Slight decline in my Beta Quant HGC

[armymommy571]

Is it possible to have a slight decrease in HCG levels and later on have them rise again? I am 6w3d pregnant and my last HCG read was 61,012 which was on the 13th of April at an off post ER;today the 13th of April my quant was 57,000 at the on post Army hospital. All my symptoms are still present, I have no cramping or bleeding just the slight decline in my levels. The midwife is talking to me abou scheduling a D/C in a couple of weeks due to the decline and lack of cardiac fetal activity. However she would go on to say it is possible it is to early to detect the heartbeat even by sight alone. I am confused in one breath she is saying abort the pregnancy since its ending and in the other breath she is saying its too early. Is there a chance my HCG levels will rise again or is my baby dying or dead and just wont expell itself?

[AnnieBrooke]

It's possible to have a decline and then a rise, if you had more than one embryo and one faded.  But then you'd expect to see a rise again.  Ask for another hCG count in a couple of days, and then if there is no clear trend, ask for another one 48 hours later.  You never know if the differences you saw were from one baby, fading, from two babies with one fading, or just from the differences in two labs, one on base and one private.  Why not get some clarity with another couple of blood tests?  I certainly would not schedule a D&C unless you had a clearer answer than this.

[ChristineMP]

part of an article from
http://www.*****************.org/pregnancycomplications/earlyfetaldevelopment.htm

"Week 6 - Gestational Age (Fetal age 4 weeks)
5 ½ to 6 ½ weeks is usually a very good time to detect either a fetal pole or even a fetal heart beat by vaginal ultrasound. The fetal pole is the first visible sign of a developing embryo. This pole structure actually has some curve to it with the embryo’s head at one end and what looks like a tail at the other end. The fetal pole now allows for crown to rump measurements (CRL) to be taken, so that pregnancy dating can be a bit more accurate. The fetal pole may be seen at a crown-rump length (CRL) of 2-4mm, and the heartbeat may be seen as a regular flutter when the CRL has reached 5mm.

If a vaginal ultrasound is done and no fetal pole or cardiac activity is seen, another ultrasound scan should be done in 3-7 days. Due to the fact that pregnancy dating can be wrong, it would be much too early at this point to make a clear diagnosis on the outcome of the pregnancy."

So...wait...and go see an MD or DO OB specialist ((((hug))))

[ChristineMP]

I would hold off on the D&C. It is still early for the heartbeat. I have read many stories of people who at the same stage you are had HCG levels that were concerning and no heartbeat...but they waited and VOILA! a few weeks later there was a heartbeat and months down the line a baby...

Nothing against midwives but go see an OB specialist doctor...midwives are qualified to handle low risk, uncomplicated pregnancies...these levels (and I am guessing your age, since you are here on 35+) put you out of a midwife's scope.

Normally your HCG levels should continue to increase. I copy/pasted a chart below and have included the link to it...

http://www.justmommies.com/articles/hcg-levels.shtml

eta hCG level chart
hCG levels during pregnancy
(in weeks since last menstrual period)

3 weeks LMP      5 - 50 mIU/ml
4 weeks LMP      5 - 426 mIU/ml
5 weeks LMP 18 - 7,340 mIU/ml
6 weeks LMP 1,080 - 56,500 mIU/ml
7 - 8 weeks LMP 7, 650 - 229,000 mIU/ml
9 - 12 weeks LMP 25,700 - 288,000 mIU/ml
13 - 16 weeks LMP 13,300 - 254,000 mIU/ml
17 - 24 weeks LMP 4,060 - 165,400 mIU/ml
25 - 40 weeks LMP 3,640 - 117,000 mIU/ml
non pregnant 55-200 ng/ml