I found out april 7th that i am pregnant, and according to the first day of my last period(march23) i am 4 weeks and 5 days as of today. On the 7th my hcg levels were 2000 but didnt see anything in my ultrasound and on the 9th they were 2700, my next ultrasound was on the 22nd and they still saw nothing. On the 24th they checked my hcg again finally and it was 4700ish. Im trying to ask around and do my own research because i do not feel the doctors are doing all they should or all they can do to monitor my pregnancy with my given situation so i was wondering if anyone on this site had any input about my situation?
Thank you everyone for your input. All the other sites I went to either didnt reply or were overly rude. To try to answer everyones questions all in one, YES I have had two miscarriges 5yrs ago. My first pregnancy I was pregnant with triplets, one miscarried really early on and the others heart beats stopped at 11 weeks along. My second pregnancy was already over when I found out. I orignally took a pregnancy test because 7 days after my period I stared spotting, then led to slight bleeding, so I took 2 home pregnancy test, they were both positive. I went to the hospital and they also did a urine and blood pregnancy test which also said positive. Then they did an abdominal and vaginal ultrasound, saw nothing, said it was probably too early but because I was bleeding they wanted to check my hcg levels again to see if they were going up which they did go up 700 but they were still concerend because they didnt not double. They told me it might be a eptopic pregnancy and need another ultrasound. thats when I went to my second ultrasound on the 17th but my bladder wasnt full enough and also when I told the ultrasound tech the first day of my last peroid she said I was too early to see anything told me to come back on the 22nd when they seen nothing again. Meanwhile they didnt check my hcg levels since the 11th, then checked them again on the 24th. So even though they went up since the last time, it doesnt mean that they are going up they left such a big time frame between checking levels that I dont know whats going on with them. Some of you say hcg dont matter, maybe that is true but I have hear from others like you and did research and learned that slow levels can mean birth defects such as turners and sown syndrome and molar pregnancy and chemical pregnancy... NO Im not trying to scare myself just prepare myself and gather information that might be helpful since the doctors are not telling me anything. No I have not had my progesterine levels checked and the doctors like I said have not given me very much information on any of this. Also I was checking hcg charts and most of them were the same and also hearing what others were also adding up to the chart. Now I know that every pregnancy is different but according to others levels and the hcg chart my levels seemed very high to have a level of 2700 at 2.5 wees for just one baby to be in there. So I was wondering if maybe I had more than one untill my levels were not tripling or even doubling. But if there was more than one they would be much smaller so I really wouldnt be able to see anything this early right? I am truly greatful for eveyones advice it made me feel alot better. I cant quite figure out how to edit my paragraph right now I think maybe I wrote too much in this little box and it wont let me view my whole paragraph it keeps shaking for some reason but I ment to say down syndrome up top but it says sown syndrome.
Why are they doing an ultrasound so early, is this an IVF or something? Most doctors won't even SEE you until you are at least 8 to 10 weeks along.
Unless you are having an internal ultrasound, there may simply be nothing to see. They had trouble seeing DD at 7 weeks with an internal ultrasound. She's fine. I would give it time. Unless you are high risk, many doctors won't even see you for another 4-8 weeks.
I think you should stop getting HCG labs every couple of days. Not only does it drive you crazy, there is no valuable information gained from HCG levels - they are a completely obsolete test, done purely because the patient hopes for some consolation or reassurance from the results.
There is no "treatment" for low or slow rising HCG levels, it is not a diagnostic tool for anything (other than establishing that you are indeed pregnant), it is purely a test that is done to make the patient feel that there is something that is being done.
If you have a history of early pregnancy loss or you are a fertility patient drawing progesterone levels is an option, as low progesterone can actually be supplemented if necessary.
As for your actual situation, your HCG is rising, which is good. It is WAY too early to see anything on the ultrasound (your embryo smaller than a sesame seed at this point - just not big enough to pick up on ultrasound) and as hard as it is, until you will be able to see a heartbeat in about 3-4 weeks - you just need to sit back, wait and try to relax.
Good luck.
No doctor I know of does 2 ultrasounds before 8 weeks.
Why are the doctors doing ultrasounds so early on? I've never had an ultrasound prior to 9 weeks, and I only had one done then because I was spotting and my HCG levels were alarmingly low. We didn't do an abdominal u/s, but a transvaginal (where the insert the probe into the vagina). My other early u/s was done at 10 weeks to confirm my baby's age, as my cycle was irregular and I was unsure of my LMP.
The fact that your HCG levels continue to rise is a good sign.
When we did IVF to have our son, they did transvaginal (internal) sonograms and at first all that could be seen was a tiny circle.
Seriously - it looked like a water spot on the screen.
There's not a whole lot to see the first few months.
Your HGC is rising - that's a good sign.
Is there a reason you're concerned?
History of miscarriage?
Unless you've had a fertility procedure which really pin points it (IVF), guessing at conception/implantation by your last period date can still be off by 2 weeks give or take.
What do you think they should be doing differently?
Haven't read the other responses, but here's my experience and opinion, FWIW:
You HCG levels DO matter, and when they don't double in the 2-3 day time period, it usually does signal an impending miscarriage. Is this always the case? Of course not. But those numbers are quite indicative of a healthy pregnancy.Your progesterone levels likely are the ones that wouldn't matter as much, but since you don't know what they are, don't stress about that.
You say that your period STARTED on Mar 23, and you tested positive for pg on Apr 7? That's not even physically possible. You would have just been ovulating at the 2 week mark (assuming that you have 28-30 day cycles, and you didn't indicate differently). If those are the right dates you gave us, then you must have been pregnant from the month prior and spotting when you thought it was your period.
The actual HCG number doesn't matter, what matters is that it DOUBLES. So, if it was 2000 on 4/7, even assuming a doubling every 3 days instead of 2, your number on the 24th should have been about 70,000. Not 4700.
When I was pg with twins, we were able to see them at 5 weeks 2 days, and their hearts were beating on U/S at 5w5d. My HCG levels rose but not like they were supposed to. Baby A died at 8 weeks, and baby B's heart stopped a week later.
There is nothing you can do at this point except pray. The doctors can't do anything else to help the pregnancy along. They are monitoring you with u/s, and checking levels. I will say that if they were monitoring your progesterone levels and found them low, they can give you supplemental progesterone. I had that with 4 of my pregnancies, and 3 of those carried to term. Can't say it helped or not, but my prog. levels were low each time. The only time my HCG levels were wacky was when I miscarried.
I'm sorry my experience isn't what you wanted to hear, but I wanted to be honest, and help you keep perspective.
Good luck to you.
You are barely pregnant. Your baby probably can't really be seen much on an ultrasound. Most doctors do not even see women until they are 8-10 weeks along, so you ARE getting wonderful monitoring. You have been the the doctor 3 times already and you aren't even 6 weeks pregnant. I didn't see a doctor three times, until I was 14 weeks pregnant...and I had a high risk pregnancy!!!! Your HCG is rising, so there really isn't a reason to monitor. Really, realize they are giving you good care and try to calm down and stop stressing.
C.:
Welcome to mamapedia!!
So they are doing blood draws on you. Why? That's pretty frequent to do blood draws, in my opinion. What is your situation? Why should the doctors be monitoring you closely? Do you have health risks or something that would cause concern?
Are they doing a vaginal ultrasound or an abdominal ultrasound? If they are doing abdominal, they won't see anything. Vaginal? They should see the egg sack. If they don't - you might have a blighted ovum and are not pregnant. Your HcG levels can still be elevated with a blighted ovum.
Stressing is NOT going to help you.
I would stay away from the internet - as you will get all sorts of information that can scare the living daylights out of you.
Good luck!
Is there a reason for concern? Do you have a history of miscarriage? It is reaally early and your numbers are going up. There isn't much more you can do but wait and hope for the best. If you have a history of miscarriage I would think they would check your progesterine levels along with your hcg. Take care.
At best maybe u can see something at eight weeks.
i was high risk so i had weekly internal ultrasounds...is that the kind you're having? thats the only kind you can see anything before 12 weeks generally.
I don't have a website but this soon you will not see much of anything on a ultrasound. That's why they usually wont do them that early. Most drs wont do them till at least 8 weeks. So just relax and don't freak out!!!!!!
If the doc is doing a regular abdominal ultrasound, they will not be able to see anything yet. When I was pregnant with triplets, they could not see anything this soon. I had vaginal u/s until I was 8 weeks since they wanted to be sure everything was going ok. This soon, the baby will really just look like a white splotch.
Its very early yet. I remember being scared at my first internal ultrasound around 6 weeks b/c they could not see a heartbeat and thought maybe it was a blighted ovum (sp?). But it turns out my cycle is just a bit off (I dont ovulate at 14 days, its more like day 20), and my dates were a few days off, so when they checked me again at 8 weeks, all was well. I understand that these will feel like the longest days ever while you wait, but that is really all you can do. Frankly, even if there is a problem with a pregnancy this early on, there is nothing that the doctors can do to change it. Nature just has to work things out. Good luck and sending positive thoughts your way!
I've been in your shoes and I understand your worry. That being said, there is nothing more they can do and no reason for them to monitor any more closely, or to even really have done what they have. If you are going to miscarry they can not stop it. If there is a genetic problem they can not tell you this early with any accuracy. All anyone can do is wait. The good news is that your numbers have went up, slowly, but they went up. And yes that matters, but it isn't the whole picture. An ultrasound won't show anything until your numbers reach a certain point, and high numbers CAN but do not always mean multiples, just like low numbers or slow to double numbers don't ALWAYS mean problems. It actually sounds like you are in great hands, and your doctors truly are trying their best to ease your mind. Try to relax and give it a few more weeks. Good luck.
I can't believe your doctor even saw you on the 24th let alone the 7th! I don't know anyone who has been seen prior to six weeks pregnant. The norm is 7-8 weeks even with a history of miscarriage. Why? Because it eliminates most unnecessary worrying!
