Would you still be hopeful?

[ThreeLittleCritters]

A little background info... We had a m/c in Sept. It was an empty sac. I had spotting for about 2 weeks before I actually m/c and my progesterone was a 6. My hcg started off really high but didn't rise very much once the spotting started.

We waited a cycle and tried again. We got pregnant on the first try. Right now I'm 7w1d. Right after my BFP I had my hormone levels tested and my hcg doubled but barely (went from 110 to 222). My progesterone was fine at 22.9. I had an ultrasound at 6w3d and again we only saw an empty sac. No yolk sac, no fetal pole, no heartbeat. We retested my hcg and it went from 17,000 to 22,000 in 48 hours. My doctor is pretty sure that it's another miscarriage but we're doing another ultrasound later this week to be sure. They said that while my hcg is rising it's not rising "appropriately" and there's little hope. I haven't had any cramps, spotting or bleeding. If I hadn't of had that ultrasound I wouldn't think anything was wrong. I feel pregnant.

I'm trying to balance being hopeful with being realistic. I do not want to get my hopes up but after doing some internet research I'm annoyed at how quickly my doctor has doomed the pregnancy. From what I've read, after hcg gets to 6,000 it can take 96 hours or more to double. And there are cases where babies weren't found at early ultrasounds but everything was fine and heartbeats were easily found later on in the pregnancy.

I guess I'm just looking for similar stories or opinions (positive or negative) on how I should handle the next few days while I wait for the ultrasound. I don't want to feel depressed and miserable while I wait but I don't want to set myself up for major disappointment either. TIA

[nuthinbutpink]

I'm sorry your going through this. How many days apart were you first 2 betas?

The later beta doubling doesn't matter. You're right.

How sure are you on how far along you are?

[love being a mummy]

At 6 weeks the hcg level can be between 1,100 to 56,500
hCG levels double approximately every 48 hours during early normal pregnancy. But this is a guide only.


My friend had an u/s at 6 weeks and they told her she wasn't pregnant, they couldn't see anything. She went back at 8 weeks and sure enough there was bub. 8 weeks and with a heartbeat.

Good luck xx

[Mochagirl]

Sorry you're going through this stress, ThreeLittleCritters. I don't know enough about hcg to answer your question - I just wanted to tell you I'll be praying your little bean is ok and you'll see a heartbeat next time you go in!

[Cinss]

I just wanted to say i know exactly how you feel, this is so common and heartbreaking. I have my FX for you that this one works out. Best of luck.

[applesoup]

:hug2: Hugs for such a tough situation!

I don't know if I'd be hopeful...I don't know enough about the situation & numbers. BUT, I have an acquaintance friend who went in and was told her sac was empty. She refused to take the drugs to dissolve the pregnancy, went back & found out that she was indeed carrying TWINS. Unfortunately, one of the twins died around 10 weeks, but she did go on to delivery a healthy little boy.

[ThreeLittleCritters]

I'm sorry your going through this. How many days apart were you first 2 betas?

The later beta doubling doesn't matter. You're right.

How sure are you on how far along you are?

The 1st betas were 48 hours apart. Which is what concerned the doctor. She felt that the numbers were too low (even though I was only 4 weeks and a couple days) and she would have liked a better increase. We were using OPKs and monitering cm so I'm fairly certain of when I ovulated. I know that I could be a couple of days off but my cycles are pretty regular so it couldn't be by more than a few days. I do think that this one implanted late because I got my BFP later than I usually do when I'm pregnant.

[ThreeLittleCritters]

Thank you everyone for the positive thoughts, prayers and replies! I've heard of several stories like mine with happy endings, so I'm praying that I'm a lucky one too! It's all caught me off guard. With my other 2 losses I was spotting and bleeding and I knew things were wrong. This one has been uneventful and I never saw it coming. Here's to hoping for good news at the next ultrasound!

[nuthinbutpink]

Well, from IVF I know that at 6 weeks you should see something. Maybe not a HB but there should be something in the sac. I think you doubling HCG is totally fine with the first 2 betas and not low at all though.

We've seen HUGE changes in a couple of days on the HT board. If you are off by even a day it can change things. Good luck and I really hope all is well.

[nuthinbutpink]

Well, from IVF I know that at 6 weeks you should see something. Maybe not a HB but there should be something in the sac. I think you doubling HCG is totally fine with the first 2 betas and not low at all though.

We've seen HUGE changes in a couple of days on the HT board. If you are off by even a day it can change things. Good luck and I really hope all is well.

Hey- I'm in Atlanta too!

[Zivic-Bubac]

I'm so sorry you're going thru this :(
My sister had to deal with: 'No HB at 9weeks, let's do D&C immediately'. She was devastated, but decided to wait for natural m/c. Excellent decision bcos 7 months later she had a healthy baby boy.

Hang in there, I'm hoping it will be the same like it was with my sister! Don't rush into D&C!

[ThreeLittleCritters]

Thanks! My ultrasound is tomorrow morning so we will hopefully know more then. I'm switching doctors and the new one has a better ultrasound machince. Maybe that will help if there's anything in there to see. If it comes to it, I definitely want to avoid a D&C if I can. I'll update tomorrow!

[ThreeLittleCritters]

Hey- I'm in Atlanta too!

How neat! It's always to fun to see other people online that are in the same area. Thanks for your other kind words as well. I'm hoping that we'll see a strong little baby with a strong little heartbeat tomorrow!

[Cinss]

Best of luck for tomorrow.

[love being a mummy]

good luck, I hope you get some goods news at your scan.

[zanacal]

Good luck for tomorrow, I really hope it's positive news x

[ThreeLittleCritters]

So we had the ultrasound and we found a yolk sac, a baby and a heartbeat!!!! I'm soooo happy! It's measuring about 2 weeks behind, which isn't great. But just finding the heartbeat was a great step in the right direction. I might be like a week off with my dates if I O'ed a few days later than I thought and I do think this one implanted late. But there's no way that I'm off by 2 weeks. So I have another ultrasound a week from today to recheck on things. Hopefully it'll be more good news. Today was such a relief!! Thanks for all of the prayers and positive thoughts! I definitely think that it helped!

[Mochagirl]

What wonderful news! So happy to hear it!

[rainbowflower]

congratulations!! I'm sure at your next scan your dates will even out - when the baby is so tiny even a little inaccuracy in measurement can change the dates quite a lot

[zanacal]

Fantastic, I'm so happy for you! I'm glad you changed doctor too ...

[ThreeLittleCritters]

Just wanted to post a quick update. I had a repeat ultrasound on Thursday to check for growth. Unfortunately we couldn't find a heartbeat this time. So it looks like another miscarriage for me :(

[CapricornAquarius]

3ltlcrit im so sorry, thats really sad, my preys are with you.

[zanacal]

Oh no, I'm so sorry for your loss. xx

[Mochagirl]

I'm so sorry, threelittlecritters - no one should have to go through so many losses :broken:

[love being a mummy]

big hugs xx

[Indira]

I´m so sorry for your loss :sadflwr: