Sonograper never told me I was pregnant then possibly miscarried

[Crazyfarmgirl]

Last month I had some really heavy bleeding for 2 days, so my doctor referred me to have a scan. I had the scan on the 4th of November. The sonograper didn't say a word, just said my results would be in within 2-3 days and asked me what I think caused the bleeding, so I said I have cystic ovaries. That was 3 weeks ago and I've been calling the doctors up daily demanding for my results. They say they need more time to study them.

TW...

In the meantime I find out I'm pregnant, so it would've been seen on the scan surely. I took a test every morning for a week and still the same very faint line. I noticed there was no improvement. The day I got a definite negative I started getting severe cramping and bleeding. I got in the shower and that's when clots came out. It lasted a few minutes then nothing, no pains and the bleeding slowed right down. I haven't taken a pregnancy test since, but does this sound like I could've had a chemical? I honestly feel so let down that I'm being denied my own test results and I'll probably never know what's going on

Pregnancies under 6 weeks are pretty tricky to see on scans so it might not have been visible. Sorry for what has happened.

I had a previous external scan a few years ago where they found out I was 4 weeks. This one was internal so surely they could see a sac atleast? I just keep thinking over whether I was even pregnant in the first place. My mind is a mess, I want to mourn but how do I even know if there was anything to mourn for 😞

Definitely sounds like a chemical pregnancy/early miscarriage. However, from the timeline you may not have been pregnant at the time of the scan at all, and even if you were it would have been extremely early. Very early on they would not have seen anything apart from some endometrial thickening, which can also happen for other reasons, so they would not have seen anything on the scan that specifically looked like a pregnancy.

It does sound like your doctors have not given a clear timeline for your results and I am sorry for your loss of the pregnancy

The sac does not form until 4.5-5 weeks. I honestly cannot believe that a US saw it externally in your last pregnancy?! Our local US dept does only internals until 16wks as so hard to see

Sonographers are not allowed to give diagnoses

With all gentleness I think you are projecting some of your grief / frustration on the sonographer- it’s not unusual for the
to want to check with the team even if they do see something.

Did the GP give you a timeline for results?

16 weeks?! So all the dating scans are internal? Surely not. Do you mean 6 weeks?

It was just a dark hole, but they could definitely see it. I was bleeding for 3 months straight so they scanned me to make sure everything was ok. But they found a 7cm cyst and a pregnancy which was a huge shock

I don't really know what I'm feeling at the moment. I'm not blaming the sonograper, I'm just a bit confused why it's been a 3 week wait when I was told a couple of days

Honestly! I've had a lot of contact with them through the years through two pregnancies/one loss and infertility challenges - all internals prior to 16wks (6, 8, 10, 12x2) then externals (the 20wk scans, one 18wk scan, a bunch of 28+ wk scans because my now 1.5yr old little love was a frustrating non mover at times). I am overweight but not significantly (as women who are obese can require internals to see well). This is in an NHS Scotland board.

But if they could see a pregnancy, wouldn't they have to tell me? Surely you can't hide a pregnancy from someone like that

@Crazyfarmgirl that’s not how medical imaging works- if you aren’t qualified to give a diagnosis, you don’t. Even if you recognise it (and it sounds like that would be iffy anyway), a sonographer would be working outside their remit to diagnose you.

Ah that's interesting, my earliest ever scan was 6-6.5 weeks ish and we affectionately referred to it as "black blobb' as that's all we could see.

I think if a sonographer was clear you were pregnant they probably would mention it but as I said, they likely could not see a clear yolk sac or amniotic sac.

You could ask the US dept lead for feedback on their process - is this NHS?

I've done a bit of Googling and it looks as if sonograpers don't usually inform you of a pregnancy unless it's a life or death situation (ruptured ectopic etc). I've also called up the hospital where I had the US and they said my doctor would be in touch shortly, and that was last week. I don't want to keep bothering them, but I can't help but feel they've lost or forgotten about it. The amount of times they've lost my blood test records in the past it's hard to feel hopeful. Yes NHS

I don't want to scare you but maybe it was a molar pregnancy or partial molar and they are trying to determine that before speaking to you

They weren’t hiding it, if they did see it. Your GP requested the scan, they will get the results, it’s down to them to give you the results. When I had a scan they wouldn’t even tell me I had fibroids, they are hardly going to tell you you are pregnant when they don’t know your history (possible DV/DA/SA or whatever) that would put them in a terrible position.

Can you contact PALS? They're usually helpful for this kind of thing.

Sonographers always tell you to contact your doctor (or referring equivalent) for the results.

Ah, yes that's understandable. I'm just a bit concerned as to why it's taking them so long to release the results. I want to say no news is good news, but waiting 3 weeks when I was told a few days is making me a bit nervous. They've obviously found something I just wish I knew what

Mine told me the doctor would be in touch, but I've been calling and calling. The appointment isn't even showing up on the NHS app so I'm wondering if there's been a mix up perhaps

I had to make an GP phone appointment to get scan results this year - that seemed to hurry them along into giving me the results. It was a double appointment.

They actually don't do this though. Every early scan I've had with a sonographer (nhs and private) has told me on the spot what's going on, good or bad news. It's happened 3 times: 1. Viable pregnancy in right location with heartbeat (6 weeks), 2. twin pregnancy with 2 heartbeats (6weeks) and then 3. Vanishing twin (10 weeks)

They aren’t a monolith- different trusts have different policies, besides, it doesn’t sound like OP attended for a scan to confirm or date a pregnancy, more that it was to investigate bleeding.

All fair points.