Losing hope - advice please

[Underduck]

Edit: Update at end of thread! Yay!

Hello everyone

I found out less then a week ago that I am pregnant. A surprise but quickly a loving and exciting one. After the pregnancy was confirmed by the doctor, my mind instantly swam to visions of me and my beloved with our little baby. I was cautioned by the knowledge that most of the women I knew have had a miscarriage and it's really very too early to start celebrating.

The joy was cut short when I went in for my ultrasound at 4w4d. I've had very irregular periods so my doctor wanted to check out my dates. After joking about how much I had to pee, I did the ultrasound and we saw nothing. No sac, nothing. She could tell that my lining was thickened but that was it. I felt better after she muttered something about hating how doctors don't wait long enough.

The results came back for my hormone levels and they were 280 or so. My doctor was very pessimistic after that. I was just at the labs getting more bloodwork done this morning and went back to the doctor right after (a different one as I do not have a family doctor - just walk in) as I received a call on the weekend to come in for test results (which there ended up being no results and I think they called me in error?). ANYHOO! That doctor has not received my blood work yet but he was also very pessimistic (but kind) and told me that something should have showed up on the u/s and my hcg levels were too low last week. He promised to call me when the results come in. If they haven't gone up significantly, it's bad news I guess.

Long story short, I'm already devastated and I know I have no right to be because a) I am not that far along and b) I don't have conclusive info yet. This waiting is horrible, I've missed a day of work because I've been so caught up, and it seems that almost every professional I see gives me sad eyes and looks at me like I've already miscarried.

I don't think My dates are wrong because we didn't "consummate" more than twice last month haha.

Sorry to write all of this.
I think I just needed somewhere to put it all.

Xo

 

[Underduck]

That sounded confusing so I broke it down:

Last weds - Pregnant! Woo! Tests and bloodwork. 4w4d.
Thurs- called in. Bloodwork levels low. U/s showed nothing. Sad weekend.
Today- more bloodwork. No results yet. Very pessimistic doctor.

 

[SteffieLee]

Maybe baby just implanted late hun. A sac usually doesn't show up on ultrasound until your levels are closer to 1000. Really hoping your levels are going up and that your next ultrasound you'll see your baby. are you having any spotting?

 

[LadyHutch]

Hrm....I had U/S at 5w0d and doc told me not to expect to see anything. I got lucky and we did see a yolk sac. I am pretty sure at 4w4d it is less than a 50% shot you would see a GS. But thick lining is a good sign.

280 at 4w4d does not seem all that low to me.

Hang out til 6-7 weeks. It is far too early to count on that info yet. If you don't bleed between now and then, you are probably just fine.

In the meantime, satisfy yourself with POAS. Generally (not always, mind you) they get darker as you get further alond. 4w4d for a 29 day cycle is only 15DPO. I didn't even get a positive this one (or many of my others) until 12-13 DPO.


EDIT: Chart for HCG levels

3 weeks LMP: 5 – 50 mIU/ml
4 weeks LMP: 5 – 426 mIU/ml --You are right in the middle of that. Seems ok to me....
5 weeks LMP: 18 – 7,340 mIU/ml
6 weeks LMP: 1,080 – 56,500 mIU/ml
7 – 8 weeks LMP: 7, 650 – 229,000 mIU/ml
9 – 12 weeks LMP: 25,700 – 288,000 mIU/ml
13 – 16 weeks LMP: 13,300 – 254,000 mIU/ml
17 – 24 weeks LMP: 4,060 – 165,400 mIU/ml
25 – 40 weeks LMP: 3,640 – 117,000 mIU/ml
Non-pregnant females: <5.0 mIU/ml
Postmenopausal females: <9.5 mIU/ml

 

[Underduck]

Had a tiny bit of light brown spotting a couple of days ago but didn't amount to anything. Discharge (but I've always had lots of that - gross!). Gentle cramping now and them but nothing painful. Tender nipples, lots and lots of urinating and general tiredness. No blood.

 

[eme]

I wouldn't count yourself out just yet at ALL! you're still VERY early! So much can change in just one or two days when we're this early. For him to give sad eyes over your numbers when there's no second follow up blood draw yet is silly. You're right in the middle of the range for where you are right now so don't fret! It's so hard to wait for those numbers but that's really the only thing that's going to give you a good idea to how things are going.

 

[skunkpixie]

It's not over yet, far from it. Don't lose hope. Light brown spotting is most likely implantation bleeding, which happens in a third of all healthy pregnancies. Xxxx

 

[Underduck]

Thank you everyone. I don't know why both doctors I've seen have been so pessimistic. The ultrasound tech so far has been the only one who has given me any good vibes. She made me rebook an appointment 2 weeks from my first one and grumbled about the doctor sending me too soon.

I will keep you all updated. Thank you for the uplifting thoughts. I'm 31 years old and haven't wanted anything this bad in my life.

Xo

 

[lj2245]

I have a lot of history with mc and ectopic pregnancy and I get scanned early to make sure everything is ok and even my EPU wouldn't scan me until 6w as you don't see much before then and it tends to just make folk worry. I got scanned with my last pregnancy at 4w and saw nothing, again at 5w and saw not a lot and then at 6w when we finally saw baby Alex for the first time.

Also, I bled brown blood for a week with my last pregnancy and have bled brown for 5w with this one so far (still bleeding now) and everything is ok up til now.

I've never had bloods done so not sure about that part but so early on the number is less important than whether your levels are going up or not... And you won't know that until you have more bloods done

Try not to worry. I've seen the words "threatened miscarriage" written in my notes more times than I care to count and in my experience doctors need to start trying to appear more optimistic! Miserable bunch

 

[eme]

I have a lot of history with mc and ectopic pregnancy and I get scanned early to make sure everything is ok and even my EPU wouldn't scan me until 6w as you don't see much before then and it tends to just make folk worry. I got scanned with my last pregnancy at 4w and saw nothing, again at 5w and saw not a lot and then at 6w when we finally saw baby Alex for the first time.

Also, I bled brown blood for a week with my last pregnancy and have bled brown for 5w with this one so far (still bleeding now) and everything is ok up til now.

I've never had bloods done so not sure about that part but so early on the number is less important than whether your levels are going up or not... And you won't know that until you have more bloods done

Try not to worry. I've seen the words "threatened miscarriage" written in my notes more times than I care to count and in my experience doctors need to start trying to appear more optimistic! Miserable bunch

So I'm totally not trying to hijack this post but your comments here have piqued my interest and I'm hoping you can shed some light =)

I'm between 5 and 6 weeks right now and have been spotting brown on and off since two days before getting my bfp. I've never spotted ever in my life, not in my periods, not in any of my previous pregnancies. I don't have any cramps, but I have been having some twinges near my left ovary the past few days or so. Best way I can describe it is similar to how your nose feels when you're trying to hold in a sneeze or when you are about to sneeze. That's what it feels like near my ovary. It doesn't necessarily hurt when I press down on it, just twinges.

Have you been given any reasons/answers as to why you're spotting in the healthy pregnancies and how does that spotting compare to your ectopic pregnancy? If you'd rather email me directly so as not to take away from the original post feel free to message me on here, and thank you for anything you can share with this nervous mommy

 

[LadyHutch]

eme - sent you PM. I've had some experience in this field as well. In case you want more personal stories/opinions.

 

[StranjeGirl]

I think it's too early to be concerned. First of all you really don't know when you ovulated. Sperm can live up to 5 days sometimes. So technically you may conceived a few days after you had sex, which would put you right at about 4 weeks. When I went in at 3 weeks 6 days last pregnancy we saw absolutely nothing. There was a dot the size of a poppy seed and he said maybe that was it but he couldn't be sure. He wasn't concerned at all. When I went back at 5+4, there was a gestational sac but it was empty. I was also spotting at time time. So even if you are 4+4, it still doesn't surprise ms that you haven't seen anything. These early scans are nothing but a big scare for us! I purposely waited til 7 weeks to avoid all that this time. Hope it all turns out ok!!

 

[Underduck]

So I just got the results back from my hcg draw this morning and my number went up! So what I'm looking at now is:

18 DPO: 265
22 DPO: 1800 and something.

Doctor again is cautioning me about being optimistic. Throws around a bunch of scary terminology but all I see are numbers that have doubled every 34 hours. I wanted him to be excited for me to soothe my worries but, as my lovely boyfriend stated, he probably has to be pessimistic.

I know he wanted to see a number like 3500 but I'm holding on tight until more tests on Thursday.

Xo

 

[Underduck]

Though I'm not responding to everyone, please know that I'm reading everything you're saying and am so thankful for the kind words and sharing your personal experiences.

 

[DolceBella]

Those numbers look good hun! They told me I had a blighted ovum in the beginning. I know how hard it can be to wait this out. Hang in there!

 

[bazzb]

Numbers seem fine to me and doubling xx
Think your doctor is just a meanie
Good luck xx

 

[SteffieLee]

Its rising nicely! 4 days lapse between tests so the numbers should have quadrupled which they more than did. I don't see why your doc is still dragging you down, apparently he's a moron.

 

[Nikki1979]

My first pregnancy my hcg was 383 on 21dpo. He is a healthy 7 year old now. I am sure there is nothing to worry about. Congrats on your pregnancy.

 

[lj2245]

I have a lot of history with mc and ectopic pregnancy and I get scanned early to make sure everything is ok and even my EPU wouldn't scan me until 6w as you don't see much before then and it tends to just make folk worry. I got scanned with my last pregnancy at 4w and saw nothing, again at 5w and saw not a lot and then at 6w when we finally saw baby Alex for the first time.

Also, I bled brown blood for a week with my last pregnancy and have bled brown for 5w with this one so far (still bleeding now) and everything is ok up til now.

I've never had bloods done so not sure about that part but so early on the number is less important than whether your levels are going up or not... And you won't know that until you have more bloods done

Try not to worry. I've seen the words "threatened miscarriage" written in my notes more times than I care to count and in my experience doctors need to start trying to appear more optimistic! Miserable bunch

So I'm totally not trying to hijack this post but your comments here have piqued my interest and I'm hoping you can shed some light =)

I'm between 5 and 6 weeks right now and have been spotting brown on and off since two days before getting my bfp. I've never spotted ever in my life, not in my periods, not in any of my previous pregnancies. I don't have any cramps, but I have been having some twinges near my left ovary the past few days or so. Best way I can describe it is similar to how your nose feels when you're trying to hold in a sneeze or when you are about to sneeze. That's what it feels like near my ovary. It doesn't necessarily hurt when I press down on it, just twinges.

Have you been given any reasons/answers as to why you're spotting in the healthy pregnancies and how does that spotting compare to your ectopic pregnancy? If you'd rather email me directly so as not to take away from the original post feel free to message me on here, and thank you for anything you can share with this nervous mommy

Hi, happy for you to pm me if you want more info but basically with both pregnancies I was scanned and a reason for the bleeding was looked for and nothing found. My rather charming Irish midwife cheerfully explained that brown blood is like losing a scab....which reforms and can be lost again...and it's your body's way of cleaning itself. Pretty disgusting but it makes sense to me and having bled with my last pregnancy too, I am trying not to worry about it.

I have twinges in my side, and had them with my last pregnancy but none of the others. I have no fallopian tube on that side and my ovary is tied shut, although I have a cyst on that ovary. The ultrasound tech says it's a healthy cyst that provides nourishment to the ovaries but that it can twinge a bit with my expanding uterus.

When I had my ectopic pregnancy it was completely different. The bleeding was like actual bleeding but just a strange colour and very watery. Prune juice is a widely used description and one that definitely fitted. The bleeding didn't stop at any point and was consistent in flow throughout. I didn't get a positive hpt so I had no idea I was pregnant and had assumed I was having a very long and strange period. I was taking the mini pill at the time so had no reason to expect pregnancy (although a strange feeling had made me test). Ultimately I eventually got a BFP and promptly collapsed that very same day and was blue lighted to hospital and straight to surgery. I'd had right-sided pain previous to that but being busy I'd ignored it until the day of my collapse, when it became much worse and I also developed rib and shoulder tip pain due to the massive internal bleeding into my abdomen. The surgeon discovered the fetus was approx 8 weeks gestation. I always urge anyone with suspicions of an ectopic pregnancy to be seen. Much better to be safe than sorry.

 

[lj2245]

So I just got the results back from my hcg draw this morning and my number went up! So what I'm looking at now is:

18 DPO: 265
22 DPO: 1800 and something.

Doctor again is cautioning me about being optimistic. Throws around a bunch of scary terminology but all I see are numbers that have doubled every 34 hours. I wanted him to be excited for me to soothe my worries but, as my lovely boyfriend stated, he probably has to be pessimistic.

I know he wanted to see a number like 3500 but I'm holding on tight until more tests on Thursday.

Xo

Fantastic news, exactly what you were looking for and I see no reason at all for your doctors pessimism. Honestly, doctors would worry you to an early grave! You should expect to see something on ultrasound from approx 2000+