Probable chemical pregnancy - advice needed please! :)

[HannahLouD]

Hi everyone,

I really appreciate you taking the time to read this...

I got my bfp a few days ago and was obviously over the moon (vfl at 10dpo and then more clear and confirmed with a digi at 11dpo).

Because I'm a poas addict, I decided I would (stupidly) test everyday to see the line progression... 12dpo was stronger, then lighter at 13dpo (all taken with fmu after even limiting drink the evening before). I panicked about the lighter line and took another test yesterday evening, which was very similar to my test at 12dpo. This morning the test is perhaps a tiny bit lighter again, but certainly not darker. So, my tests between 12-14dpo haven't changed - no line progression at all. I've obviously obsessively googled this and I know what this means and have accepted it (as much as I can right now)...

Anyway, I guess more than anything, my question is - anyone who has experienced a chemical before and doesn't mind talking about it (I'm so sorry for anyone's losses) - how long did it take after you realised you were having a chemical for you to bleed? I really hate being in limbo now... I just want to start bleeding so that we can start trying again and so that I can let go of this tiny glimmer of false hope that I have.

Thank you so much for reading. x

I had a chemical and the lines got considerably lighter over a few days until they showed up negative. Not at all like yours, those lines look absolutely fine they're all clear positives. I don't think you have anything to worry about, honestly I would just stop testing I think it just causes more stress.

Hi - thank you for the reply!

I'm really sorry to hear this 😞

I know I should have stopped testing as soon as I got a positive... I really do regret that now! I guess just after obsessively googling (again, bad move) I've never seen a positive outcome of pregnancy test lines that aren't getting darker and have just stabilised at the same level. They always seem to end in chemicals.

I guess I will just have to wait and see if I bleed.

Again I'm sorry for your loss and I hope you didn't find my post insensitive at all. x

With my early miscarriage/chemical I had a positive at around 10dpo and although it stayed posative for around a week it didn’t get any darker. Then at around 21dpo I took a digital test and it said not pregnant. I was heartbroken and I think I started bleeding a few days later.

Obviously no one can tell you if you will or will not miscarry but your tests look fine to me for that stage. Very like my 2 successful pregnancies. Try to stop testing; at least for a few days.

Baby dust 💕

Hello,

Thank you so much for your reply and I'm so sorry to hear about your loss 😞

I think the problem I see with my tests isn't nessecarily the darkness of the lines, but the fact that the progression has completely stalled from 12dpo til now... They haven't gotten darker at all and from what I've seen, that's a clear sign of a chemical... You'd expect them to darken at least a tiny bit over 48 hours.

Again, I appriciate your response, thank you x

When i had mine in october i could only get a faint line on clear blue and each time i tested any other tests there was no line but faint line on the clear blues - i used digital 6 days early and it confirmed pregnancy... i started to bleed approx 2 days after period was due.. lines had gradually faded on clear blue tests but digital picked up pregnant was only until i got blood work done they confirmed my HCG wasnt high enough... im literally in the same boat as you right now testing and looking for line progression im around 11/12 dpo its so hard not too but im gonna try wait another 48 hours.. yours look alot clearer than mine so fingers crossed for you and deffo take a break from testing xx

Hiyya,

Thank you for replying!

I'm really sorry to hear about your loss and that you're having a difficult time now as well. It's so hard isn't it 😞

I think it's just that I have no line progression since 2 days ago. I've googled cp line progression like a mad women and a lot of them look similar to mine.
I had a "pregnant 1-2" on a digi on Monday (11dpo) and as you can see, the line got darker at 12dpo but then got lighter and is now the same as my 12dpo. If hcg doubles every 48 hours, there should be at least some progression from 2 days ago to now!?
I think I'm going to test again in the morning, as then I can compare over 3 days... I'm not holding out hope though. And if it is a cp, I hope I bleed soon... This not knowing and limbo is horrible.

Fingers crossed for you! And thank you again x

@HannahLouD not at all, I got pregnant again very quickly after my chemical and had a healthy pregnancy so all worked out in the end, horrible to go through at the time though and can completely understand your worries. I became really obsessed with line progression with my second pregnancy but was driving myself crazy trying to work out if the lines where progressing or not so ended up just getting the clear blue weeks indicators and tested when I knew it should go up to 2-3 then 3+. After seeing 3+ a few times I stopped testing and had an early scan at 7 weeks for peace of mind. Pregnancy is such a nerve wrecking time especially in the early weeks, hope all goes well for you 🙂

Having looked at the days you wrote on the sticks I'm not 100% sure if it is a chemical.

There is some progression between 13am and 14am and as you mentioned HCG doubles every 48 hours so will be interested to see if you test tomorrow am.

13pm does look slightly darker but not a lot considering there is 12ish hours between tests. The 13am is lighter than the previous one but seemed to have picked up.

Some people see darker tests in the pm compared to am. This might be due to concentration.

I have had 3 chemicals. 2 of them I bled around 16DPO. The other was at 6 weeks but I was on progesterone so this might have prolonged it.

My current pregnancy was written off as a chemical as my morning tests were so so faint compared to my afternoon tests and this lasted a week. Was a real rollercoaster.

So I wouldn't write it off just yet, but I can see your concern about a chemical. The wait is hard but if you can give it a few more days and see what the tests say.

Good luck

That's so great to hear! I'm so pleased everything worked out for you afterwards 😊
I really wish I hadn't have tested again after my initial positive... I didn't with my first and it was a lot less stressful! Ignorance is bliss and all that.
Next time I'm absolutely going to wait until I've missed a period before testing to perhaps make things a bit easier...
That's a really good idea with the weeks indicators - I'll defo do that next time!
Still not bleeding yet but assuming it wouldn't happen straight away if my tests aren't much lighter yet... Just a waiting game now I suppose!

I had no change between 11dpo and 14dpo, I was convinced I was going to have a chemical. By 19dpo I had a dye stealer!

frer detects hcg from 6.5 I think, and hcg doubles every 48 hours ish. So that would only take it to 13, which wouldn’t be much of a difference in the line, but the more time goes by the bigger the rises.

I absolutely understand the worry, but try to take comfort in the lines not getting lighter.

Hey :)

First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to reply to me!

Secondly, I'm really sorry to hear about your losses - that's really rough and I can't imagine how hard it must be going through it multiple times. I really hope you get your sticky one very soon 🤞💕

I really appriciate your honest answer.
I'm pretty sure it's a chemical, mainly because there's literally no difference between 12dpo with fmu and 14dpo with fmu. No idea what was going on yesterday in between 🤦🏻‍♀️ got my hopes up a tiny bit with last night's test then they came crashing down again this morning.

I will use my very last test in the morning and I think I'll probably know for sure depending on what that's like... Pretty sure it's going to be the same, or lighter (I actually hope it doesn't stay the same and gets lighter, then at least it will be more clear!)

Gosh... A week of tests like that must have been so stressful... I'm so sorry :(
I think that's why I need to just stop after tomorrow morning, for my sanity and my bank account! 😅

Do you mind me asking when they stalled? I'm really concerned mine will be like this for a while and therefore I won't bleed for a while... If it's going to happen, I just want it over and done with so I can move on and start again.

Thanks again for replying x

Hi, thanks for the message!

Oh wow! That's such a huge difference! Congratulations! 😊 How were your tests in between those days?

See, I feel like from what I've read and seen, you are the exception to the rule! 😅

I mean, I would love more than anything for that to be the case for me, but I really just can't see it happening! We shall see what the morning brings... X

@HannahLouD I only used strip tests in between. But from 11-14dpo they didn’t change much then they started to get noticeably darker. Also at the beginning the tests were stronger in the evening, not fmu.

As I said hcg levels rise such a small amount at the beginning there isn’t going to be much of a difference in line progression. I also know that logic doesn’t help at the beginning. I’ve never peed on so many test as i did during those first days 😂. I’m only 21dpo today and yesterday was the first day I didn’t take a test. I needed that distinct dark line. Doing a digital and seeing the word ‘pregnant’ really helped too.

fingers crossed for you.

That's amazing to see - so happy for you! 😊
I've also used cheapie tests but they have stalled too...
I've just been for a wee so I'll have to wait till the morning now anyway but will test then!
I did a digital on Monday and it said Pregnant 1-2 but I'm scared to do another one 😅 I think if my last frer is the same tomorrow, I'll wait and do my last digi on Saturday when I'll be 16dpo, so in theory it would say 2-3 weeks by then. And if no change or goes to not pregnant, I'll know. That's if I don't bleed before then of course!

I also have no symptoms at all... I know it's early but I just don't "feel" pregnant. I was trying to convince myself I was nauseaus etc a few days ago but I don't think I really was. With my daughter I just felt different...

Thank you again for your comment and congratulations! x

This is my 11dpo to 14dpo... Sooo faint and no progression at all for the last 2 days... Ah well...

Sorry I should have been clearer, the pregnancy with up and down tests is my current pregnancy and I'm 26 weeks. After day 5 or 6 I was just waiting to come on so I went out and had a few drinks then a couple of days later the test was really dark.

The 3 chemicals I had:
1st: really faint lines for about 4/5 days. It was 2 years ago so I can't quite remember the timeline.

2nd: tests got quite dark. Digital went from 1-2, to 2-3 then back to 1-2. I had my HCG tested and it halved in 48 hours so I stopped progesterone and started bleeding 2 days later when I would have been 6 weeks.

3rd: I tested at 10DPO and got a strong positive (strong for 10DPO) then at 12DPO it got lighter. By this point I was over it so I just stopped testing and got my period about 5 days later.

The 3rd chemical was the month before I fell pregnant with my current pregnancy.

@HannahLouD those strip tests look spot on tbh. Remember hcg only rises every 48hours ish, so you won’t get a darker line everyday. That’s why it’s recommended to only test every other day. But they look exactly how you’d expect them to look

Oh sorry! No I think I just mis-read what you said 🙈 in which case congratulations on your pregnancy! That's great news 😊😊

Thank you for sharing your experiences and I'm sorry again for your losses but so pleased for you now!

I'll let you know tomorrow... x

Hmmm... I'm so confused 🙈😅
I'll test again in the morning and see... I really hope to see some difference one way or another on the frer so I'm not just stuck wondering 🤞x

Hi all,

Just an update for you...

First of all, thank you for your help and support yesterday - I really appriciate it!

Took my last test this morning... It's lighter than yesterday's and to be honest, I'm really relieved. Obviously I would have loved it to be darker, but I knew that wouldn't be the case so I'm relieved it's at least finally lightening up instead of stalling for a fourth day.
I'm hoping that it being lighter today will mean that I will hopefully bleed soon.

Onto the next month for me and hopefully I'll have my sticky baby soon 🤞x

I'm sorry to hear that, I totally get the relieved feelings, you just want to know one way or the other.

Fingers crossed next month is your month

@HannahLouD sorry to hear that, but good that you're staying positive.

No idea if there's any science behind it, but I've read on a few threads that you're more likely to get pregnant the cycle after a chemical. I had one in my last cycle, and now 5+3 weeks and all seems well, so maybe there's some truth in it. Hopefully next cycle brings you luck!

Hi @PeopleAreToads and @HannahLouD - I had a chemical in December, got pregnant the cycle after in January and am currently 9 weeks :) had a scan last week and everything looks fine. Really sorry if this month doesn't work out @HannahLouD but it does seem to be true that you are more fertile for the few months after!

Thank you everyone for your messages!

How long did it take after realising you were having a cp for you to have a bleed? I'm now 5 days late and still nothing... I'm hoping I won't be waiting too much longer. I took a ic today and the line is basically gone now so I'm hoping it will start soon...?

Thanks again :) x

@HannahLouD sorry to hear that, I started bleeding that was how I knew something was wrong. I think it might be an idea to give your gp a call an explain to them what's happening they may want to run some tests x