QUESTION

Dear Midwife,
My LMP was 8-29-09. Date of conception ~ 09/15. Spotting and cramping yielded very early US on 10/05. Abnormal US "showing large subchorionic hematoma "probably abortion in progress, with no fetal pole." Quantitative Bhcg went from 15999 to 30000 in 48 hours (10/06-10/08). Saw OBGYN 10/12 w/repeat U/S.

Her thoughts were there is no hematoma, but that it is a collapsed second sac. No fetal pole or heartbeat seen in other sac. OB states 99% sure not a viable pregnancy. Had repeat bhcg same day, up to 60,000.

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The hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin (better known as hCG), is produced during pregnancy. It is made by cells that form the placenta, which nourishes the egg after it has been fertilized and becomes attached to the uterine wall. Read "HCG Levels" to learn more.

QUESTION

Dear Midwife,
My family doc ordered a "hcg quantitative" blood test to find out how many weeks along I am.

A friend of mine swears that there is no such test to determine this and thinks that my doc is a quack and I should get another doc. I AM going to a OB as soon as possible, but my family doc wants to follow along.

Is this test for real, and what are the chances that my "hcg qualitative & quantity" tests (done at two separate times) are "false positives"?

My friend doesn't even think I'm pregnant...I am stressing enough without having to deal with this.

QUESTION

Dear Midwife,
My name is Ashley (22) and DH is Josh (24). I went through IVF in January and it resulted in my first pregnancy. We are so happy but I find myself sooooo scared! I have the "what ifs" you know "what if we don't see a hb?"

I had my ER 1/24 and the ET 1/29. 2/6 my first blood test was 144 and my second 2/9 was 655. No one really has explained what these numbers mean .

Tomorrow is a 3rd blood test and I just hope everything is where it should be. I have been told that we are going to do the first u/s at 7wks. Why so far away.

QUESTION

Dear Midwife,
Hello, on the 15th of December I found out I am pregnant, even though I had not missed a period and was spotting. On the 16th my hcg level was 58, on the 19th it was 78, then on the 23rd it was 58 again.

My doctor told me I was miscarrying based on the bleeding and the drop in already low levels of hcg.
I asked him if it was possible for the levels to come back up because on the 24th all bleeding stopped, he said not really but before we go forward we will test again. So on the 31st I was tested again and the levels had in fact came up to 144.

QUESTION

Dear Midwife, I need to find out what is going on with me. I have a history of a blighted ovum. I had a D&C on June 19th. I had not had a period since the surgery. I took a pregnancy test (actually 3 of them) and they were all positive. I had an ultrasound done on August 6th. The technician said that she saw a gestational sac and she also saw a yolk sac. She wasn't able to locate fetal pole. My doctor did a trace of my HCG levels after 48 hours. On August 9th I had a level of 18,600, on August 11th the level was 28,900. I got those results yesterday.

QUESTION

Dear Midwife,
I just went in for my 3rd blood test. I think I'm about 5 weeks along - but not too sure as I haven't officially seen my doctor yet.

1st blood test hcg: 315 and progesterone was 24.6
2nd blood test hcg: 900 and progesterone was 18.0 (this was 2 days after the 1st blood test)
Still awaiting the results from the 3rd blood test.

Should I be concerned about these levels? My nurse told me the level they like to see for the progesterone is 20. Should I be concerned about this?

Thanks,
Melissa

QUESTION

Dear Midwife,
There was no fetal heartbeat at the ultrasound but I am hoping above all else that it was too early. The Dr. says it is not a good pregnancy but she could be wrong. I am trying to have hope. I have another ultrasound scheduled for Wednesday and blood drawn as well. Praying for good news. Does anyone know whether or not my hcg levels rising means the baby is still ok that it is just not detecting it yet?