Those of you who've had chemical pregnancies...

how many betas did you go for? How high did your #s get?
I'm sorry- I know a bunch of you FMd me but my head is too jumbled right now I am trying to remain realistic throughout this..... but am also a planner and am hating this game.

Also, if they (by some miracle) continue to go up, at what point will they do a sonogram to find out what's 'really' going on?
Thank you.

Re: Those of you who've had chemical pregnancies...

For me, I was in beta he!! for about 4 weeks. Mine kept flucuating, up and down. I honestly can't remember how many beta's I had done, I want to say somewhere around 8. After my beta went up again they did a sono because my nurse was concerned I would need a D&C which I didn't.

ETA: My 2nd beta did drop instead of rise (although it dropped very slightly). They had me stop my PIO shots that day, but it still took a long time for my beta to drop below 5

Message edited 8/11/2008 2:30:01 PM.

Re: Those of you who've had chemical pregnancies...

My 1st beta was 8 and by my 2nd beta (5 days later) all they said was that it was under 5 (anything over 5 is technically pg).

Re: Those of you who've had chemical pregnancies...

I had 4 I believe- My numbers were creeping up very steadily, never doubling at all...They were watching me for an ectopic, but once I stopped my PIO, my #'s went back to 0

Re: Those of you who've had chemical pregnancies...

I think I had I had to go in 3 or 4 times over two weeks. But, I was bleeding, so it went down fast. Mine was natural conception (what a foreign word) so my first beta was at the ER and it was 90.

Re: Those of you who've had chemical pregnancies...

Posted by MrsMessina

also, if they (by some miracle) continue to go up, at what point will they do a sonogram to find out what's 'really' going on?
Thank you.

Re: Those of you who've had chemical pregnancies...

This is kind of the pattern my losses followed except the #'s were higher. Mine, we think, were ectopic. Make sure they are monitoring you well and if for some reason they don't start going down ask about methotrexate.

Re: Those of you who've had chemical pregnancies...

You know my story but I was in beta hell for 3 weeks (it was going up - doubling, then not, but still raising)....they had me go in every 2 days until my arm turned blue and there was "no more blood".....

They thought it was ectopic so I had about 10 sonos as well during that time and almost got the shot (because they did not see anything in the uterus) but then I started bleeding on my own...it took about 10 days for my beta to go down....

They told me your HCG levels must be at least 1,000 for a sono to show a sac in the uterus...

Re: Those of you who've had chemical pregnancies...

Mine was 10 and then for the second went down to 6.

Re: Those of you who've had chemical pregnancies...

My first chemical beta was a 12 and then the next day was under 5. The second chemical beta was over 300 (I was technically 5 weeks pregnant) but my progesterone was very low at 3. Within a week the beta dropped to below 5. They made me come in for a total of 3 beta tests to make sure it resolved naturally and there was no ectopic.

Re: Those of you who've had chemical pregnancies...

I hope I don't sound too dumb here.
It can't be etopic if they placed the embryos into my uterus, right? B/c once they are in there they aren't going to move someplace else, right? I am so clueless when it come to all of this...

So even if by some slim chance it continues to double or more, there's still a chance this isn't viable.... right?
I wish I could figure this all out.... ugh.

I 'think' I'm 5 weeks give or take a day, b/c my LMP was on 7/7. So there would be no point in them doing a sono this early, right? I guess i just have to see what Wednesday brings....

Re: Those of you who've had chemical pregnancies...

I dealt with it for almost three weeks -
1st Beta - 49
2nd Beta(week later) - 79
3rd beta (five days later) - 64
4th beta (three days) - 69
5th beta (next day) - 48
Dr. took me off meds, got AF five days after going off meds...went in for CD2 testing - beta of 59
Went back five days later - beta was finally below 5.

It may or may not be ectopic. Actually, I was worried about the same thing but Dr. K said the number would double better if it was ectopic. The kind of number I had were indicative of a chemical.
It is possible for an embryo to travel out of the uterus into a tube and implant there. Apparently they can implant anywhere.
But, again, in your case - not likely.
Yes, even if the numbers double it's most likely still not viable.
At this point you are 20dpo...which puts you at exactly four weeks.
They wouldn't do a sono until five/six weeks at the earliest and then you would see a sac.
A week later you would see a yolk sac, sac.
Then another week for the heartbeat.

Re: Those of you who've had chemical pregnancies...

I was told that it cannot be ectopic if they do IVF. Having had a previous ectopic, I am running the risk of another by doing IUIs. They said the only sure way would be IVF.

(And when I did have the ectopic, my numbers were all good.)

HTH

Re: Those of you who've had chemical pregnancies...

Re: Those of you who've had chemical pregnancies...

I have heard of ectopics via IVF, but I am this is not the case - that either you have a miracle or your numbers will drop.

Re: Those of you who've had chemical pregnancies...

Re: Those of you who've had chemical pregnancies...

You can definitely have an ectopic pregnancy with IVF...it happens a lot....the embryo before it implants floats in the uterus and sometimes it exits it and floats around the fellopian tube implanting there......

I don't think that is your case but I guess you never know until you get monitored...your levels are pretty low for it to be an ectopic pregnancy since they were only 20 at 20DPO (5 weeks)...

This is what happened to me during my first cycle....they thought it was ectopic because my beta was going up but they could not see anything in the uterus until (at 7weeks) I started bleeding and miscarried......the RE still called it a possible chemical pregnancy because no heartbeat was found but he did not rule out an ectopic which he said could have resolved its self on its own..........

Message edited 8/12/2008 9:22:47 AM.

Re: Those of you who've had chemical pregnancies...

And related to this topic - the RE's are so careful to place the embryos into the center of the uterus. Does this really matter? My only guess is that they are just trying to keep it away from the tubes as much as possible. But, they don't implant immediately. Though a 5dt will implant faster than a 3dt.

Re: Those of you who've had chemical pregnancies...

Just wanted to jump in and say, even though I have no experience with chemicals, I do have experience with ectopics. My betas were semi-high, progesterone was very low, but the betas did not double properly. Both of mine were tubal.

And yes, you can have an ectopic with IVF. IVF helps avoid the tubes, however, given my history of tubal pregnancies, and the fact that my one remaining tube was partially blocked, Dr. B. absolutely refused to do an IVF cycle on me until both my tubes were removed in order to make sure that my chance for an ectopic was much lower.

Also, he did point out that there is a tiny piece of your tube that is inside of your uterus - the chance of an ectopic there is EXTREMELY slim, but it is possible. So, while IVF is the best option for those with tubal issues, the ectopic possibility still does exist.

Also, the embryos do move after transfer - one of the reasons I am no longer pg with twins is because one embryo ended up implanting way too low - too close to my cervix which hindered the development of the placenta.