I wasn't sure where to post this but I figured you all would understand the obsession with numbers

I'm asking on behalf of a friend who is 40, hcg on Monday, 11dp5dt was 9. She was told it was a chem pregnancy and very unlikely to continue, to carry on pessaries/progynova, another BT Friday. Yesterday's hcg came in at 78, great that it is doubling+ but it is still very low, the nurse said under the 5th percentile and possibly could end up being eptopic.

Have any of you lovely ladies got any experience of low hcg's, what were the outcomes? My friend is cautiously happy at this stage but not really sure what to think... and a week is a long time to wait for more results!

Hi there, I couldn't read and not post.

My last pregnancy I was 42 years old and my HCG levels were as follows:

46 @ 3.6 weeks 11DPO

137 @ 4.1 weeks 13DPO

343 @ 4.3 weeks 15DPO, so it goes to show you can have low HCG's and have a successful pregnancy, my little girl is almsot two.

Wishing your friend all the luck in the world

Thanks MP, nice to hear the sucess stories I think their embryo might have been late to implant

Hi all

My pregnancy started off at 35 HCG and the next one was 150.. it progressed nicely until I started getting bleeding at 6 weeks 3 days. It stopped. had a scan showing a strong healthy heartbeat. But I sadly lost bubs. I have, however, heard of people who start off low and go to deliver a healthy bub. I am sorry to hear that you are going through the stressful time of living from HCG to HCG. Thinking of you
Dee

Hi,

I know that anxious feeling you must be going through right now and I hope it all works out ok for you.

I also had low HCG readings and in the 5th/6th week they were no longer doubling. Doctors were quite concerned that I was going to miscarry.
Wk4 - 88
Wk5 - 1100
Wk6 - 5279 <-Expecting to be 8000+ at this stage
Wk6+2days - 7213

I decided to stop taking the HCG readings as I read they could be misleading, and instead wait for the 7th week scan. The scan showed a heart beat and fetal pole, but the doctor then said it was about 5 days smaller than expected. So we did another scan a week later and to my relief, the results came back positive. The little bub had caught up and grown to almost a day away from where it should have been. We are now having another scan tomorrow which will be 9 weeks.

Callog, I am so sorry your friend has gone through this whole IVF rigmarole only to end up with a disappointing beta. Although we do hear success stries about betas that start low, they are generally very early betas or betas for natural pregnancies where the ovulation date could have been off. With IVF she knows for a fact she's 14dpo, and unfortunately a beta of 9 at that stage is incredibly unlikely to end in anything but tears. I've had chem pgs down around that level and AF was usually a couple of days away. The fact that it's rising is not IMHO cause for optimism, but actually a worry about it being ectopic. She should make sure she heads straight for medical care if she has any abdominal or shoulder pain. Ectopics are extremely serious and I nearly lost my sister to one after her midwife and Waikato A&E dismissed it as a m/c in progress and didn't bother scanning her until it ruptured. Huge (((hugs))) to your friend.

Awww, doesn't sound good for her then It is so hard to not get excited and optimistic when there was a good rise with the 2nd BT. The nurse did warn her about the ectopic risk so will tell her to get onto it ASAP if there are any symptoms.

Thanks for your response everyone, as much as she wants to have hope, she still wants to be realistic so it is better to be prepared for the worst eh.

I think the best thing is to take it as it comes. But Eve is right
and I guess time will tell. But honestly, I know how this goes down and really it is madness. And the worst time hanging on for beta hcg results. I have learned that even a scan with a healthy heartbeat does not mean that you are out of harms way.

Thinking of your friend
D

Ok ladies, an update...

hgc has gone from 78 on Friday to 1144 today, still just under the 5th centile apparently but has risen very well. Her progesterone levels were only 19, seems pretty low to me, I told her to query if that is ok, and to ask about gestone(?)

It's a real cliffhanger that's for sure, another BT next week and then scan the week after, hoping for a miracle

good luck for your Friend Callog

hi, yes as Eve says - I too would recommend that you ask your friend to get an urgent ultrasound scan to check for an ectopic pregnancy. It's better to be err on the over cautious side with those numbers.

I experienced an ectopic , and my HCG started low and over the period of a week or so, it reached about 1500 - one hour before they did an internal ultrasound at the hospital and found my fallopian tube had ruptured and I had serious internal bleeding (required emergency surgery)

(BTW, I had to insist on the ultrasound at the hospital - they were going to send me home as they had forgotten about me and the specialist had left. If I hadn't of insisted on it, I don't think I'd be here today)

Best of luck!

Callog... I am sorry to say.. but I really do not think it sounds good. It started so very low. My HCG was around 36000 when my baby died. And progesterone is way too low. Sadly they will not give you gestone if you are in the lower reaches of the percentile range as it essentially allows you to hold on to a pregnancy that is not viable. If you read up on the net there is very little you can do to keep a unviable pregnancy. In addition, some doctors will say that there is generally something wrong with the embryo in such cases - this is cold comfort but sad and true.

Coming out of the closet now guys...

I am the one pregnant but the baby is a surrogate bub for a good friend. This is pure torture at the moment and each week between BT's is dragging by so slowly.

The ectopic talk is scaring me, last night I had a bit of left sided pain low down, couldn't sleep for worrying, pain isn't there today but it's at the back of my mind all the time.

FAW has added provera to the progynova/uterogestan I am already taking so hopefully that gets the progesterone levels up soon.

You know, even though this isn't my baby, the feelings are exactly the same as with my own two IVF cycles, except my feelings are for the parents, must be so hard on them

I'm so sorry for your losses Eve, LadyZoe and TillyNZ, so hard to lose something so loved

Was wondering if you would come clean Callog!!!! Even though it's a surrobub, you know this site is wonderful and we are all here to support you.

So hoping this work for you, E and C!!!!!! Got everything crossed babe!!

I know they won't be able to give you gestone babe because they are completely out of stores in NZ. I bought heaps overseas because it was a lot cheaper and FAA bought back from me my NZ purchased stock because they needed it. Have you spoken to them about Crinone and oral utrogestan??? Supposed to be a good combination as well to increase progesterone.

I have been stalking you too on here,lol.
I know what you mean about the emotions for the IP's.
I have everything crossed for you all.

Callog, what an amazing thing for you to do! Wow. I so so hope that the pregnancy works out and that baby is just a slow starter. FWIW in one of my pregnancies (that actually started as twins so hard to compare to yours) my HCG was only 30 at 4 weeks. Baby was born full term and healthy.



Fingers crossed and good luck

Callog, what an amazing thing for you to do! Wow. I so so hope that the pregnancy works out and that baby is just a slow starter. FWIW in one of my pregnancies (that actually started as twins so hard to compare to yours) my HCG was only 30 at 4 weeks. Baby was born full term and healthy.



Fingers crossed and good luck

Wow Callog, what an amazing thing to do. I had a low hcg with my 2nd pg, started off at 19 and was told to expect the worse etc etc. Anyway it kept rising as it should have, staying just below the 5th percentile the whole time and drove me nuts with worry. Anyway to cut a long story short we had a heartbeat at 7 weeks but I did miscarry at 11wks but for a totally different reason that had nothing to do with the low hcg's at the start. So it can happen.

I have everything crossed for you and the intended parents that your levels continue to rise and you can see a heartbeat in a couple of weeks.

Good luck

Awww, my first ever stalkers, how cool

Sparkle, how cool that you ended up with a healthy bub after a sluggish start, gives me hope although I am being realistic that the odds are against a good outcome.

I rang FAW this morning about the pains I have been having, I have to see my GP this afternoon and will have a scan if she feels it is warranted. Andrew Murray said he had seen numbers like mine go on to be a perfectly normal and healthy pregnancy so that was nice to hear.

Secretly hoping for a scan this afternoon