was 8 weeks at this point but I was actually 12 weeks and so further on than I thought. I had to tell the sonographer how many photographs I wanted to buy (I got 3, one for us and one each for my mum and DH's mum) and then had to wait in the waiting area again for the photos to be prepared - I ran to the loo at this point!!!!!! Before I left I had to go to a different reception and they booked me in for my 20 week scan and cancelled the one scheduled for my 12 week.
I'm not sure if this is any help and it may differ depending which hospital you go too but that was what happened for me - good luck for your scan, I look forward to hearing all about it
Xxx
