Dr. Marjorie Greenfield
Specializing in pregnancy and birth.
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 Ask Dr. Greenfield
Worried about Ectopic Pregnancy or Miscarriage | | | QUESTION | | | Dear Dr. Greenfield,
My last period started on August 20th. On September 22nd, I went to the doctor because of cramping and bleeding and learned that I was pregnant. My hormone levels were 77 and over the next few days they rose to 229, and then to 1300. On September 30th I started having a slight pain in my lower left abdomen and am worried about an ectopic pregnancy or a miscarriage. I know I'm paranoid because it took me so long to get pregnant and it's my first pregnancy. Today my doctor did an ultrasound and could see a sack in my uterus but no fetal pole. Should I be worried? I don't know what to think. Thank you.— Worried Sick | | | ANSWER |
November 1, 2001 | | | Dear Worried Sick,
I think I have some "so far so good" news for you. For one, once ultrasound visualizes a sac in the uterus, it means the pregnancy is located in the right place. While there is always the remote chance that there are two pregnancies and one is in the tube, that is quite a rare event, especially in mothers-to-be who didn't use fertility drugs to conceive.
The correlation between hCG levels and what should be seen on ultrasound is not perfect. Since hCG levels approximately double every 48 hours, your hCG was probably around 2600 the day you had the ultrasound. At that point, a vaginal scan can usually see the sac but not a fetal pole. On abdominal scan, the sac might still be too small to see!
While no one can promise you that your pregnancy will go well, currently you have normally rising hCG levels and a sac in the uterus, seen at the appropriate time. So I would say: so far so good. Good luck!— by Marjorie Greenfield, M.D. |
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