Wish I knew what was happening

[Saribee]

Hi,

im so confused and I’m not sure anyone can reassure me at this point but posting in here helps. Even if I’m talking to myself

in June my period was 8/6. I ovulated on 20/6 according to clear blue digital tests and I didn’t conceive

in July period came 2/7 ( 23 day cycle is normal for me) and I was supposed to ovulate around 13th. I took cheaper testing strips which seemed to correspond with Flo app.

on 15th I took a pregnancy test because of pregnancy symptoms which was positive and that’s where my confusion starts. I thought it must have been way too early to test positive. I have tested daily since and the tests have remained positive. The strips have slowly started to become darker but it’s taken a full week and they are only marginally darker and the digital test had me at 1-2 weeks on 15/7.

This week I became convinced that I must have conceived in June in order to be getting positive tests so soon so I booked a private scan. I had an ectopic in 2018 so I obviously want to know if that’s a risk again.

There was nothing on the scan at all so they have referred me to EPU and now I’m in limbo

Nothing makes sense. I still feel pregnant, painful breasts and a small amount of sickness. But I took another digital test this morning and it’s still saying 1-2 weeks so that’s worrying me.

in my head I know the scan was clear because it’s just too soon. If I conceived in July it’s still too early to even see a gestational sac. Apparently they aren’t visible until 4 weeks 1 day. However, I’m worried things have just stopped progressing because the digital scan still says 1-2 weeks.

The hospital will want to do internal scans and physical checks and I don’t want them to because I’m having no symptoms of an ectopic and I want to avoid unnecessary physical/invasive examinations. So I am hoping they will just do my bloods to check the pregnancy is progressing.

I really don’t know how I could have tested positive on 15th , I could have ovulated very early in the month but it still seems too early. The positive was very faint to begin with.

Has anyone else ever tested positive so early? Does anyone know why this might have happened? My period would have been due 27th so I am still early

Sorry you're having to go through this, the limbo & not knowing is so hard.

The only way you'll get an answer is to be monitored by epu, if you don't want an internal scan you don't have to consent to it, they may be happy to just monitor by bloods.

Was the private scan you had internal? If not then I'm not at all surprised they couldn't see anything.

I had a miscarriage a couple of weeks ago & I had a week of limbo not knowing which was hard but epu were so helpful & caring, I felt relieved someone was helping work out what was happening. I had an internal scan initially where they couldn't see anything at all, then a blood test & another 48 hours later followed by a final one a week later. You get the results of blood tests the same day so hopefully once you've been seen by epu you'll get some answers quite quickly.

Thank you for your response and I’m so sorry for your loss. I’ve had a miscarriage and an ectopic previously and it’s such a sad experience. Was it your first pregnancy?

It’s the not knowing that I struggle with. I couldn’t have been more aware of what was happening in respect of period dates and ovulation but then I’ve conceived at some point when I wasn’t expecting to and I don’t know how that’s happened. The strip tests are def darker than when I started taking them so I’m clinging to that.

I really hope they check my bloods, I think that will be sufficient for the time being because I’m not having any ectopic symptoms. They did do an internal scan when they couldn’t see anything on the first attempt. That’s why I don’t want them to attempt another because there doesn’t seem to be any point. I read online that the gestational sac isn’t visible until 4 + weeks so now I’m holding on to the idea that if I count from the July period I would still be less than four weeks. But then the positive test on 15th doesn’t make much sense…..I’m driving myself mad and I know I need to just see what happens but it’s hard

xx

Id agree to bloods...
monitor pain and any bleeding yourself
i personal would do more regular pregnancy tests.clearblue see if hcg progresses urself too
good luck
babies come whenever
period may just been a random blleed happens sometime?

EPU just rang me and the nurse was brilliant. She really reassured me, she said the test I took on 15th could have been valid even if I was only just a week pregnant. She said the cheap Amazon tests are really sensitive and some women just test positive very early.

I told her I didn’t want the invasive examinations because I wasn’t feeling any ectopic symptoms so she suggested I test again in two weeks and then book in for an early scan.

She said I’d get the early scan anyway due to my age and previous ectopic so that’s what I will do.

I didn’t ask about the bloods because I forgot because I was so relieved that there is a chance I just conceived in July and just tested positive very early. But I’m just going to test every other day like you suggested with the strips and assume all is well.

If I feel any dodgy symptoms I’ll contact them early and I’ll do another digital in a week or so to see if I’ve advanced in weeks.

Rationally I know that if a pregnancy is going to come to an end it will and that’s beyond my control. It’s just so anxiety provoking and I couldn’t understand what could have happened. This stuff is so complex isn’t it! There are so many possibilities and risks and complications and you never feel completely reassured that everything is going well. If doesn’t help that I’m terrified of having another ectopic and consequently losing my fertility.

I really appreciate your replies and I hope your taking care and getting some rest.

xx

So glad to hear you had a positive call with epu, sounds like a great way forwards & fingers crossed that over the next couple of weeks the tests will get darker & you can go for a scan to see what's going on. Hopefully there will be answers soon & if anything changes you can go to epu for checks if needed.

Thanks for the kind thoughts, it was my 5th pregnancy but I have 2 children so I'm so incredibly grateful 😊. Wishing you lots of good luck for this pregnancy. X