Friend's been told she may be having a 'slow miscarriage' - can anyone help us with some info?!

[Moomin]

My friend found out she was pg 10 days ago. She started getting some light spotting which was brown, last Saturday, which continued on and off over the next few days. None of it was red blood.
On Tuesday she went for a scan. She also felt some pain just on this day but it was high up and she thinks it may even have been wind! - she's had no pain at all since. The scan showed a small sac but it was too small to tell any more. The blood test showed a hgc level of 288, which the consultant said was a bit low for 5 weeks, which is what she thinks she is (she has a 36 day cycle). They told her that she'd need another blood test in 2 days, by which time they would have expected the hgc level to have doubled.

She went back for her test this morning, which was actually only 1 and a half days later. A nurse rang her this afternoon and said the level was 380 and that in her opinion, my friend is having a 'slow miscarriage'. However, she's got another test booked for Sat morning, which will be the full 2 days later and I spose that one will be more conclusive.

BTW, my friend is not hopeful about the pg, not because of what the nurse said but because she says she has a gut feeling. But does anyone have any experience of this? Is if possible for the hgc to increase even if the pg isn't viable? And should she expect some red blood soon if so? I know her questions will be answered for sure on Sat but, as you can imagine, these next two nights and one day are going to be dreadful for her as she waits. We also think the nurse was a bit out of order saying this to her on the phone (my friend's a nurse too and said she would never tell a patient something this important over the phone!)

Any info gratefully received and I will pass on to her asap. Thanks X

[HelloMama]

I agree that it was unprofessional for the nurse to tell your friend that over the phone. This is probably one of those awful 'wait and see' situations, however on the positive side, this exact situation happened to a work colleague of mine (who had also miscarried before). The hCG was not doubling etc and they said she would probably miscarry again (not over the phone mind you). However after about 10 days of blood tests and a couple of scans (and a lot of worry), she is now 2 weeks away from giving birth, so it could turn out ok for your friend. It is not uncommon to have spotting bleeding during early pregnancy, especially brown blood, but it is obviously good that she is receiving medical attention to make sure everything is ok. I hope everything works out.

[Moomin]

THanks HelloMama - I KNEW I'd got the hCG thing wrong - I'm glad you knew what I meant.
Yes - fingers crossed. Let's hope my friend is as lucky as yours.

[HelloMama]

It is true that in a healthy pregnancy the hCG should double every 48 hours, but just because this doesn't happen doesn't mean things can't pick up and everything is lost. With my friend the levels did increase, but they weren't doubling as they should, until her last blood test when everything was found to have sorted itself out. Just tell your friend to try and keep positive and offer lots of support as this must be a very difficult time. I wish her all the best.

[mummytosteven]

I had HCG levels at 6 weeks ish that didn't double - more like 1.25 x at 2 days later, and now have a 15 week old ds from that pregnancy. When I spoke to the nurse, she told me on the phone it looked like an m/c. I also had brown bleeding and cramps at 5 weeks ish. So it is possible to have a viable pg even with HCG levels that don't double. Once I had the dodgy HCG levels they did an internal scan the next day, which was fine - yolk sac and heartbeat. They repeated the scan 10 days later, then discharged me, and didn't even bother redoing the blood tests!

Best of luck to your friend - it will be a horrible waiting game for her atm.