HcG Levels

[heinz28]

Hey gals,

I was curious about this in an earlier thread--just had my 2nd blood test done and was wondering about whether I should be concerned. I feel like my counts are kinda high--any potential problem with that? I realize many will think twins but my gut says no, but then again, this is my first. . .

16 DPO: 697
18 DPO: 1811

I've found a bunch of sites that list averages but they are so wildly different and I seem too high according to them.

Nighten: I know you had high numbers-- your doc say anything about them? Naturally, my nurse said 'no worries' but heck, what else am i gonna do?

Welcome to all the latest members! So good to see a lot of us for the short month of FEB 2009!

[nighten]

Your counts are high but not wildly so. Are you planning to have an u/s? That will help you know for sure if it's a singleton or twins.

My numbers were at 14dpo (781) and 16dpo (over 2900 -- I don't have the exact number; I was a bit stunned at the time). Those are high even for the twin range. ETA: And given they were earlier than your tests, and the numbers tend to double every 2-3 days, mine are extraordinarily high, I think.

And while twins don't run in my family, I'll be 40 when the baby/babies arrive, so the older you are the greater the chance of releasing more than one egg. (Plus I had two separate twinges/pains on two different days that could've been implantation.) Do twins run in your/your husband's family? How old are you?

I wouldn't worry about the hCG numbers being high, if I were you. As long as the numbers are doubling or more, that's what counts. (Unless you're concerned about the possibility of twins. In which case having an u/s is the only way to know for sure. I'm worried about it as I'm tired, and have a toddler who doesn't nap, so I want to know for sure, thus the early u/s in 10 days.)

Good luck!

[heinz28]

Thanks for replying Nighten. Your numbers are crazy high! Bet you can't wait to find out what's behind them.

As for age, I'm 32. I'm definitely not as in tune with my body as you are either. I do know my ovulation day but had no physical sense of when it happened. Honestly, I didn't really pay attention to my cycle much until we started trying to get pregnant, and that was about 2 months ago.

Also, no twins in either me or hubby's families.

With those high numbers, do you have any symptoms?

[starling&diesel]

Mine were 1457 at fourteen days past embryo transfer ... which is the same as 14dpo. We go tomorrow to get the next HcG level ... I'll keep you posted!
We transferred two embies, so maybe we've got twins in there?

[nighten]

s&d, sounds like it!!!

heinz, I've got a swollen little belly already. Now granted, I'm really little to begin with (am very short and was around 102 lbs pre-conception and am at 104ish now) but this seems awfully fast for me (4w6d today). Maybe it's not so much that I'm in tune with my body, I think, as it is that I've been through this before and kept a journal last time around. And I've ben re-reading that journal for comparisons. So that's helped a lot.

/hijack

I got another one (same journal) for this time -- called The Pregnancy Journal. So I have it all right there to compare by, if that makes sense. There's another book that's called something like Your Pregnancy Week by Week but it was awful. I remember being appalled when I was reading it because of the whole pro-medical intervention bent (like it talked about how the Doctor will want to shave you and of course you need an episiotomy, etc.). The Pg Journal though isn't that way at all. It's very informative in a nonjudgmental way. I highly recommend it.

Other than that, no additional symptoms (that could indicate twins, at least as far as I know. Unless yeast infections count ).

I'm on pins and needles, I tell you. If it turns out to be twins, we're looking at a major house renovation over the next 9 months. And potentially a new car. Eep. I'd convinced my husband ahead of time that the expense would be minimal, since we already have all the gear...never once occurred to me it could be twins.

[Tenk]

Not in your DDC

My numbers were higher than average too, for this and the last several pregnancies. Mine were high even for the twin range, and I still only have one. I was on 150mg (I think, maybe 200mg) clomid when we conceived this time around too. Still only one baby. With our last DD my numbers were even very high at the begining and she was only 1 baby, but they did tell us at 20 weeks when we did the AFP or triple screen that she had a very high chance of Down's Syndrome. This time, since the numbers were high again, we opted NOT to have the test for Down's Syndrome b/c we are going to love him no matter what. I think that some women just have higher numbers than others naturally, and that's the reason the ranges are so vastly different.

Good luck with you bean mama!!!

[starling&diesel]

In case anyone is curious ... our 21dpo results are in: 20,000!
Good Lord!
Our 14dpo # was 1457 ... so it sure is doubling, to say the least.
We're bracing ourselves for twins. I hope we'll know either way on our first ultrasound on July 2nd.