Friend thought she was 8 weeks pregnant....Found out she wasn't she had a sack but no baby..Ever heard of this

Question

My best friend thought she was 8 weeks pregnant. She had a belly and morning sickness. Today she went to the Dr. for an ultrasound and they told her that she wasn't pregnant. That there was a sack but no baby. Does anyone know what this is called and what causes this?

Answer 1

As a sonographer for 11 years this is fairly common ...it's called a blighted ovum , and first and foremost let me say that there was NOTHING your friend did to cause this .

A blighted ovum is when a pregnancy occurs , and something happened that cause the fetus to no develop properly ..most likely just after the ovum implanted . The zygote at this point was so smalll that the body reabsorbed them ..leaving the developing gestational sac . The gestational sac continues to grow , and in rare cases even a yolk sac develops , but the pregnancy is what is termed "aembryonic" which means there is no fetus .

Most blighted ovums are caught early ....between 8 and 10 weeks. The latest I have ever imaged on was 15 weeks . Typically the body eventually recognizes the pregnancy as being non-viable and eventually starts to break down the components causing spotting . They order and ultrasound , and we are able to image the problem. In other situations the doctor realizes the BetaHCG hormone isnt elevating as it should and orders imaging ...again , we see and are able to determine that its is in fact a blighted ovum . most doctors are hesitant to diagnose blighted ovum prior to 8 weeks , at which point a fetus should definately be identifiable sonographically.

Send your best friend my most sincere sympathies sand heartfelt good vibes during this difficult time .

~Ej

Answer 2

Here's a wonderful explanation of the term blighted ovum. I had a friend that several years ago had this happen & later went on 2 have 2 successful prgnancies.

A blighted ovum is a common cause of early pregnancy loss. It occurs when a fertilized egg develops a placenta and membrane but no embryo. A blighted ovum usually occurs in the first few weeks of pregnancy — often before a woman even knows she's pregnant. An ultrasound will show an empty gestational sac. Blighted ovum is often due to chromosomal abnormalities in the fertilized egg.

With a blighted ovum, you may miss a period and have a positive pregnancy test. This is because the placenta secretes human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), a pregnancy hormone. You may also experience some symptoms of pregnancy, such as fatigue and breast tenderness. But later when the placenta stops growing and hormone levels decrease, your pregnancy symptoms will subside. At this point, you may have minor abdominal cramping and light spotting or bleeding.

A blighted ovum will eventually result in miscarriage, although this may not occur for several weeks. Retaining this tissue is not harmful, but waiting for a miscarriage can be distressing. So a doctor may offer medications that will begin the natural process of miscarriage. Another option is a procedure called D and C (dilation and curettage) to remove the placental tissues.

The vast majority of women who have had one miscarriage go on to have successful pregnancies. If you have consecutive miscarriages in the first trimester, your doctor may recommend testing to try to determine the cause.

Answer 3

Yes, I'm 32 weeks pregnant with my second child after being told that I had an empty sac at the beginning of my pregnancy. My doctor started talking about going a D&C right away, to get rid of the "bad sac" or "blighted ovum" as he called it. I just had a feeling, hubby and I had been trying for a long time for this 2nd baby, so I asked him to wait a few days and recheck my HcG levels, and sure enough, 1 week later, there was a heartbeat in that "empty sac" I thought I'd gotten regnant sooner than I actually did, I'd thought about 8 weeks too, and it turned out to be only about 6 or so at that first appt, it was just much too early to see anything. Sometimes, even a medical school education and state of the art instruments don't stand a chance against mother's intuition! :) Best wishes to your friend, however it is she'd like for this all to turn out!

Answer 4

Of course this can happen.. whoever said s/he was an OB/GYN nurse is either in a very limited practice, or fibbing just a bit.. What your friend went through was called a blighted ovum, or early pregnancy failure.

Most of the time the pregnancy will abort itself, however it has been known to go all the way to 12 weeks, doc goes to find the heartbeat only to find out the woman is pregnant with an empty gestational sac. It's not "neat" and it's not unusual I'm afraid, and for a lot of women, it's very hard because normal pregnancy symptoms ARE present.

I do hope your friend recovers, and be sure to let her know grief is normal at this point, please listen to her if she needs to talk.

Answer 5

I think you meant to say she has a pregnancy sack but doctor could not detect a heartbeat in the baby. i actually have this happened to me. I calculate that I was 7 wks pregnant I went to the doctor and they did an untrasound on me and found no heartbeat in the baby. I was told the reason for this is b/c the eggs was not mature. Hard to explain. Even though there was no heartbeat yet there is still a sack meaning there are pregnancy hormones. I had to insert medication into the vagina to force the miscarriage. My doctor informed me that this would consider a miscarriage. Sorry to hear it happened to your friend.

Answer 6

It depends on your friends and family. I told my mother and sisters immediately - around 6 weeks, right after my doctor confirmed it. They're calm, sensible people and were absolutely delighted for me. We won't tell my in-laws until after week 12. They're high-strung, excitable people who are convinced doom lurks around every corner. They'll call every day to tell me to put my feet up and eat my veggies. Frankly, I'd just as soon wait until week 30 to tell them, but hey. I also live closer to my family, and could not possibly have hidden the nausea and food aversions I was experiencing. In fact, I'm fairly sure one of my friends knows. If you suddenly stop drinking wine or ask for decaf, trust me, your friends will pick up on it in a heartbeat. You may also find that co-workers figure it out sooner than others. So it really depends ... there's some wisdom in waiting for the end of your first trimester, but it's not a rule.

Answer 7

I have never heard of this. Is your friend in the military or military wife? There is such a condition as false pregnancy and you develop the physical symptoms of pregnancy, nausea, belly gain, breast tenderness...but it is very rare and has never accompanied a sack. If she did have a sack I would say she miscarried. But even that is highly unlikely...The reason I asked if she is a military wife is because she may feel lonely or have a great desire to be a mother or even making this up for attention. As she may feel left out or competative for attention from the other wives.

Answer 8

That's weird. There is this really rare condition where the baby grows in the abdominal cavity instead of in the uterus and sometimes babies don't show up on ultrasounds (I saw it on Discovery Health). Chances are your friend doesnt have this condition because it is EXTREMELY rare but if I were her I would get a second opinion.

Answer 9

Yes, I have heard of it, but can't remember what it is called. It is a failure of the fetus to develop. You can probably find the information on the Internet somewhere. Sorry for your friends loss. It is a loss no matter what the definition of it is, and your friend needs your support. It probably will not happen again, she should try again if she wants to in a few months.

Answer 10

Thats called a blighted Ovum. Its quite commen. It means a Sack Forms but does not get fertilised. When she is ready their should be no reason why she cant have a healthy baby.