Hi everyone!
I'm totally new but so angry right now I needed to find out if someone else has had this experience.
I'm finally pregnant (5 weeks) after three years, thanks to the amazing assisted conception unit at Guys hospital.
On Sunday I had a bit of a bleed, freaked out and went to the early pregnancy unit (EPU) at St Thomas's, which is linked to Guys.
Having waited for about five hours (during which time the bleed had stopped), I had a scan in which the sonographer a) tried to shove the probe up my urethra to the point where I had to guide it in myself, then b) told me she thought it was ectopic (I have sealed fallopian tubes - go figure).
They did my bloods and the next day, called me to say my progesterone was far too low, at 36, (she said it should be 60) and my HCG level was far too low, at 285 (it should be 1,000, she said). 'Is it a non-viable pregnancy?' I asked. 'Well...' she replied.
Obviously I freaked out and called the IVF clinic, where a nurse laughed at me when I asked for a follow-up with my consultant. '285 is fine!' she said. 'All we care about is that it's rising - come in for a blood test tomorrow. And forget the progesterone.'
In the end, the HCG went up to 641 in 48 hours, and we did another scan where we saw something that looked like a little blob in my lining (not my tube). Then we did another test today, about 46.5 hours later, and it had risen to 1,074. 'It's fine,' the doctor told me. 'I wouldn't be worried just because it hasn't doubled.'
This evening I got a call from a nurse at St Thomas's - because the two are linked, they get the results through as well. She told me that because it hadn't doubled, 'it sounds like a failing pregnancy'. I had a bit of a go at her for saying things like that to people who are in very vulnerable positions. Maybe it is a failing pregnancy - but right now, we don't know, surely. Lots of people's HCG levels don't totally double in 48 hours and it's fine. In the meantime, my anxiety levels are sky high, which isn't going to help the pregnancy.
Anyone else had this kind of experience with St Thomas's, or any other EPU? More than anything, I'm just incredibly angry that they think it's ok to tell people who have been through three years of trauma that their pregnancy is failing when they aren't absolutely certain.
Please tell me I'm not alone!