Hi everyone

I thought this graph might be useful. It is from the NZ Diagnostic Medlab Handbook, which used to be online. I take no responsibility for it's accuracy.

Please be careful how you interpret it. It doesn't matter if you are on the 5th percentile or the 95th percentile - the more important factor is if you are following the curve. And you only need to be a day or two out on your conception date to change how you follow the curve slightly.

OK this is an example of why the graph should be interpreted with care. This was from my pregnancy with DS2. You will see the 3rd measurement drops below the curve that the others were following (and I duly panicked a lot!). This is in fact likely to be because I was a few days further along than I thought (if you shift all 3 dots to the right, they start to follow the curve better).

Wow....that is a really helpful graph! I thought I was having a scare because my hcg levels were going down slightly but the graph seems to indicate that that is perfectly okay. had a scan this morning and the baby is right on track with a good healthy heartbeat.

my hcg levels have been:
4 weeks: 600
7 weeks: 34000
8 weeks: 33200
8 and a half weeks: 31300

my midwife told me after my doctor had managed to worry me that she wouldnt have even ordered a scan as they are perfectly normal hcg results and good and high

Yay and fingers crossed that it continues as my last pregnancy a year and a half ago miscarried

Thanks for posting this nimbus - Its not avail online anymore and for the life of me I couldn't find a similar one anywhere.

It is very reassuring

I saved it to my HD. Boops - great levels, I would stop doing them now as they aren't good indicators from now on. It's amazing how many Dr's have NO idea about how hCG levels start to fall off - I had one tell me it was a bad result (at around the 8 or 9 week mark) - and his nurse would not believe me that it was fine. My own GP returned a couple of days later, and phoned to make sure I knew my result was fine, not knowing his colleague had called me. So I had to tell him to go and educate his colleague! Imagine if I hadn't known what a spin I would have been in.

Can someone explain what it means by 95th, 50th and 5th percentile on the graph??????

50th%ile is an average HCG level
5%ile means only 5% of people have a level lower than you
95%ile means only 5% of people have a level higher than you.

5%ile are lower than average
95%ile are higher than average

the actual percentile doesn't matter too much as long as it follows that centile level the whole way along (within reason)
so it is fine if it is the 5%ile as long as it stays that way and doesn't drop down.

Of course none of this means everything is DEFINATELY ok either, they are just an indication.

Great, gotcha, thanks so much!

Thanks for this graph! Good on you nimbus for saving it. I wonder why it isn't able to be found now?

There was a calculator back in 2007 that we had a link to to check out HCG levels - does anyone have that?

My rises seem BIG!

I found this good calculator:

http://www.justmommies.com/pregnancy/hcgcalculator.shtml

Thanks heaps for this. I had this graph saved as a link too but they have taken it down since i last needed it. Am relieved to see that so far I am exactly tracking to the 50th percentile, despite bleeding!

Tilly!!

Yah for Nimbus for saving the graph.

Am nervous. Am experiencing the same "veering off" the graph as Nimbus. Yesterday, at 6 weeks 4 days, HCG was only 28,000. According to the graph, it shoudl be 40,000. Before that I was tracking to the 50th percentile pretty much exactly.

But they found a very healthy heartbeat on the scan yesterday and right measurements for dates! I insisted on a scan after getting the HCG results. WAs convinced it was all over until the scan.

But now that I've seen that Nimbus also veered off at the same time...I'm wondering if , hopefully, the graph isn't too important at this stage?

Any thoughts, girls?

Hi TillyNZ
I have heard that once you get a heartbeat they are not so worried about HCG levels.

Hope all goes well.

TillyNZ
From the little i know, 28000 is a high figure and so the heartbeat is definitely the stronger indicator it's all OK.

If your HCGs had never got high (say only up to around 1500) it's not so great - that's what happened to me last m/c, despite two healthy scans.

You'll be good.

Hey, has anyone come back from low hcg's
I am 6 weeks pregnant with hcg of 5,400
We got results back today and hcg's are lower than expected and not rising as quickly as obsitritian would like to see. Trying to stay positive but really worried that we are destined for another miscarriage. Have booked for a scan Friday to get an answer one way or another

Hi Sweetp - my Hcg at 6 weeks wasn't much more than what yours is - they had been doubling ever 48 hours and then within a week started doubling about every 72-96 hours (which I have since read/been advised is quite normal), I remember the last hcg I did I was expecting to come back at about 20,000 (or there abouts) and was only about mid 8000 - I was gutted and so expected it to be all over but am still going strong and 14 weeks tomorrow.
After the last hcg level - the mid 8000 one - I refused to have anymore as figured we are all different and its just numbers and I have read plenty of success stories DESPITE low hcg levels and just decided to go with the flow.

I know its hard but try not to worry too much about the numbers and more that they are increasing as the graph Nimbus posted shows.

PS - my last pregnancy (where I mc'd) my hcg levels at 6 weeks got nowhere near this this high.

Thanks SIA11, it is so good to hear someone else's results were similar and you have made it to 14 weeks.
Trying to be positive but analysing the numbers has just make me crazy and think the worst. It is so hard not be paranoid.

Thats ok Meant to come back and say that I didn't want to get your hopes up BUT sometimes hope is all you have so hope it helps and hope that all is ok with you and your baby and that you have a long and very boring pregnancy. Take care

Thanks unfortunately we don't feel we can have our hopes up, history has taught us that at this stage things are likely to be bad rather than good but a bit of hope will help me put one foot in front of the other until Friday