They’re saying it’s a failed pregnancy because can’t find baby?

[Danijoanne]

Hi.
I found out I was pregnant on the 7th august just a few days ago as my period said 3 days late which never happens. I tested - positive.
I had sharp stabbing pains in my stomach so I called hospital they said come down.
I went. They did a scan but saw a sac but no baby inside. She said it could be an ectopic pregnancy. She did an internal scan too but couldn’t see anything and then took blood tests to see what levels the HCG were.
She called me back the next day and said they are 657 and wanted to repeat a blood test 48 hours later which was yesterday and she was hoping they would double by then. So I had a blood test yesterday and she rang me back yesterday afternoon saying they’ve raised but not much. From 657 to 660. She said she’s going to speak to a specialist in the morning and ring me back.

I’ve just had a phone call from her and she said she’s checked my ovaries and they seem fine so she said it doesn’t seem like a ectopic pregnancy but just a failed one.
They’ve referred me over to the early pregnancy unit and I have a scan this Tuesday again and then we’ll go from there.
She said expect some bleeding and if I have any pain in the mean time then to call back.
I am devastated. How can they say this when they haven’t even found a baby yet? I’ve been reading and some women’s HCG levels have raised slowly but baby has been fine. If it’s not an ectopic pregnancy then where is the baby? What will happen at the early pregnancy unit? She mentioned something on the phone about “termination”. I don’t want to do anything of a kind until I see the baby and know it’s a failed pregnancy! Has anyone been through this before I am so confused and upset.

I'm so sorry you're going through this. I'm guessing you're only about 4/5 weeks pregnant? They wouldn't normally be able to see a baby at this stage anyway, it's just too early. They look for your HCG levels to double every 48 hours, as that's what happens in a normally progressing pregnancy. As yours barely changed over 48 hours, I'm guessing this is why they think it's a failed pregnancy.

Massive hugs

I'm sorry you are going through this.

In some circumstances the sac and placenta can develop but the embryo does not. This is called a blighted ovum. In these circumstances it will never be possible to see the baby on the scan as it has not developed. You will still get a positive pregnancy test due to the hormones produced.

You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. Can you speak to the hospital/EPU and see if they will agree to a watch and wait approach for now? With a further scan/blood tests in two weeks? If the pregnancy in not viable then it may pass on its own in that time. If things do progress the scan should show that?

I hope you find a way forward, best of luck.

It would still be too early to see a baby if all was well which will be why they're giving you a repeat scan to see if there has been any progress, but it's very likely that there won't be any progress and you may never see the baby. A lot of early miscarriages happen before the baby is visible on a scan. Some women do have slower rising HCG, think doubling every 72 hours instead of 48 hours. But given that your HCG has increased so little over 48 hours, it's unlikely to be a viable pregnancy.
All that being said, you don't have to go forward with any medical procedures if you don't want to. You can definitely wait to see if your body passes the pregnancy on its own, but I will say that the wait and see approach can be very emotionally draining. I'm sorry OP, I hope you get more information at your next scan to give you some closure. The waiting around is awful.