# Threatened Miscarriage, Low HCG Levels



## dreamer22

Found out 2 days ago that I am 4 weeks pregnant. I went to the ER last night because of brown discharge and they said my hcg levels were really low and gave me papers on a threatened miscarriage. They also couldn't see anything yet on a transvaginal ultrasound. I have to go back tomorrow to check my levels again. Any one been through this? I'm not feeling very optimistic :(


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## dairymomma

Brown means old so brown blood isn't necessarily the start of a miscarriage. It could be old blood from implantation just working it's way out. Did they tell you what your hCG numbers were? You are still awfully early (4 weeks 2 days, if I read right?) and depending on a whole host of things (ovulation, implantation, etc.) your numbers probably won't be all that high right now. The 'normal' range for hCG at 4 weeks is 5-426 mIU according to the American Pregnancy Association. Here is a full list of the 'normal' range for a pregnancy from their website.

hCG levels in weeks from LMP (gestational age)* :

3 weeks LMP: 5 &#8211; 50 mIU/ml
4 weeks LMP: 5 &#8211; 426 mIU/ml
5 weeks LMP: 18 &#8211; 7,340 mIU/ml
6 weeks LMP: 1,080 &#8211; 56,500 mIU/ml
7 &#8211; 8 weeks LMP: 7, 650 &#8211; 229,000 mIU/ml
9 &#8211; 12 weeks LMP: 25,700 &#8211; 288,000 mIU/ml
13 &#8211; 16 weeks LMP: 13,300 &#8211; 254,000 mIU/ml
17 &#8211; 24 weeks LMP: 4,060 &#8211; 165,400 mIU/ml
25 &#8211; 40 weeks LMP: 3,640 &#8211; 117,000 mIU/ml
Non-pregnant females: <5.0 mIU/ml
Postmenopausal females: <9.5 mIU/ml

** These numbers are just a GUIDELINE&#8211; every woman&#8217;s level of hCG can rise differently. It is not necessarily the level that matters but rather the change in the level.*

Notice it says it's not the level but rather how it changes. I hope this helps! And as long as you aren't cramping and the discharge stays brown, try not to worry. I know it's hard not to worry when you see stuff like that but try to relax as best you can, push fluids, and keep yourself occupied. Staying busy has helped me thru several miscarriages and two successful pregnancies. It's also keeping me sane now since I found out about my most recent pg on Sunday (just 5 weeks after my last miscarriage). Good luck and I hope your repeat labs show a nice rise in hCG!


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## dreamer22

Thank you so much for your response. This is my first pregnancy and all the doctor could say to me is that my levels are lower than they should be. I didn't ask what they were. I just can't help but feel impending doom. I was 4 weeks, 2 days yesterday, you are correct. And I have feelings down there but idk if they are cramps. More like stretching, and stitches, and fullness.


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## annaaabanana

I had brown discharge at 5 weeks and when I became six weeks I started bleeding and miscarried.. I hope it is not the same for you!! good luck


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## Blue eyes 81

Did they say if it could possibly be implantaion spotting since you are still very early in your pregnancy? I am not a doctor but the feelings of stretching and fullness you described sound how I felt at the begining of my last pregnancy and I never felt it with my previous loss. Hoping it is a good sign for you. 
As for ultra sounds in my case the first time they could see my daughter was at 5w 1d at 4w 1d we could not see anything other then my lining was thick.
Wanted to share alittle of my story to show you there still is hope.....
My first beta was only 37.2 which the doctor said was low but we went on to do more betas and my numbers were doubling nicely. (The first beta number is not as important as the fact that, that number doubles) At around 7wks I had brown discharge with streaks of red. I completely lost it and went to the er because I had a miscarriage previous to that pregnancy. Was discharged and told that there are many differnt things that can cause spotting during pregnancy and it does not always mean a mc will follow.
I went on to deliver a perfectly healthy beautiful baby girl at 38w 1d.
Wishing you luck and hope all turns out well for you. :hugs:


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## Petzy

I hope everything turns out okay for you. I know that brown blood that early can be perfectly normal. And people are right when they say the number doesn't matter, it's about whether or not the number doubles really. I had my blood taken three times when I got pregnant because my initial number was low, so they make sure that it was doubling each time, and it was. Unfortunately I did have a miscarriage, but the hCG had nothing to do with it. Good luck to you xx


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## Blue eyes 81

Edit.....sorry for some reason my tablet double posted.


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## detterose

At 4 weeks, sometimes you won't see much on an ultrasound except thickened endometrial lining. Best option is beta hCGs, because its not about the number, its about whether they double appropriately in a 48 hour period. And ask for another U/S in about a weeks time. GL xx


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## dreamer22

Thanks so much ladies! You are making me feel a bit more optimistic. I do have irregular cycles so Im hoping the low levels are due to late ovulation and implantation. Some good news is that the brown discharge has been gone pretty much the whole day, so fingers crossed that it stays that way. It hasnt been red yet so Im hoping that that means its just old blood. And its been mixed with discharge, not concentrated like just blood.


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## mara16jade

I started spotting at 9dpo and still am today (12dpo). I got a faint bfp yesterday and a stronger one today, backed up with a digital. I'm really hoping spotting is not going to be an issue.

I hope your hcg number continue to go up, and the rest of your pregnancy is stress free. :hugs:


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## dreamer22

At the hospital awaiting my second beta hcg levels. I was told that my first levels were 432, which they say is low, but according to the chart, they aren't that low. The lady today seems optimistic that I am probably going to be fine. I'll update once I know today's levels.


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## detterose

Mine were 460 are 4 weeks and 2 days. Sounds like a perfectly normal level :)


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## dreamer22

That's what I was thinking. Anyway, I found out that my levels had more than doubled to over 1000 in 48 hours, so I'm feeling much more relieved! But she says I'm still at risk for an ectopic pregnancy until I see baby on an ultrasound. Jeez, I'm never going to be able to relax!


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## Petzy

Dreamer - so pleased for you those numbers are great... I am surprised they said risk of ectopic though that makes no sense to me... try to relax best you can and enjoy the pregnancy - wish you a happy and healthy 9 months xx


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## detterose

Would there be any reason that you are at risk for an ectopic? From my understanding, ectopics normally have very slow rising hCG levels. Did you have an IUD or anything when you conceived? I find it very confusing they would scare you like that if it weren't necessary.


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## holly0986

I'm sorry you are going through this. I just went through the same thing. My numbers started off really low, doubled once, and then continued to slowly rise but nowhere near doubling. When I had my first ultrasound at 5 weeks we saw a sac. And then at 6 weeks we unexpectedly saw a baby with a perfect heartbeat. We thought for sure it was a blighted ovum. A few days later I started spotting and am currently miscarrying. But I have heard of so many people who had low and slow rising numbers who ended up having perfectly healthy babies. You have to think of all the women who don't even check their levels. I'm sure not all of them have perfect hcg. Don't lose hope :)


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## dreamer22

I'm confused as well as to why they say it could be ectopic. Maybe its because my levels are on the low side and I also had brown discharge, but it only lasted one night. But the doctor seemed pretty optimistic and said she wasn't really worried about it, but that she was legally obligated to say that I could still miscarry. On my discharge papers they put "Abortion-Threatened v. Ectopic." I'll just be glad when I hear a heartbeat and see that the baby is where it should be!


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## Blue eyes 81

So glad to hear your beta came back good! 
When is your first us going to be?
Wishing you a H&H 9 months!


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## dreamer22

Blue eyes 81 said:


> So glad to hear your beta came back good!
> When is your first us going to be?
> Wishing you a H&H 9 months!

Unfortunately, this wasn't a planned pregnancy and I do not have insurance right now, so I have to go through Medicaid. It is probably going to be about 3 weeks or longer before I can get in with an OB! By then I will probably already know if I am having an ectopic. I had one ultrasound at 4 weeks 2 days but of course my levels were so low they couldn't see anything yet.


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## dairymomma

:saywhat: What? They think it's ectopic because you had spotting? What is up with doctors lately? Your numbers were SPECTACULAR for just over 4 weeks and they rose really well. That's more than doubling! Ectopics have lower rising hormones because they aren't growing where they should. The brown blood was probably implantation...I'm getting the runaround from my doctor too. She gave me a talking-to yesterday when she called with my numbers (which also are more than doubling. I was 38 at 3+6 and now I'm 236 at 4+3.) because I apparently didn't wait to get pg like the specialist ordered me to. He NEVER told me to wait. In fact, I never talked to him after my last pg was confirmed. His nurse called me and only if I called to leave a message. The u/s tech confirmed a blighted ovum and I m/c the next day. Figured I didn't need to talk to the dr anymore so I didn't. She also said in her opinion, it's going to end badly and she's disappointed. I told her we weren't TRYING, were in fact _preventing_ pregnancy and it still happened but she was still annoyed. Don't know if I will stay with her anymore because I can't work with a doctor who won't support me.


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## Blue eyes 81

dairymomma said:


> :saywhat: What? They think it's ectopic because you had spotting? What is up with doctors lately? Your numbers were SPECTACULAR for just over 4 weeks and they rose really well. That's more than doubling! Ectopics have lower rising hormones because they aren't growing where they should. The brown blood was probably implantation...I'm getting the runaround from my doctor too. She gave me a talking-to yesterday when she called with my numbers (which also are more than doubling. I was 38 at 3+6 and now I'm 236 at 4+3.) because I apparently didn't wait to get pg like the specialist ordered me to. He NEVER told me to wait. In fact, I never talked to him after my last pg was confirmed. His nurse called me and only if I called to leave a message. The u/s tech confirmed a blighted ovum and I m/c the next day. Figured I didn't need to talk to the dr anymore so I didn't. She also said in her opinion, it's going to end badly and she's disappointed. I told her we weren't TRYING, were in fact _preventing_ pregnancy and it still happened but she was still annoyed. Don't know if I will stay with her anymore because I can't work with a doctor who won't support me.

:hugs: sorry your doctor is being so horrible to you.:hugs:


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## dairymomma

She's been a great doctor until my last few pregnancies. Now that I've calmed down, I'm wondering if part of it is that she's getting just as frustrated as I am because I can't stop having miscarriages even if I have had successful pregnancies in between and we have some partial answers but nothing concrete enough to 'fix' me. I'm trying to be understanding but it's like 'seriously? I'm pg. There's nothing I can do about it now so why rag on me about it.'


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## dreamer22

I went to a free clinic this morning for an ultrasound and the sonographer was able to find the gestational sac in my uterus! She couldn't see the heartbeat but she said its still really early (5w3d). She said that until she sees a heartbeat that ectopic can't be completely ruled out, but I feel like its unlikely considering that she saw a sac, that I haven't had bleeding, and that my hcg numbers had more than doubled in 48 hours. I have another ultrasound appt. in two weeks! Can't wait to see baby!


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## detterose

That's great news! The likelihood if it being ectopic is very slim, unless its a heterotopic pregnancy where there's a sac in the uterus but also one in the tubes. Its pretty rare but does happen.

Wishing you all the best for your next scan, keep us updated x


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## Blue eyes 81

Yay that is great news. Dont understand why they keep bringing up ectopic....like others have said I would think the likelyhood of that would be slim since your beta doubled nicely and that they saw a gestational sac in the proper place. Cant wait to hear about your next scan keep us posted.


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## dreamer22

The sonographer said its possible that there is a sac but that the baby implanted elsewhere. When I looked it up online, I saw that there can be a pseudosac in ectopic, but the statistics that I found said that that occurs in only 10-20 % of all ectopics. So out of 1% of all pregnancies that end up being ectopic, only 10-20 % of those ectopics have pseudosacs, and those sacs are often irregular shaped, and mine was perfectly round. She said she can't rule it out until she sees a heartbeat, and today all we could see was a sac. So now I get to worry for two weeks whether or not there is a baby in the sac! If this pregnancy results in a baby, then I am not having anymore kids! :D


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## julesmw

Great news! :happydance:


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## dairymomma

Great news that they found the sac! I still don't get why they think ectopic but who knows with doctors these days...I have to call mine today for a followup blood test order but I'm afraid to for fear she's going to give me her "I told you so" spiel. Wish I could just call the lab myself and order it. You'd think with my history, I could do that. Maybe I should just become a doctor...Then I could order any testing I wanted whenever I wanted. :haha:


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## dreamer22

So I didn't make it to my 7w3d ultrasound because I had brown discharge this morning so I went to the ER, expecting the worse. After an ultrasound that wasn't in my view (so I had no idea if baby was there), some blood work, and a pelvic exam, the doctor told me that bloodwork is perfect, that there was no active bleeding during my pelvic exam, and that they were able to see baby WITH heartbeat on the ultrasound! I heard the heartbeat while I was in the ultrasound but wasn't sure if that was what it was because the sonographer didn't tell me anything or show me anything. Later when I asked about the noise the doc confirmed that's what I heard. I heard my sweet little bean! :happydance: She said I had subchorionic hemorrhage which was probably causing the brown discharge but it is nothing to worry about. I am so relieved! Thank you lady's for supporting me through these stressful and alarming times! Can't wait to be out of this awful trimester!


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## Blue eyes 81

Yay.... so happy for you!


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## detterose

Awesome news!! Congrats on your healthy little bean, wishing you a H&H 9 months hun xx


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## dairymomma

Woohoo! So glad you found out your bean is bouncing around in there! And I have a history of subchorionic hematomas and have gone to term with DD despite having 2 during my first trimester. It's alarming to see blood but know that it's okay. I think there's a thread in the gestational complications forum on SCHs. (And to help put your mind at ease, my m/c where I had an SCH were almost all due to low progesterone NOT the hematoma.) With mine, they ordered biweekly ultrasounds (every other week, not twice a week) to track the size and make sure it was going away so I got to see my bean that much more.


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