Measuring a week behind + bruised yolk sac

[purplecolouroffunk]

Hello,

Looking for any experiences. Sorry for the long message…

First pregnancy. I went to my first scan yesterday as I’ve been having some very light spotting the past couple of weeks. It wasn’t anything I was really worried about but thought I should get checked out by the EPU.

By my LMP calculation I would have been 6+3 yesterday. Although I ovulated a bit late on CD17/18 (used OPK, temps).

The sonographer (TV scan) said they could see a gestational sac and a yolk sac but no fetal pole. She said they’d expect to see a fetal pole at this stage and what she was seeing looked more like 5 weeks. She didn’t mention any measurements at all. She said this wasn’t good news.

She also said she could see a wee bruise I think on the yolk sac itself. I was sort of in shock so struggled to take in what she was saying. She seemed to think this also supports her thinking that this is a non-viable pregnancy.

Has anyone come across that type of bruise? She used the word bruise but I’m assuming she means a hematoma. I’ve read loads about sub-chorionic hematomas but I literally can't find anything at all online about them appearing on the yolk sac. Seems weird.

The sonographer and nurse were both extremely pessimistic. The sonographer said multiple times it’s likely an ‘unhealthy pregnancy’.

I need to go back in a week for another scan so they can be ‘110% sure’, but they said that they just don’t have a definitive answer right now. They gave us the miscarriage leaflet and talked through all the options for if I don’t miscarry naturally. She even asked if I had pads at home.

I’m just wondering if anyone has had a positive outcome after hospital staff being so pessimistic? I know they’re trying to set expectations, but I feel like if there was a small chance of success they wouldn’t have gone into the full miscarriage spiel, they would just leave it more open-ended.

They also didn’t mention a thing about the pregnancy possibly being behind, they just went straight to ‘it looks as though this may be an unhealthy pregnancy’. I don’t understand that as I’ve read misdating at this early stage is really common.

Am I stupid to keep any kind of hope alive? We both feel so heartbroken and this is going to be a very very long week 😔💜

I’m so sorry you’re going through this OP. I think you’re absolutely right to hold onto some hope as you just don’t know what will be the outcome of your next scan - as you said it can be very difficult to accurately date something so tiny. I don’t have any personal experience of this situation so I can’t advise I’m afraid, but I didn’t want to read and run. I hope everything goes ok for you.

OP I’m so sorry for what you going through, but I would advice to not lose hope yet🤞 I don’t have similar experience but I got pregnant with twins via IVF and had bleeding which turn to spotting around 6w. Went for a scan and only one of the twins had a heartbeat and they gave me the whole speech of vanishing twin and that most likely one of the twins won’t make it. Anyway the bleeding continued and I couldn’t wait another week for a rescan so booked a private one couple of days later. Well guess what both twins had a heartbeat and measuring with 2 days difference.

I really hope you get positive news on your next scan🫶🏻

@OopsieeDaisy and @CB2805 thank you so much for your support. It’s such a scary time and we’ve just been fully prepared for the worst, so having a glimmer of hope is almost worse. But I think you’re both right, we don’t know til the next scan.

I’m trying to work out if it would be a crazy idea to book a private scan for over the weekend? I’d love a second option but my partner is worried it means we’ll just hear bad news again, and then again next week too.

Sadly I am well versed in this. I wouldn’t recommend getting a private scan so soon. You really need to wait a week to see the changes. They also can’t really say too much, they will just suggest you go to EPU. I’ve had my miscarriages diagnosed by private scans around 6w, but I’ve still had to go back to EPU to do the two scans. There is also the risk of false hope if they can’t tell you definitively at the private scan (I once saw a heartbeat and got very excited, sadly it wasn’t to be).

It’s a horrible time, and it’s awful waiting, but EPU is definitely your best bet at the moment.

@Revelatio thank you for your advice - this is really good to know. I didn’t know that a private place would just refer you back to the EPU.

I suppose I’m just desperate to get an answer either way sooner than next week but I guess I’ll just need to wait it out. I just wish I had more information about measurement sizes etc. Is there any way you can get hold of your scan result, do you know?

Well mine gave me a copy, but honestly I think it did more harm than good. I was comparing CRL and dissecting everything - conveniently forgetting I am not a medical professional! It’s frustrating, but it’s not long to go and they are the professionals. Nobody will be able to give you an answer sooner than next week I’m afraid.

@Revelatio yeah I know you’re right really. I can’t stop reading about measurements for gestational sac/yolk sac and what they mean for predicting miscarriage etc. Just wish I had a bit more info. But also them not giving me that info or even showing me the scan monitor just lends itself to the bad prognosis.

@purplecolouroffunk honestly at this point is a 50- 50% chance to go either way!
but I understand how stressful time this is for you( i was going mad for the first 12w of my pregnancy!) and you have every right to get the information from your scan so just give them a call and request a copy.
also you mention that you ovulated late so it is a great chance for you to be 5w instead of 6w.
i really hope you have better news on your next scan🤞🫶🏻

I had a very similar scenario, very pessimistic staff who basically told me to come back in 2 weeks to confirm miscarriage. I spent the whole two weeks in a flap, thinking the worst. Went back and everything was fine! He’s now a very healthy almost 8 year old who is the absolute light of my life. They don’t always get it right. Keeping everything crossed for you!

@CB2805 thank you. This has given me the confidence to call the EPU to chat through things again, so just waiting for a call back. I found it so hard to properly take in the info at the time cause I was in shock.

I'm so glad everything worked out okay for you!

@Caesious oh wow - these really are the types of stories that give me a glimmer of hope. I'm so so glad that things worked out for you - I can so sympathise with the feeling of that wait, it's awful.

Holding on to a small bit of hope that they get it wrong. Waiting for the EPU to call back so I can ask them a few more questions. Not sure if it'll help or hinder but I've got to give it a try.

Okay so I talked to the EPU nurse just to chat things through when I was in a clearer frame of mind.

Basically the 2 main reasons they're predicting a non-viable pregnancy is:

• There isn't an embryo visible and according to my positive test, I'd have dated at minimum 6+1 weeks on the day I had the scan.
• The gestational sac is a slightly irregular shape and this can be an indication my body has realised something is wrong, so the sac has started to break down.

I mentioned about ovulating on CD17/18 but the nurse just said the earliest I could have been at the scan was 6+1.

So it's those two things in conjunction that is making them think it won't be a good outcome. The bruise apparently is just a hematoma at the side of the yolk sac, which I've read about being very common.

The dates seem so marginal to me, so I'm keeping a bit of hope alive.

Anyone have any experience with irregular-shaped gestational sacs?