No Gestational Sac at 6.5 Weeks
QUESTION
Dear Ms. Ultrasound,
My wife is now just at 7.5 weeks pregnant. She had a trans vaginal ultrasound last Friday which would have been right at 6.5 weeks. We are absolutely sure that she got pregnant on Feb. 24 or 25th as I traveled a lot and we didn't see each other much other than then. I'm worried because when we went for her scan they didn't see anything at all.
Everything I've read says that a transvaginal scan will show SOMETHING by 6.5 weeks. Also, her hcg levels were 34,022. She had one day of SEVERE cramping and nausea, back pain, dizziness, etc but it didn't even last 24 hrs. That was around 5 weeks. She hasn't had any spotting and still has pregnancy symptoms. Her OB didn't seem worried at all that nothing was visible at 6.5 weeks and my wife is very trusting with her doctor.
I'm worried about it and my wife is telling me to relax and not be worried. Again, we are certain that she got pregnant on the 24th or 25th of Feb.
Thanks,
Adam
ANSWER
Hi
In early pregnancy, the first ultrasound can cause much worry if nothing is visible in the gestational sac. The next step is to wait a period of time and redo the ultrasound. Usually the wait should be at least a week to ten days. This period gives the pregnancy time to grow if it is a viable pregnancy. Please note that conception does not always happen on the day of intercourse.
Sperm can live a number of days and conception can happen days later.
With an hcg of 34,000, a fetal pole should be seen and ....I never want any couple to lose hope until they have that second ultrasound which confirms that the pregnancy has stopped growing.
With regards.
--Jane RDMS
Jane Foley
Jane Foley has worked as a Sonographer (Ultrasound Technologist) since 1979. Jane has lived and worked in many parts of the world including Saudi Arabia. She is a Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer or RDMS. She pulls a wealth of information from her experience in the field of Radiology and her interactions with such a broad cross-section of cultures she has visited. She now makes her home on the island of Maui with her English husband, Michael.
Comments
7 Weeks but no gestational sac is seen :(
I am having the same problem here. I just visited the doctor today (June 4, 2011). Did both abdominal and transvagina ultrasounds and he couldn't find gestational sac, even though he estimated my pregnancy to be around 7 weeks from my LMP (Apr 17, 2011). My mens cycle varies from 33 - 40 days. Before the visit, I did my first home preg test on May 29 and came out positive. Did another urine test in my doc's office today (since he couldn't find the sac and wanted to know if I'm pregnant) and came out positive. Now I'm really worried because I had miscarried before last year in Nov. How many weeks am I into pregnancy? I checked on several websites on how to calculate weeks of pregnancy but some say I'm 4 weeks, and some say I'm 6 weeks pregnant. I'm gonna do a blood test on Monday (2 days from now) and we'll see how it goes. So far, I don't have any bleeding nor any excruciating pain that my rule out miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy. Can't wait till next week.