First early pregnancy miscarriage questions

knottie1c7e9a159bc7ca01

TW : Miscarriage, bleeding

Hi everyone! Unfortunately, I'm currently going through a miscarriage at 5 weeks. A little background, a week after getting my first positive pregnancy test, I noticed some brown/red spotting with bad period like cramps on my right side. My doctor recommended I get my HCG levels checked. My first HCG drawn for 5 weeks pregnant were only 243. The day I was spotting(2 days later) I went to ER and my second HCG levels were 293. Very slow rise. However, 2 more days later my HCG levels dropped to 184. The doctor confirmed that I’m miscarrying and said I can expect them to drop to 5 in a few days. 2 days later my HCG only dropped to 172. I have just been lightly spotting so far. No major bleeding. 

Has anyone dealt with slow rising and slow dropping HCG levels? Is that normal? Could it be ectopic? How long did it take for your HCG levels take to go back to 0? Is there anything to be concerned with? What sort of bleeding is expected? How many cycles after miscarriage did you start trying again? 

This is my first pregnancy and the resources are so confusing with such a wide spectrum of scenarios. I haven’t told anyone about it yet and dealing with this is heartbreaking in addition to confusion with these numbers. 

dpjennifer

I'm sorry for your loss.

Sometimes it can take weeks/months for your HCG level to go back to 0.  Sometimes doctors will have you get your HCG drawn every week until it's below 5.  Usually ectopic numbers are VERY high for HCG, so I don't think I'd be concerned there.  If you're already bleeding and cramping some, then that's a sign your body is working on getting rid of everything on it's own.  Unfortunately, the amount of bleeding can vary a lot.  But, with it being an earlier MC, it should feel more like a period (possibly a heavier/longer period). 

You should at least wait until after your next full cycle and period to try again, unless you definitively track your HCG down to 0 before attempting PG again.  Because if you don't track that down to 0, and you don't wait another full cycle, then you won't know if the HCG levels are from this PG or from a new PG, and that's a hell I don't recommend to anyone.