Gestational Sac smaller than fetus?

azimum

Hi all,

I am a little over 8 weeks pregnant after my first round of IVF after TTC for 3.5 years. These first few weeks have been riddled with stress for me: first we found out we had no embies left to freeze after the egg retrieval, I've had constant bleeding and spotting since my BFP due to a subchorionic hematoma, and I have just overall had a hard time accepting or maybe believing that I am finally pregnant, made slightly more difficult with the fact I have no symptoms. And now at my last ultrasound at 8w1d, my baby was measuring on time, but LO looked a little snug in the gestational sac, which measured 6w5d. I asked the nurse and she said not to worry as long as the CRL is growing, but of course Dr. Google said otherwise. So I'm reaching out to this community in hopes someone has some words of wisdom or advice for me? Thanks in advance!

lawmom747

No experience with this but I wanted to say congratulations and welcome!

gsancho

A lot of the worry and anxiety you have is very normal for all of us who dealt with IF.  And on another board there was a survey and 65% of the IF ladies experienced spotting - I think SCHs are more common after IVF.  The whole thing sucks, but know it's not uncommon.  I'm not sure about the sac situation...but it sounds like the size of the embryo is the key, which seems great!

MiromiM

I had spotting around my BFP and around week 8. My nurse said that due to the fertility drugs my lining was extra plush and there were more blood vessels near the surface. Around that time the placenta is forming and... implanting? well it's doing something. Lol. My spotting was because of blood clots due to that. I have no experience with a smaller sack but the way I see it, your nurse has seen way more people in your situation than Dr. Google.

gallagherkaty6

I know I'm late in replying to this, but I have been scouring the boards for similar tales re small sacs. 

I am now 10 1/2 weeks after my first round of IVF. It doesn't seem possible that it took as they were only able to retrieve 2 eggs! I feel unbelievably lucky about that. I have also not had symptoms, so it's been really hard to relax. 

Anyway the baby is thriving and looking great, but it continues to be snug in the sac. The Dr. told me not to worry, but yet warned that if the sac stays small it could lead to troublesome issues. Great! I'll just relax and not worry about these unknown issues you describe.

I thought I'd check in with you and see how things are progressing? 

azimum

Sorry for the late response, I haven't been on the boards in several weeks! I know exactly how you feel about the "waiting and seeing"! 

I am 17 weeks today; my last ultrasound was at 12w6d, and at that time the baby still looked pretty snug in the gestational sac. However, when I met with my OB two weeks ago (at 15 weeks), when she went over my results, she said the radiologist did not make a comment on the sac size, which makes her comfortable enough to say that everything is OK. So I took that as good news!

I have an appointment with a specialist tomorrow for another ultrasound (AFP test results came back abnormal), so hopefully I'll have an even clearer picture of what's going on, and hoping and praying that everything is great! 

Good luck to you and please keep me posted!

WaitingMay14

Don't mean to bring back an old post but I wanted to know how things turned out ?! I hope all is ok.

I just received news like this yesterday and I was looking for advice from others who are going through it. My RE seemed extremely pessimistic about the entire situation. I'm 7 weeks have been monitored every week. Everything has been progressing as it should. Was going to be discharged to ob for my 8 weeks. Gestational sac appears smaller then It should...baby is snug inside. The baby is measuring at 7 weeks the sac is not. HB was 150 yesterday it was 130.


Level was 4,657 to 6,028

Prog went from 22 to 17

Any hopeful stories ?!?

LittleRocket

I have not dealt with this, but I wanted to send you good thoughts your way!

azimum

I am a little over 21 weeks now, still hanging in there but with a different set of issues. I don't think my baby's HB ever dropped to 130 that early on, I think I was still in the 160-180 range at that time, and then after 12 weeks it drops off below 160. Is that why your RE was concerned? I know HCG/progesterone/estradiol all fluctuate as the pregnancy moves further along, and it even varies during the day, so not sure how much those numbers would indicate anything? Not a doctor, just sharing from my own experience.

From all the reading I've done, it seems this sac issue is not uncommon in IVF pregnancies. A few things I've done that I feel helped us make it this far: bedrest, increased water intake, increased protein - including 2-3 bottles of Ensure a day, and asking LOTS of questions with the dr's and specialists! 

Good luck to you, and please try to stay hopeful!

WaitingMay14

Oh no is everything ok ?!


I was a spontaneous preg pre Ivf actually during a rest cycle. Since then I was discharged to the Obgyn and the HB was 174. My ob was not concerned at all. She said that things looked good and she agreed to see me every week.

I am feeling more hopeful now since she wasn't concerned and am going to do the 10 week screening to rule out any early problems. Praying everything goes well.

azimum

Oh that's great news! And so nice that you will get seen every week. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers, too, now time to start enjoying that bean!

WaitingMay14

It's over. I had a d&c over the weekend. Baby HB stopped.

azimum

@WaitingMay14 so sorry to hear that Praying that you and your family can have strength and patience during this tough time, and that you have your rainbow baby in your arms soon! 

LittleRocket

I am so sorry.