8 wk scan - small sign of yolk sac and fetal pole, no hb, HCG level 10k - 7k last Th - dr wants me to stop progesterone - anyone else any exp?

[extremelychocolateymilkroll]

I posted before about this and the update is as above. Last week they saw an empty sac - today they saw small yolk sac and fetal pole, no HB and sac still 2 weeks smaller than it should be. HCG levels 10k - have risen since last Thurs when they were 7k but obviously haven't nearly doubled. Doctor wants me to stop taking progesterone as he thinks this may be delaying a miscarriage. He wants to do another HCG level on Thurs and a progesterone test. Am tempted to continue with the progesterone but wondering if just delaying the inevitable. Had IVF which is why I'm on progesterone. Doctor said pregnancy will produce progesterone and stopping it for a couple of days won't make much difference as it's only a small supplement. Anyone else had a similar experience? TIA

There can be a big overlap in HCG levels in different weeks of pregnancy and 80% of healthy pregnancies typically show at least a 66% increase in the HCG rates over 48 hours. That also implies that approx.ly 20% of normal pregnancies may show a 'suboptimal' rise. A further sustained HCG rise and a repeat interval scan are just as likely to give a true indication of the viability of the pregnancy at this stage compared to reliance on serum progesterone levels. The gestation sac and fetal pole should increase by a few mm's every day. Once the fetal pole is more than 6mm a fetal heartbeat should always be visible on the scan if the pregnancy is viable. In practice with TV scans a fetal heartbeat if often visible with fetal poles of 3-4mm.
I don't believe you continuing to take progesterone for an extra day or so will prejudice the assessment or outcome of the pregnancy.
Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info sympathetic. Am continuing with the progesterone and will see what happens. It's hard to get a balance between keeping options open - informed by a minority who have had successful outcomes despite early gloomy indicators and clinging to false hope but would really like to have another scan next week and see what that shows.

I'm sorry it will be a difficult period but by next week all should be clear. Don't give up hope yet!
I hope all goes well for you.

Thanks again Sympathetic.