Misdiagnosed MC and now in limbo...

[BethK]

Hi all,

I'm a bit of a nervous wreck atm, here's a bit of background....

We had a round of ICSI in January, i'm 37 and so i knew my chances had reduced. Anyway, we were ecstatic when i got a bfp at 9dp3dt

At 5w3d i had a lot of pain and bleeding. The doc suspected an ectopic and sent me straight to EPU for a scan.

The scan went great, the consultant that did it said she could see the sac measuring 7w and the baby measuring 6.5w, she also saw a heartbeat. Everything was great, she sent me on my way with their direct line number to call if the bleeding changed.

At 6w3d (so a week later), i bled a clot, only a small one and brown blood, so i called expecting them to say not to worry, old blood etc, but they booked me in for another scan the following day!

So i go back to EPU at 6w4d for my second scan, thinking it'd be ok as it was old blood etc, but this time i saw a sonographer not a consultant. She did another internal scan but she said she couldn't see anything in the sac! She said she couldn't see any baby, or yolk, or fetal pole! No heartbeat, nothing! She also put in the notes that the sac was irregular and looked like it may be coming away.

This came as a huge shock! We explained that the consultant a week before had seen it all and she said she would have to 'have words' with her as she was obviously wrong!

She booked me in for a D&C for the week after.

We were destroyed! As it was IVF we knew the dates were definite, it wasn't like it was too early to see as the consultant had seen it, we even had a photo! Our parents knew, my work knew (they were supporting me for the time off for treatment etc) it was just awful.

A few days of heartbreak and I managed to pick myself up and was just wanting the D&C to be over so we could raise the £8k to go again.

So a week after my 'miscarriage' I went back to the hospital for my D&C, they explained they needed to do another scan for legality reasons. So we went to EPU, saw another different sonographer, after a few minutes she turned the monitor to DH and I and said it all looked fine!! I just burst into tears and i think my DH just started to beg them to double and triple check.

We saw the heartbeat, but she didn't say how many bpm it was. She measured the baby and said it was about 7.5 weeks, she didn't measure the sac (or at least she didn't tell us the size).
We asked her about the irregular sac and she said it did look irregular, but didn't look like it was 'coming away'. She said it may or may not be an issue.
She said we could go back in 2 weeks when i'd be 9w4d and they can see a more substantial growth.

Obviously we were gobsmacked! I'm booked in for a scan on Tuesday, when i'll be 9w4d and i pray to god the baby is there and growing well and the sac is looking more stable.

I'm a bit worried about the size though. At 5w3d baby measured 6w5d and then 2 weeks later at 7w4d the baby measured 7w5d.

I know that's spot on, but i'm concerned that it only had a week of growth in two weeks of time, so i'm concerned that after the 2 weeks at my 9w scan it'll measure a week behind.

Has anyone had an early scan and then another 2 weeks later? Was a weeks worth of growth in two weeks ok?

I'm in such limbo, i'm desperate to get some maternity wear as i'm so uncomfy but it seems a waste if it's bad news on Tuesday.

 

[bunnyhop]

Wow what a roller coaster! I've had a few scans, from the first one at 5w3 days till my 12 week scan I have gained a total of 8 days over 3 scans! So you may just have a slow grower that will catch up good luck

(gained as in babies growing quicker so my due date has come forward )

 

[MissR]

Wow I can't believe what you've been through! I would be so angry at the previous sonographer! How shocking that they can get it so utterly wrong. So glad that your bean is safe and well. I hope everything goes great for you at your next scan xx

 

[BethK]

Thank you, yes we are so cross with what the previous sonographer put us through, i don't know what i'm going to say if she's the one to scan me on Tuesday! I'd want to tell them to get me someone else but if they don't have anyone else i may lose out on my scan

I'm really hoping the growth goes up and down. at the first scan i was over a week ahead, i know i was still on time on the 3rd scan but i'd have expected to again be a week ahead.

Fingers crossed it goes ok, don't think i could take any more if they said no again!

 

[orionfox]

Sorry to hear you have had a rough go so far but glad baby is so far doing ok. As for the sonographer, not all are as experienced as the others. Also the machines can be an issue as well. Im not saying she wasnt an idiot etc, but no one knows why she couldnt see anything. But the fact that she didnt see anything and saw the sac to look irregular tells me she isnt very experienced at it yet. Hopefully your next scan goes well.

 

[jlw617]

Hi, my situation is definitely different but similar in some aspects with my mmc, basically I went for my 8 week scan but was only measuring 6 weeks there was a fetal pole and sac but no hb, I was told to come back in if I started bleeding, i did and they did another us but to my surprise there was a hb this time although there was only a day of growth in 1 weeks time, my dr who actually did the us said very kindly not to get my hopes up as the hb was very slow and it's actually common with mmc to not see a hb and then later to see one before finally the baby passes which is exactly what happened to me, another week later I went in for one more us and this time the heavy bleeding/clotting along with labour like pains had passed and she confirmed that the majority of everything had passed I'm sorry for what you're going through, I hope it doesn't end this way for you but I wanted to share my experience with you.

 

[bluecathy1978]

Wow, wow, wow!!! Thank goodness they did another scan. How shocking for you to be misdiagnosed like that and the upset it caused you is unacceptable.
I know that each sonographer has different levels of experience but you would like to think that they would get the basic stuff right.
Thankfully, your little bean is still there and hoping that at your next scan he /she will be wriggling away and showing off to mummy and daddy xxx

 

[BethK]

Thanks everyone. I've had both MMC and MC and both times were completely different to this.

The sonographer I had last was very positive, she said there was nothing that would concern her at all and the Matron said that the growth the baby had between 5 and 7 weeks was fine.

It wasn't until I got home that I worried about it and thought if the growth stays the same then it would get further and further behind.

 

[icklemonster]

Gosh what a rollercoaster! So glad you had the additional scan. This story reminds me of an article I read the the other day: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...en-abortion-pill-scan-detected-heartbeat.html

Thought you would be interested to read it given your experience. I noted in the comments at the bottom this had happened to others xxx

 

[xCherylx]

Oh no this is awful, I am so sorry you are going through this! As I was having pains I was called in for an emergency scan and then another a week later. The nurse did say that dates can change as the measurements are only a matter of millimetres. Hope everything turns out alright it sounds positive at the moment

 

[BethK]

Thank you icklemonster, what an amazing yet terrifying article!

I think two scans by two different people is a very good idea!

 

[BethK]

Thank you Cheryl, this sort of positive story is what I'm after . Need to keep my mind positive without being reminded about the bad things that may happen at the scan!

You're right, it's only a minute fraction that could change the dates so greatly.

 

[Islabella]

Always worth remembering that even with state of the art equipment they always measure you "+/- 5 days" as CRL before about 10 weeks is really difficult to measure. May have been the sonographer just caught bub in an awkward position on your last scan and the CRL was under what you were expecting because of that. Fingers crossed your journey is smoother from here on (and I would definitely request a different sonographer next time if that lady is the one given to you - you have every right and they can't deny you a scan... She essentially almost booked you in for a termination due to inaccuracy in her job!!! Thank god they double checked and there were no more mistakes!)

 

[BethK]

Thank you for the reassurance islabella! X

Yes I will have to politely request a different sonographer I think, I just can't trust that one

 

[girlinyork]

I would say your first measurement overshot due to angle. At that gestation its hard to get an accurate measurement. The fact baby measures according to your ivf dates is MASSIVELY reassuring. As somebody who's had 4 losses I can tell you that that is a fantastic sign. Babies who have measured under at any point have never made it but my daughter matched my O date by fertility friend exactly at about the seven week scan. I'm really hopeful for you.

 

[aPharmD]

Just wanted to say good luck and hope all works out!!!

 

[3boys]

Good luck

 

[Zeri]

WTH!!!! Thank God they did another scan!!! Sheesh!!

 

[Eskimobabys]

good luck I'm really rooting for you and baby!

 

[bluecathy1978]

Good luck today xxx