Slow heartbeat and and measuring 6wks 5days at 7wks 6day scan, very scared, any reassurance?

[MrsNozzle]

Hi all - complete newbie here, so hello - and help!!

I got a BFP after ICSI and 2 embryos transferred on 27th July. According to calculations I am 8 weeks or thereabouts today. Had a scan yesterday and and the nurse found a single egg sac and fetal pole but it was measured at 6wks 5days. (Around 7mm). I also had some bleeding but it did stop about a week and a half ago. Had some great symptoms such as painful tits and heartburn, but they both seem to have stopped as of yesterday. Don't even know if that's all psychosymatic?? (sp.)

Both the nurse and DH thought they could see a heartbeat (I couldn't but I have rubbish eyesight!) but it was very slow (more like an adult's). I've got another scan next wednesday. After worrying myself silly I spoke to the nurse again this morning and she admitted it's not as she would have expected at this stage and we should know for def next week for sure whether the pregnancy is going to be viable or not.

I know there's nothing else I can do at this stage, but is there anyone out there with similar stories that turned out OK (or not, even?) I'm 40 and it just feels like I'm getting to the end of any chance I have to have baby.

Any responses greatly appreciated and thanks for reading

Mrs N. XX

oh dear. just read your post and am so sorry to hear that. really hoping that it all turns out to be ok.

Thanks boodleboot for your kind words.

Does anyone else have any experiences of this and how it turned out?

Hello Mrs N. I am so sorry to hear that things are so up in the air. Big hugs to you.

First of all, life can be a miracle sometimes and you shouldn't give up hope yet. You will find plenty of stories on here of people whose DCs didn't have a heartbeat at all till fairly late on (i.e. after 7 weeks) and turned out just fine. So a heart beat is generally a good sign! I am keeping everything crossed that your little one's heart will speed up in the next few days and that things will look better next week.

However, speaking as someone who has has had various miscarriages, I am afraid that if your embies were transferred on 27 July then you would usually expect to be measuring a little bit more than 6 + 5 at this stage. It may be your little one is just a slow starter, let's hope so. If that's not the case then there are lots of lovely people on here who helped me and who will help you too if it comes to it.

Good luck and please keep us updated.

Thank You PP, will pray that 'the miracle of life' isn't giving up on me just yet. Just so scared and upset at the moment, particularly since most of the symptoms seem to have vanished. Obviously just have to wait now and see what they say on Wednesday.

Mrs N XX

Mrs N I'm not a midwife, but I do think I remember a doctor saying to me once that anything within 11 days less or more is considered normal as some embryo's develop at different rates, just like different children grow at different rates.

I had gone for my 12 week scan and was measuring almost a week less than what I should have been. That's when the Dr I mentioned above said that to me. However, I have since been back for other scans due to bleeding and stuff and baby was measuring a week OVER what my dates were!

It's hard to know, just keep in contact with the professionals to monitor you.

T

Hi, I had an early scan a few weeks ago which measured about a week less than my dates.

The sonographer (a radiologist and very experienced) said that (a) implantation may have been later than I thought and (b) when they are so very tiny it's hard to get an accurate measurement - and a few mm either way can make a huge difference to the estimation of dates.

That said, the heartbeat issue is a different matter. Did the scan not have a doppler? Ours did and you didn't have to 'see' the heartbeat, you could hear it too. How fast did she say the heartbeat was?

It may be that she's just not that experienced at early scanning, try to keep calm until your next scan, all may well be OK.

Best of luck.

ib I had a scan at 8 weeks, 10 weeks and 13 weeks and none of them offered me a doppler!!!

It wasn't until a routine midwife appointment in our G.P. clinic at 15 weeks that I heard baby's heartbeat with a doppler.

I've heard people say that it can be harder to hear the heart in early stage than it is to see it

really? wow. I've had two early scans (for the different pgs) and in both we heard the hb on the doppler.

Mind you I didn't know it was the doppler first time round, they only it a different button on the machine. I found out the second time because when I asked to hear it again she said she didn't like to use the doppler for too long and so she showed it to ds on the screen.

Hi Mrs N,
I can really emphasise with what you're going through. I'm now 12wks pregnant, had a mc 6mths ago. When I went for an early scan, thinking I was 8wks + 1day, they told me I was only 6wks+5. I was v worried as knowing my dates etc I didn't think that was physically possible and I thought there must be something wrong with the baby. Then I had another scan last week and they told me the baby was 11wks+6 which was exactly in line with what I'd originally thought.
With early scans everything is so small it's harder to be accurate. The scanner told me if she'd clicked on the image 1mm different it would have changed the dates by 3 days. Sometimes they can't see very well.
It is soooo hard doing the wait and see thing though, so I'm sending you lots of positive vibes and hope that you have some encouraging news very soon. x

I hope you had good news, MrsN

Thanks for all your messages and kind words. Unfortunately it wasn't good news. The second scan showed no change in size and no heartbeat. Nature started to take it's course this weekend so it's all over. Obviously no-one can say why the baby stopped growing.

I've come to believe that the most evil emotion of all is hope. Never seems to do me any good whatsoever.

Mrs N xx

I've only just seen this, and I'm so sorry to hear your bad news Stay strong, and don't run away from hope - sometimes its all we have; the hope that things will improve.

Thinking of you. x

So sorry to hear that it wasn't good news. xxx