Empty uterus at 6 week scan, likely ectopic. What to expect?

[Askmeafterchristmas]

I've been spotting blood for about two weeks, but my HCG has been rising nicely (300 to 1500 in 4 days). The 1500 result was from Tuesday so I'd hoped to be about 5000+ today.

We got a private scan at 6wks today for reassurance. Nothing on scan, just two teeny spots that might be a sac next week. The sonographer then located another mass outside of my uterus she thought might be the pregnancy.

My EPU are doing bloods and will potentially scan me in 10-14 days. What the fuck?! I can't cope with this limbo. If it's over I just want to grieve.

I'm so sorry your going through this OP. I had the same situation at the end of May at 7 weeks, nothing on the scan, possible ectopic, scan again in a week. 2 dayd after the first scan I started bleeding really heavily, went to the hospital and got scanned again and they confirmed that the pregnancy was terminating naturally so no need for further intervention.

The wait time can be really frustrating, especially with the worry of an ectopic hanging over your head. Try not to worry or stress (impossible I know) and if you have any pain or anything get to the hospital or contact someone as quickly as possible. 💐💐

Hi OP, have lurked on the forums for weeks now but created an account to reply as couldn’t read and run

So sorry to hear you’re going through this - I had an ectopic pregnancy back in December and felt completely overwhelmed/out of my depth with the whole thing due to not knowing anything about it so wanted to share my experience in case helpful

For me, they diagnosed when bloods kept going up but couldn’t see anything on the scan - they got me back in very quickly once they got concerned about my HCG levels. After that I was told it was indeed ectopic and that I had to choose between medical or surgical management - this is where things got awful as it was my first pregnancy, my husband was not allowed in the hospital due to COVID and I had 30 mins to make this decision without really understanding either option. From what I understand with hindsight, I was given the choice as they were pretty much 50/50 on the outcome with either - I was far enough gone that medical may not have worked, but not so far that surgical was the only option. I opted for surgical in the end and was admitted immediately for observation, with surgery scheduled for the following morning.

It’s an awful time but don’t want to leave it as all doom and gloom - if surgery is needed the hospital should be able to tell you post op if you have any concerns re falling pregnant again, or if you were just unlucky, and if there are issues you will at least know and be able to be treated properly! You should also be top of the queue for early assessment for subsequent pregnancies which I found massively reassuring. From a positive standpoint, my surgery was in December and I’m now 23+5 with a baby that has been healthy on scans so far.

Sorry for the essay, I just felt so overwhelmed when it happened to me so wanted to try and help (I didn’t even know what an ectopic pregnancy was) - fingers crossed it won’t even be ectopic and you will have good news next week! Best of luck x