PSA for newly pregnant and concerns regarding HCG levels

ihansterx4i · May 2018

Me and my wife found out we were pregnant about 3 weeks ago. We were very excited because it was actually our first real try using a ovulation kit. We had a bunch of those test strips but it wasn't very clear so we opted to get the Clear Blue one that show a happy face or not to signify ovulation. Anyways, she was ovulating and we did the deed and about a month later she decided to take a pregnancy test and it came out positive. She has had irregular periods her whole life and my father for whatever reason was only able to have 1 child so we were both worried. I immediately started looking for different baby forums and found the bump. Started stalking all the posts trying to learn as much as I could. Watched like 4 hours of youtube videos about everything 1st trimester related.

So we booked a doctors appointment and we both were very excited to see the ultra sound. We did the math and figured we were about 6 weeks at the time of the doctors visit. Got an transvaginal ultra sound and was able to see the gestational sac as well as the yolk sac but no fetal pole. Doctor basically told us that this might be a miscarriage and ordered blood tests to see where HCG levels were. She printed the ultra sound and said "its not much but you can keep it if you want". Needless to say we were both feeling very defeated as this is our first pregnancy and didn't know much. Blood work showed hcg levels of about 20,000. Doctor said to come back and do the blood test again in 2 days to see if it doubled. Went 2 days later and hcg was at about 28,000. Nurse calls after getting the blood work and tells us that this is most likely a miscarriage and gives us our options for going through with it. At this point we are both hating life and wondering why this is happening. Then I started googling like a mad man to see what other people thought about this. Saw a bunch of posts here and on other sites about hcg levels and wasn't really satisfied. Read the good, and the bad... I noticed that we were still in the range of healthy hcg levels but because we weren't doubling I was worried. I also read that over 6000 hcg it doesn't really double for everyone.

So with all that being said, we decide that we wanted to do an ultra sound again in a week. From everything that I have read, most people saw a fetal pole and some saw a heartbeat around 6-7 weeks. Scheduled an ultra sound at a different hospital a week and a half later. Ultra sound shows what looked kinda like the "gummy bear" stage and a flickering heart beat! I started screaming and my wife started crying because we were both hoping for the best but also expecting the worst given what our doctor told us.

The reason I am writing this is to inform anyone who is newly pregnant and have had their doctors prematurely say they are miscarrying just based off of hcg levels not doubling. I searched and searched for hours to see what our hcg levels meant and could not find a real answer or at the very least see any success stories where the hcg levels didn't double. I'm glad that we decided to see another doctor because if we didn't, we could have almost killed our perfectly healthy future baby. Needless to say we changed doctors and I suggest you always get a second opinion. It might not always be the way you want it but never trust just ONE persons opinion. We aren't out of the woods yet but we are so glad we decided to get another opinion. Hope this helps someone that was in our position.

katy0990 · May 2018

I am glad that the pregnancy is going well. We all absolutely need to advocate for ourselves.

k_m10 · May 2018

I’m glad it’s going well for you. I’m surprised they would have come to that conclusion without seeing either a drop in HCG levels or waiting to do an 8 week US (where you should be seeing a heartbeat). It doesn’t sound like they followed standard procedure.

coco2787 · May 2018

If HCG was at 20,000 and your doctor told you it should double in 2 days you should get a new doctor. Glad everything looks good so far for you and your wife.

ihansterx4i · May 2018

Yea thats the sad part. Being newly pregnant, we had no idea what an hcg level even was. We both thought "well we aren't doctors, so she must be right...". Luckily I decided to check for myself.

wickedtiny · May 2018

Something similar happened to my sister last year. High hCG levels, empty sac on u/s; was told blighted ovum and would probably need a D&C. Two weeks later there was a baby and hb on the u/s; my niece was born on Christmas Day.

This is a good one for misdiagnosedmiscarriage

Gwyneddlesliegrace · May 2018

Wow wow wow! Great job on being proactive and advocating!

tumbleweed-1 · May 2018

Congrats on the good news. If you’d like to stick around, we have an introduction thread at the top of the discussions. There are a few other dads who have introduced themselves and participate in discussions. Most of the members here are mothers/mothers to be, but expecting partners are welcome too!

There’s also a “read this first” post about our break down of weekly discussions. You might check that out to see which discussion posts you might like to participate in, not all of them are specifically for pregnant people.

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