Hi I am currently 6 weeks 3 days pregnant I have been having light spotting bleeding for the last 11 days. Which varies in colour mostly brown like coffee granules and one episode of bright red blood, No pain throughout the pregnancy had a scan at 5 weeks and no sign of baby had another scan on week 6 day 2 but again no sign of pregnancy occurring although my uterus lining is thickening. My hgc shows I am over 15000 the doctors are assuming this could be a ectopic Pregnancy Due to having both my Fallopian tubes flushed in November; but is it possible the baby may be too small for them to see at this stage or I may not be as far as 6 weeks? ;( I’m back Tomorrow for more hgc blood tests xxx
Dear Sadiemarie202,
I am so sorry to hear that you are going through such a worrying time.
As I am not medically trained, it is difficult to give you specific answers.
When diagnosing an ectopic pregnancy, doctors use a combination of transvaginal ultrasound scanning and blood tests to check HCG levels. Usually scans take place at around six weeks gestation as there is a ‘reasonable’ chance of seeing an embryo at around this time. If scans are inconclusive, doctors usually test hCG levels and a hCG level that is rising by less than 66% over 48 hours can mean it is likely, but not a certainty, that the pregnancy is ectopic.
If no pregnancy can be seen in the uterus, or there is a small gestation sac in the uterus without a yolk sac or embryo, the pregnancy will be medically labelled as a Pregnancy of Unknown Location or PUL. It is important to understand that PUL is not a diagnosis; it is a label given until the final location of the pregnancy can be identified with certainty. In the event of a PUL, blood will be taken to measure serum progesterone and hCG and the hCG test repeated 48 hours later. The doctors would also want to repeat the scan.
Until the location of the pregnancy is known definitively or the serum hormone levels have decreased to below pregnancy levels, there is a risk of complications associated with an as yet undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy. For every 100 pregnancies labelled as a PUL about 10 will subsequently be found to be ectopic; and not all of these will need treatment.
It is certainly possible that you are not as far on as 6 weeks as you say. The blood tests will give you a little more information but a repeat scan will also help.
Sending much love and positive thoughts,
Karen x
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