No Heart Beat

At 13 weeks we still cant hear the babys heart beat with an ultra sound, is this normal?  I have no discharge or pain.  Should I be worried?

[KellyA74]

Out of curiosity, what did the Doc or Mid-wife say about it?  Was it a transvaginal ultrasound?

[ExpectingaRedhead]

Well, when it comes to hearing the heartbeat, it can be different for everyone. I heard my baby's heartbeat around 10 weeks, but I know some women don't hear it until 20 weeks! One of the reasons that you may not be able to hear the baby's heartbeat is the position of the uterus or the position of the baby in the uterus. Another reason is that there may be some extra fat on your stomach in the area that they listen for it, which makes it difficult to hear it as well.

[krazzewolf]

It was a transvaginal ultrasound and the doctors say the baby has died. Since I'm not having discharge or pain, I hope the baby could still be alive... am I wishfull thinking?  If the baby is not alive, why did they not do a D&C?  Why leave the baby dead inside of me?  I'm so confused... Thanks for any help.

[ExpectingaRedhead]

I just realized you meant you can't hear the heartbeat by ultrasound. If you can't hear it, you should be able to at least see the heartbeat on the screen. Could you see the heartbeat during your u/s? Are they testing your HCG levels or doing another u/s to see if they baby has grown?

[KellyA74]

Oh my!  I went through the same thing on Wed. of this week.....1st U/S at 8.5 weeks, twins measuring at 7.5 weeks...no heartbeat in either.  They wanted me to have a D&C but I refused, b/c the same as you, I was (still am not) having any symptoms of miscarriage......I chose to have a Quantative Hcg drawn that night (wed.) and then had it re-drawn today (48 hours later).....as I wanted to see #'s dropping before I made the dreadful decision and gave up hope......Please do not (if they mention it) let them talk you into a D&C until you are 100% sure that's what you think you need.  Getting Hcg's drawn (although my results were not good....13,000 on Wed., 11,000 today) it put my mind at ease over making the decision.  My office was very fast to suggest a D&C which creeped me out........Make sure you cover all bases and do what you feel if right in your heart.......There is certainly still a chance that everything is OK......(tilted uterus, excess belly fat, bad postioning of the baby, poor U/S equipment, inexperienced staff, etc).......I desperately hope that everything turns out OK.....Please update as you find out mroe and I'll be thinking of you.

[heathergail]

I also went through the same thing its awful on wed. of this week I wish you PEACE And love I had a d and c wed found out tuesday