*update* Negative ultrasound, what and who to believe? Opinions please!

[Laurans]

Hi everyone,,
So first ultrasound today 7+3 and all seemed fairly positive, doctor said all looked ok but said heart rate 80bpm! (Transvaginal scan)
I thought this was slow and asked him about it and he said oh it starts slow and then will get faster!!
Came home and done research...and I mean medical journals!
So it seems my little bubbas heart rate is way way outside the realms of normal!
The medical journals state 100%, 86% and 78% miscarriage rate at 7 weeks if the heart rate is under 100bpm.......well I'm 7+3 and Heart rate 80bpm!!

Hubby called the doctor and he's going to rescan me next fri but still says it's fine!!!
Who do I believe....I want to trust my doctor but the medical statistics are damming!
Can anyone offer me a story of hope! (Ie someone that had heart rate of less than 100bpm!)

UPDATE!!! Ultrasound today showed little bean has grown to 19.3 mm and heart rate has picked up to around 130. My OB is happy and now I'm thankful for my little growing bean. Although I'm not out of the woods yet (i guess until you have a baby in your arms you never are!) it just shows that medical journals/articles etc just don't allow for personal differences!
Wishing everyone happy and healthy pregnancies and thanking everyone that offered support and hope to me!

 

[Cattia]

Oh no, that must be a worry
I know it's hard but try not o read too much online as you'll just freak yourself out. Could they not re-scan you earlier than that? When I went at 8 weeks she couldn't tell me what the heart rate was, just said it looked strong. It could be that the heart only just started beating so it will speed up for you. I have everything crossed!

 

[Laurans]

Thanks Cattia, Originally my next appointment was meant to be in 2 weeks time so next Friday is the earlier one!
Really hoped I might have had at least 2 weeks of feeling less anxious!
X

 

[shobbs]

Your doctor has no reason to lie and it's against the law to give any false information. If your doctors has said it's fine I would listen to him. Trust me I'm the queen of Dr Google the amount of times I've input symptoms and Google have told me i've got a life threatening get condition. If your doctor was worried he would of said they have to by right tell you anything that concern them. Trust me after multiple miscarriages. A still birth and delivering an extremely premature baby I've research everything. Trust your doctor and relax stress is no good for you or the baby

 

[minties]

I'm not sure what to say. It is well under the normal range for 7 weeks, its even below what you'd expect at 6 weeks .

I had a scan at 7+3 and the heartrate was considered low, it was about 118bpm. It was fine and my daughter is healthy but I remember worrying about it a lot. You must be freaking out.

Personally I'd have another scan ASAP.

(According to fetalmedicine.com) 50th centile BPM is 146 for 7+3, 5th centile is 128 and 95th centile is 165.

Heartrate at 5+5 is an average of 105BPM. I don't know why your doctor seems so unconcerned.

 

[kel21]

Were you measuring 7+3? Maybe you o'd late and are not quite as far as you think? Gl hun!

 

[Laurans]

Were you measuring 7+3? Maybe you o'd late and are not quite as far as you think? Gl hun!

Thanks but yes measuring 9.26mm ( 7.3 weeks) the little bean was measuring spot on from the date I know I conceived!
X

 

[SJDsMommy]

Honestly -I think the dr has to say that in this situation as he doesn't want to worry you or make you stressed unnecessarily. I hope all goes well at your next scan!

 

[supersherwolf]

I'm sorry to be honest that does seem quite worrisome. Maybe like a pp said you aren't as far along as you think?

 

[Tattoo]

I don't have any advice, I'm afraid, but I wanted to wish you all the best.

 

[skyesmom]

it's 7+3 effing weeks. an ultrasound machine can be wrong as well. some won't even be able to pick up a heart beat and some docs don't even check on it this early, probably because of issues like this.

it's not an exact science and if her doc who has seen the baby is unconcerned, i'd rather stick to that. he obviously has more information about her pregnancy than Dr Google and any of us here, so i'd rather trust him a bit more.

baby measures spot on, she doesn't have any mc symptoms whatsoever, why does she need to worry her head off???

also, docs have seen many many more women than scientific research papers ever did. those statistics are based on just a TINY part of all women who have ever been pregnant, and exceptions to the rule are really rarely ever included into those publications. no one wants to spoil a nice, significant statistical data with an off case, while trying to prove a point and get the paper published (and their research funded and their academic positions secured and so on).

always but always take medical info, especially online medical info, with a MASSIVE pinch of salt. medical/scientific research is a business, it is far far away from unbiased and honest, and internet pages are as well. it all has to appear more dramatic on internet in order to catch your attention so you would open the page, click, read an article.

real life is way way more variable and unpredictable than the medical stats and internet wants us to believe. so, if your doc is unconcerned, i'd trust him.

 

[Thumbelina 3]

At my early 8 week scan I only measured 7 weeks and 2 days. There was a hearbeat but I wasn't told anything about it just that all was fine. I think at this stage when heartbeats only just started it can all change so quickly and my scan. 2 weeks before the 8 week one all they could see was the sac no baby all heartbeat. So shows what can happen quickly at this stage. I wouldn't worry just yet.

 

[Kiwiberry]

I'm not sure what to say. It is well under the normal range for 7 weeks, its even below what you'd expect at 6 weeks .

I had a scan at 7+3 and the heartrate was considered low, it was about 118bpm. It was fine and my daughter is healthy but I remember worrying about it a lot. You must be freaking out.

Personally I'd have another scan ASAP.

(According to fetalmedicine.com) 50th centile BPM is 146 for 7+3, 5th centile is 128 and 95th centile is 165.

Heartrate at 5+5 is an average of 105BPM. I don't know why your doctor seems so unconcerned.

I agree with her. My baby's bpm was 140 at 7 weeks. I had gone into the ER for a scan because of some spotting. It was a vaginal scan.

80bmp is really really low, I am not sure why your doctor is unconcerned, but it could because he does not want to cause you any grief just in case nothing is wrong. I would go in and get checked out asap.

There is nothing wrong with the ultrasound machines. Do not let people fool you into thinking that. You can pick up a hb at 5.5 weeks using the ultrasounds here in the US. Especially the vaginal ones.

People should really stop being so hateful to pp's. The ladies on here are only trying to tell you the truth and not give you any false hope. False hope is worse than knowing the truth.

Here is some info I found, now there is a lot of false or exaggerated information out there. However, when it comes to medical advice / information it is rarely wrong.

At about 5 weeks gestation, your baby's heart begins to beat. At this point, a normal fetal heart rate is about the same heart rate as the mother's - about 80-85 beats per minute (BPM). From this point, it will increase by about 3 beats per minute per day during that first month.

Sited here: https://www.countdownmypregnancy.com/pregnancy/heartbeat.php

I would be sure and talk to your doctor to see if there is a chance you misheard him. It could be that you are only 5-6 weeks pregnant instead of 7+3. That would make the most sense as to why the baby's hb is only 80bpm.

 

[Munchkin30]

All i can say is ive had 4 early (7-8 week) scans with 4 dufferent babies and i wasnt once told the heartrate, even though i asked. I was just told it was strong. I am now worrying because i didnt know the heartrate this time at my 7 week scan? I suspect they didnt tell me for a reason, ie they cant be accurate enough that early. Good luck hon, hopefully this will just be part of your story xx

 

[Kiwiberry]

Oh they are accurate, don't be fooled into thinking their not just because they did not tell you.

 

[lauraloo24]

At my private reassurance scan at 8 weeks here in the UK all i was told is that the fetus had a "strong" heartbeat - i asked if they could tell how fast it was and was told no. When baby is so small the measurements can be off so you may not be 7w 3d in which case a lower bpm would be reasonable. Hope everything goes well for you x

 

[Cattia]

At my private reassurance scan at 8 weeks here in the UK all i was told is that the fetus had a "strong" heartbeat - i asked if they could tell how fast it was and was told no. When baby is so small the measurements can be off so you may not be 7w 3d in which case a lower bpm would be reasonable. Hope everything goes well for you x

I had exactly the same experience at my 8 week scan. I aske and was told they didn't measure it that early but she could see it was strong.

 

[Laurans]

I'm not sure what to say. It is well under the normal range for 7 weeks, its even below what you'd expect at 6 weeks .

I had a scan at 7+3 and the heartrate was considered low, it was about 118bpm. It was fine and my daughter is healthy but I remember worrying about it a lot. You must be freaking out.

Personally I'd have another scan ASAP.

(According to fetalmedicine.com) 50th centile BPM is 146 for 7+3, 5th centile is 128 and 95th centile is 165.

Heartrate at 5+5 is an average of 105BPM. I don't know why your doctor seems so unconcerned.

I agree with her. My baby's bpm was 140 at 7 weeks. I had gone into the ER for a scan because of some spotting. It was a vaginal scan.

80bmp is really really low, I am not sure why your doctor is unconcerned, but it could because he does not want to cause you any grief just in case nothing is wrong. I would go in and get checked out asap.

There is nothing wrong with the ultrasound machines. Do not let people fool you into thinking that. You can pick up a hb at 5.5 weeks using the ultrasounds here in the US. Especially the vaginal ones.

People should really stop being so hateful to pp's. The ladies on here are only trying to tell you the truth and not give you any false hope. False hope is worse than knowing the truth.

Here is some info I found, now there is a lot of false or exaggerated information out there. However, when it comes to medical advice / information it is rarely wrong.

At about 5 weeks gestation, your baby's heart begins to beat. At this point, a normal fetal heart rate is about the same heart rate as the mother's - about 80-85 beats per minute (BPM). From this point, it will increase by about 3 beats per minute per day during that first month.

Sited here: https://www.countdownmypregnancy.com/pregnancy/heartbeat.php

I would be sure and talk to your doctor to see if there is a chance you misheard him. It could be that you are only 5-6 weeks pregnant instead of 7+3. That would make the most sense as to why the baby's hb is only 80bpm.

Hi Kiwiberry, thanks for your opinion, albeit a very un sugarcoated one...but I did ask for opinions I guess...maybe I should have written...looking for reassurance! I guess we all look for different things from this forum!
.....I'm not in the US I'm in Switzerland although I'm sure the machines are just as up to date.
I'm absolutely sure of dates....I used OPKs, had ovulation pains and implantation pains etc etc. the doctor also agreed with my dates 100% as the baby measure 9.26 mm as I think I mentioned! He literally told me the date I concieved before I told him!!!

Let's hope I'm one of the rare cases and can come back with good news!
X

Wishing you a H &H pregnancy!

 

[Disturbia]

Hcg shot can help to increase heartbeat but not all doctor agree to do this unfortunately.

 

[minties]

Best of luck! I wasn't trying to be discouraging. Doctors don't do scans here or diagnose them, a trained sonographer does. They've always shown my scans in realtime on a big screen for me and never had any sugar coating or hiding of information. I never had to ask for a heart rate like some ladies have had to as it's right there! I think it's sad to be kept in the dark.

Also I don't just "use doctor Google", my best friend is a midwife who also worked in the radiology department of a large hospital as a sonographer before training as a midwife so I often ask her what she thinks.

P.S I've had very different experiences with my pregnancies. My first scan with my son I was 5+4 and he had a visable heartbeat in the 110 range. I didn't even see the fetal pole with my daughter until 7+3 and was told her HR was low. I understand the worry! It's horrible. I want you to have a fabulous outcome!

I didn't say OP is doomed, just that I would be worried and I think she deserves another scan. It is a reasonably accurate science and the heart has likely been beating for 12-13 days by then. If a doctor can't get that simple task right and made a mistake measuring the beat and caused all this worry, that would piss me right off!