Reassure me please, early scan didn’t go as expected.

[Josmae]

Hey I am just coming on here for some reassurance/someone to chat to as I’m feeling really disheartened and upset.
So for context this pregnancy was unplanned, came as quite a shock but me and my partner are really happy and excited. I did a clearblue test on august 2nd, it said i was 2-3 weeks. I booked an early scan for today which would be 6 weeks 4 days, not based on LMP because I’m very irregular. The scan went horribly, they cant find an embryo and I’m measuring at 5 weeks 6 days. There is a visible yolk sac and gestational sac. They told me that I’ve either gotten my dates wrong or the pregnancy has stopped developing. My dates can’t be wrong, if i was only 5 weeks and 6 days it means i would’ve had a positive clearblue 2-3 weeks test at 10DPO, which seems impossible, unless i have crazy high HCG levels. They’ve told me to come back in 2 weeks, but I’ve got my booking appointment on Tuesday so im going to see if i can get a scan with the NHS. Is there any way that the pregnancy is developing okay and it’s just a little slow? Or should i start preparing for the worst? I haven’t had any bleeding or any cramps, just some nausea, sore boobs, a uti, all the common symptoms really.
sorry for the waffling, I’m just really concerned and i need some reassurance.
thank you x

I'm no expert in all this but seem to recall very early scans aren't very reliable, and also that the qualifications/experience levels of sonographers at private clinics vary hugely. Can you be 100% sure your dates aren't wrong? Do you know for sure when you ovulated? (I was a week out on my dates!)

I know it all feels very nerve-wracking but try not to panic.

Thanks for your reply 🫶
No, I don’t know for sure when I ovulated but if my gestational sac is measuring at 5 weeks 6 days like they told me today, then I would’ve ovulated 10 days before I got a BFP on a clearblue test saying i was 2-3 weeks. Which seems impossible! It’s hard to not worry when it just seems so daunting. How will I get through the next few weeks in limbo!!

Early scans aren't that reliable, but clear blue weeks digitals are even LESS reliable! They should be seen as 'just for fun'.

If you start bleeding then worry, but otherwise carry on and wait until your 12 weeks scan.

Use the gestation the scan gave you, not the clear blue.

I'm so sorry, this is awful for you, and there is no way of knowing which way this could go. 💐

I cant follow exactly what you mean with your dates, but there is no way of knowing when you concieved and the clear blu dating has a huge margin of error.

Sperm can live inside you for a couple of weeks, so the actual conception could be very much later than the deed.

Wishing you all the best xx

Thank you🫶 This message made me cry with relief haha, it’s been an emotional day for me. I’m a nervous wreck! And very much regretting going to the early scan, i went for reassurance and i left needing it even more!!

Thank you, nobody warns you about the stress that comes with pregnancy and ttc!!
im just hoping that all will be good and that the next 2 weeks go by quickly!!
thank you for your kind words, it’s hard to be positive. 🫶

I will be keeping you in my thoughts x

Hi OP.
Early scans are very unreliable, so try not to worry.
I wouldn't pay any attention to the CBD either - they're notoriously wrong!

Try not to panic. I know it's easy for me to say that but you may very well get good news at your next scan.
Wishing you all the best.

thank you for your reassurance🫶 I know they are notoriously unreliable, but how would my hcg be high enough at 10dpo to show 2-3 weeks, and then a week later i got 3+. It’s just very concerning!
but I’ll try not to panic as that wont help anything. Just got to get through the next 2 weeks.

I would not worry, you are far from finished! I got a bfp on day 10. I know this as I had ivf, so there is no room for doubt over dates. My clear blue showed 2-3 weeks for a month. I had a couple of scabs and thenchucked testing as it was really not reassuring me at all. I know this is different to you, but you cannot take clear blue as factual other than being an indicator you are pregnant.

Thank you, i know clearblue can be rubbish but it's hard not to take them as gospel! This is my first and im just a nervous wreck, i have been advised to test again in 2 weeks and then come back in for a scan, but i wont be wasting anymore money at private clinics (or clearblue tests!!) as I've read so many negative stories about them today.

I totally get it. I have had a lot of ivf and have had rough pregnancies. It is nerve wracking. But no news is good news. Just try and relax. Hope you have the news you want soon 🤞

Hi OP, I had two pregnancies, bled early on with both, had early scans with both, one showed a heartbeat and the other pretty much the same as yours. I went back a week or two a later, at which point he showed up... I bled for about 3 weeks with him, it was terrifying. But I now have two big hulking tweens! I may have been very lucky but it's not always bad news. Fingers crossed for you and I really hope all is ok, I still remember that awful feeling over a decade on.

I think private early scans should be banned honestly, they seem to cause so much worry. I think at this stage of development it's not usual to see a clear embryo anyway.

Try not to worry - the majority of mums won't have had any scans before the booking appointment anyway. You've got no information rather than bad-news information (eg bleeding or very intense cramping) if that makes sense.

In the meantime you could take folic acid and so on. Best of luck

I had really high levels early in pregnancy and had similar - dates not matching scan. After a stressful week where they thought ectopic then that baby had stopped growing, they concluded my dates were out by a month and I was only 4 weeks at the first scan not 8 as was thought... but had really high levels which confused everything for a while. It is possible for it to happen.
I have no advice except to sit tight. I had blood tests to check levels were increasing appropriately and then a second scan a week later, followed by another scan a few days later to confirm all was well.

Oh my goodness that sounds awful! I’m so glad they ended well for you though, i really hope i get the same happy ending. I know every pregnancy is different but it’s kind of the worst isn’t it!!! I’ll keep this thread updated and fingers crossed i can come back with some good news. Thank you for your kind words i appreciate it so much 🫶

Ps I'm not sure if I've missed this but you must get treated for the uti because they can be dangerous in pregnancy if untreated

This is very true, I’m new to all this so i hadn’t done enough research about early scans and sort of walked in there not knowing anything other than i should be able to see something by now. Safe to say I’ll be relying on the NHS from here on out and not giving anymore of my money to these places. I’ve been taking folic acid for a couple of weeks now and been doing everything by the book!

Don’t worry I’m currently half way through my antibiotic course, I’m rather prone to them outside of pregnancy so this is standard procedure for me haha!

I am hoping it’s a similar case to yours and i just have high hcg levels!
what week did you get to see your baby and the heartbeat? I went in today expecting to see at least something! Nope, just the yolk sac and gestational sac.

Oh whew sorry if that seemed patronising... in my first pregnancy I had a uti that got left untreated and got so bad i started to get early labour contractions (at only 30w!) and found out an untreated uti can cause premature labour if it goes untreated. But with antibiotics it's all fine obviously and quite common, I'm glad you're on the ABs!

Oh my gosh no no you didn’t seem patronising at all! I’m glad you’re looking out for me:)
And I hope all was okay with your pregnancy? Early labour sounds terrifying, hope you’re doing okay x

All was fine in the end! I was in just so much pain but my mum friends were like "oh that can't be early labour" but it was as bad as early labour, I found out eventually when I had Dd at full term. I just had to rush to labour ward and they did CTG and other checks and that's when they realised I'd never been prescribed ABs for my raging UTI... gave me a super strong AB and thank goodness the contractions stopped! And Dd sat tight in there till 39.5 weeks thank god!

The mistake the doctor made was that the UTI was group B strep, which doesn't need treating in the vagina but does if it's a UTI.

Just telling you all this in case you get another UTI, make sure they don't forget to give you the ABs!

Not sure if you're getting the calculations right, as it goes from the first day of your last period rather than ovulation date. So 2 weeks pregnant at conception.

Hope it works out for you. ❤

Similar happened to me recently (I'm now 18+4). I'll try and timeline as clearly as possible.

6 May - First bfp 11dpo
11 May - 2-3 clearblue 4+2 weeks
30 May - internal scan at Epas because of bleeding. My dates I was 7 weeks exactly. Measured 6+1 initially (measured 3 times) then 6+3 when remeasured because I insisted 6+1 was impossible! Sonographer was really dismissive and said I obviously had my dates wrong even though I pointed out 6+1 would mean I got a bfp at 6dpo! And my 2-3 test would've been at 10dpo!

I went home convinced it wasn't a viable pregnancy. Rescan at 8 weeks showed baby had 'caught up' by a few days and by my 12 week scan she was bang on for my dates again so I definitely was 7 weeks at that first scan! The sonographer at the 8 week scan said early scans are notoriously innacurate because it's like trying to measure a grain of rice from the next room!

Hope that offers some reassurance. Good luck x