Dr. Marjorie Greenfield
Specializing in pregnancy and birth.
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 Ask Dr. Greenfield
Perplexing Pregnancy Story | | | QUESTION | | | Dear Dr. Greenfield,
I had a period on May 12th. When I missed a period in June and had all the symptoms of pregnancy, I took two home pregnancy tests. The results were positive. I also have three other children and know what pregnancy feels like so I was sure I was pregnant.
Well, on July 2nd I started bleeding and went to the emergency room because I thought I was having a miscarriage. The doctor told me that my blood test results showed that I was never pregnant. I was devastated! I had heavy bleeding and strong lower back pain, which was nothing like my regular periods.
Then I didn't have another period in August, had symptoms of pregnancy and took two pregnancy tests again. Now I am definitely pregnant (and showing a lot)! I have never shown this early before. Am I farther along than I think I am right now? Or was I pregnant with twins and lost one? I am very confused. I've had three successful pregnancies and nothing like this has ever happened to me before.— TRL4 in IN | | | ANSWER |
October 19, 2001 | | | Dear TRL4,
Well, you do have a perplexing story to tell! While the hCG level of the blood pregnancy test does drop after a miscarriage, it doesn't usually become negative until a few weeks later. A negative blood pregnancy test is usually a reliable indicator that you haven't been recently pregnant. Yet your story sounds like a miscarriage, followed by your current pregnancy, or a threatened miscarriage, and a continued pregnancy. I suppose there is always the remote chance that your pregnancy test result was switched with someone else or that there was some other sort of lab error in July.
When there is this much discrepancy about the dates, an ultrasound can usually give definitive answers, at least about how far along you are. Sorry I can't give you the answer from your story. It sure is puzzling, but bound to get sorted our shortly. Take care!— by Marjorie Greenfield, M.D. |
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