I wanted to share my story for anyone who is looking for some answers/positivity and hope (as I was for days after a blighted ovum diagnosis).
Last week at almost 6 weeks pregnant I experienced some bleeding, so I called the EGU for advice and they asked me to go in. They did blood tests and examined me, but couldn't scan until they knew the results of my HCG levels. On Friday morning I got those results and was given a US scan appointment for Sunday morning.
We were fearing the worst (as ALL of my pregnancy symptoms had gone!), I'd connected a lot of dots and made a lot of assumptions. My fears were made a reality when the sonographer said "I'm really sorry but I am dating you at 4 weeks - are you sure you are 6 weeks?" I was very sure.
She then went on to say as she could see a gestational sac, but no yolk sac or fetal pole and in which case, we are looking at two options - a failed pregnancy (I'd already miscarried), or an Ectopic pregnancy. They sat us in a room where they break bad news in EGU, we waited for 45 minutes for another nurse to come and comfort us about the bad news then run through our options/next steps. She explained I needed more blood tests to see if my HCG was going up or down - if it was going down, then they would classify it as failed pregnancy and I've already miscarried. If my HCG levels increasing, they would assume ectopic and I'd be looking at medical management or surgery.
I was sent home and told to wait until Monday morning for my blood results.
Monday morning came and I received a confusing call from a nurse who said "good news, your HCG levels have increased and your pregnancy is progressing as expected". I obviously lost my mind a little bit and had to hand to my husband to query what I was being told. The nurse passed the call over to a ward sister, who apologised and said there were no notes on the blood tests results so they had no context of yesterday's scan and that instead, they suspect I'm experiencing blighted ovum e.g. empty sac/ anembryonic pregnancy. Which despite never being mentioned on Sunday, was still bad news and would result in miscarriage.
She explained they will likely want to scan be again in a few days to 100% confirm it's not Ectopic, but that the consultant will review my information and come back to me with a plan for the next few days.
10 minutes after that call ending, the phone rings again. It's the nurse saying the consultant would like to see you tomorrow for a scan.
I had absolutely no idea what was going on at this point, but I was still very sure based on what they told me that it was bad news and there was no baby. They never once explained they could have made a mistake.
Tuesday 1.30pm arrives and I'm heading in for the scan with the consultant - he is amazing, softly spoken, knowledgeable and compassionate. As I lay down ready for the internal scan expecting him to confirm what Sunday's sonographer already told me, he turned to my husband and I and said "Congratulations, you are 6+1 weeks pregnant with a healthy growing pregnancy. Here is the heartbeat".
And sure enough, on the screen, was a tiny 5.1mm embryo with a heartbeat bigger than the foetus itself!
My husband said "sorry mate, there must be a mistake. we have been told it's bad news and spent the last 2 days processing this grief".
The consultant looked us dead in the eye and said "I've been doing this a long time. Trust me, you have a healthy pregnancy from what I can see here. Sunday's scan was very unclear and this is why I wanted to scan you again, but I can see what I can see. I would not tell you there was something there if there wasn't. Congratulations."
I turned to my husband and tears just rolled down both of our faces. It was a truly surreal moment and one I wish I'd never had to experience, but one I'll never forget.
We are in fact, over 6 weeks pregnant still, with our little miracle baby that will be due around Christmas.
And finally, maybe the most unbelievable part of this story, the consultant's name was Theodore. The ONLY boys name that hubby and I have both agreed on since the beginning and now feels the only name we can possibly go with should our little embryo be a boy.
The point to my story and the reason I wanted to share, is that I spent 48 hours in Google-hell, trying to find examples of positive outcomes from situations like the one I was in, and I couldn't. They didn't exist on the internet, but that doesn't mean they haven't happened.
I feel like people only tend to share when the outcome hasn't been so great, so I can only hope this bring someone in an anxious state a moment of peace and hope.
Happy to answer any questions anyone might have,
H x