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Cheryl, I wish you the best of luch today. Please let us know how everything goes.

I have researched and asked 3 doctors now. My numbers are outside the range or normal. I asked the doctors if my 4 day + doubling time could be normal, but just one of the outsiders dragging down the national average. My doctor said you can never say never, but she is certain this is not normal. The other doctors I talked to, including a trusted family friend, confirmed this. HCG levels should be doubling or close to doubling in pregnancies as early as mine. If they do not, it is a very strong indicator that all is not right. Even over the course of a pregnancy, apparently HCG levels should be rising at a rate of 66% to 100% every 2-3.5 days. I'm in very early pregnancy (LMP 3/29/05) and my numbers are doubling every 4 to 4.5 days. The thing is, despite exhaustive research, I have not found anything that gives me hope that this could be a normal pregnancy. If I thought my chances were 50/50, then you bet, I'd wait. But it sounds like my chances are 99/1 against, and that my chances of an ectopic are higher than my long shot never say never chance of a pulling a normal pregnancy out of this. That tells me to cut my losses and save my system for when it can be put to a more productive use. This decision I make only based on my own comfort level with all of the reserach I have done and the doctors I have seen. I would not make it without that foundation, and would wait if I were not convinced by my own diligent efforts and prayers to come to terms with this. Each person should go through whatever process makes them comfortable and as close to secure in their decision as can be. Slow rising HCG "miracle" stories are, as far as I have seen, actually from people who, God bless them, can't add -- their numbers were pretty much on track to begin with, with maybe one off number here or there, and then their numbers get back on track. I am very happy for them, and I understand that even before anything went wrong, pregnancy is an anxious and mysterious time, but when someone writes, "it's a miracle! my numbers weren't doubling and now everything's fine!" And I see that their numbers were 39, 65, 125, 220, 2 days apart, well, that was in the range of normal to begin with, so it was the admitted miracle of a normal pregnancy to begin with. Anyway, God gave me this body, this pregnancy, good doctors, a supportive family, second opinions, modern technology, free will, and a brain. He also gave me two ovaries and two fallopian tubes, which I and my future babies are going to use and which I am going to try to preserve. I definitely very much do appreciate your thoughts, that's why I posted at all. So thank you, and I may report back. Take care!!

Just for the record there are alot of doctors who told us that we had a 50/50 chance. When you look at our numbers to you they may be in the "normal range". However, I know my doctor had me back a couple of times to check the numbers, and put me on progestrone. It did not make me or anyone else worry less about our babies. This is even my second pregnancy and I was scared to death!!!Most of us posted on this site to help and support each other. It is a hard thing to not know exactly what is going on. I am sorry for what is going on with you, but I think you need to be more sympathetic to the people that have posted on this site. Some did lose there babies, and some of us did not. I just think you could word it differently!! I will be praying for you and everyone else. No matter what there numbers where!!!

Hi everyone, my numbers have doubled since Tuesday which I am very happy about. My ultrasound today to look for any abnormalities did not detect anything wrong. Again, I am only at 5 weeks. On Tuesday, I was only given hope at about a 20% viable pregnancy and today my odds improved at 50/50. Definitely not out of the woods yet but at least I can relax a little bit through the weekend until my next blood test on Tuesday. My progesterone levels still remain very high which is encouraging. I really feel for all of you out there who have had to endure the "waiting game". My fingers are crossed for all of you. I'll check back in on Tuesday afternoon.

Hi I am olmost 7 weeks. I took a hcg 5 days ago and it was 7000. I took one again yesterday(5 days later) and it only went up 1000. I am very wooried. I have three children and I just don't understand. I keep telling myself I am just not that far along. I know wishful thinking but is there any hope? any response would be appreciated

I should have clarified that based on my numbers and my situation, it seemed clear to me that I did not have a 50/50 chance of a normal pregnancy. Other prople with even slightly better numbers or different physical symptoms may have a much better chance than I had. And it's true, until I found out I had a much lower chance of a normal pregnancy this time around, 50/50 would have been scary as as hell. Anyway, I got a uterine biopsy, which was pretty traumatic because it was the point of no return -- you don't do the procedure my doctor did if you want to continue to give the pregnancy a chance. It came back showing that the pregnancy was uterine, but also the doctor confirmed and emphasized to me that the test results show that it was not and would never have been viable or normal. She said there was no chorionic villi, which is present if a baby is developing. I asked if that meant that the pregnancy could still be ectopic (because I have read that absence of chorionic villi in uterine samples is one sign of ectopic) she said no, it wasn't ectopic, because there were other signs of uterine pregnancy, but no sign of chorionic villi. I think that this is along the lines of "blighted ovum" where the pregnancy develops to a certain point but without the baby. But it sounds like many of you do have a better chance of a better outcome. In the meantime, I am going to take heart that for me, maybe there was no baby involved at all. If there was any other soul's karma involved, then I wish it the best of journeys and plan to see it again. All my love and best wishes to you all as well. Sorry if that last part is too sappy, but I am still jacked up out of my mind with hormones and grief. My husband asked if I would risk going through this again. Of course, yes.

Keep trying Jane. We are all in a similar boat, very rocky, at risk of sinking but all believing there is a little being there waiting to come inside us. Im hoping mine is just around the corner, I'm 43 now. Biological clocks is ticking away. We only get 12 chances a year, thats not a lot is it? All i can say is have fun trying and what will be will be. Sorry for your loss!

Hi everyone, I just found out on Thurs. that I am Pregnant. I am so excited after trying for 4 years. I had a US and HCG done on Friday because i was cramping on my right side. The Dr. said the cramping was from a cyst on my right ovary that was the size of a lemon, my HCG was 33 and my Progestrone level was 17. We he called to give me the results he said he didnt see any signs of anything being wrong but to me a hcg level of 33 seems so low. I concieved on April 30th so I had the hcg test done 13 days after conception. I have twins that are 6 now and I didnt have any problems with them so this is all new. What does everyone think?

I thought I would write to update with good news. I wrote April 15th and 18th. I have had two ultra sounds and every thing looks good, the sac and the baby are right were they should be and the baby has a very fast heart beat. Because of my hcg #'s not doubling my doctor was not very positive about my pregnancy and discussed the symptoms of a miscarriage with me so that I would know when it happened, now he is excited and says everything looks great. So having #'s that don't double doesn't always mean there will be a problem. You can contact me at naturalsurroundings@juno.com.

I posted here some time back--thought I would give an update. On May 8th (Mother's Day) I took a hpt which showed + on Monday the 9th i started to spot 'old blood' I went to get HCG test and # was 43.7--By Tues 5/10 I had a full flow period. On Wed 5/11 HCG tested 41.7 then this past Sat 4/14 HCG was 103. Very strange--I don't imagine I am pg. I went in this morning for another HCG and will get results today. They suspect etopic but I have not felt any pain. I have m/c in the past--hcg levels of 34 with no subtantial increase. I've read in other posts of HCG levels fluctuating higher before ultimately dropping so i'm not hopeful. I will try again once my HCG goes back to Zero. Good luck to everyone who is trying to concieve--

As a follow up to my postings of 4/29, 5/11 & 5/12, My hcg's have only gone from 30 (5/5) -123 (5/10)-210-(5/12) - and today -338. Seemed to almost double then things did not progress over the weekend. I'm scheduled for a D & E (not a D & C) tomorrow. I'll be starting the entire process all over again next month with IUI #8. My doctor now does not think that IVF will work for me since I haven't been able to produce anymore than 6 follicles in one cycle. You need to have at least 9/10 to even be considered for IVF. Wish me luck again girls and good luck to all of you!

Cheryl - just read your post. With six follicals IVF could work, I have many friends that have gotten preg through IVF with only two follicals. I am 43 and I had a very hard time getting two healthy follical. I started acupuncture and teas, I was still not gettoing any more follicals but the quality was getting better. I got pregnant in April natural (just having s_x) I would recommend to everyone who is having problems to check out acupuncture. I'm the Susan that posted May 15th. Good luck to every one.

my peroid is 2 weeks late, i took 3 preganet test they all showed negative. do you think i'm preganet in my tubes?

Thank you Susan. I truely believe the reason that I got pregnant on this past go around was because my husband's volume doubled. The reason it doubled was he had started eating more vegetables and fruits and drinking V-8 juice on a daily basis. I'm big on ma__sage therapy and acupuncture might interest me although I feel more confident now knowing that I can get pregnant at age 40. I have a followup appt next week at the doctor's for blood work and a "plan of action". We may just try IUI again knowing that my husband's sperm count is up. I hear it is easier to get pregnant after a D & C / D & E. I hope that is true! If the next IUI doesn't work we attempt IVF.

Hello ladies, Wow ! I was really happy to come across this forum. I am going through a really tough time right now since my doctors have no CLUE what is going on. The problem began since I had my normal period on April 27 till May 3rd. On May 3rd I was really nauseated and stuff so one of my friends said take a hpt. Well I did and bam if that little buggard didnt change so fast. So after I saw that I said it cant be right and went and bought 5 more this time Clear Blue easy read that says Pregnant or Not Pregnant. And again bam one after another pregnant. So we were so excited. Then it hits. Started lite bleeding and cramping and what not. So this past week so far has been a nightmare. On Monday i go to the doctor for my exam and my urine test is NEGATIVE. But then they did a blood test and it was POSITIVE and my HcG level was 894. Tuesday they sent for a sonogram and said i might be but not sure eptoptic. So ok scared me to death now. Mind you no one knows how far along I am since I had my period and that screws the time line up. So Wed I had to go back again and get my HcG level checked and it is now 1154.8 went up but didnt double. So now we are what they call LIMBO.. waiting to see what is going on. It sucks because every 48 hrs I have to go and give blood to do a HcG level check and we are still unsure if its eptoptic or not. So this waiting is a torture. And as I read these statements its like we are all in limbo and the darn doctors are too worried about themselves to give you a straight forward answer. Then I get a little hope thinking well my number went up so that is a good sign. The only thing it ruled out was a miscarriage but now we gotta worry about eptoptic. Its really scary. My question is how high should your HcG level be?

Because I'm gay, I insemminate to become pregnant, so I'm sort of bunched in with the women who a trying to conceive and are really neuotic about it! Only kidding--it's a hard road sometimes. As for the levels not doubling--I have a lovely 2 year old daughter, and my levels NEVER doubled with her. They just gradually rose over the period of weeks. And once you see a heartbeat on the ultrasound, the hcg levels aren't all that important any more. Now for this new pregnancy, my levels are very low. Who knows if it's viable or not? I'll just hope they are, but my point is that nature works in mysterious ways. Nature knows what it wants, and whether you drink caffeine, or had a few too many before you knew you were pregnant, or whatever. It's not your fault. Nature moves forward, and sometimes it's with not doubling and sometimes it's with low numbers. Know that what's happening in your body is what should be happening. I hope this helps. We all need to relax. Anything could happen.