Internal Ultrasound

[Antheia]

I'm having an early ultrasound tomorrow just to make sure things are growing as they should etc. As i'll only be 6 weeks, 5 days GP said i may need an internal one done. Do these hurt at all? Has anyone experienced any bleeding after from it? What does it look like and how does it work exatly? Also what would I see on the screen at 6w5d?

[ChrissyT]

I had my internal at 5 weeks, and because they are only gently moving it around in your vagina, I didn't bleed at all.....funny too cos I have spotted on and off this entire pregnany.


OK...the probe is a not too thick stick thing with a ball on the end....they will funnily enough, whack open a condom and pop it over the end, I got a laugh out of that both times I had an internal.

It didn't hurt at all, as the woman put the lubricant on it etc.

remember, its only going inside your vagina, nowhere else...because they scan through into your uterus through the connecting wall.

It was a breeze and nothing to worry about.

It was very discreet too as they pop a sheet over your knees, and my sonographer was so good she didnt even need to look...she just slid the probe up under the sheet.

[Danni]

hi tegan, i have had a couple of these and have never bled from them however i found them very uncomfortable.

i am pretty sensitive around my cervix so it almost hurt me...i couldnt wait till it is over.

the key is to relax and dont get scared off by the look of it

good luck!!!

[Visitor9]

Teagan,
These are the only the ones I ever had. Honestly once you get over the fact of what they are actually doing and focus on the screen and your little baby as for pain, I had none. I had cervical stitch in and it never effected it.
Bec

[Freya]

There a breeze, no problem at all and the best way to see bub in the early stages.
A few people I know nn it the 'Dildo-Cam'

[Kaydee]

A few people I know nn it the 'Dildo-Cam'

lol!

Tegan, i had many of these at the beginning, probably about 3 or 4... up until i was 12 weeks. Being in Germany, they give you an ultrasound at every appointment. ANYWAY, they honestly are a breeze! You have nothing to be worried about. With me, the Doc used this long silver stick, yes, it looked like a dildo.. With a plastic bag thing over it, and covered with lubricant. Wasnt uncomfortable for me at all.

As for what you see. i think at 6 weeks, you wont see much, just a speck (or 2) on the screen if i remember it correctly. Im sure you wont experience any bleeding at all, so dont worry. Let us know how you go!

[Janet]

Also be prepared to NOT see a heartbeat as in such an early stage of pregnancy it sometimes isn't happening yet. Mamas get a terrible shock which they then have to recover from and yet it's a perfectly healthy baby just too little for the heartbeat to be showing. Are you sure you need an u/s? If something isn't right with your baby (which can't really be seen this early anyway) there isn't anything anyone can do. Sometimes u/s cause more distress than they prevent from this kind of thing. We also don't actually know for sure that u/s exposure is safe for babies and the vaginal kind puts the waves even closer to the developing embryo than the kind done later. It's worth researching all this a lot before you embark on it. How comfortable, or otherwise, the experience is for you largely depends on the skill and care of the operator so if it hurts just ask them to go easy.

This is what Dr Sarah Buckley says in her book "Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering" in a very finely researched and referenced article on u/s.

More recently, ultrasonographers have been using vaginal ultrasound, where the transducer is placed high in the vagina, much closer to the developing baby. This is used mostly in early pregnancy, when abdominal scans can give poor pictures. However, with vaginal ultrasound, there is little intervening tissue to shield the baby, who is at a vulnerable stage of development, and exposure levels will be high.

[apple]

I had a dating scan at around 5 weeks, and it was an internal. It was at a 'standard' radiographer place and the lady seemed to have no clue about female anatomy as she kinda shoved it in and said "up or down?" :shock: So it was a bit uncomfortable but once she got it in it was fine, and great to see a blob on the screen.

I didnt see a heartbeat and no 'foetal pole' which freaked me out at the time, as they put on the report "yet to confirm viable pregnancy" I was so worried, but it was just too early to see all the 'bits' so please dont get too concerned about what you can and cant see.

Oh, and at my 12 weeks scan, I had an internal scan then too - it was at a women's ultrasound place and they were wonderful, no shoving, and much more comfrotable.... I suppose they do it everyday!

[Fee]

I had an internal scan at 9w6d. It did not hurt at all. In fact I didn't feel a thing! A pap smear is much worse.

Our bubs was just under 3cm at this scan.

I did have some slight spotting afterwards though which may have also been due to the internal examination the OB did on me.

[Kelly W]

I've had a few of these internal ultrasounds. Our babies are through IVF so they use these ultrasounds to see how many eggs are growing on your ovaries before egg collection.

Then after embryo implantation and positive preg blood test you have an internal ultrasound at about 6-7 weeks to confirm viable pregnancy. This was when we found out we were having twins and we were able to see a tiny flash in each which was the heart beat - they are really just a blur so no baby shape as yet but the sonographer was able to point out the embryo and the yolk sack.

I found they do not hurt at all - whether it was because I had it done at a place (IVF) that does it regularly.

[Deejoy17]

Internals don`t hurt at all, I was bleeding when I had both mine at 6 weeks and again at 8 weeks, it didn`t make my bleeding any worse then it already was.

Funnily enough my internal at 6 weeks we got a clearer picture via abdominal then internally.

I`m not sure what you`d see at 6 weeks, 5 days as you know with my 6 week scan all we saw was 1 gestational sac and no baby and my pregnancy was classed as non viable then at 8 weeks we saw 2 sacs and 1 baby, always makes me wonder where that second sac was hiding at 6 weeks :-k

Good luck Tegan

[ambz]

hi tegan!

good luck with your ultrasound
i have my first u/s this friday too which is also an internal

[DoubleK]

hi tegan, i had an internal scan at my 12wk US, its not painful at all and nothing to worry about...

good luck!

[Antheia]

Thanks for all the advice! Had to have the internal, didn't feel a thing. Saw the heartbeat too!

Can i just ask why epople had an internal at 12 weeks and not the external one?

[EllyBoo72]

Howdy
I too, having gone thru IVF have had to have quite a few internal ultrasounds. From my experience none of them were uncomfortable, only when my ovaries were exploding with lots of folicles LOL. I agree that a pap smear is much more uncomfortable. They can put your mind at ease, and they did no harm to my healthy baby