Pregnancy not progressing - what to do

[Hoping77]

Hi all,

Recently found out I was pregnant (surprise pregnancy at 46 years old)!
lots of factors against me not to mention a history of miscarriage.

Anyway.. took tests all same type to check line progression. Test on Monday 13th didn’t seem very strong but I waited until this morning to test again.

my theory was that if this mornings wasn’t stronger than Mondays then I was out.

Well that happened 😔

Im going to test again in the morning and maybe contact my clinic. I started taking progesterone on Monday so I know that can somehwhat ‘mask’ a miscarriage.

A scan is booked in for 5th June but don’t feel I want to wait that long for the inevitable.

i also have a big planned event on 1st June which I was going to have to pull out of. It was just me and my best friend and she has sadly despite multiple rounds of IVF not been able to become a mom and it’s really affected her. I don’t want to have to lie to her or tell her I’m pregnant if it’s all going to end anyway.

all this going though my mind I might not be thinking straight but I believe in my heart or hearts and with my years of TTC and miscarriages that this one isn’t going anywhere.

appreciate any advice x

@Hoping77 I think you need to stop testing! The FRER you are using are very sensitive to small hcg levels. Once your hcg level starts to rise, there is a limit to how 'strong' or 'dark' the line can look. And just eyeballing/looking is a super inaccurate way to tell anything!

Your lines look totally normal. If you are concerned, ask your clinic to do a blood hcg test (or you can buy these online). Do 2 tests 48 hours apart and if the hcg is rising, your pregnancy is continuing.

Try not to worry until there is something to worry about :) And congrats!

Heavens - stop testing! It must be costing a fortune.

Do you know when your period is due?

If you're going to keep testing then get a digital with dates as at least that will tell you objectively whether the hcg is increasing.

My FRER never really got darker than yours at any point

A positive is a positive: those tests are yes / no, they don’t indicate progress. Unless you have bleeding, you can assume it’s progressing. Can you try and get a scan sooner, depending on how many weeks you think you are? Your lines look fine to me.

Kindly - for crying out loud stop testing. These tests do not indicate that the pregnancy is not progressing. The only thing that would indicate that is regular repeated HCG blood tests. You will drive yourself mad and spend a fortune on tests and it will not help. If you’re concerned get bloods done 48h apart.

I never had a dark line in this pregnancy, I’m now 30 weeks and definitely still pregnant!

Please stop testing, you'll drive yourself crazy. Contact your healthcare provider and explain your worries, they'll help better than a home pregnancy test will! Good luck

Honestly mine never got darker than that! I can now feel baby wriggling around at 22 weeks pregnant

I honestly think those lines look fine and I wouldn't be concerned at all if I had that test. Kindly had others have said stop testing or you will drive yourself mad with worry x

Agree that those lines tell you absolutely nothing about the progression of a pregnancy! Why do you think they would?! I tested loads like you. But don’t assume it’s anything more than a yes or no!!! It’s not. See your gp if you’re worried x

These look good OP, do you know what DPO you are? Also aren't the dark pink lids the less sensitive tests?

I have to disagree with pp. It's entirely possible this is a healthy pregnancy progressing well- but those lines look like mine before I had a missed miscarriage. With my babies the line got darker. You should definitely stay hopeful as there's every chance its fine but I think you are sensible to stay cautious and protect your heart from getting too invested. Pp are telling you to stop testing but I know how strong the urge is to monitor when you've had losses and infertility. The whole thing is an absolute headfuck. Feel for you OP and really hope this is the one that sticks.

im 36 weeks pregnant and my initial test lines never seemed to change and weren’t overly dark. Don’t base all this on the test line as they look good to me.

Those lines are telling you nothing as to whether pregnancy is progressing or not op. Could you pay for a private scan?

I think it's best to compare the lines every other day as it takes HCG 48 hours to double - so if you look at your tests every other day you can see quite clearly the line progression! There is line progression on them all but just easier comparing every other one!

Fingers crossed for you and sending sticky baby dust your way

Hi everyone who replied. Thank you for taking the time to read my post.. to answer some of your questions:

My period was due last Friday. I am only approx 4-5 weeks.
My last 2 tests were 48 hours apart and showed no progression
Ive been pregnant 8 times to my knowledge only 1 resulted in a live birth.
All FRER tests Used for each pregnancy showed line progression right up to the point of dye stealing. The ones that got weaker or didn’t progress all ended in miscarriage between 4-7 weeks.
So it’s never happened to me where the line didn’t get stronger and it ended well.

Im also getting mild period type cramps. 1st few days I was getting twinges and pulling as I remembered with my daughter. Now it’s more of a dull period type ache. Today it’s more mild mini stabbing pains.

I will try to be optimistic but also my gut is telling me things don’t feel right.

I got a digital last night and tested and it said 2-3 weeks which ties in perfectly.

I may try again next week see if that progresses. I feel my clinic will just say I need to wait for the scan.

I can get a private one from 6 weeks which will be 2 weeks to wait.

@Newnamesameoldlurker you are absolutely spot on… it’s such a head f**k

😢 x

I think your lines look good, i would
wait a few days before testing again

No one can tell you how this is going to turn out obviously, and I’m so sorry to hear about your previous losses, but I do think you’re jumping ahead a bit here.

you have good strong lines. it’s not accurate to say the ‘pregnancy isn’t progressing’ what you mean is that lines aren’t getting stronger on a test that isn’t designed to do what you are expecting it to do.
also even with that, your tests from 10 -15 absolutely do get darker.
try to distract yourself, you can’t change the outcome. If you can get a blood test privately done maybe that would be reassuring, but otherwise you’re going to have to just wait until you can get your scan unfortunately. Good luck, fingers crossed for you

what's a nice way to say this is bats?
The line is progressing when you look at the big picture from 10-15. Variations from day to day are just not a reliable indicator of hcg doubling. It's a lot darker than my chemicals ever managed. I didn't get a dye stealer til 5.5 weeks and with some of my pregnancies not even then.

It's entirely possible your pregnancy might not be progressing but as nearly everybody has pointed out, the pregnancy tests are not going to reliably tell you that. It's agony to wait but I'm afraid you have no choice until your 6 week scan.

I know this is a very stressful time especially after many losses, but gently, there is nothing you can do to affect the outcome and the kindest thing you can do for yourself is try to pass these next few weeks as calmly as possible.

Thank you everyone for being so kind but honest.

Its so so hard when you’ve experienced losses before. I know I’m slightly over obsessing and that it won’t change the outcome no matter what.

Im going to try to stop testing and carry on with the progesterone until my scan x

How did you get on OP? X

@OneHeapedTeaspoonOfSugar

Thanks for checking back with me. I lost the pregnancy at around 8 weeks. I had an initial scan which showed an empty sac smaller than my dates, so I had follow up scans and lots of waiting and hoping. But in the end it was a blighted ovum.

I stopped the progesterone and naturally miscarried about a week later x

So sorry to hear your update OP x