Went for an early scan - showed no pregnancy - but I've had 8 positive tests?!?

[mrsf1204]

Hi all. I'm desperate for some advice and have been searching through every forum ever today in the hope of getting answers...

I found out last week (11/09) that I was pregnant. I took 5 tests over 3 days all of them were positive. However this last weekend I started to get some dull cramps in my pelvis, almost like stitch. I phoned my midwife and she advised I go to EPAU (early pregnancy assessment) just to rule out anything scary. I went this morning, doctors took two more tests - again positive, then referred me for an internal scan.

The scan showed nothing. And I mean nothing. My womb is empty. The lining is not as they would expect for a pregnancy. They told me two things - one could be that I'm too early to see anything, or, the pregnancy isn't viable, meaning it hasn't taken to my womb (a type of miscarriage). They have ruled out that a miscarriage has already happened or an eptopic so that's good.

Going by my last period (which have been irregular since coming off the pill) I'm 6 weeks. However I believe I'm anywhere between 2.5 - 5 weeks. (Clear blue digital says 1-2) I took a test 5 days prior to that first collection of positives (first day of my missed period - although unreliable) and it was negative, so this to means says its more likely to be earlier in the pregnancy.

The doctor told me take another one in a week and 'go from there' - so unhelpful. And I've been pulling my hair out and falling apart all afternoon. I managed to get my bloods taken this afternoon to have something else to measure this all by so will find out the results of that soon... but in the meantime I wanted to ask any mums / mums to be if they have experienced this and if so what your thoughts are? I took another test this evening and the line is so clear!!!! So strong compared to last week. Attached photos with dates for ref.

Also my boobs hurt and I have no appetite....

I don't know what to think or feel. I can't grieve but I can't be excited??? Any advice appreciated!

It's not unhelpful advice from the Dr. It's the only thing you can do. It might be too early to tell so best wait and see what the test says in a week's time I'm afraid. If you are pregnant, and fingers and toes crossed for you, then time moves very slowly and it's just something you have to put to the back of your mind as best you can. Best of luck

Oh dear that sounds stressful. Hopefully the bloods will give some more indicaction of what's going on. Maybe you ovulated very late but to be honest there is nothing you can do other than sit and wait. I have no experience of your situation but did have a scan that showed an empty sac which involved the same sort of waiting game to see if it would develop into a normal pregnancy so I know how worrying it is just doing nothing. Fingers crossed the blood tests give you more answers

Hi op I’m really sorry to hear this, the waiting is the worst.
As a PP said the doctor isn’t being unhelpful it’s all they can do - wait and see if there is something on the next scan.
Pregnancy tests rely on hormones to get a positive - you could have produced the hormones but the pregnancy failed early on which is why you got the positive tests. It’s horrible but it happens :(

Or you could go back and find your dates were a little wrong, you are earlier than you thought and that’s why nothing was showing.

It really is a waiting game and you have my utmost sympathy. Have you had any bleeding?

It happened to me I thought I was 12 weeks went for scan they couldn't find anything.
I went home done a test still positive so had to go to early pregnancy unit the following week they done an internal and everything was perfect but I was 4 weeks less than what I thought I've now a healthy 4 month old boy. It's the waiting and not knowing is the worst try and stay off google that put my head away even more.
Good luck

This is one of the big drawbacks of modern medicine. When I was trying for my first dc 35 years ago, you could only get tested at the GPs when you had missed two periods. No home pregnancy tests. Many women suspected they may be pregnant due to a late period, but didn't actually know. If they were actually pregnant but had a miscarriage before having a positive test it was just referred to as a late period. You didn't grieve for a lost baby as you never actually knew that you were pregnant. I was actually 10 weeks pregnant before a test showed positive, which meant I only had 30 more weeks to wait for the baby to arrive! I also had 3 late periods whilst trying to conceive that may, or may not, have been early miscarriages. There's a huge difference psychologically between thinking you've just had a late period and thinking you've had a miscarriage.
Fast forward to now and women can test themselves practically within hours of conceiving! So they know they are pregnant, as you can't have a false positive. They then have a very early miscarriage and are naturally devastated. Or, as you have done, they go for a very early scan which may not detect a pregnancy yet and then spend a couple of weeks feeling very anxious.
If it were up to me, I would ban very early scans apart from for exceptional circumstances. The number of women on here that go through the same anxiety as you are feeling seems to be huge. We want certainty and become very stressed at the uncertainty of knowing if we are or are not pregnant.
OP, as difficult as it may be, you're just going to have to ride this one out for a week or so. Spending a fortune on pregnancy tests isn't going to make you more or less pregnant. Be kind to yourself. Give yourself until Sunday then do another test. If it's still positive, you're still pregnant. If it's negative then sadly you're not.

The hospital shouldn't have scanned you so early as it really isn't accurate until around 5-6 weeks - you only need to be a couple of days off on your dates and it becomes too early to see anything

A sac can't be seen until hcg levels go over 1500 - did they do a blood test?

Not sure how they have ruled out ectopic since most aren't visible at this point and the fact you are having positive tests but nothing can be seen in the uterus does suggest ectopic?

I had pain and I was convinced I had a miscarriage it was hideous ... and I am no wimp I remember when it finally
Stopped I had a shiver of pure relief and I fell fast asleep but I didn’t even think to have a scan and the pregnancy was fine.

You could ovulate late and the baby is not far enough along yet .. awful but it’s a waiting game .. finger crossed you get the best outcome x

I think the doctors advice is reasonable. There is literally nothing more they can do apart from wait.

This is incredibly difficult for you as nowadays we expect instant answers. Sadly this is a time you just have to wait.

Did you have a regular scan OP, or did they give you an internal scan? The internal ones are better for detecting early pregnancy.

Hi everyone

Thanks for coming back to me so quickly.

To clarify a few things -

No I have had no bleeding. I had a very small amount of pale pink when I wiped last week, once only, and I'm pretty sure this was implantation bleeding as I am confident we conceived on the 28th Aug.

Which would make me just shy of 3 weeks from conception - yet 7 weeks if you go From my last period - which is obviously a huge difference which would explain why nothing showed.

They checked my ovaries too and couldn't see signs of eptopic.

I managed to get a blood test yesterday afternoon from a dif dr -waiting for the results

Also, something weird happened... here's a timeline:

I saw the dr at 8:50am yesterday morning where he did one pregnancy test which had a clear positive result.

9:30 I have the internal scan - can’t see a pregnancy

10:30 am I go back into see the same doctor who put two tests under my nose and says ‘see can you see how faint these lines are - I need you to take this in’ I took a photo of them... but now I’m thinking, he didn’t do two tests? He did one! I watched it happen. Also, even if he did do two, after 90mins of course the line fades? Why show me after so long? Also. If he did two tests, one after the scan, why would he have kept my urine? It didn’t have my name on, nor did the tests - I’m not actually convinced they were mine? Reason being I repeated the exact same test yesterday evening, the one the dr sent me home with and the line could not be more in your face.

Honestly the last day has been draining and so confusing. I wish I hadn’t gone, and just trusted my instincts. I think I’m still so early, around 3 weeks. 9 positive tests - all different brands can’t be wrong....

Three weeks...

Wow op, if you're only 3 weeks and already feeling like this it's going to be a long road!

Calm down and wait and see.

If you're only 3 weeks isn't it completely normal for nothing to show on the scan?

I must admit I do agree with PP about early scans and home tests so early being unhelpful.

3 weeks wouldn't show anything on a scan usually. It's hard to track with irregular periods but if your fairly sure on conception then 3 weeks is too early even with an internal.

It's frustrating I know but you'll just have to wait for blood test results (will likely need a repeat to check HGC is doubling) and also what to be rescanned.

I'm surprised they did a scan that early honestly! My EPU refuse to scan anyone before 8 weeks to check viability (and even then only with 3+ previous miscarriages) unless you have bleeding or pain.

😣 you can't see anything on the scan until your hcg is about 1000.

I agree you are going to have to ride this out sadly. My first thought was pregnant ch of unknown location but you said they checked for ectopic. Are your lines getting darker? If your HCG is rising then there’s reason to be positive. If the lines get fainter then it sounds like it might have been a chemical.

Where do you live that you have a midwife and managed to get an early scan at 3 weeks, and not one, but 2 doctors appointments, within the space of 1hr 40mins?

I had bleeding at 5 weeks, shortly after I got positive tests. I think I got a positive around 3-4 weeks. I was told to sit tight and wait. EPU did an internal scan at 8 weeks. This was considered very early but I was still having on/off bleeding. Stop torturing yourself doing more tests so regularly - if you’ve miscarried the hormones don’t instantly go and can still show positive on a test for 2-3 weeks. Wait for a scan in a few weeks weeks and just repeat a test weekly. I do really understand how hard it is to wait and how horrible it is but you’re not going to get any answers right now. The hardest thing about pregnancy (particularly early on) is you have no control. This stress is not helping you. Try to look after yourself.

I think OP means 3 weeks from assumed conception, so more like 5 weeks when you count from LMP. Even so, 5 weeks is really early for any scans. All you can do is wait OP, the doctors aren’t lying to you or trying to make this harder.. there’s only so much they can do! They’ve literally done all they can.. it is hopeful the tests are apparently really obvious, it sounds like you are just a bit further behind than you expect to be.

I totally agree @Soontobe60 - I think all this early, excessive testing is awful for women’s mental health.

Good luck OP, I hope things become clearer over the next couple weeks!

yep - its just a case of waiting it out OP - its horrible but that is the reality. I am currently 5+4 and its dragging!

Exactly!!! I argued with them about being seen. I said I just had a bit of pain and wanted to call to check it was normal (it's my first pregnancy). The midwife insisted that I go to EPAU even though I said I'm sure I'm only a few weeks but because they date it from the last period in their terms I'm 7! Which is massively different to the 3 I think I am...

The lines are getting so much darker. It's annoying I can't post photos (new user, it won't let me) but I'll keep trying to.

I'm a very anxious person at the best of times and I just wish I had stuck to my guns and said I didn't want to be seen as I knew it was going to end in me being more anxious.

To be honest I think I just put yesterday behind me and trust my instincts. Do another test week and if positive book back in with my midwife as normal and refuse early scans unless there really feels like something wrong....

Assuming this was a NHS scan, they really shouldn’t have scanned you so early on. Their equipment isn’t as high-tech as private places so they generally can’t see anything until you are 6-7 weeks. I had a private scan once at 5+6 and even with the extremely sensitive equipment it was hard to see anything.

You are too early into the pregnancy and you seriously need to calm down!

My experience with my 1st pregnancy.

I tested and had a faint positive.. then the next day done a few and one at the doctors.. all positive!

I ended up in hospital 2 days later with stomach cramps- they done a scan and saw nothing what so ever in my womb.

They said that they saw some thing in one of my tubes and assumed I was having an ectopic pregnancy.
I was distraught, I had come around to the fact that I wasn't pregnant any longer and now had to get my head around having one tube removed.

I spoke to the doctors and asked them what would happen if they were wrong and I was told I would miscarry because of the surgery but that they were not wrong. (I had a 40 min internal scan with 5 doctors and nurses around me)

So, I get taken down within the hour (probably wasn't even an hour later!!).
I was alone and scared it was horrible.

I come around after the operation and was wheeled back into my room where my parents and friend was waiting for me.
The man that performed the surgery came into the room and then explained- they were wrong.
They had operated, left 2 scars on my tummy but not removed any tubes and that in fact I must have still been pregnant!!!?

I was so confused and in complete shock.
I went home and recovered, I returned 2 weeks later and there it was on a scan
.. My little baby bean!!!!

I was way too early for them to see anything on a scan and what they thought was the baby in my tube turnt out to be a cyst.

My little miracle boy is now almost 5!!!

Where do you live that you have a midwife and managed to get an early scan at 3 weeks, and not one, but 2 doctors appointments, within the space of 1hr 40mins?

This ^^ Where I live you fill in a form to give to the midwifes and they contact you for your booking in appointment I had no contact from a midwife at all until I was 10 + weeks pregnant let alone a number to contact them on.

I think as hard as it is OP you need to stop testing and stop thinking about whether you are pregnant. If you are you are still so early on and stressing yourself out this much is not going to change anything. I would do as the doctor suggests and test in another week. If the test is positive then contact the midwifes to get a booking in appointment. Until then as hard as it is there is absolutely nothing you or anyone else can do.