Chemical pregnancy or early miscarriage?

[Summer1986]

Hi everyone,
Not that I guess I matters in the grand scheme of things but I want to know whether my experience is a chemical pregnancy or early miscarriage.

I had a positive pg test the day before my period was due on 30/6, I took 7 different tests of 3 different brands, all positive over the next 8 days. Yesterday I started bleeding and a pregnancy test today was negative. So I started bleeding 11 days after my period was due.

Would drs class this as a chemical pregnancy or early miscarriage?

I've already had one missed miscarriage at around 10 weeks.

I'm sorry for your loss. I'm currently miscarrying at 6 weeks. I read today that it's a chemical pregnancy if it ends before 5 weeks, when nothing would be visible on a scan. After 5 weeks the gestational sac should be visible on a scan and it's considered a clinical pregnancy. A chemical pregnancy is just a very early miscarriage and likely due to the same reasons as other early miscarriages - abnormalities that make it unviable.

I'm really sorry for what you're going through. As far as I can see there is no set definition of 'chemical' - some people/online resources seem to use it solely to refer to losses before the period is actually due (so when people get a positive test but then their period comes on time), others seem to use it up to six weeks. As the poster before said, it's not actually a particularly meaningful distinction - it doesn't mean (as lots of people seem to think) that you weren't ever 'really' pregnant, and it definitely doesn't mean you don't get to feel sad.

I don't know whether this is your concern but if so: a loss at five weeks definitely 'counts' for the purposes of recurrent miscarriage. I got myself so worried about this (I've had two at five weeks and one at seven), especially since I'd seen some really dismissive comments online about a loss that early ('just a late period', etc.). I convinced myself the doctor would tell me that they weren't 'real' miscarriages and to stop being silly about them. That did not happen - every medical professional I've spoken to (I've now been referred for further recurrent miscarriage testing) has been sympathetic, kind, and has taken me seriously.

This happened to me last month at 5 weeks and Drs not defined it as chemical or EM they just say miscarriage. I think some people use the term chemical for earlier than 6 weeks when you'd expect to see a heartbeat on a scan. I'm so sorry OP. I promise you will feel better day by day. It took me a while to accept.

Thank you ladies. My concern was really regarding recurrent miscarriage as I know you are entitled to testing after 3 but you are right Lisa, I wondered whether this loss would "count". I'm trying to be positive about falling pregnant again in future but it's hard.
Sorry to hear of your losses xxx

I'm really sorry you're feeling like this. I know it's hard to find hope when all you've had is bad experiences - I'm really struggling to do it myself - but remember that the odds of success in your next pregnancy are really high.