Spotting and HCG Levels

Updated on October 18, 2012
M.G. asks from Latrobe, PA
9 answers

I recently took two home pregnancy tests that came back positive. I took the first test on the day I was due to have my period and the second one the following morning and I felt hcg levels would be highest detected to be certain the first was not a false positive. Once I got two positives I called the doctor to get an appointment scheduled. Yesterday I started to have some light spotting occur and I got very nervous and upset over it. I tried telling myself that it could be a number of things that were not necessarily bad such as implantation. I relaxed for the rest of the evening before going to bed. I woke up this morning with heavier bleeding so I called the doctor and they ordered me some blood work to check my hcg levels. I now know that my level was 31. Not sure if this is normal or not but looking through information I seen somewhere that the number would be equivalent to 3 weeks gestation. I do know that I can't be too far along. I had my last menstrual cycle on 9-14-12 and apositive pregnancy test on 10-12-12. I have had no pain with the bleeding or any other problems. It seems llike maybe it wants to slow down but I am scared and can't get my mind off of it. I have to return in two days for another hcg level check and pray that it increases and perhaps this bleeding is simply implantation andnothing more. Has anyone else experienced this type of situation? I have had two previous uneventful pregnancies.

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C.V.

answers from Los Angeles on

In most cases if the bleeding is becoming bright red and is getting heavier, chances are it is a miscarriage. Only time will tell though, good luck to you.

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P.K.

answers from New York on

I bled for three months. I am so glad back in my day we did not have these home tests. If your period was late so be it. Maybe pregnant maybe not. We did not go to doctor until second period missed. It was so much easier that way. As for you, it can go either way. Time will tell. Good luck.

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J.J.

answers from Allentown on

I am praying for you that your HCG climbs. But I do want you to know and understand how the body works. First you tested one month after your last period, and you got a positive, so for a positive HCG implantation has already occurred. Yes, you could have ovulated late, yes you can implant later than expected but then you would not yet get a positive test. HCG is produced after implantation meaning if you had enough to get a positive test, implantation already happened. Now having said that there are many, many reason for bleeding early on, one of those reasons is miscarriage, there are a few others including unexplained bleeding that many women have. So even though miscarriage is a possibility, there are other possibilities that could result in a healthy pregnancy. Now you are going to worry because that is what we do, but do try to relax, until the bloodtest tomorrow. That will give you some answers. If the HCG has not risen appropriately your doc should look at other possibilities including things like low progesterone. But likely then a miscarriage is imminent, but if your levels rise appropriately then the bleeding still needs to be watched and those other things still need to be checked on. I know you will worry until you hear those results, but do try to relax even through the worry. Get some rest, and take care of yourself. I am praying for you!

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M.S.

answers from Pittsburgh on

What I learned from 6 pregnancies and one birth is that HPT's will not register positive until HCG of 25. Your levels should double up to every 96hours. With my son, I was 2wks late and getting negative HPT's, so I called my OB and scheduled an appt for a checkup, thinking it was an ovarian cyst (something I'd had in the past that caused late periods). They did a blood test for pregnancy and some other things. The next day, they called to say I was pregnant, but with a number of 50-something, which meant that I had just gotten pregnant that week - so, I'd ovulated later than usual, and that's why the HPT's were negative. They did an u/s to confirm the pregnancy wasn't ectopic.

For 8wks, I had lots of bright red spotting, which the OB said was from implantation which takes over two mos to complete and causes spotting in most of their patients. For 10wks, my numbers never doubled, only increasing by about 35%, I was on bedrest basically waiting to miscarriage. All kinds of events happened after that, but the end result is our son :) Good luck!

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M.C.

answers from Tampa on

Implantation would have occurred before your positive test. Double check but I am pretty sure your HCG levels don't start to rise until after implantation.....which occurs before you are due for your period. However, I have known a few people who spotted early and went on to have healthy pregnacy and babies. Wishing you luck.

L.M.

answers from Dover on

When I first got pregnant w/ my son, I had a one day period about a week or so after my normal cycle. Exactly 9 months later my son was born. Because it was not my normal period, they counted 40 weeks from my last regular period and used that as my due date (which then, according to them, meant he was almost 2 weeks late but he was not). I can also tell you that my sister found out she was was pregnant VERY early. They checked her levels constantly and didn't think they were seeing what they should have on the sonogram. My nephew was born early due to emergency c-section but I think that he was even earlier than they think he was (again, because of the date they were using) because of his size and problems he had.

Try not to stress over it and don't get super worried about levels. Sometimes they scare you for no good reason.

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A.L.

answers from Chicago on

With my last one this happened to me and I spotted on and off up until my 14th week. I had a pretty big bleed that you could see on the ultrasound and I had to go for ultrasounds every week to make sure the placenta was still attached. It is very scary and I stayed off my feet as much as possible until the bleeding stopped.

Everything did turn out okay in the end, but it was very scary through the whole pregnancy. I never did stop worrying.

X.O.

answers from Chicago on

With my first baby I had some first trimester spotting and when I went to my OB my HCG levels were not increasing as quickly as they should have been, and then also checked my progesterone, which was low. She told me that I should prepare myself for the possibility of a miscarriage. Since my mother had a history of low progesterone, I begged my OB to give me some progesterone supplements. At first she refused, but my husband called her and told her that if she didn't write the scrip for me, he'd just call it in himself. So, she gave it to me, and I took the supplements for the entire 1st trimester and into the 2nd.

Perhaps you can ask the OB to check your progesterone levels too.

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A.L.

answers from Chicago on

Well, from my experience, 31 is rather low especially since you should be close to 5 weeks right now. You should ask for another HcG test if your OB doesn't suggest it. It should double about every two days. I'm impressed you got your results so quickly. It could be okay if you ovulated later than normal. Sorry, I don't want to be a downer; I have had too many miscarriages to be able to think any other way. But, it's true that some people do bleed early on and everything turns out okay.

Hugs to you! I know how nerve-wracking it is not knowing for sure what's going on!

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