First time pregnancy and a little confused

[whitrose]

Hi so i am pregnant for the second time, first time I miscarried at less than a month so this is more like my first time. I am supposed to be 7 weeks 3 days but my hcg levels are not rising just staying around the same number. There still in the right range but my doctor said they should be rising and more than likely there is a problem with my pregnancy. I had an ultrasound at 5 weeks and they found the sac and what looked like to be a normal 5 week pregnancy but then I got another one a week later and they said not much had changed since the last ultrasound so It may not be a healthy pregnancy. I havent been bleeding though and feel fine but also have no pregnancy symptoms so im just a little scared as to what is gonna happen. anyone have any similar situations? I am scheduled for another ultrasound monday but am too impatient and just need some advice. thanks

[PetiteWonder]

It is hard to tell at this point because you could be earlier and then what you are seeing is normal. There have been tonnes of ladies convinced they knew when they ovulated and found out they are 2 weeks behind or 2 weeks ahead...

It is scary that your HCG isnt rising...  

In my situation with my last pregnancy, I found out at 12 weeks that I had a blighted ovum.. Which is when you have an empty gestational sac that never develops into anything else... I didnt have many warning signs...  Definitely no clear cut bleeding or anything like that.. partly because the sac can keep growing for a long time without your body realizing anything is wrong....  my sac was only measuring at 7 weeks 5 days at the time of the u/s because they dont grow at normal rates...  The warning signs I did have were:
1. at 10 weeks, my pregnancy symptoms greatly faded (i didnt think much about it as I read that it is normal for them to start fading out at the end of the 1st trimester and had read about this happening to numerous people -plus i still had some i puked like 3 days before the ultrasound)

2. at 11.5 weeks, i had a small spot of brown blood in my panties... it never turned into anything and never came back.......  people said not to worry unless it was bright red or turned into a flow...

So since both my warning signs were things that can be normal for some and not normal for others, not much warning...

I hope that your ultrasound on Monday goes well!

[Faylew1012]

I would be prepared for anything. But i can tell you that i have heard about this happening and sometimes baby kicks back into gear! So don't lose hope!

[JoyRenee]

Well I'm not an expert but I can tell you what I do know. hCG is supposed to rise 60% every 2-3 days though everyone just rounds it up and tells you that it needs to double. Some women have slow rising hCG for who-knows-what-reasons that can end up in a normal, full-term pregnancy. But hCG that is not budging or barely rising along with sonograms that don't show significant change from week-to-week don't sound promising.

However if your dates are off and you truly are 5-6 weeks pregnant then what you're seeing at the sonograms could be normal. I wouldn't write the pregnancy off just yet; wait and see what happens.

Here are some things that could help future pregnancies if you are miscarrying:
If you have a blood clotting disorder taking baby aspirin can prevent miscarriage if that is the cause of the previous miscarriages.

Genetic anomalies don't have preventative measures unless you go the route of IVF and they help make sure embryos are viable before implanting them).

If you have low progesterone (usually caused by cystic ovaries) it can cause miscarriage; taking supplements can help prevent miscarriages caused by low progesterone. When you ovulate the follicle the egg bursts from in your ovary turns into the Luteal Cyst and begins to produce progesterone. If you are pregnant this cyst will produce enough progesterone throughout your first trimester to tell your body to not menstruate so you don't miscarry. Then the cysts dissolves around week 10-12 as the placenta forms and begins to take over the production of progesterone. Because cystic ovaries are caused by hormonal problems it can be more common for women with cystic ovaries to miscarry. To identify if yours are you'll need a sonogram and some blood tests.

I'm truly sorry for what you're going through. I have been in your shoes twice and the limbo and waiting it absolute torture. My heart is with you!