Early scan shows empty sac... please let me know you thoughts experiences.

[mummyfirsttime]

I am 4 weeks and 4 days pregnant and have had some sharp pains at the right side of my groin/abdomen area. I received an early U/S scan showed nothing in the womb area I the received an internal scan which showed an empty sac. My hormone level through blood test was 1299 which I have been lead to believe from reading other posts is quite high for my stage of pregnancy. I am booked back in for another scan next week but im not sure how I am going to make it until then as I am extremely worried about miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy.

It's very early - I had a scan about 6 weeks and saw nothing, 2 weeks later saw little baby with heartbeat. I am now 38+3.

It's so hard to wait but everything is so tiny that early that those few days make a massive difference. I feel for you though. I hated the wait.

Thank you kdiddy, its great to hear a good news story as most of the things I have read it seems there is no hope.

Congratulations of getting through it! xx

It is early to see anything at that stage. Agree with kdiddy that the few days/week can make a difference. I've had scans early seen nothing gone back few days later and seen fetal pole and heartbeat. Also agree I hated the wait. Hope all goes well for you.

Yep me too. I had a pregnancy that started with spotting so they scanned me at 4 and a bit weeks - couldn't see anything. A week later they saw a gestational sac but nothing else. 2 weeks after that they saw a heartbeat.

If they saw a sac in the uterus, it's in the right place - not an ectopic. And if it's not an ectopic, those pains don't sound like miscarriage pains - I had 3 MCs and it was always like period pain only worse, dull pain across the whole abdomen.

It's also totally normal at this stage not to be able to see anything by an abdominal scan and to need the internal. I did IVF this time round so had scans from embryo transfer onwards - by the time I got to 6 weeks I just asked them not to bother with the abdo and go straight to the internal as it was a faff drinking all that water!

There's no guarantees in any of this but there's nothing in what you say that shouts of bad news either. Take care of yourself - the waiting is an utter bastard, no doubt about it.

firsttime, I had a m/c back in August so with this pregnancy, I had an early scan at 7 weeks. Nothing to be seen, just an empty sac (not even a yolk)... went back at 9 weeks, and there was a little embryo, heart beating away, measuring around 8+4. I'm now 15 weeks after a perfectly normal 12 week scan :)

I was somewhat reassured to read that at 6-7 weeks, the embryo may be as tiny as 2mm long - so hardly surprising that even today's sensitive ultrasound can't see it!

Good luck and let us know how you get on. The waiting is a pisser, I agree. (But at least you know it's not ectopic - as buona says, there wouldn't have been a sac in the uterus otherwise.)

Too early for a scan to be reliable I think. Even next week they might not see a lot. Wait 2 weeks and hopefully you'll see a hb.
Good luck

Thank you for all your support guys this really helps i will update with next weeks scan info!

I had a scan at 7 weeks and it was just a tiny little bean shaped thing, so 4 weeks is very early to see much - fingers crossed for next week.

It's too early - hang in there and hopefully next scan will show a bean! Fingers crossed for you. I'm inn the same position, by the way. it's horrible waiting, isn't it?

Wow what a great thread. So helpful. I'm having a 7 week scan today and am terrified. But all these wise words have made me feel a lot better so thank you. And best of luck to you all.

With DD1 I had heavy bleeding and stomach cramps at about 5 weeks. Scan showed empty sac, I was going on holiday so was told to go away and see what happened but with amount of blood loss a m/c was likely and to come in for another scan when I got home.

We got stuck away for about 3 weeks because of the ash cloud- I nearly went insane! I had continuous bleeding during this time too.

When we got back the scan showed a little bean and heartbeat! She's now 13 months old :)

Fingers crossed for you, I know the waiting is awful x

Littlepie your comment made me cry im an emotional wreck im so happy that everything worked out for you when it looked so unlikely congratulations. hopefully next week i can share some good news also.

ThePoorMansBeckySharp - how many weeks when you had your scan? what did the nurse advise you i got very little information from them. how long do you have to wait to get another scan? i hope all goes well for you. x

Had my Scan yesterday and before hand did not have any bad dreams last night i woke a few times thinking i was covered in blood down below i had to jump and and check. I know that this is just my mind working overtime but its stressing me out further, has anyone else had these dreams? Any tips on how to stay calm and relax?

Also had my first scan yesterday after bleeding and cramping for almost a week.

It is really quite early for you to see anything in the scan.

I was told I am most likely one of those who might bleed throughout pregnancy.
And the cramping was muscles and ligaments loosening and stretching and this was normal as I am a first time mum.

I am 6weeks 2 days so we got to see a little heart beat.

possibly in your case the next set of bloods will be more useful than a scan as they can show hcg levels rising even if nothing can be seen in scan.

And no dreams... sorry.

Thank you for all these great messages, i have also found a good site which has given me some reassurance also. i will only be 5 weeks 4 days at my next scan so i pray i can see something however i know that it is still so early.

I had my scan at 5 and a half weeks and could only see the sac, even with the 'internal' scan. Had another today at 8 weeks and all looks well, hurrah! Fingers crossed you will be the same xx

mummyfirsttime I had the most horrific dreams early on - horribly graphic and lots of blood and took me some time to work out when I woke up whether it had really happened or not. Really horrible, but they seem to have passed now.

I also had the most appalling 'stabbing'/ cramping pains on the right side of my abdomen too - the first time it happened I woke up screaming out to dp 'it's happening, I'm miscarrying, I knew this was going to happen!', and when they'd happen during the day they just completely took my breath away and stopped me in my tracks no matter what I was doing. I found the NHS to be pretty unsympathetic really. I was at about your dates and everyone (I went to GP and even A&E when the pain got particularly bad) basically said 'if you're going to miscarry you'll miscarry, that's it' and they refused to scan unless I'd bled.

Anyway, desperate, I went for a private scan at what I was sure was 6 weeks, and they saw sack and yolk but no 'fetal pole', even when tried internally, and concluded either my dates were wrong (they'd have to have been very wrong as I thought I was 6 weeks at the very, very least) or I was having a 'struggling' or 'blighted' pregnancy. Pretty awful times, DP tried to focus me on 'our dates could be wrong' but I was devastated. Anyway, went back a week later and was dated then as 6+3 and saw a HEARTBEAT! Absolutely amazing!

I'm now 9+3 and still a nervous wreck, though the appalling morning sickness that kicked in a week 6 provides a bit of reassurance, and I'm nowhere near as bad as I was - the pain has completely gone (I think it must having been the 'stretching' etc that people talk about and I never believed applied to me as I thought too early) and the nightmares are much rarer and less horrible now. My next scan is next Friday (Friday 13th, yuck!) and is my NHS '12 week scan' - I've told my midwife this might be a bit early but didn't press the point as definitely couldn't wait an extra two weeks to check all's well again! The private sonographer also said it can be quite difficult to date so early on as she saw me, so I may well be further on now than I think (which would be flipping amazing - I'm living and breathing for the 12 weeks landmark!)

Anyway, sorry for such a long post, just thought I should let you know sometimes things can look bad (dp's starting worrying about having a baby seemed completely foreign to me so convinced was I it was going to go wrong) and they can't see what they 'should' on a scan, but then in a week a world of change can occur - there also seems to be so much variety - apparently you 'should' see a hb at 6 weeks but for some people there appears to be none until 8 or 9!

Good luck and let us know how it goes! x

Hcg level needs to be 1000 before they will see the sac, and won't see anything more. Needs to be 10000 before they will be able to see the h/b.

mummyfirsttime - when you go back next time, you will still be too early to see the h/b, but they will hopefully be able to see the fetalpole.

It is very common for women with a tilted uterus (common but you would not know) to measure 2 weeks behind dates. See misdiagnosedmiscarriages website for more information.

My experience (3 live pregnanices and 11 miscarriages, all having early scans) shows that early scans cause more worry than help most of the time. With my dd, I had a scan at 7w3d and showed a small empty sac, therefore was told I either got my dates wrong, or I would m/c. I knew my dates were right, so spent 11 days worrying. At the next scan the baby was measuring exactly to dates and she is now a healthy 7 year old.

Scans are not accurate for dating until 11-13 weeks approx, and even then they have up to 5 day error margin.

I hope that all of you here waiting for next early scans are reassured by all the stories here that show that early scans are unreliable and just get to enjoy the chance of seeing the pregnnacies progressing.

hello yes i have had blood dreams and they are terrifying but i just let them be there as trying to fight them would be more stress!

oh sorry mummy i forgot to say i have things crossed for your nxt scan

Peasandyoghurt - thank you so much for this post this is so very much like my situation and it alows me to breathe again slightly. I have tried to calm down and the dreams seem to have eased off. Wednesday could not come quick enough but the appointment is at 9:30 so 2 and a bit days now.

galwaygal - thank you for sharing our experiences, im so sorry about your m/c's. i have heard i may not see a heart beat for another few weeks and i know that this is normal (i will still worry if i dont see one though) i just want to know that everything is progressing normally with the pregnancy.

surfmama - i hope your dreams get better soon they are very terrifying!

thanks for you support everyone i hope the next tears i cry are tears of joy! xx

Scan today. All went well could see yolk sac and meassures how it shoul at 5 week so so happy. Thank u everyone for all ur support. X x x

congratulations mummyfirsttime! That's wonderful news.

yay!

yay too so excited for you!