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Pregnancy

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

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Original poster

Scan at 6 weeks shows empty uterus...help please...

68 replies

newtoallofthis · 03/03/2008 13:56

Sorry - I am not sure where to put this....

I am pretty sure that I am (was?) 6 weeks pregnant last Saturday (Date of LMP was 18 Jan).

I had some spotting over the last few days - nothing too heavy but enough to make me nervous. Two very light 'watery' red bleeds and a lighter brown discharge that has now disappeared. I haven't had any cramps or pains.

I went to my GP and was refered to the EPU, where I had a scan this morning. The scan showed an empty uterus.

The sonographer seemed to think it is ectopic or 'failure to develop'. I asked her what the chances were of the dates being wrong but she didn't seem to think it was a possibility.

I then saw a consultant who said the same but said that it could be that the dates are wrong and it is just to early to see anything. She did an internal and said the cervix was closed, but didn't say if that meant anything. She gave the usual lecture of 'Wait and see what happens, try not to get too stressed...)

She took some blood tests to check the hormone levels and I am to go back on Wednesday morning for more blood tests, to see how the blood hormone levels are doing.

I feel completely numb and confused, not sure if I should be clinging to the desperate hope that the dates are wrong or preparing for the worst. It seems like a cruel trick - I feel so pregnant! Sore breasts, nausea and extremely tired (Although the last two symptoms are probably stress induced!)

I keep thinking of things I should have asked the doctor....

Has anyone been through anything similair? What was the outcome? What should I expect next if it is ectopic? Does it mean anything that my cervix is closed?

Sorry..so many questions, so many emotions (and tears!) flowing right now...

OP posts:

meemar · 03/03/2008 14:01

I am so sorry, it must be a horrible shock for you.

Don't know enough but bumping this so someone else can help x

charlotte121 · 03/03/2008 14:02

I havnt any experiance here but the doctor is right, you need to stay calm as hard as it is. Just try and stay positive! im sure someone with a bit more experiance than me will be along in a mo x

belgo · 03/03/2008 14:04

I'm sorry to hear this. It's horrible isn't it? The same thing happened to me with two pregnancies. I miscarried twice very shortly after the scan.(i also have had two helahty pregnancies).

It's very hard not knowing what's going to happen - you can still hold onto some hope at the moment tath maybe your dates are wrong and you are simply less pregantn then you think you are.

The hormone levels will give you some idea if it is a viable pregnancy, or they can indicate if it is an ectopic or not.

Good luck. Sometimes pregnancies just go wrong because of bad luck.

AitchTwoOh · 03/03/2008 14:05

i will come back and help you later, i've got to nip away unfortunately. some of your symptoms are in line wiith an ectopic preg but also in line with a normal pregnancy. your hcg levels may be too low to see on the scan yet, everything may be fine. the hospital is doinig the right thing in taking serial hcg tests, hopefully you'll know more when the results come back on weds afternoon.
hold tight, it's horrible this bit but all may not be lost.

Original poster

newtoallofthis · 03/03/2008 14:13

Thanks everyone, AitchTwoOh - thanks for your answer, I am such a wreck at the moment....
Even if my dates were wrong by a whole week or so....wouldn't there have been something in the uteras? A sack or yolk or something?

OP posts:

belgo · 03/03/2008 14:16

My six week scan showed a 'sac'. They said that was consistant with a pregnancy of about five weeks.

Original poster

newtoallofthis · 03/03/2008 14:18

thanks belgo,

OP posts:

lou222 · 03/03/2008 14:40

aah poor you
i had a scan at 5 weeks
they saw a yolk sac but no heart pulsations or fetal pole (whatever that means!)
then at 6 weeks still nothing so then they did a vaginal scan and saw a heart beat !!
maybe it was just too early for you - i hope so
let us know what happens

Original poster

newtoallofthis · 03/03/2008 14:53

thanks lou22,

I am now slowly convincing myself that even if my dates were wrong, there would still have been something in the uterus.

OP posts:

AitchTwoOh · 03/03/2008 14:58

did the sonographer mention any free fluid outside the womb? oh this is ghastly but the truth is that it's a waiting game right now, once we know more we'll be able to help more. some sonographers aren't very good, you have to take that into account as well...

Original poster

newtoallofthis · 03/03/2008 15:02

The sonographer didn't mention anything about free fluid, your comment about the sonographer not being good has made me smile though. She was very abrupt and not particularly sensitive to the news she was giving us...so I like the idea of her being bad at her job too

OP posts:

expatinscotland · 03/03/2008 15:07

I had an abdominal scan at about 8 weeks that showed what the crap excuse for a consultant said was an empty sac.

Went to another hospital the next week and there were two foetal poles and a yolk sac with transvaginal scan, but no heartbeat.

Missed miscarriage confirmed the next week.

But it sounds like your hospital is more on top of things.

Just wishing you the best and to let you know people here understand what you're going through.

AitchTwoOh · 03/03/2008 15:08

well free fluid is one of the symptoms that they often see with ectopics, it indicates bleeding in other areas. fingers crossed she was just a shit sonographer.
i had two ectopics and one baby, the baby was the one that behaved most like an ectopic, let me tell you. even the hcgs were really bad, but i still have my dd in front of me. so it's a bit of a guessing game, to be honest. serial hcgs (more than two) and another scan and hopefully you'll know where you stand more. fingers crossed.

UmmFulaan · 03/03/2008 15:19

hmm i had an appointment at the EPU wen i was 6 weeks, it showed nothing, but i had an internal one week later and it showed a fetal pole...hope everything is ok with you...

RedFraggle · 03/03/2008 15:21

Empty uterus on scan at this stage doesn't necassarily mean anything is wrong. Only the hormone test will be decisive.
I had this in 2006. I had terrible pains and did a test and was pregnant. About 5-6 weeks, I went to the doctors and was sent straight to hospital for an early scan. I was told that my uterus was empty and there was a shadow on one of my tubes and booked in for surgery to remove the fallopian tube. Saw a different consultant in the afternoon and he told me the scan could often be wrong early on and he wanted to wait for the hormone results. Long story short, I had my little boy in June last year...
The waiting is awful, I spent the days just sobbing and you will feel in limbo until the results on Wednesday, but at least the hormone test will be completely accurate. Fingers crossed that it might be ok for you.

AitchTwoOh · 03/03/2008 15:25

for the record, the hormone tests are not always completely accurate, they certainly weren't in my case, with two pregnancies. it's a combination of both hcg tests and tv ultrasound that is best prectice. doctors who are reliant on hcgs are as dangerous as ones who are reliant on scans.

belgo · 03/03/2008 15:27

my friend's ectopic was diagnosed from a combination of a series of blood tests and a scan.

Original poster

newtoallofthis · 03/03/2008 15:32

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate it. I always thought getting pregnant would be the hard bit. If only I had known

UmmFulaan - was your first scan internal as well?

OP posts:

RedFraggle · 03/03/2008 15:33

The consultant I saw wasn't reliant on just the hcg. But he was right that the initial scan was wrong. Once the blood test came back as normal I was booked for a scan a week later to have another look. I had three people poke about at the first scan and they all said I had an empty uterus, at least after the blood tests came back normal they stopped wanting to take me to surgery..

TattyCatty · 03/03/2008 15:34

So sorry that you are going through this. Completely agree with Aitch that you need a combination of repeated HcG tests and scans to understand exactly what is happening. I was in your situation a few years ago, with low and slow rising HcG levels, and initial scans showing nothing in the uterus. I had my bags packed ready for surgery to remove an ectopic pregnancy when they finally picked up the faint shadow of a sac in the uterus.

I had to wait another week before they finally found a heartbeat at around 7 weeks, so completely understand the anguish that you are going through. You need to see what the HcG levels are like and how well they are increasing (should double roughly every 48 to 72 hours), and then ask for another scan to check on progress.

Like Aitch, my slow rising HcGs are now a thriving 2 year old DD..........

belgo · 03/03/2008 15:34

refraggle - that's amazing and I'm glad it all worked out for you.

AitchTwoOh · 03/03/2008 15:35

of course, RF, that's why a combination of the two is best practice. but in all seriousness, hcgs behaving 'normally' doesn't rule out an ectopic, nor does their behaving 'abnormally' rule one in. believe me, i really did learn that the hard way.

UmmFulaan · 03/03/2008 15:35

no, my first was jus an ultrasound scan and an appointment with the docs but it showed nothing, so i was called back 3-5 days later for an internal...and it showed fetal pole. then i was called back 1 week later, and heart beat was seen...

UmmFulaan · 03/03/2008 15:37

forgot to add, i was in alot of pain, and they thought i was eptopic, to the point i thought i was aswell, i was bleeding, cramps, in a lot fo pain...

AitchTwoOh · 03/03/2008 15:42

TC, such a good story. dd's hcgs went 34, two days later 54, three days later 81, two days later 142. they wanted me to have metho after the 81 figure but i knew enough not to trust labs implicitly by that stage. there's a lot they don't know about hcgs as well.

i had another test that came back >10,000 for hcg for another pregnancy, they whipped me in to remove tube immediately. result was wrong, no need for emergency op. still an ep but i could've had metho as my figs were in fact 1000. i questioned this (and poss of heterotopic) at the time but they poo-poohed me cos what does a stupid patient know?

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