I'm writing this because I want to share my experience with other people that are going through a negative one, due to HCG not rising as deemed normal. When I found myself in this situation all I wanted to do was talk to someone that had been through it and came out with a good outcome, I also searched the net for something positive, most of what I could find were the negative blogs.
Just to be clear this isn't about false hope, it's about reality and keeping your mind open. I don't pretend to be a medical professional because I am not, this is purely my experience.
Before I was pregnant with my last child, I suffered (like many other people) a missed-miscarriage (I didn't even know that was a thing at the time).
When I found out I was pregnant again I was frightened the same thing would happen. Low and behold I had a bleed at around 7 weeks and to be honest I had no emotion I kind of expected it. My last miscarriage took 2 weeks from the date I found out for me to pass it. I had an appointment 3 days later so I didn't bother going to see anyone, I just carried on like normal. During my appointment I explained about the bleeding and so had a scan, to everyone's surprise there was a strong heartbeat. As a result of this I had the standard blood tests 48 hours apart.
While I was at work I received a phone call from... well to be honest I don't know who she was. Doctor, Nurse, midwife, evidence researcher
I have no idea. Anyway she told me my HCG was barely raising and I was likely to have another miscarriage. She went on to say; we needed to be realistic about the findings. I was devastated at this point and phoned my Husband (also at work) and cried in the toilet like a crazy person.
About 3 days later I had another bleed. I went straight to the EPU and had another scan, this time the sonographer looked at the screen and went to get help. When they came back my Husband and I were ready to be told the devastating news, we had detached ourselves from this pregnancy (meaning we had already started the grieving process) so had no feelings about what we were going to be told. Once again to our surprise we were told they a strong heartbeat was found. We had to go into a private waiting room to see a senior member of staff.
We were told no more blood tests would take place, as HCG is not relevant at this stage in pregnancy . We left in good spirits. a week went by and I had another bleed a lot larger than previous ones. This went on throughout. Every 1 to 3 weeks without fail I'd have a bleed.
At our 20 week scan all seemed well. A little on the small side but nothing worth worrying about. At 24 weeks we were assigned a consultant who discussed the potential of delivering the baby earlier as the survival rate might be higher. She also spoke to us about the possibility our baby might have a disability (what sort I have no idea).
I was advised to have a test to see if I had strep-b, this came back positive, I wasn't concerned about this, I was pleased it had been noted and could be dealt with during birth.
One week exactly after my due date. I had pains I went in to the assessment centre and was told they are not worried about pains (I think because this is normal) they were however concerned about the reduced movement. I was induced which didn't work.
So was sent to the delivery room 48hours after this for them to break my waters. I then remember alarms going off and being rushed in for a emergency C-section.
In spite of this I gave birth to a healthy baby (although have, allergies and epilepsy), who has hit all milestones and will be starting school in September.
Like I said this is just my experience. My heart goes out to everyone that's had a bad experience during pregnancy and after. I hope everyone gets the outcome they are seeking and the support they need if this isn't the case.