HCG levels dropped by 130 in 18 hours- help!

[bighouse]

babers- could be! My family doc said I should be taking progesterone before the pregnancy but OB would not prescribe until I started having miscarriage symptoms.

Now for the good news... had our US this morning and saw baby WITH A HEARTBEAT! We were ecstatic. Measuring 1 day behind schedule but OB said that could be because it is still small/hard to measure and it was an older ultrasound machine.

I also got approval for the DNA test at 10 weeks, so we will get to find out the gender early! So cool.

OB is still very guarded, she said once I reach 8 weeks she will feel more confident. Says my HCG numbers are still too low and not increasing as fast as they should. I'm scheduled for weekly ultrasounds until further notice. And on "pelvic rest" until further notice.

 

[knobby]

Congrats on the scan! Being just 1 day off on an ultrasound is not abnormal at all, in fact it is fantastic!

I wish your ob was more positive after seeing your baby with a heartbeat on ultrasound and measuring great. Which is a better indicator than hcg levels - many women have hcg levels that are at the lower end of normal throughout their pregnancies and still have healthy babies in the end. She is such a debbie downer Hopefully she is not causing you too much unnecessary worry and you are able to find relief in seeing that little heartbeat

 

[Blu10]

Amazing!! Congrats, glad all is well

 

[MJsBabyShaw]

Bighouse, I stalked you and found this thread! How horrible that you had to go through all of that. I'm glad you are on progesterone now - I am taking it too. I started taking it before I got pregnant...my OB wouldn't prescribe it for use before I got pregnant, but prescribed it for me to take AFTER I got a BFP. So I just filled my prescription early and started taking it after ovulation!

So exciting that you go to see a heartbeat! My OB won't see me until 8 weeks so I have to wait 2 loooooong weeks until I get to find out if there is even a baby in there. I hate waiting. I hate not being sure that I'm even pregnant. All I have is a positive test, but that's no guarantee that I have a live baby growing.

Keep us posted!

 

[knobby]

I hope this is encouraging! I found this on the americanpregnancy.org website:

Caution must be used in making too much of hCG numbers. A normal pregnancy may have low hCG levels and result in a perfectly healthy baby. The results from an ultrasound after 5-6 weeks gestation are much more accurate than using hCG numbers.

https://americanpregnancy.org/while-pregnant/hcg-levels/

 

[cherrished]

Awwww congrats hunny that's fab news xx

 

[bighouse]

Thanks ladies for all the encouragement & helpful info!

Regarding the OB she is super sweet and otherwise very helpful (when I actually see her). The office and nursing staff I'm not so thrilled with, but I can deal with it. I think the ob is just erring on the side of caution rather than fill me with false optimism and have my hopes dashed if/when something goes wrong. In one sense I appreciate the honesty... if it is warranted... but on the other hand if there is still a good chance everything will be fine, don't make me stress! The last week and a half have been sooooo stressful. The only days I wasn't at the hospital or doctors office were saturday and sunday, I saw doctors every weekday for the past 1.5 weeks. Add a high amount of stress to someone who already feels sick as a dog 24/7 and the result is not pleasant!

MJ- great to see you here!!! I think if I did not have MC symptoms my ob would have waited until 8 weeks for the first scan, too. But the way things are going I've already had one at 5w and 6w and will also have one at 7w and 8w. She said I can skip the 7w if I want but I'm going to see how I feel next week (physically and anxiety level) and if I'm still bleeding and having any other MC symptoms I'll probably keep the appointment to have it done. If nothing else seeing that heart still beating and growth will lower my stress level!

 

[babyvaughan]

Congrats on seeing baby and heartbeat!
Your right it is better for your doctor to share her honest feelings rather butter it up and make for bigger heartache if something went wrong! I will be following and waiting for more exciting news!

 

[knobby]

Your right it is better for your doctor to share her honest feelings rather butter it up and make for bigger heartache if something went wrong! I will be following and waiting for more exciting news!

I definitely don't think an OB should ever butter something up if the situation looks dire. But in this case? Everything looks and sounds great, even the levels the OB is concerned with are perfectly normal. Just seeing a heartbeat drastically reduces your rate of miscarriage a crazy huge amount: https://www.md-health.com/Chances-Of-Miscarriage-After-Seeing-Heartbeat.html

Bighouse, you are right, she shouldn't make you stress if there is a good chance everything will be fine. Everything so far is showing your baby is developing right on track . What more could anyone want? Definitely take advantage of those extra appointments, but just don't let her make you worry without real reason.

 

[Buffyx]

That's great news. My baby was measuring 5 days behind when I went for my first scan. 1 day off seems perfect to me!

 

[babers]

That is awesome!! Did they tell you the heart rate?

 

[bighouse]

Had another ultrasound this week... everything looks great! Baby is measuring right on track. Heart rate is good (140).

I've had absolutely no bleeding in the past week! WooHoo!

OB is still a bit guarded (until I get to a minimum of 10 weeks, but more likely 12 weeks). But she said we're seeing good signs. She has not retested my HCG level.

I'll probably wait another 2.5 weeks before getting another sono, although she said I can come back before then if I want. I'm going to try to hold out, so I don't bombard a developing baby with tons of high frequency sound waves.

But for now I'm feeling good about things!

 

[Dill]

Awesome!!!

 

[knobby]

That's great news!

 

[meli1981]

Great news!

 

[smileyfaces]

Great news! Just read the whole thread, your numbers sound fine to me! So glad you got to see baby and heartbeat!

 

[xxmyheartxx]

Fantastic news hun xxx

 

[cherrished]

Fabulous news hun, congratulations xx