missy, my first preg I was forced to tell my boss when I was in week 5 cos he scheduled me to travel for work. so if there is no need can keep it a secret until 2nd trimster... I think mine difficult cos the tummy is coming out lor *faints*. Just that no one asked me yet lah... *heng*
courgeous81, heartbeat should be detected once fetal pole is found and is 5mm... actually the more accurate is based on fetal age, but the problem is most woman dunno when the egg was fertilised & implanted.
This was something I shared with Minnieluv earlier in this thread.
1. "The fetal pole is a thickening on the margin of the yolk sac of a fetus during pregnancy. It is usually identified at 6.5 weeks with abdominal ultrasound imaging, and 6 weeks with vaginal ultrasound imaging. <font color="aa00aa">
However it is quite normal for the fetal pole to not be visible until about 9 weeks. The fetal pole may be seen at 2–4 mm crown-rump length (CRL), and heart motion is often detected when it is seen.</font> In the embryo, the heartbeat is seen as a regular flutter, which should be first evident at 5 mm CRL. If the embryo is less than 5 mm CRL, it is possible for it to be healthy without showing a heartbeat, though a follow up study in 5–7 days will almost always demonstrate the heartbeat"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetal_pole
2. 5 ½ to 6 ½ weeks is usually a very good time to detect either a fetal pole or even a fetal heart beat by vaginal ultrasound. The fetal pole is the first visible sign of a developing embryo. This pole structure actually has some curve to it with the embryo’s head at one end and what looks like a tail at the other end. The fetal pole now allows for crown to rump measurements (CRL) to be taken, so that pregnancy dating can be a bit more accurate. <font color="aa00aa">
The fetal pole may be seen at a crown-rump length (CRL) of 2-4mm, and the heartbeat may be seen as a regular flutter when the CRL has reached 5mm.</font>
If a vaginal ultrasound is done and no fetal pole or cardiac activity is seen, another ultrasound scan should be done in 3-7 days. <font color="aa00aa">
Due to the fact that pregnancy dating can be wrong, it would be much too early at this point to make a clear diagnosis on the outcome of the pregnancy.</font>
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancycomplications/earlyfetaldevelopment.htm