They cant find my baby on my scans!

[KJE3112]

So. Today i am 8w pregnant (deffinately pregnant as all blood tests confirm. But, i have now had 3 scans, all transvaginal, and they cant find my baby.

They were testing me for ectopic but said with my HCG levels its starting to look unlikely its that.

Im due for another scan at 8w5d and hoping to find someone whos had a similar situation who can give me some hope.

Im really hoping they can find a little heartbeat in there somewhere!

Ask for two weeks delay to have a miscarriage or period naturally. They should offer you that option and in two weeks go to have scan privately if they refuse you one.

If there is no immediate danger, ask if they will just give you time for your body to deal with it?
I agree with this, except I wouldn't be asking. I've had several mcs and there was never any talk of "terminating" - either nature took its course or I asked for an ERPC, which was not a termination as the (in my case) heartbeat had already stopped.
If there is a strong medical case for going in there that's a different matter.

OP, I had the exact same thing a few months ago. There was something in the uterus but not what they expected, it grew slightly between scans. I also had very light spotting for about a week around 6 weeks then nothing. I was supposed to be eight weeks they said we will give it another three weeks, then rescan. If at the rescan they couldn’t find anything they’d arrange a termination.

Unfortunately a couple of days before the scan I started to miscarry naturally. The wait was really difficult because you had this small bit of hope, but I think deep down I knew. Getting my hopes up definitely made it harder.

I had an ectopic and it was really painful and they could see it in a scan. Unless they've got reason to think you'd be in danger I'd ask them to hold off a week and get another scan.

I'm sorry sweetheart, but if there's been no growth in 5 days then it's not a viable pregnancy as they grow FAST at this point. Take a look at your notes, I expect there's a sac and no baby. I'm so sorry. It happened to me and I had surgery to remove it which was easy and painless. And ever so sad. Be kind to yourself.

Ive made some notes for tomorrow:

Ive been told i dont have an ectopic pregnancy, and its a pregnancy in the uterus, but that theres no signs of pregnancy, how? And why has ectopic been ruled out?

A double uterus was mentioned last week and they said that it could explain why nothing is showing on the scan just yet, yet that hasnt been mentioned this week, has that been completly ruled out?

All my other symptoms are normal, and my HCG is rising normally, is it only my scans thats causing the concerns or is there something else?

(Because a molar has been mentioned) If its molar, why do u think this as im not showing symptoms of it. E.g.high hcg levels, severe sickness, swollen stomach etc?

Why is the only option so far a termination?
Is there a danger to my health?
Would it be possible to wait a few more weeks, just to be sure?

If you guys can think of other thing to ask that would help it would be great, and i honestly cant thank you all enough for the support youve given me truly amazing 💗

If there is no danger in waiting, why can you not wait?

I had a missed miscarriage at 13 weeks (had an early scan due to bleeding at 11 weeks baby was fine size wise for dates/heartbeat etc) had my 12 week scan slightly late so was 13 weeks exactly. Turns out due to size of baby it stopped growing around 12 weeks. They let me wait 2 weeks for miscarriage to start naturally. After a week I couldn't stand the waiting so went to hospital for a D&C. I'm hoping this isn't what is happening to you but it could be a miscarriage your body hasn't had a chance to catch up with yet. If that is the case I don't understand why they aren't letting your body have a chance to catch up with it. I certainly wouldn't be happy with having a procedure seemly unnecessarily without an explanation of why. Sending you hugs

Hard as it is, I would be opting to wait, if there is no immediate danger to your health.
My first pregnancy I was told I had falling HCG and that I was miscarrying, then that they had made a mistake with the lab results and it was a suspected ectopic and so I had a laparoscopy, whereupon they found the pregnancy was fine, just my dates were out.

Unfortunately I have also had various miscarriages but even my missed miscarriage, I waited a week and had another scan before deciding what to do. It seems most bizarre to terminate just because they don’t see anything yet and somewhat rushing you.

(Because a molar has been mentioned) If its molar, why do u think this as im not showing symptoms of it. E.g.high hcg levels, severe sickness, swollen stomach etc?

I've had a Partial Molar and didn't have any of those symptoms apart from the raised HCG levels which were enormous.

Sorry you’re going through this.
I too would absolutely refuse a termination unless there is something which is endangering my health.
I’m not sure how you can terminate something when they are not sure what is there to terminate.

Hope you get some answers very soon x

If they are saying it's a pregnancy of the uterus then what's the problem!? Is a normal pregnancy not located in the uterus?? There's something they aren't telling you. I would DEMAND to see the screen it's your body. Can you go for a private scan with a proper gynaecologist doctor? not one like Window to the womb

Why are they saying termination, rather than miscarriage?

This sounds so stressful for you.

What have they written in your handheld maternity notes? That might help work out what they are thinking. They should have kept a record in there.

Op, could your dates be in anyway wrong? I had a similar situation where I went in for a scan where they thought I was 6 weeks pregnant and they couldn’t see anything. I went in 2 weeks later and baby was there and they measured it then as being 5 weeks so they assumed I must have had my cycle dates wrong (they weren’t but my periods were all over the place before I got pregnant). Fingers crossed for you 🤞

Could it be a phantom pregnancy

I had similar to this several years ago. Blood tests showed rising HGC but nothing visible on scans. I'd had an early scan due to a previous miscarriage. Checked for ectopic and confirmed nothing there. Booked to come back a week later. HCG still rising but still nothing on the scan. As this would have been around 9 weeks it was clear there was no viable pregnancy but they had no clue what was going on. Ended up having a hysteroscopy and they took samples of my womb lining. I was then away on holiday for a week, consultant gave me his mobile number in case anything happened whilst I was away. I started cramping and spotting as I'd expected to. Back in for blood tests the day I got back. HCG still rising. They were stumped. Ended up having a D&C as there was definitely no viable pregnancy.

I'm sorry OP, that's not what you wanted to hear

@l1ttleb1t i dont have any handheld notes as i still havent had a midwife app yet, all my notes they have, so i dont have anythung to look over myself

@pendore my datez wont be too far wrong as i had been traking my cycles and taking ovulation dates so know when abouts i ovulated too.

@flowersintheattic2021 theyve not mentioned a phantom pregnancy, so i dont know 🤷‍♀️ . Could be a possiblity i guess, will ask tomorrow x

In 2008 I was told my baby wasn't viable and the only option I had was a d and c.
My mum was very old school. She said can we wait two weeks and be rescanned. Dr wasn't happy said nothing will change but my mum pushed and said if its not viable nature would take its course.
Dr reluctantly agree.

That non viable baby is 13 soon.

I went for another scan 2 weeks later and baby was fine. Dates were just a bit off thats all.
The second Dr said the baby is healthy.

I've not experienced this but wanted to let you know hopefully your next scan will be better. Your baby must like hide and seek! Xx

No advice but sending you a HH. Your care sounds awful, complete lack of empathy towards you.

I hope tomorrow is much improved

Im hoping things work out for you OP, but I have had a molar - normal rise in HCG, no swollen abdomen/sickness. If this is the case, you do want to deal with it ASAP as it is essentially a cancerous growth (not to scare you, but scientifically so). Really hoping not though

@Herewegoagain84 if you dont mind me asking, how did they diagnose the molar pregnancy? And how far along were you?
@justwingingit2005 this! These small chances are why i cant let go yet. I know its a small chance, but i cant pass it up to a possibly. Thank you!

@KJE3112 molar pregnancies do tend to have a characteristic appearance on scans, however sometimes you have to wait a number of weeks for that to show itself. Mine did show up (looked a bit like lots of black bubbles is the best way to describe it) at about 8/9 weeks, but it can take longer. A partial molar is more difficult to diagnose. I really hope they get to the bottom of things for you.

OP, what a tough time you are having.

I haven't read all the replies but have read all your posts.

It's really strange as you describe it.

You talk about them suggesting a termination. If they cannot see any evidence of pregnancy, what would they be suggesting you terminate? (Sorry if that sounds blunt).

Or do you mean they can see a sac but no evidence of an embryo?

In terms of a molar pregnancy, this would happen as part of a miscarriage. Following bleeding, a full or partial mole would be diagnosed via a test in the lab, and you would be contacted.

However, a scan would show evidence of pregnancy so not the situation you describe.

I think the possibility of a double uterus sounds plausible. However, you would think this would have shown up on a scan, and if not, an MRI would have clarified it.