6w 1d ultrasound showed baby but no heartbeat MISDIAGNOSED

[melhowmom]

Hello~

I'm new here but have already found much comfort & encouragement from your stories. I have 2 healthy children (Praise God) and have had 2 miscarriages, one just this past April.

I am now pg again, just past 6 weeks. My HCG levels have been normal (250 at 4 weeks) & progesterone very good (49 at 4 weeks.) Things seemed to be progressing fine with pregnancy symptoms. I went in Thursday for my first ultrasound. I was 6w1d LMP (taking into account a 32 day cycle.) The ultrasound showed the yolk sak & baby (I guess the fetal pole, though the tech did not refer to it that way.) Anyway, she kept trying to get an audio on the heartbeat, but was having a difficult time. I thought I heard it fleetingly one time & she agreed. BTW it was a transvaginal ultrasound. Based on the ultrasound measurement she said I was also 6w 1d.

When I met with the midwife afterwards, she said she was "on the fence" as to whether or not the pregnancy was viable. She ordered another beta HCG & scheduled another one for 2 days. She called back the next day with the results of the beta test: 40,000. Which I thought was good, BUT for some reason they determined with a HCG level that high (seems in the normal range to me) they should DEFINITELY have seen a heartbeat. She said don't bother getting the 2nd HCG test, the baby had died & I could come in on Monday for a D&E. I was pretty shocked & said I would not want to do that without another ultrasound. I still have nausea & sore breasts.

I've read of not seeing a fetal pole at 6 weeks & then it being there the next week along with the heartbeat. But is it possible to see the baby at 6 weeks with no heartbeat & then see the heartbeat several days later? I've also read that the hb should be visible when the baby measures over 5mm, but they didn't tell me what it measured. And I seem to recall that it would not necessarily be over 5mm by 6w1d.

If it makes a difference, the midwife did note on my first visit that I have a tipped uterus.

I'm trusting in the Lord no matter the outcome, but we are harboring a bit of hope that all could be well...

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Sorry for the long post. Thank you for being such a great community!

[hopeful2007]

Im sorry you are going through this. I can't give you any advice but I can give you my story and maybe it will help. I miscarried in Dec 05 and had a D&C on Jan 3rd of this year. My first miscarriage ever after having 3 wonderful children. Anyway I am currently pregnant again with number 4 and I have to say at my 6wk check up ( doc had me coming in every 2wks until he saw the heartbeat), well I was 6wks 3days and we couldn't really see anything, there was a baby in there but it was very small. I went back at 7wks 3days and we saw the baby and a wonderful heartbeat of 153bmp. I have hope for you and baby when I was 6wks there wasn't a heartbeat yet. They say you shouldn't really see a heartbeat until about 7wks. I guess I do have some advice for you after all. Find a new doc or midwife. Good luck and best wishes,

Stacey

[Lisadaniella]

Hi Melanie
I've been posting on here with my own problems which I won't go into here.

I have been researching a lot on the net since my problems started and found some ultrasound sites which are medically orientated. From what I have read - you are right that there will not necessarily be a heartbeat detectable in a fetal pole measuring less than 5mm.

I have also looked at other sites which have outlined development at different weeks of pregnancy. According to this site, the fetal pole developments at this time. It should grow about 1mm a day and apparently they often use the length of the fetal pole to determine how far along you are in your pregnancy (i.e. they add 6 weeks to the length and each mm equals one day). So if they are saying you are 6weeks1day then your fetal pole must be very small! (probably only 1mm) and also probably too soon to see a heartbeat.

If I were you I'd definitely be asking for another ultrasound in a week to see what was happening.

Best of luck.

[julsathome]

Melanie, I'm sorry for your very upsetting visit. I don't know, but I hope this gives you some reassurance. I also had an ultrasound on Friday and was told I was 6w1d. My measurement was only 4 1/2 mm and the u/s tech said that was perfect, and while she did find the heartbeat, she also said "oh, that's lucky - look, it's a little heartbeat!", meaning, they don't always see the heartbeat at that stage. And I'm not really sure the info Lisa (no offence at all, Lisa) is accurate regarding dating. I was told to come back again in three weeks to properly date the pregnancy. So, if I were you - I'd hang in there and ask for a second opinion, if possible. There are a lot of women on this sight who didn't see anything until 8 weeks, and with your HcG levels so good I would try to remain cautiously optimistic. I'll be thinking of you and will keep an eye out to see how things go. Really wishing the best for you!



Juls

[Lisadaniella]

You may be right about the dating - I may have misunderstood the site I was looking at. I am attaching a link so you can have a look and see if it clarifies anything for you.

http://brooksidepress.org/Products/Mili ... cannin.htm

Best of luck.

[dream_of_baby2]

I'm in a similar situation. I had an u/s that measured 6w.1d last Thursday but based on my lmp it should have been around 8w.5d give or take. I also did not see a heartbeat and had a good hcg of 32,000. The dr told me that there should be a hb when hcg is over 6,000 and pregnancy is over 6 weeks. I have also read that they use 5mm as the threshold for the fetal pole. I know mine measured 4.7 mm. I will have one last u/s next week but I was told that it's probably a missed miscarriage.

I'm sorry to hear that you're story is similar but I hope that you have a better outcome. I would insist on at least another 2 u/s just to be sure.

[julsathome]

I'm sorry you are in this not knowing situation. All I can say is that I really wish the best for ye and am very surprised your doctors sound so definite about things. My dates are way off as well, if it's any consolation. By 11 days. I was also told at my first scan that they didn't see any interuterine pregnancy at all, and only for my HcG doubling, they were ready to diagnose an ectopic ( I had one in January) and take a tube. When my numbers were at 4500, they did another scan and still saw nothing. At 9500, two days later again, they saw a yolk sac, but weren't even sure about that. At 5w 2d (they had stopped the blood draws) they confirmed the yolk sac and then had my last scan on Friday - 8 days later and they said all was well and the baby was dating 6w1d (4.7mm). When I expressed concern at the fact I thought I should, even with late ovulation, be at 6w3d, she explained that dating this early is still a bit of a guessing game and she reckoned everything was fine. So, my only advice is to go with your gut instinct and hopefully everything will work out. to all of you.

Juls

[julsathome]

Lisa, thanks for the link. You should maybe post that in tne reading room. It's very descriptive. I think you read everything right, but I'm a bit confused as I was told the baby was 4.7mm, but I was 6w1d, which would, like you said, mean the baby should've only been 1mm. I guess that's why I'm a patient and not a doctor. Thanks again!

Juls

[melhowmom]

Thanks for all of the findings & encouragement everyone. I don't know what the outcome will be tomorrow, but we will deal with it either way.

Lisa, I had come across the same site that you posted the link for & it does seem they are saying at 6w1d size would be 1mm. But that does not seem to correspond with other data out there. Maybe we are not understanding it correctly?

Here is another link to a site with good info:
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregna ... opment.htm

And this site is very comprehensive with good pictures:
http://www.fleshandbones.com/readingroo ... rements%22
It does not list a CRL for 6 weeks, but it says the mean for 7 weeks is 10 mm. So if baby grows 1mm a day, counting backwards you get 4mm on 6w1d, which seems somewhat consistent with the posts here.

Thank you all for your support & prayers. Juls, I wish you the best in your pregnancy! dream_of_baby2 we are in the same boat, I pray that yours might be a miracle baby, just as I'm hoping for!

[Kay]

Hang in there. The ultrasound literature is wrong. We've learned that on this site. There are no absolutes. Some women will see a heartbeat by that time and some do not. I was nine weeks before we could see the heartbeat (or anything for that matter).

Hang in there. I do think you have a lot of hope.

[melhowmom]

[b][i]Praise the LORD. [/i]Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.[/b] Psalm 106:1

[b]I love the LORD, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.

Because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live. [/b]Psalm 116:1-2



We are so thankful! The Lord inclined his ear to us & heard our cries! We had a wonderful scan today and immediately heard the baby's heartbeat and saw the little flicker! It was nice and strong measuring between 113 and 119 which the tech said was normal for 6 weeks. I still measured 6w1d, same as on Thursday, but the tech was not concerned since the measurements have a margin of error of +/- 4 days.

The midwife was estatic! She said since HCG was so good she doesn't need to see me again for 4 weeks (unless I feel that something is wrong.) We, of course, realize that 6 weeks is still early especially since I do have 2 prior losses, but we are so thankful that today all looks good. Thank you ALL so much for your thoughts & prayers! I hope this will be an encouragement to others who don't see the heartbeat right away...hold on, have faith, have patience & have another scan!

May God bless you all~

[WKG24]

Yes!

This is wonderful news...aren't you so so happy that you trusted in God and gave this little new life time to grow!

I am just now getting to all the posts, but along the way, I was thinking...oh I hope that she waits this out.

I had similar situation with Kohl...we didn't see his heartbeat the first time, then the second time we did but it was so slow that they didn't even measure it. You know, you have to go on those techs and how they actually measure the fetus---they could just have a slip of the hand and measure a mm or two off. You just never know. It is not an exact science, that's for sure!

I am so happy for you. Congratulations! I know you are relieved and so thankful.

Wes

[hopingforamiracle10]

In similar situation measuring at 6wk 1 day but should be around 8 weeks. I recently found out I'm pregnant with my 2nd child. This was a great gift since with our first child Tristan it took over 2 yrs and some fertility help to conceive him. He is a wonderful blessing and very happy healthy 9 month old baby. Since we wanted to have our kids close together my husband and started actively ttc in july which we are very blessed we got pregnant right away. My lmp was june 26 so that would put me around 8 wks but not sure when I ovulated. I had a positive blood test on july 29th only reason for blood test was cause I was diagnosed with a small ovarian cyst and having some discomfort in pelvic area along with being lightheaded so pcp wanted a ct scan but needed to know if I was pregnant which I was. So first thing she thought was tubal preg but ultrasound looked normal. So went to my ob and beta was 2519 on July 30th everything stil normal. Went for 6 wk us on Aug 9th and saw sac and yolk sac measuring about 6 weeks with blood work normal. Now after all this info sorry for so much writing just want to be as detailed as possible. My problem started on monday aug 23rd when the us showed sac measuring at 6 wks still and no heartbeat but there was an embryo. I should have been measuring at 8 wks and there should have been a heartbeat according to the ob so he said the outcome was fetal demise. Ob said I could get a d&c or wait a wk for another us of course my gut reaction was to wait but my husbands was the opposite. So after much debate and advice from family and friends we have decided to wait for another us which I will get on monday the 30th. Basically I'm hoping and praying for a miracle cause my ob said he didn't think there was any chance of this becoming a viable pregnancy or he wouldn't have offered the d&c. I would love to hear any opinions, advice or similiar stories to mine. Will try to stay positive and keep praying for a miracle. Thank you for the support.

[hopingforamiracle10]

Update:
Today I had another us the fetus actually shrunk and no heartbeat. I now feel comfortable with the results to get the D&C. I go tomorrow for the procedure a little nervous but more sad that it had to come to this. I just hope the next time we get pregnant things work out better. I wish everyone else the best and will keep praying for everybody.