Heart beat - no heart beat - heart beat

[maybeoneday]

I am hoping somebody can help. This is the first time I have posted here but wanted to try and understand what has happened over the last 4 weeks.

Following 2 previous M/Cs I have been scanned since 4 weeks on this pregnancy. Once at about 4 weeks, once at 4 weeks 3 days, once at 6 weeks. At 6 weeks there was a heartbeat.

Something felt wrong last week and my hospital were unable to see me, so went for a private scan at what should have been about 8 weeks - no heartbeat on scan and advised to go back to the hospital to agree what happens next and whether to have a managed m/c

Before doing this the hospital said they had to scan again, and there was a heartbeat, so they advised me to wait another week as everything looked ok to them, although the size concerned them.

I decided to seek private help, and had more bloods don. The levels have dropped a lot in the last 48 hours, so my Harley Street specialist has confirmed an unviable pregnancy and advised me to go back to the hospital in the morning.

My question really is whether anybody has had this happen before with the heartbeat being evident, then none, then evident again?

I am coming to terms with the inevitable, but it's been a week I cannot describe really.

I haven't experienced this, but am thinking of you. x

maybeoneday sorry can't offer any advice but didn't want you post unread, really hope all works out in future sending hugs x

Thanks for your kind comments, much appreciated.

Not giving up yet......but it looks like this may go unexplained!!

I don't have advice, though I have had a mc so I know how painful it is. I hope you get some answers soon. I can't imagine that the heartbeat would have stopped and then re-started so can only assume that they hadn't found it that one time, so you were right to get a second opinion.

poor you - my heart goes out to you. it's truly horrible not knowing whether a pregnancy is going to make it or not, and mixed messages from experts just make it all worse.
it all sounds very strange. lots of things that don't make sense. 1) what on earth was the point of the NHS scanning you at 4 weeks? what exactly did they expect to find? i've never heard of this being offered to anyone else.
2) what was the point scanning you three days later? again, this is only just in 'discovering you're pregnant' phase. you can't tell anything from a scan at 4 weeks 3 days, unless you have a history of ectopics/chemical pregnancies/pregnancies in the wrong place?
i have to say it sounds like your NHS trust is all over the place on this...which admittedly isn't massively relevant to your query...
I am a recurrent miscarriage sufferer (four MCs; two of them were missed MCs) so pretty familiar with the system and the whole scanning process. i have never heard of a heartbeat at six weeks; no heartbeat at eight weeks; and then a heartbeat again at another scan. it's very odd. perhaps the private sonographer somehow missed it.....
In any case the size of the embryo is very relevant. if, say, you are measuring 5 or 6 weeks when it should be eight weeks, in my personal experience that's usually a bad sign.
however, if a heartbeat was detected a few days ago, whatever your blood results say, i'd personally want to be completely sure that heartbeat has gone before taking any further steps.
please let me know how you get on....and join us on the miscarriage board if you need more support

Hi maybeoneday

This really is a terrible time for you. I understand what you are going through as I've been there.
I've had 7 mc's, different reasons incl 1 mmc discovered at 14 week scan. My 6th mc was like that, the person doing the scan couldn't find a heartbeat at an early scan approx 7 weeks. I had another scan about 10 days later and not only saw the heartbeat but heard it through the scanning machine. However a further scan a week later by the same consultant couldn't find a hb and the measurements had decreased, not good news in the end. A real up and down emotional time for us.

I hope you get better news. Never give up, I'm currently 15+ weeks, my 10th pregnancy, I refused all early and extra scans and fingers crossed all well so far.

congratulations annie (i remember your name from the miscarriage board) - that is fantastic news.
i agree about not giving up. i'm currently 21 weeks pregnant after my four miscarriages. i'm still very cautious as i'm sure you are but i'm allowing myself now to think this one might actually end up resulting in a baby. wishing you the luck you really deserve.

Thanks.

I have to say the NHS have been great. The early scans were done to see what the early growth was like in terms of the sac growth and whether a yolk was forming.

Having got the blood results this evening I will be calling the hospital first thing in the morning and absolutely nothing is going to happen until they re-scan me......although hormone levels have dropped by 2500 in the last 48 hours so without being a downbeat I am very realistic and again coming to terms with the situation.

I have kept all the scan reports just in case someone can one day explain.

Thanks to everyone again for your kind support.

i think he dropping HCG level is a vey bad sign for your bean I am afraid. I hope that I m wrong and it all turns out ok for you in the end.

I am really sorry :(

I went for a scan at 6 weeks and she said she saw the heartbeat, then quickly took that back when she did not see it again. One week later we went for a private scan and there was no heartbeat :( Apparently a flicker on the screen is enough to make some (inexperienced?) sonographers call it a heartbeat.

I think the lack of growth and HCG levels are very ominous signs. Sorry hun. :(

I don't want to give you false hope so you need to keep in mind that this is very rare but a friend of mine had a similar thing and they found that the pregnancy started out as twins and one twin miscarried. It was the miscarried twin whose heart stopped and was the cause of the dropping HCG.

I hope you get some certainty soon, and of course that the glimmer of hope proves to be correct.