I am a newlywed & I have most the symptoms of pregnancy. I missed my period, my back and lower stomach ache all the time, I am craving for pickles, and I am hungry alot. When I did the blood test it came out positive but when the ultrasound was done there was no indication of pregnancy. So I had to do a blood test then in 2 days I have to do another blood test. Does that mean I am not pregnant or is it too early to determine through ultrasound if I am pregant or not. I've been married for 3 weeks now. Why did the blood test came out positive and the ultrasound didn't? Should I be conserned?
2007-05-09 01:58:06 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Pregnancy
You didn't mention "how" pregnant you are, or think you are, and that information is very important.
Depending on the answer to that question, it could simply have been too early to detect anything by ultrasound. In that case, however, I would question my doctor as to why s/he performed an ultrasound in the first place.
You also did not mention whether the blood test you took was "quantitative" or "qualitative" -- a qualitative test basically gives a yes/no answer to the question of: are you pregnant, by detecting whether there is or is not hcg in your system. (Hcg, or human chorionic gonadotrophin, is a hormone your body begins to manufacture after a fertilized egg implants into the uterine lining.) By contrast, a quantitative test measures how much hcg is present, and this can give the doctor some idea of "how" pregnant you are. Generally, if hcg levels are lower than 1,000 you wouldn't expect to see anything by ultrasound.
Another possibility, as someone suggested, is an ectopic pregnancy, which is a pregnancy in which the fertilized egg settles somewhere other than in the uterus -- most commonly, but not necessarily, in the fallopian tubes. Ectopic pregnancies can be very dangerous to the woman, and they are not viable as pregnancies go. If caught early enough ectopic pregnancies can be medically treated with a drug called methotrexate. *IF* hcg levels are sufficiently high that the pregnancy should show up on ultrasound, and nothing is found in the uterus, the doctor will look at the tubes, etc. for a sign of pregnancy there. An ectopic can also be indicated by hcg levels themselves -- if they are very low, if they are unstable/fluctuate, or if they hover around a certain level. So sometimes an hcg level may be low enough that the doctor would not expect to be able to see anything by ultrasound, but because of the behavior of the hcg levels an ectopic is diagnosed.
Another possibility would be an early loss, as someone suggested. These early losses, called "chemical pregnancies," occur when a fertilized egg implants in the uterine lining but subsequently fails to develop (for reasons unknown but typically thought to be due to chromosomal issues with that particular embryo that make it unviable). The pregnancy is thus detectable "chemically" (by test) but doesn't make it far enough to be confirmed clinically (by ultrasound). While it does not take away from the pain of knowingly experiencing it in any way, chemical pregnancies are *extremely* common -- most women experience them without knowing it and basically just have a period that's a little later and a little heavier than usual without ever having known they were pregnant. And having a chemical pregnancy does not indicate a fertility issue, and does not compromise subsequent fertility.
By doing the repeat bloodwork your doctor will get a sense of what's going on by checking on the quantity of hcg in your system and on how fast that hcg is doubling, if it is doubling. That will give clues as to what's going on -- whether it's simply too soon to see anything by ultrasound or whether there is something to be concerned about.
Hopefully it is just a matter of it being too soon.
Best of luck to you.
2007-05-09 03:28:40 · answer #1 · answered by ljb 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You could be in very early pregnancy. Blood tests are either quantitative or qualitative. If it's quantitative the ER got an actual hormone level back and decided you weren't pregnant, if it's qualitative they just got back a positive or negative from the lab. Anything over a level of 5 hcg is above normal but different labs have different levels to qualify as pregnant or not. You can be pregnant and only have a level of 20 hcg on an hpt but the qualitative pregnancy test will be negative if they only consider it positive only after you hit 50 for example, does that make since? You could be very newly pregnant and have an positive hpt and negative blood test if they did a qualitative test. If you are in fact that newly pregnant nothing would have been on the ultrasound, your baby(group of cells at this point really) is smaller than a flea. It's also possible that you miscarried after you took the tests, it's called a blighted ovum or chemical pregnancy and is very common. Typically women don't even know they were pregnant because it happens so close to there period, the miscarriage may be mistaken for a strong or slightly late period. Almost every woman will experience this whether they ever know about it or not. Give it a week and retest. If you still get a positive test call your doctor for a blood test. Honestly the ER couldn't have done anything for you and they knew it which is why they didn't seem to care, it's still wrong to treat you that way though. An early miscarriage isn't preventable or caused by anything you do.
2016-05-18 23:26:29 · answer #2 · answered by hallie 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I wouldn't be concerned. The uterus is still so small at this point that ultrasound is not going to show much, if anything.
By the way, a doctor or OB should not be giving an ultrasound this early. Some critical development of the baby goes on in the first trimester and why should a mom expose her baby to the ultrasound waves uneccessarily?
I would only get ultrasound if it were absolutely necessary or if some problem arises. It's expensive...and every procedure carries some risk.
Congrats on your wedding and baby!
2007-05-09 02:04:21 · answer #3 · answered by Veritas 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The blood test shows an presence of HcG in your blood...a pregnancy hormone. The only way it is there is if you are or were very recently pregnant. It sounds like you were pregnant, and miscarried very early on, which sometimes is almost unnoticable. The next blood test show show that your HcG levels are dropping. I wouldn't exactly be worried, but that is probably what happened. It happened to me too. Sorry and God bless.
2007-05-09 02:04:03 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Sometimes the fertilized egg gets stuck in the fallopian tube. This is what is known as a tube pregnancy. This is a common condition and has all the symptoms of a real pregnancy. I am not sure if the egg can be saved. . .
2007-05-09 02:05:44 · answer #5 · answered by Dinkum 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
this same thing happened to me and it was just too soon to tell. I was only 4 weeks pregnant and all the US showed was a thickened endometrium. I am now 22 weeks pregnant and everything is fine. So it is very possible that you are just not far enough along to see anything.
good luck :)
2007-05-09 02:03:28 · answer #6 · answered by Bonnie G 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's too early to see anything on an ultrasound. Congrats!
2007-05-09 03:09:53 · answer #7 · answered by Jennifer C 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋