No heartbeat at 6 weeks but hormones levels rising

[Miscarriagesucks2020]

I am currently by dates apparently 6+3 pregnant. This is my FIFTH pregnancy but I've had 3 MMC in the past - 2 before my son, and then one after my son (just back in June).. I thought I had fixed my MMC problem due to thyroid medication, but the MMC back in June threw me a curveball.

It's fair to say my pregnancy anxiety is sky high and it's not helped by the fact I'm likely to be made redundant in a few weeks time.

I took 2 private progesterone/bHCG tests when I was 5 weeks and 5+2, to see if the HCG numbers were doubling, and they were more than doubling.

I went for an internal scan at 6 weeks and they could see the usual sac with no heartbeat. And have told me to come back in 10 days :(

Because I cannot fathom a 10 day wait I took another hormone test at 6+1 and both levels have increased. The results indicated I was more like 7 weeks.

But at 7 weeks there would have been a heartbeat surely?

All I want to know is whether I'm still pregnant.

Do hormones continue to rise during a MMC or do they level off?

Firstly, I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. From what I gather, hormones can continue rising if the body hasn't registered the MMC yet - and in fact at times might need intervention because of it. It might be worth giving EPU a call just for some clarity and guidance, but I suspect they'll ask you to hold off and test again at a later date to see if it's started coming back down.

Thanks for your reply Juno. Yes I did suspect hormones can continue to rise in an MMC.

My scan was at EPU and they rebooked me for a scan in another 10 days. Honestly, it's such a cruel way to have a miscarriage.. I just want it over and done with if it's a miscarriage. Yet I've had to have three ERPCs because my body can't expel the pregnancies. It's just the worst :( Such a long, long waiting game.

Hi op. I’m so sorry that you’ve experienced such heartbreaking losses.

As Juno said hcg can continue to rise as normal until your body recognises a loss.

When I mc scans showed sac, yolk sac, fetal pole but no heartbeat but hcg was more than doubling and the fetal poke even grew a lot between scans.

It wasn’t until nearly 3 weeks later that hcg started to drop (very slowly) and I finally passed the pregnancy.

I truly hope it’s not the same for you. Not seeing a heartbeat at 6 or even 7 weeks is not unusual though so if I were you I really wouldn’t panic. If you truly can’t bear the wait, rather than get another hcg test done (which could still show rising levels even if you are having a loss), why not book yourself in for a private scan? I know the 10 day wait to go back to the EPU is torturous.

Good luck x

But what are your hcg numbers? It could be too early to see.

My last reading was bHCG 33,175 at 6+2. Progesterone was 79.4.

@Moominmiss Thanks for the info. I'm sorry you suffered this too.

I probably will give in and go for another scan, privately, but, it's just harder to find somewhere that does internal ones. Or perhaps I'll go back to the EPU when I'm 7 weeks and beg for another scan on that date rather than waiting until 7+5.

It's not uncommon to not be able to see a heartbeat at 6 weeks so I wouldn't worry just yet (although easier said than done when you've had previous MCs)

Was the sac empty? Did they see a yolk sac? I had a scan last week at 5w5d and no heartbeat yet. Fingers crossed and waiting

NavyBerry, sorry to hear you're this position too. The sac had the beginnings of a fetal pole but nothing more. That's usually the stage my pregnancies get to :(

Thanks for the reassurance, Shalom, hopefully I'm lucky...

I'm obviously not an expert but your hcg level looks reassuring! It is just what it should be for the term. And actually it can also depend on how good their scanner is. 10 days is an eternity. Maybe they can do one in just 7 days?

Thanks Navy, yeah the HCG does look good. I think the scanner at the EPU is pretty good, they are one of the biggest Maternity units in the hospital. So I guess it's just a waiting game.

I did have a wave of morning sickness this morning, and I've never had that in any pregnancy (including my successful one) so hopefully that's a good sign..