How to monitor pregnancy progress at home??

rjthomp2

I am going crazy wondering what the hell is going on. I had a miscarriage 2 years ago, and now I am 15 days dpo. The miscarriage was a "missed" miscarriage, and things stopped progressing at 6 weeks but I didn't know until I went to my first ultrasound at 10 weeks. That experience makes me feel like I need to pay attention to my body so that I don't get blindsided again, but my body signals are iffy at best. Therefore, I was thinking about monitoring my hcg levels, but there is really no cost effective way to keep a running tally on my hcg levels from week to week that I could find. So, I had the idea to buy a buttload of cheapy dipstick pregnancy tests (I got 125 for $40 on amazon) and do a serial dilution on my urine (a series of 1/10 dilutions) to figure out at what point my diluted urine meets the minimum limit of detection of the test. As long as the increase in  dilution factor correlates with a positive hit from week to week, couldn't I then assume that my hCG levels are increasing and I am on track? For example, if I dilute my urine 3 fold today and  reach the minimum sensitivity (i.e. 4 fold dilution gives a negative result), then the next week a 4 fold dilution is the minimum sensitivity for a positive result, I would regard this as increasing hcg. I saw those "detect 5" hcg tests on amazon, but those didn't get very good reviews, and they are expensive. I figure it will take a while of playing with my pee (with the “hook effect” and everything else) to figure out a decent range to test, that’s why I got so many tests. My questions is, has anyone else gone this far in their madness, and if so, did it work for you? Have any pointers?

LaBellaVida

*lurker* 

I had a m/c last year and got pregnant a few months later. I was a mess during my entire pregnancy, esp. my first trimester. I am not sure if there is any "real" way to monitor your pregnancy progress at home. A blood test would be more effective to track your HcG levels rising. I say don't stress too much over this- stressing can cause a m/c. Just sit back and let your body do what it needs to do. If you m/c there is nothing you can do anyway. Maybe talk to your o/b about your concerns and maybe they can track your HcG levels to put your mind at ease; though unlikely. GL with your pregnancy!! Try to enjoy it, because I had anxiety the entire pregnancy. Everything was fine with my baby- he's here happy and healthy and now I am sad I didn't get to really enjoy my pregnancy. 

PrimRoseMama

You stay hydrated, eat well and take it a day at a time. The rest will just drive you nuts. You do your best until you get to each appointment. There really isn't a way to monitor at home. 

ufsandra85

Less concentrated urine doesn't make your hcg numbers less... someone who doesn't drink much water wont have higher hcg. I could drink no water or 59 glasses of water and my hcg will be the same

ufsandra85

If you want to know your hcg why don't you ask for betas the worst thing they can say is no

henderson1026

I had a missed m/c, too.  It's not that you "missed" some clues from your body, it means that was discovered by your doctor and not by bleeding/cramping/etc.
You will drive yourself absolutely nuts if you try to monitor yourself.

My doctors allowed for me to get extra "peace of mind" ultrasounds as they called them, at the weeks that I felt most vulnerable.  For me that was 8 and 10.  Give them a call and see if based on your history you can get one at 6 weeks.

rjthomp2

@ ufsandra85 : I am assuming that diluting urine after it has left the body most certainly will dilute the hCG in the urine, along with everything else in urine. Thanks for feedback though.

rjthomp2

I really appreciate everyone's thoughts on this. I know I could make an appointment and get quantitative analysis that way, but the idea of having access to what is happening myself in real time is much more attractive to me. I guess I understand that the only real answer is to wait and see. I hate just really hate waiting. You would think in this day and age we could have a more reliable way to get peace of mind for these things at home.

ufsandra85

You can buy an ultrasound machine to hook up to your i phone and check your baby that way. Not really cost effective though

MamaFantastic

Don't dilute your pee. That's not rational, and most certainly not accurate.

You can ask for an early u/s.... anything after the 6w point should be able to pick up a heartbeat, and that's a great indicator that your pregnancy is more likely to progress in a healthy manner.

It's really true that pregnancy begins to prepare you for motherhood: there are certain important things you can/should do or control, but so much of the journey is out of your control and you have to find a healthy balance of staying educated, doing what you can, and letting go of the rest.

This is written by someone who is 4w5d into her 5th pregnancy (1 child, 3 losses) so I very much can sympathize with you on this matter. It's hard, but you need to exhale and trust and wait.

evaazalea

Even if there was a way to keep track I really don't know that there is anything you can do if things start looking bad. Just stop stressing, what will happen will happen. GL!

rowanthefrog

Having experienced many miscarriages, I GET what PgAL brain will do. But honestly the pee dilution thing doesn't make sense.

Are you sure your insurance doesn't cover HCG draws?

You can check out my blog, but what I would do was pee every morning on the cheapies to watch the line get darker. I also did HCG draws every 2 days to see if my levels were doubling appropriately. My HCG draws were completely covered by insurance. 

At some point it is as dark as it will get, and then you just have to wait until your first u/s so you can see a HB. Perhaps, bc of your history, you can ask your OB to do an u/s around 6-7 weeks so you don't have to wait so long.

If you get to a heartbeat, then I recommend a home Doppler. You can buy one on amazon for $70-90. Its tough to find the HB on your own before 10 weeks (though possible, I've found my last two pregnancies around 9.5 weeks) but its also normal to not be able to find it consistently until 11-12 weeks. If you think that not finding it sometimes will freak you out then I would not get a home doppler. I used mine until I started feeling regular movement.

Hang in there...the early weeks are a tough waiting game, but remember that worrying yourself sick isn't doing you any good and it won't change anything.

A

ziggy903

the thing about a "missed miscarriage", is just that... it's missed. typically there are no symptoms that there is a problem or something has gone wrong. any amount of HPTs will not help you.

what might help you though, is talking to your OB about beta draws and possibly ultrasounds at 6/9 weeks.
what would help you as well, is talking to a therapist. theres no shame in needing to get help, especially when you are dealing with a loss and now pregnant again. it's a hard situation for anyone to be in. just from what you've said in your OP, i'm no doctor but i really think it could help you.

hammysmommy

rjthomp2 said:

@ ufsandra85 : I am assuming that diluting urine after it has left the body most certainly will dilute the hCG in the urine, along with everything else in urine. Thanks for feedback though.

As a laboratorian by trade, you are correct.  In a single sample of urine, the amount of HCG would decrease with each dilution.  However, you'd need to maintain a steady state of hydration from day to day, and collect each sample at the same time of day to compensate for diurnal effects.  @ufsandra85 must be thinking about the blood level which would not change based on hydration level (hence why it's actually the better test).  When we run the qualitative (yes/no only, not a #) urine tests here at work, sometimes we think that we can see a difference in "how positive" a urine is compared to others, but there really hasn't been any scientific way to prove/measure the correlation. 

I think pps are still right and that you should try to relax, stay hydrated, eat as well as you can and take your prenatals.  At this point, there isn't anything that you would be able to do if the embryo stopped developing?  I would ask your OB for an early u/s I had one at 6w (6w3d) and was able to see the HB flickering.

hpatalano

I had a missed miscarriage as well. When I got pregnant this time my OBGYN didn't want to see me until 8 weeks. I called my GP and she was willing to give me the lab work to do a basic pregnancy blood draw. There she saw my progesterone level was 6.7 (low) and then my OBGYN was willing to see me ASAP. She put me on progesterone pills and now it's normal. I have had three ultrasounds and seen a OBGYN, High Risk Dr (family history of blood clotting) and a nutritionist all before my 1st scheduled apt.

I agree with everyone else about not stressing out over everything and running tests on your own. That being said, I also feel like you have to an advocate for yourself and your child. If the stress of not knowing is going to cause you more harm then asking for an early test then ask. I'm glad I found out about my progesterone proactively but even so, I'm still not guaranteed another miscarriage.

You might want to consider talking to someone about anxiety. I have a great therapist who talks through all my medical concerns and googling problem

luvmybundle

i think i agree with the posters about finding someone to talk about your anxiety with.  you could literally drive yourself insane, only to still not be able to control what is happening to your body anyway.  try to relax and enjoy it, and although many women unfortunately suffer the loss of unborn babies, try to focus on all the healthy, happy babies that are born every hour of every day! good luck!