BABY MEASURING 5 WEEKS NOT 6 BUT HEARTBEAT SHOWN,,, HOW WORRIED SHOULD I BE REALISTICALLY??

[Kim170503]

So I went in today for a early pregnancy scan thinking I was approx 6w2 days but the sonographer said my baby was showing at 5 weeks but with a visible heartbeat.
I am panicking big time after several other miscarriages and am now thinking this is going to be another one.
Has anyone any experience of this with a positive outcome?
my hcg on Tues was 19233 and they have taken bloods today to see what they come back at.
They have also booked me in for another scan on 27th in 2 weeks

Realistically you can't know exactly when you got pregnant (unless it was IVF of course) so the dates might just be out slightly. I've had dates adjusted at the 12 week scan for all 3 of my children so it's quite common.
Try to relax until your next scan and look after yourself

I had the same with my DD.

Going by dates we thought she would be 12w4 but she was 11. We went back 2 weeks later and she had grown as expected.

She’s a tween age now!

Hcg is still going up as it should but i did pregnancy tests and hcg from 23/01 so weeks cant really be out and i have noticed last few days my resting heart rate has gone down from 80-75 so i deffo dont think its good now

OP have you been to your GP about this?

Nobody here can really answer your questions medically, it would be good for you to get some more professional support. 💐

I was in epu yesterday having the scan, they are the ones that did my hcg yesterday too and said its still going up and basically just said to come back in 2 weeks for a rescan, I have had several miscarriages though and this one feels odd. I told them my lmp was 30/12 and I got my pregnant on test 21/01
so thats only 21 days later and got 152 on hcg at 23/01 so dates cant be off, got 3+ on clearblue weeks dead on 5 weeks too 03/02 but they are still just saying come back in 2 weeks as they saw a heartbeat but baby was soooo tiny they almost missed it

It’s not what you want to hear but what will be will be. Either this pregnancy will progress and you’ll get your baby, or it won’t. Nothing you can do will change the course of action.
Try not to fixate on numbers, if it’s meant to be it will be (I say this with kindness, I had 4 pregnancies, three live births.)
Look after yourself

Early pregnancy scans are a source of massive extra stress, I dont understand why they are offered.

Sorry OP. I've had a few pregnancies and a few miscarriages and I found the only thing that helped was repeating over and over to myself- until further notice, you are pregnant. Then trying not to think about it.

I’ve had loads of mcs and tbh the ones that were measuring a week or more out at the beginning all ended up in a mc.

You will get people with positive stories but 90% of them will be people who ovulated later than they thought. If you took an early test then you can’t be that much off with ovulation. Ultimately you can’t know until your next scan and it may well be good news but personally I’d be preparing for the worst.

Another indicator is the yolk sac - if it’s not a normal size/shape that is a bad indication.

Wishing you all the best.

I had a scan with my now 3 year old at around 7 weeks but she was measuring a week behind, fetal pole showing. We got a rescan a week later and she’d “caught up” but I think it’s probably how accurately thy can measure in the first place and the fact they don’t grow linearly.

I thought the heartbeat was only seen from 6 wks on, so maybe the measurements were sligtly off? It is sooo tiny as this stage, good luck op x

Thanks, I get that,,. I have had 12 pregnancies and 5 live births including one set of twins, I have also had a still birth and a late loss so to me not worrying never happens hence knowing the dates etc

I couldnt even see the yolk sac but they said if i were 5 weeks then u dont normally see the yolk and sometimes its just the gestational sac at that point. I was so puzzled by all of it

Normally you dont tend to see heartbeat until around 5.5-6 weeks and hcg needs to be high enough etc, my hcg was 27400 so high and in line with approx 6 weeks + ,
i asked if she could measure baby and she said its so tiny and no more than 5 weeks,, everything i have read says 5 week baby is usually up to say 1.5- 2mm then increases 1mm each day , by 6 weeks it should be 6-8mm so a big difference i think

Do you definitely know your ovulation date? Implantation can take a few days. I’m 8 weeks, scanned early due to losses. First scan put me a week behind around 5+3, repeat scan put me at 6+4 a week later, but this made sense with ovulation dates. It’s hard not to read into everything. Can you see if they ca rescan you in a week rather than 2?

I had a pregnancy in 2024 where there was a heartbeat but I was measuring a week behind at around 7 weeks. Unfortunately by 8 weeks the heartbeat had stopped. I hope you have a happier outcome.

According to my clearblue advanced fertility monitor i got peak around 9/10th January. We only had sex 8th, 9th and 11th that month. I got positive pregnancy test 21st Jan and on 23rd my hcg was 152

if they were saying im measuring 5weeks then that would mean around when I ovulated rather than period so thats why i am so confused with it.

This is what i think it will be. Im going to call epu monday and ask if they can scan me next week instead

So your scan is around 6/7 days out at most. You ovulate with the 48hrs after your peak, you could’ve ovulated as late as the 12th. Then implantation taking a few days, your scan could be right. It’s hard to get a measurement so accurate. They struggled with mine just said around 5.5 weeks but I had no heartbeat until a week later. I wouldn’t look too into HCG, I’d take the positive that you have a heartbeat, I wouldn’t give up hope. Your dates could be easily explained.
try to get an earlier follow up. Or go private if you can.

Hi OP.
i went for a scan on Wednesday at what i thought was 6+3 and crown-rump is only 2.7mm.
yolk sac seen but no heartbeat.
she thought she maybe saw a flicker but said unsure so back on Friday (20th) for rescan.
Here with you on the anxiety front.

My resting heart rate has now dropped back to pre pregnancy numbers, was 74/75 before and went up to 82,, today its back to 74

I’ve had both good and bad outcomes in this situation. Once there was a heartbeat but baby measuring just under six weeks when should have been nearly seven - that ended in MMC at nine weeks.

However, I’m currently 38 weeks with a baby who had a heartbeat but was measuring 5+4 when I should have been 6+3 (I think?).

They’re so tiny at this point that accurate measurements are almost impossible, and if you’re even a day or two out with your dates it can make a massive difference.