Fetal pole at 4 weeks and 6 days but no heartbeat?

[xcl]

Hi,

Looking for some advice, currently pregnant with my first child and suffered from some light cramping over the weekend. They asked me to come in for a scan which showed a fetal pole of 1.5 mm but no heartbeat - sonographer seems quite worried by this so has asked me to come in for another scan next week.

Just wondering if anyone has any similar experiences to this and what their outcome was?

It's far too early! I'm surprised your sonographer was worried - usually the heartbeat starts between 6-7 weeks. My EPU at the hospital won't even do scans before 7 weeks because things are so unclear that early on.

Thank you so much for replying! I did quite a bit of googling when I came home and most places did say that it was too early but she said she was concerned by this which is why she wants another scan next week - she has me worried sick!

Way too early to be worried, but at least they will scan you next week.

Fingers crossed.

As PP said, far too early. I went at around 6 weeks and had a fetal pole of 2.6mm and no heartbeat, consultant (EPU) said 50% chance as it’s far too early to tell and go back a week later.

That little pole is now nearly 3 years old, fast asleep in bed!

Thank you so much x!

Aw that is so lovely and reassuring to hear - thank you so much 😊

I had a scan at 6 weeks and saw only a gestational sac and yolk sac - no fetal pole at all. They weren't worried and I wasn't re-scanned. All was well!

Aw that’s great, so happy everything went well for you 😊

It's impossible to see a heartbeat at that gestation. The very earliest there is a heart to beat is 5w5d. But the point is that scans before a heartbeat can be seen are useless in confirming viability, because only a healthy range heartbeat confirms an ongoing pregnancy. I'm surprised they did a scan at all at that gestation - did you tell them you weren't even 5w yet?

Hi, thanks for replying! So they originally did the scan because they were concerned I was having an ectopic pregnancy. They measured my HCG levels at the weekend and they were around 2000. When I went for my scan today she originally tried a trans abdominal scan but couldn’t see anything which she said wasn’t great as they would expect to see something in my uterus when my HCG was at that level. She then went on to do a transvaginal scan and this is when she told me this news. I told her I’d been using the Natural Cycles app to track and they had put my conception date at 9th of July but that didn’t seem to make her any less concerned?

She tried an abdominal scan at 4 weeks pregnant?! How long has she been qualified, that's mad😅

Sounds like she's got you worried for no reason, cramping is very normal in early pregnancy, try not to panic too much x

Sorry, but she sounds horribly unprofessional.
It's far too early to see more at this point (I’ve had scans at that point and seen a yolk and sac nothing more). She absolutely should NOT have said she was worried. Nothing to worry about, based on the information above.
I’ve had 11 pregnancies and no sonographer with such bad bedside manner. I am so sorry.
Breathe deep.

She’s definitely got me worried, that’s for sure 😂 thank you so much for replying x

Hi, thanks for replying! This was my first ever experience with the maternity services so had no idea what to expect and just took her word for it that this was abnormal, just hoping something shows next week x

Of course you wouldn’t see a heartbeat that early. Sounds like it was NHS which I’m very surprised by, the sonographer sounds totally incompetent

@xcl the sonographer does sound incompetent - there's absolutely no way you'd see anything on an abdominal ultrasound at that stage, it's absolutely tiny and for most women hardly anything has formed by then! I'd actually mention this to a supervisor as it's worrying what she said to you.

Cramping is super normal early on. I had really bad cramping - much worse than period pains and I assumed it was bad news - and had a healthy pregnancy. It does sound like she's worried you unnecessarily.

Was this an NHS sonographer?

You’re not 4 weeks OP - you go from the date of your last period not the conception date - which would put you at around 5- 6 weeks. Add in your hormone levels which would suggest the same time period ( if not 6 weeks +) Fetal poles don’t show until 5.5 weeks plus.

Some times if mum is full of gas, tipped uterus, insufficient bladder fullness or high BMI it can be tricky to see at such an early stage with an abdominal scan and a transvaginal one is needed.

Transabdominal scans are quite effective on early pregnancy when the above I mentioned isn’t an issue - so it doesn’t mean that the sonogrpher was incompetent it just means it was trickier to see on you at that moment. Most sonographers prefer to start off with a transabdominal scan as it’s less invasive than a vaginal scan.

It seems you are just on the cusp of seeing a heart beat and even one day can be the difference in seeing a heart beat and not.

She’s asked you back as that is the protocol to measure progress to make sure it’s a viable pregnancy.

Try and relax this is completely normal

Waaaaay too early!

No heartbeat at my six week scan, was booked in for a week later at seven weeks and it was there beating away! Good luck!

Just to add she probably wasn’t interested in your conception date as it means nothing. The egg that gets fertilised already has a time stamp on it and that’s what we go off. Ovulation can be late, implantation can be late all leading to different dates. She can only go off what she can physically see at that moment of time.

The date of your last period is the most important.

Im assuming she measured your gestational sack & yolk too? All those could give an indication of where your at too.

I had a scan at 3w5 no sign of pregnancy not even a sac
Had a scan at 5w5 only gestational sac and yolk sac seen no embryo (sonography said it's really positive to see a yolk sac so was happy)
Had a scan at 6w4 and there the heart was beating away!
Scan at 7w5 and 9w1 baby's grown at normal rate and strong heartbeat.

Like you this is my first pregnancy and I was worried sick looking on google for reassurance and forums like this but everything's okay so far..please try not to worry! I'm surprised you even see a foetal pole that early so that's a positive sign! X