Possible Etopic Pregnancy

[canopycuddler]

I just turned 36 and recently married. We got pregnant our first month TTC, but we lost the baby at about 6 weeks and I had to have a D & C. We were cleared to try again immediatley and were told if we were lucky we could get pregnant again before I had my first period. WE DID, but I had no idea.. I ovulated on July 29th. I tested Negetive on pregnancy test the morning of August 9th. I started what I thought was my period that evening. It was a normal period and it lasted for 4 days.  I started using the OPK on the last day of my period and it showed I was ovulating. I thought it was weird, and for the next 4 days it continued to show I was ovulating. I took a pregnancy test and it was POSITIVE!  My Dr. sent me for quants and my first was 106 with .5 prog. level. He put me on 200 mg prog pills and I retested. Three days later I went to 156 hcg and 40 prog. The Dr. said this didn't look good and I was likely to miscarry again. I retested 3 days later again and my hcg was now 215 with 30 prog. My dr just wants to continue to follow my quants for the next week or so, suspecting an etopic pregnancy.

Isn't there an ultrasound or any other way to detect etopic? If this is an etopic is it likely i will miscarry on my own? I'm suspected to be about 6 weeks preg. How long do we follow these numbers before something is done?

I don't understand why the day i started my period, the preg test was negetive (with first morning urine) and 4 days into my period its positive. If a pregnancy is failing, don't the numbers drop? That's how the diagnosed my first miscarriage.. my numbers went from 2500 to 1500 in 3 days.

I pray for a healthy pregnancy and I hate not knowing. Has this happened to anyone else?

[canopycuddler]

I am so sorry for what you have been through. Everyone (even the Dr.s) say once your past your first trimester your chance of miscarrying drop to less than 1%.  Its heartbreaking to hear this continues to happen to you. Thank you for sharing your story with us though.. courage grows into strength.. and there's a lot of courage in this forum! xoxo

[Eirlis]

That's great news that your quants doubled! It means there is a chance of a positive outcome (although I would try not too get too excited until you see a heartbeat on the ultrasound). I've got my fingers crossed for you!

Megancannon, I am so sorry to hear of all your losses. Your story is just heartbreaking. I really hope your next pregnancy has a better outcome.

In response to canopy's questions, we've been trying for 1.5 years with no success. We don't have any previous children. The only answer my RE has given me for all of the miscarriages is my elevated FSH or 12.8. One of my chemical pregnancies could also be attributed to a large fibroid that has since been removed. We've already done 2 IUIs (both chemical pregnancies) and are starting IVF as soon as this current pregnancy finishes clearing out. I made it to 10 weeks in the past, so my RE thinks I should be able to carry a baby if I can just get a healthy embryo...

My doctor said I could do a d & c if I really wanted one, but she didn't see any benefit to it for this one. It's also more expensive and riskier. While methotrexate is a cancer drug that has a long list of nasty side effects, usually it is safe at the dosage they give for abortion. I didn't experience any side effects at all and the pain wasn't any worse than a regular period (unlike my natural miscarriages which were excruciating).

Have you had your FSH level checked yet? My OB at first chalked my miscarriages up to bad luck (even 2 in a row isn't uncommon in women over age 30). I did temperature tracking and OPK testing for the first 6 months or so and realized that I had a luteal phase defect, so we switched to the RE after the first miscarriage. I've also been getting regular fertility acupuncture. Hopefully I can generate a few healthy eggs for the IVF since we can only afford to do one cycle...

Anyway, best of luck to you! I really hope this one sticks!!

[canopycuddler]

OMG... so Susan (my Dr.'s nurse) just called. I love her. She said she has no idea what is going on with me. My QUANTS DOUBLED!!! WHOOOOT WOOOO! I went from 215 to 463! I know.. she warned me not to get my hopes up.. but I can't help but to get excited. They put me back on the progestrone pills. She said all we can do now is watch the numbers and wait. She said as soon as they get into the 1000's shes going to get me in ASAP for an ultrasound!

Keep your fingers crossed for more DOUBLES. :) xoxo

[megancannon]

i would think they would be able to see it with an ultrasound. it's better to be safe than sorry so they should just do it. i hate that so many places think of the cost and time things take sometimes before they think of saving their patient some pain, it's crazy.

i had one early miscarriage at 5 weeks with my second pregnancy. i had an ultrasound done in the ER and again the next time at the doctor. Both times there was absolutely nothing in my uterus.

My first and third pregnancy were nightmares! i went into early labor with my son at 20 weeks after a few days in the hospital my water broke. My little boy died 22 minutes later. The same thing happened with my daughter (my third) her brain hemorrhaged and she died as well. October will be 2 years since my first loss and doctors still have no been able to pin point exactly what has caused this. I have had some abnormal blood test but no diagnosis yet. I had 23 blood test and 6 ultrasounds at one appointment, it certainly has been a nightmare.

good luck, i will say a prayer for you.

[canopycuddler]

Thanks for the responses..

I was worried about the outcome of an etopic as well..... my doctor said we can't do an ultrasound because until your hcg is at least 1000-1500 there is nothing to see on an ultrasound... can't they see an etopic in the tubes whether your at 1000 or not? He said its just a guessing game.. that's why he's monitoring my quants.... seems to me there has to be a better way

Eirlis... I am so sorry to hear of your miscarriages... do you have any idea why your having them? This is my second in a row and I just had a bunch of routine blookwork done today, though my doctor doesn't expect to find anything. He's already chalked them both up as "bad luck" but I don't know if I agree with that.

How long have you been trying? Do you have any other children?  Did your doctor give you the option for the shot or surgery for the etopic? Is there any repercussion with the methotrexate shot?

I'll get my quants from today's blood test, tomorrow afternoon, and will post them. I pray for doubling.

[megancannon]

if you are having an ectopic pregnancy your doctor needs to find out immediately with an ultrasound and have you put it for surgery to have the embryo removed.

ectopic pregnancies are very dangerous. most often the embryo grows in the tube instead of the uterus. if  the embryo gets to large it can actually cause your tube to rupture. which if not caught in time, you can die from.

actually, i was watching an episode of dr. G medical examiner this morning. a young girl died shortly after she was told by ER doctors she was having a miscarriage. she was bleeding and they did not do any blood test to check her hormones or anything, they just assumed she already passed all the tissue and sac. DR G found she actually did not miscarry, she had an ectopic pregnancy that went undiagnosed and her tube ruptured and she bled to death.

i surely hope this is not the case for you. but if this is at all suspected please be very stern and demand they find out immediately. they should be able to see this with an ultrasound. With ectopic pregnancy your hormones usually rise but only slightly. with a normal healthy pregnancy your hormones are supposed to double every 24-48 hours.

good luck, please keep us posted

[Eirlis]

Your pregnancy sounds very similar to my current one. Like you, I had a normal period last month but got a positive hpt. I figured it was just another chemical pregnancy. However, when I went in for bloodwork the next week in preparation for my first IVF cycle, my beta was around 40. Two days later it had risen only to 60. By 7 weeks, it was only around 1000 and showed no signs of decreasing, however it was rising too slowly for it to be normal. My RE suspected an ectopic as well.

I had an ultrasound at week 6 and again at week 7. At 6 weeks we saw a very tiny sac that appeared to be in the uterus (although my RE said they can't always tell accurately where it is), and at 7 weeks we saw nothing. I still didn't have any pain or bleeding (both signs of ectopic).

I was given two methotrexate injections after the week 7 ultrasound just in case it was ectopic, and I started bleeding about 5 days later. My beta numbers only started dropping after the methotrexate. My RE said eventually they would have dropped on their own, but it could have taken months for my body to realize that there was no embryo. Also if it was ectopic, I could have ended up with a ruptured tube.

All of my other miscarriages (4 previous) occured naturally; they have no idea why this one didn't. I guess sometimes this just happens.

Make sure you ask for an ultrasound in the next week or so just in case there is a viable pregnancy in there. However, prepare yourself for the likelihood of needing a d&c or methotrexate.

Best of luck to you!

-Eirlis