Gestational Sac growth - 3 days at 5.6 weeks!

[Rosanna89]

hey! So this is my first pregnancy and since finding out I'm pregnant its been one thing after another - and I'm only around 6 weeks! Anyway, 3 days ago I went for a scan where they told me I was 5 weeks 6 days - they could only see gestational sac and yolk which is normal at this point with some people. After this I started spotting for a day yesterday. Today I went in for another scan and I was told I was measuring the same. However the first time they did the scan it had to be internal as they couldn't see external - this time it was fixable on a an external scan. I'm just wondering if anyone knows if the sizing of gestational sac should have changed rapidly within 3 days or not? I go back in 12 days for another scan but the wait is killing me. I'm so worried! Thanks in advance!

*visable, not fixable haha

Why are you having so many scans at not even 6 weeks? The NHS normally refuse to do scans under 6 weeks because they don't tell you anything useful. And 3 days isn't really enough to see a change.

@Queen she was six weeks pregnant or thereabouts by dates, why wouldn’t they scan her? Some places will scan earlier if your hCG level is high - my EPU scanned me at 5 weeks 6 days for threatened miscarriage/possible ectopic.

OP it’s difficult to say at this stage but they are measuring something just millimetres in size so the margin for error is high. Also if the second scan was external then they get a less detailed view so that would make the measurement less accurate. So not seeing any apparent growth between the two scans is not necessarily a bad thing but being honest it could still go either way at this point. Fingers crossed for you.

@QueenAravisOfArchenland I had a scan in this pregnancy at 5 weeks at the EPU and again at 5w6d. The scans (both internal) together were and to show that the embryo has grown.

Sorry OP, I don't really know the answer but I would've thought it'd be more reliable to have an internal both times. Is there a plan in place?

It's unusual to scan before 6 weeks at least unless there's suspicion of ectopic, tbh, because seeing e.g. a 5 week gestational sac doesn't tell you anything (except that it isn't a PUL). It doesn't confirm a viable pregnancy, it could have been there for a month without growing for all anyone knows. That's why it's normally 48 hour bloods before then, and if a small sac is found on the scan it's usually at least 10 days between scans precisely as 3 days is too little.

I was asking because it would be very unusual to do things the way the OP described precisely because it creates the OP's situation I.e. a whole load of investigation and no definite answers.

Hey,

So I'm in Australia and they do a dating scan when you're 6 weeks. I have pcos and thought I was further along than I was (I found out I was pregnant when my HCG levels were less than 36 - they were confirmed 36 by a blood test the day after my first positive test).

The reason I had a second scan done 3 days later was because I was spotting pink (for the second time in 3 weeks) and the midwife advised me to have it done - this is usually something done after 6 - 8 weeks pregnant to make sure the baby is okay and I thought I was part the 6 weeks mark with my last scan.

The first time I had the scan they couldn't see anything at all on the external scan and it was only seen on the internal. This time, I wasn't offered the internal because the sonograpber could see the sac on the external scan.

The last time I had my HCG levels checked was 3 days ago and it was 9923 but I'll be getting weekly HCG checks done to make sure my levels are still rising as there wasn't much apparent change.

It also makes it harder for me to date the baby because of my pcos and I have no idea when I ovulated - my partner and I weren't planning a baby and I accidently missed a pill which is how I got in this situation.

I don't know - I just feel like there's been so many issues in my pregnancy already and I just want some reasurrance which is so hard to get because no one knows what happening. Fingers crossed for me 😔

OP, I've had 4 miscarriages and an ectopic. With this pregnancy I had bleeding at 5, 8, 10, 12, 13 and 16 weeks pregnant. Really heavy bleeding at 16 weeks where I was certain I must have lost the baby. Miraculously this time, the baby was fine. I'd heard lots of women say they'd experienced heavy bleeding and everything went on to be fine but I never believed I would be one of them. I'm nearly 37 weeks now and since the bleeding at 16 weeks, I've had a normal uneventful pregnancy. First trimester is hard particularly if you've had losses before. Try and stay as positive as you can.

Thank you @Kirinm, this is the second time bleeding and each time it's been just pink when I wiped- this time lasted a bit longer which made me worry.
Hopefully by Friday they will be able to see some growth in my next scan. I just need to get to the point in this pregnancy where I can be reasurred.

It's been such a rollercoaster so far for both me and my partner, plus my health! I just want it to calm down so I can start to enjoy my pregnancy!