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(Copied from a good webpage)______ The viability of the fetus can be doc_mented in the presence of v____al bleeding in early pregnancy. A visible heartbeat could be seen and detectable by pulsed doppler ultrasound by about 6 weeks and is usually clearly depictable by 7 weeks. If this is observed, the probability of a continued pregnancy is greater than 83 percent. Missed abortion and blighted ovum will usually give typical pictures of a deformed gestational sac and absence of fetal poles or heart beat. Normal heart rate at 6 weeks is around 90-110 beats per minute (bpm) and at 9 weeks is 140-170 bpm. At 5-8 weeks a bradycardia (less than 90 bpm) is a__sociated with a high risk of miscarriage. Many women do not ovulate at around day 14, so findings after a single scan should always be interpreted with caution. The diagnosis of missed abortion is usually made by serial ultrasound scans demonstratinglack of gestational development.

I had an invitro on Aug 12th. At this moment I'm on my week 7, one day. Yesterday, I had an u/s and everything was there, but not a baby. Today, I went again, had another u/s and the dr has diagnosed me with a blighted ovum. She gave me the option to wait( to have time to internalized the idea of the loss , and then to come back for a d/c). My situation is that I'm taking hormones to help in the pregnancy. My dilemma after reading all your situations is to wait, or not? My husband and I had so much hopes in this pregnancy. Have someone of you heard anything about invitro and a delay to hear the heartbeat? My prayers are with all of you...

Vivian, The only advice I can give you is to go with what you feel is right to do. I had an u/s at 9 weeks and they found an empty sac. I did another u/s to confirm a week later and it was still empty. I had a d&c that following day. If you have doubts ask for another u/s so you won't second guess yourself about a d&c. I hope it turns out to be good news for you.

Thanks Kim. It's so painful to be in this situation. My logic believes there's no embryo. My heart wants to believe is a mistake. The u/s should have seen an embryo of 20mm.there wasn't any. I still need to wait, I'm Jewish and today is our big Holiday- Yom Kipur. Two weeks ago my father- in-law pa__sed away. On Thursday I lost my job, b/c they learnt I was pregnant. And yesterday I learnt there's no heartbeat... My heart is bronken. I will wait a week.

vivian, i am so sorry to hear you are going through such a rough time. I will pray this all wrks out for you. I know what you are feeling. I found this web page the day after I had my 1st u/s. I wanted to believe so bad that I would find a baby after reading some of the hopeful emails. But for whatever reason there wasn't. It hurt and I cried a lot. I am now 2 weeks from the day of my d&c and I am hopeful that I will get pregnant soon. Keep positive if it there is no baby it will happen. Please keep me posted.

Daniella the heartrate was 160 to 170 the nurse got a doppler and the babys heart rate was very clear and fast. I have appt. on the 20th of this month I'll update you guys on the progress, I still have very sore b___st my stomach is getiing bigger and I feel movements in my tummy. I have a strong faith in God and I believe that this pragnancy is healthy. I'll post more for updates after my appt. ladies don't loose hope. GOd is just a prayer away.

Lisa- what due date did they give you when they did the measurements?? Anyhow, that is great to hear!!! my next ultrasound is the 21st. So, hope we both have great news to share. I am also just starting to feel movements. I have lost 3 pregnancies in the past, so to know this one is alive, strong and moving is a blessing. This will be our first baby and is due right about Mothers Day. I strongly believe that things happen for a reason. I lived and learned from the last loss. Its so hard, but when you finally get blessed the pay off in the end is well worth it. I pray the best for all of you that are trying right now or just went thru a m/c. Just know that you are extrememly fertile the week your HCG hits 0 from your loss. I got pregnant the week my HCG hit 0. It took 5 weeks from my D&C. Hope that helps!! and Best of luck!!

Daniella My due date is may 4, I myself had three m/c in the past I have one live son. I am very confident that this pragnancy will go full term with my past m/c they don't make it to the third month, this one did and I didn't really have morning sickness and sore b___st on my last three. I'm glad to hear your story it helps other people like myself to hear some positvie outcome on this situation. It made my day when I read a couple who ensisted to do d and c and later on found the fetal heartbeat. I told my doctor that I'm not willing to go through D and C aunless I miscarry naturally and he agreed with me. The nurse who check for the baby heartrate told me that she don't care what the test say now there's a baby in there she said. Let me know what is the outcome on your next appt. and when you find out what you're having. God bless and take care..

Hi, I went on holiday to cyprus 13/9 to ger married on 19/9. i was 8 weeeks pregnant, the day before i got married i had some spotting and was referred to a private hospital. i was there only five minutes when the doc did an u/s and said (i now know to be a blighted ovum) a miscarriage, within an hour i had a d+c within which i woke in the middle of. I wish i had seen this website before as i would have waited for a second opinion til i got home! I was given no options, just told i had miscarried and had to have a d+c! I hope that even if i prevent maybe one person going through what i did, and at least having the option of a second opinion it will make my miscarriage more bearable.

If you are certain about your dates it probably isn’t good. If you are unsure about your dates you may just be earlier in your pregnancy than you thought. I had a similar thing happen - and it turned out I had an anembryonic pregnancy. I went in for an ultrasound to determine the date of the baby and they could only see the sac. They told me not to worry and that I had probably miscalculated the date and to come back 3 weeks later. When I went back they still couldn't see the fetus (only the sac) and told me that it was a "missed miscarriage" and the embryo (if it even developed at all) had stopped growing. My hormone levels were that of a normal pregnancy and I didn't have any spotting or symptoms anything was wrong - that is what I found most difficult about this type of miscarriage – you think everything is fine. Now for the good news - my friend went in for an ultrasound around 5 or 6 weeks and the first time they could only see the sac and they said her hormone levels were low so she was worried. Turned out it was a dating mistake and she went back 2 weeks later and saw the baby - she is now in her 35th week everything is fine. So if I were you I would ask for another ultrasound in a few weeks. I wish you luck and hope you are just off on your dates like my friend was.

Here's the thing... they can also determine how far along you are for the size of your sac. For instance, if they see a "tiny" ring only.. Then you probably just hit over 2000 for your HCG. In which, your probably not very far along. In one week, the sac should measure a week further and you "should" see a little dot where the fetal pole is starting to develop. One more week, you should see it very clearly. At 6 weeks they "should" pick up a heartbeat. At 8 weeks, you should see so much more. My 7 week 5 day ultrasound, I could see the little head, arms, feet, and the heart beating so large inside the fetal pole. Along with a yolk sac. Also, at 7 weeks 5 days, the heartbeat was at 166bpm. The best advice is to have another ultrasound for a week later. One week makes a lot of difference. Along with that, have 2 HCG test done 48 hours apart to make sure they are doubling.

Can anyone help me with this? A couple of weeks ago, when I thought I was six weeks pregnant, I went in for an ultrasound and the Dr. only saw a gestational sac. I just went back for a second ultrasound and although the sac had doubled in size, there were still not any structures present. Interestingly, after probing around with the v____al ultrasound my doctor found a fetal heartbeat, but the fetal pole was hard to see. He was also able to replicate the heartbeat. Has anyone heard of this-- not being able to see clearly a yolk sac and a fetal pole but seeing a heartbeat in the very corner of the uterus? Also, I'm not having many pregnancy symptoms and I'm worried about a blighted ovum. My doctor says an explanation may be that I ovulated late and am really six weeks, which would explain the lack of a visible fetal pole, etc. I'm very confused and worried and don't go back for another week.

Jamie- I would just see what they say in a week repeat. Unfortunately my last miscarriage was going that same way. Guess the question is... did he pick up a bpm or did he just see a flicker of the heartbeat?? Sounds like your dr. is really trying to find something. My first one, just looked for a minute and said that I am going to miscarry. So, I went to another dr. and they gave me hope saying that I am probably off on my dates. Even though I didn't think I was. Anyhow, the little flicker in the sac and uterus never got more than a flicker. But, it was there so they couldn't do anything. Finally after about 3 weeks of the flicker, it stopped. No heartbeat at all. So, they went ahead and did a D&C. I knew from the first scan that it wasn't looking too good. The upside to this, is 5 weeks after my surgery is when I had my first ovulation afterwards and got pregnant. I am now 11 weeks today. So, you are way more fertile after a loss. But, lets just hope in your case, you just aren't as far along as you thought. I knew how far I was because my husband is in the military and he left for deployment. SO, I may not know the exact date of conception, but I surely know when it "wasnt'" lol.... Best of luck!!

Thanks Daniella. In response to your question, my doctor does not have doppler ultrasound in his office, so he couldn't broadcast (or count) the heart rate, but he thought that it looked like there was a heartbeat of around 160 (can you describe what your "flicker" looked like-- was it slower?). Also, my HCG continues to rise and my progesterone is still at a decent level. Did your levels stay high as well during your previous pregnancy that resulted in miscarriage? Thanks for the encouragement.

Jamie- not sure how your doctor figured 160 without a doppler... but, anything more than just a flicker sounds good. SO, that is good news!!! :) Anyhow, my last one couldn't be picked up on doppler. Only slight wave lengths on the screen and you can see a pulsating motion in the heart and around the muscles of the uterus. My HCG was doubling in the beginning normally but then it was only going up and not doubling around the time right before the heartbeat had finally stopped. Anyhow, just try not to worry. You were probably off on your dates. Keep posted on what they say at your next apt. Im sure all will be fine!! Speaking of which, when is your next ultrasound scheduled for??

Yes, the doctor just used his best judgment in guessing how fast it was beating. It did look much faster than a regular pulse though. My next ultrasound is next Tuesday. I'm thinking that I may request to have it done at the hospital, b/c I'm sure that they have more sophisticated machines there (and doppler). I know that my doctor's machine isn't exactly "state of the art," although he claims he can get a very good picture on it. Make sense?