How full is a full bladder?

[freddie]

Maybe a silly question lol! I have my first scan in a couple of weeks and they have told me to come with a full bladder... What does that actually mean? Drink something before I go? Hold in wee all afternoon so I need to go when I get there?

 

[willowblossom]

i had to drink a pint of water an hour before my scan, no lies i was desperate by the time i got there! lol! but well worth it! x

 

[HoldOn2Hope]

Maybe a silly question lol! I have my first scan in a couple of weeks and they have told me to come with a full bladder... What does that actually mean? Drink something before I go? Hold in wee all afternoon so I need to go when I get there?

I was told at least 16oz. It take a half hour for the liquid to pass through to your bladder. I drank a bottle of water about 30-45 minute before my appt. It worked and we were able to see baby clearly!

 

[AngelUK]

Full bladder to me means that you need to go to the loo. I am sure you don't have to be actually bursting to go though. If you are like me you wouldn't be able to hold it in more than an hour anyway so I'd just drink a small bottle of water half an hour before and you should be fine. Oddly enough they didn't ask me to have a full bladder before my scan. Hm maybe they only need that when they scan through your tummy?

 

[Mari30me]

I had to drink 4 cups for water about an hour before my scan. I could barely hold it!! They let me go pee 1/2 through the scan.

 

[freddie]

Thanks girls! Does anyone know why it makes the picture clearer just out of interest?!

 

[kat2504]

It makes the picture clearer because the ultrasound waves pass through fluid. The uterus is behind the bladder so you need fluid in the bladder to transport the u/s through.

You do not need to be totally busting. I had a scan at 6 weeks which I was not expecting to have at all on that day. I had just produced a urine sample when I arrived at the hospital! After being referred to ultrasound I only had a 45 minute wait and I drank probably a pint of water at the most in that time, and the picture was fine.

If you have so much your bladder is enormous it will get in the way.

 

[kat2504]

AngelUk, the internal scan is the opposite, they need you to have an empty bladder for that one so you have to pee right before the scan.

 

[emmaandbaby1]

Well i drank 3 glasses of water before i went to my appointment.. my scan was nearly 2 hours into my appointment and by the time i had my scan the lady politely explained that my bladder was so full it was squashing my baby and she thought she might make me pee myself HAHA! so i had to half empty my bladder and try again!! so dont drink that much xx

 

[amjon]

I had 2 bottles of water, plus a shake and I didn't pee for 3 hours before the scan. The tech still complained my bladder was not full. For the second one, I had 2 glasses of tea and had to pee like crazy. She had me go before the internal scan and when I came back she said my bladder was STILL full.

 

[luckybreak]

the worst is having your bladder pumped full, oh my gosh I had to go to the ER and since there was no time for a full bladder they put a catherer on me and fill me up with IV it was painful getting that thing in and it was horrible having that bladder full I was crying and shaking...worst experience in my life!

 

[amotherslove]

drink until you have to go reaaaaally bad... then drink more

 

[DollPosse]

I always get told to drink 16 oz, but I go instead with 8 oz. I start drinking an hour before the scan by show time my bladder is full and I don't have that super I am way too full in the bladder department feeling.

When I drank 16oz I would have to run to the loo every few minutes to pee because I could not sit or even stand still because my bladder was so full.

 

[LizzieM83]

Maybe a silly question lol! I have my first scan in a couple of weeks and they have told me to come with a full bladder... What does that actually mean? Drink something before I go? Hold in wee all afternoon so I need to go when I get there?

I have a full bladder scan in a few weeks, they told me to pee 30 min before the appt and drink a bottle of water. Just thinking about having a full bladder makes me wanna run to the bathroom asap lol

 

[zephyr]

They make us drink a liter of water an hour before the scan. You start drinking the litre at the start of the hour and be finished drinking it within the first 15 minutes. It is so agonising! AND THEN when you are almost crying cos of the pain and pressure of them pushing on your very full bladder they have the cheek to say "do you think you could go to the loo and just let a little bit out to make you more comfortable?" haha yeah right!

I'mma drink less next time, I am sure they wont notice.

 

[freddie]

Well i drank 3 glasses of water before i went to my appointment.. my scan was nearly 2 hours into my appointment and by the time i had my scan the lady politely explained that my bladder was so full it was squashing my baby and she thought she might make me pee myself HAHA! so i had to half empty my bladder and try again!! so dont drink that much xx

Ha ha ha that made me laugh!!!

 

[babyoneill]

drink until u feel like ur gunna pop.. u will see everything o lot clearer xx