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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

A 5mm pregnancy sac at 6 weeks is impossible, right?

124 replies

TheBirdintheCave · 16/03/2022 09:17

Wondering if there are any sonographers on here who might be able to help me out or people who have had similar stories.

Basically, I’m supposed to be 7 weeks pregnant and had a scan at the EPU yesterday because of some brown spotting. All seemed fine with the bleeding. The sonographer couldn’t find a uterine cause for it, there was no bleeding around the pregnancy sac, my ovaries or anywhere else.

This was the only good news.

She then described what she could see. She said there was a pregnancy sac present with a yolk sac inside and ‘maybe the beginnings of an embryo’. She then mentioned that the pregnancy sac only measured 5mm.

The next piece of info I got was that I did not ovulate from the side I thought I did which blew my ovulation date out of the water (as I went by a sharp pain in my right-hand side, when apparently I ovulated from my left as that’s where the corpeus luteum is)

Based on this and the last time we had sex, I told her that I could be as early as 6 weeks and she seemed to suggest that these measurements were consistent with that date. She prescribed me some progesterone pessaries and told me to come back for another scan in two weeks.

When I got home I searched for 5mm pregnancy sac and was able to ascertain in about three clicks on Google that this was not an ok measurement for 6 weeks.

The only caveat to this is that I have a tilted uterus and know that this makes it harder to take accurate measurements even with a transvaginal scan. My son was measuring as a week behind at a seven week scan (though we saw him and his heartbeat) but had ‘caught up’ by his 12 week scan.

In my mind there are two options here. The first and most logical:

The pregnancy stopped progressing at five weeks.

Or:

I am six weeks pregnant and the measurements were just wonky. This theory does get bonus points for making sense of my scant pregnancy symptoms (My nausea has been barely there but has felt worse over the last few days. Though on a bad note, my breasts were sore but aren’t really anymore since yesterday). It would also explain why I had an extremely faint positive test at what I thought was 14dpo but could actually have been 9dpo.

She asked me to go back in two weeks for another scan which again I agreed to but now it just seems like a waste of two weeks that I could have spent getting my cycle back and preparing to try again. At 35 I really can't afford to waste a month or more. We also have male factor fertility issues so it’s highly unlikely for us to get pregnant at the best of times. This one was another miracle in our eyes.

What should I do? I don’t know whether to bother with the pessaries. Will they delay the miscarriage or will it happen regardless? I’m afraid they’re going to give me fake symptoms and I might be tricked into thinking it’s all ok. I just wanted a definitive answer but came out with a different problem altogether ☹

Why has she given me hope in an obviously hopeless situation? It just seems extremely cruel.

OP posts:
TheBirdintheCave · 23/03/2022 12:28

I've given up. I'm just going to have to wait until Tuesday. I'm scaring myself as the longer it goes on without anything happening (no more bleeding or spotting etc) the more hopeful I get and I don't want to believe that it might be ok because I'm just going to be even more hurt when it all goes wrong :( I'm 8+1 now.

I'll update with the outcome. Thank you for everyone's stories, advice and support.

OP posts:
brainhurts · 23/03/2022 13:05

Try ringing yourself, you can explain at the start you have auditory problems and you may have to ask the same questions over as you might not proses the answer the first time . Im sure they will be understanding.

TheBirdintheCave · 23/03/2022 13:23

@brainhurts I can’t. It’s not so bad when I know someone is going to call me and I can prepare and put them on speakerphone etc. but the anxiety of calling a switchboard and having to be transferred when I don’t really know who I’m asking for (she just said ‘a consultant) is terrifying.

I don’t use phones in general. I do all of my daily life interactions (bank, booking appointments etc) by email.

OP posts:
plum711 · 23/03/2022 15:19

Hello,

Not sure if this helps any but I had a scan at 7 weeks and 3 days. The person scanning me said the sac was measuring 4.5-5 weeks absolute max which didn't even remotely match up to my own calculations. She also said to me that early scans can often measure inaccurate due to everything being so small - there is huge margin for error which is why the standard first scan isn't until 12 weeks.

When my 12 week scan came around based on my initial calculations I was 10.5 weeks - now I measured 11 weeks and 3 days.

I know its so much easier said than done because I was a huge huge huge ball of stress for that period of time but from what I've heard it can be quite common that these early scan measurements just aren't 100% accurate.

Hope you're doing okay and hoping for the best for you.

TheBirdintheCave · 23/03/2022 15:26

@plum711 Wow that's a huge difference! I'm very glad it worked out for you :) Was it a transvaginal scan?

OP posts:
plum711 · 23/03/2022 15:29

It was a transvaginal scan yeah - I asked so many questions at my 12 week scan in regards to 7 weeks and they said while there are guidelines there is no exact textbook growth for babies. This is also why they wait to confirm miscarriage because honestly they just don't know until a bit later!

I was convinced there was 0 viability as I'd been googling measurements as well and so many websites told me there wasn't. But here I am now and everything worked out.

Just wanted to say hang in there because you never know!

TheBirdintheCave · 23/03/2022 18:27

@plum711 That is encouraging! :) I’m just so scared to hope for a good outcome as I know how hurt I’ll be if it turns out to be bad news.

OP posts:
plum711 · 23/03/2022 18:38

I know what you mean and it’s so easy for me to say hang in there when I know it must be torture.

On some level in situations like this I think it’s impossible not to be hoping for that good outcome - it’s completely out of your hands at the moment. I just tried keeping myself busy during that waiting period and basically exhausted myself to try and make the time go faster.

Keeping everything crossed for you!

TheBirdintheCave · 24/03/2022 08:09

I started spotting again today, red this time. Guess that’s what I get for hoping 😭

OP posts:
brainhurts · 24/03/2022 15:36

Sorry this is happened, at least you gave it every chance.

TheBirdintheCave · 24/03/2022 15:39

@brainhurts Weirdly, it stopped after that one time. I have no idea what's going on... I expect it will start up again later or tomorrow.

OP posts:
brainhurts · 24/03/2022 15:45

I think you are now prepared for the worst , but I'm still hoping for a positive outcome for you . I presume unless the worst happens you still have a scan early next week

TheBirdintheCave · 24/03/2022 15:57

Yeah I'm pretty sure I'm meant to go for the scan no matter what happens as they will want to check everything has gone if the worst does happen. It's annoying as before the spotting this morning I had a small bit of hope (even as much as I didn't want it) and felt a little more back to normal but that's all gone now.

OP posts:
brainhurts · 24/03/2022 16:08

I presume you have an appointment booked. Maybe ask your husband to call for you and explain your current situation

TheBirdintheCave · 24/03/2022 20:35

@brainhurts He called them today but it was a case of he got voicemail and then they did and then he did again. Hopefully they call him tomorrow but our scan is on Tuesday so I doubt there’ll be an earlier slot they can give us now. We’ll probably just have to wait 🤷🏻‍♀️

OP posts:
brainhurts · 25/03/2022 10:03

I agree with you , you probably won't get an earlier appointment.

WutheringCripes · 28/03/2022 21:52

Good luck tomorrow OP 🍀

brainhurts · 29/03/2022 07:58

Fingers crossed for you

LawrenceChaney22 · 29/03/2022 11:27

Hope all is well with you OP, thinking of you Flowers

TheBirdintheCave · 29/03/2022 13:47

Sorry for the delay I had no signal and then ran out of credit.

The sac had grown but the tiny embryo and yolk sac are gone. It’s definitely an MMC so I’ve been prescribed medication to kick things off :( It’s shit as I knew it all along but couldn’t get anyone to do anything until now. At least things will be moving now.

Thanks for everyone’s support! It’s really meant a lot X

OP posts:
brainhurts · 29/03/2022 16:13

Sorry it's bad news , at least you gave it chance.

becca3210 · 29/03/2022 18:32

So sorry to hear this 💐

WutheringCripes · 31/03/2022 06:16

So sorry to hear that 💐

SunnySideUp2020 · 31/03/2022 09:23

Sorry to hear OP. Take care of yourself Flowers

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