Hcg levels, unsure of how pregnant I am etc...

[Anotherbbypls]

OK so if I go by LMP I'm 5 weeks now. Already massively nauseous and my boobs no longer fit in my bra. My doc suggested I ask for a dating scan as I seem more pregnant than I appear to be.
(I had a period in may. It was heavy and clotty but didn't last long)

My midwife says no I can't have a dating scan and I have to wait till august when she thinks I will be 12-13 weeks.

So my question is. How can I find out how pregnant I am without a scan? Can I have my HCG levels checked or is that inconclusive?
Can I request a dating scan through my doctor without going through my midwife?

 

[kdmalk]

I have no idea how healthcare works over there, but checking your hcg should give you an idea of what might be seen in an ultrasound. If you are over I want to say like 25000, there is usually a heartbeat and a baby. And it wouldn't be that high at 5 weeks. So although hcg is obviously not conclusive, you can probably get an idea that you might be well over 5 weeks if it is more than a couple thousand.

 

[lilmisscaviar]

I was 7 weeks when I had my hcg checked with this pregnancy. It was 29,000 which is actually a little low according to this website I found that goes by day instead of by week: https://www.getpregnantover40.com/hcg-levels-and-miscarriage.htm. I had an early scan the same day my levels were drawn and we couldn't find a fetal pole or heartbeat. I am also sure of my dates going by the time I had my first positive pregnancy test so I don't think hcg levels are a good indication of how far along you are. As a side note, I had my levels checked at 7 weeks to the day with my previous pregnancy and it was at 55,000. I ended up losing that baby despite hcg being almost double.

 

[momNatasha]

I totally agree with what the pp has just mentioned. hcg levels can't tell where you are in your pregnancy. mine were 32369 at week 6 and the gyn/ob just put me at 5+2 according to what I measured on the scan.

 

[Willow01]

Some private companies do early pregnancy scans from 6-7 weeks so could you maybe wait until then then go and definitely find out how far along you are?

 

[kdmalk]

Maybe I was thinking 45000 for a hb. I couldn't remember. Either way, I do think that having a beta at 5 weeks would at least be able to tell her if she was in the ballpark for 5 weeks. If it was something like 40k, she would know she likely isn't 5 weeks and it may convince the midwife to send her for a dating scan. That is all I was thinking.

 

[Scout]

The range of hcg is really too large to get much useful information regarding how far along you might be. For instance, with daughter, mine was 18,762 at 4w6d. Going off the online charts this would put me closer to the 6 week range, but I had a scan the following week and measured spot on. I suppose it could give you an idea but it might not. GL

 

[kneeswrites]

Yeah unfortunately hcg isn't going to be terribly reliable as an indicator. I had a similar experience with this pregnancy, I didn't know how far along I was thanks to irregular periods, so I finally ended up paying $40 for a private dating scan at a pregnancy/women's clinic. I assume they have something similar where you are.

But if you have been having normal periods and you had a period in May, I'd just go by your LMP. You can have pretty intense symptoms early on. With my daughter, by 14DPO I had huge extremely painful boobs and awful nausea. But I was definitely only 14DPO.

 

[orionfox]

I would go to your hospital and say that you are pregnant but unsure of how far and that you have been experiencing bad cramps. They will give you a scan and you can find out. Otherwise the other way is to pay for a private scan. Only a scan will tell you how far along you are.

 

[Anotherbbypls]

Thank you everyone you've been very helpful. I'm seeing my doctor this week for some more hay fever relief so I.l ask her to sort something. Failing that I will just be patient