High but not doubling HcG!?? Worried.....

[annemoonstar]

Hi all,
I had a chemical pregnancy in January and got pregnant again right away. About a week or so into the second pregnancy I had some spotting, so I had two blood tests to check my HcG levels. The first was good--12,000. But the second two days later only went up to 16,500. I think I'm somewhere between 5-7 weeks pregnant. These numbers seem high to me, but my midwife didn't mention them being high. She said it could be fine, but the fact that they aren't doubling is concerning and seems to be preparing me for another miscarriage.

The spotting has stopped and I've had more pregnancy symptoms (fatigue, constipation, progressively more sore breasts, a little nausea), but now I'm anxious again. Does it mean I'm having another miscarriage because the numbers aren't doubling!?

I've been reading different things about the rise of HcG levels and am getting conflicting information. I've read that the numbers don't necessarily double once they are over 6000 but again my midwife didn't mention this. Does anyone know anything about these or have any experience with slower rising HcG levels??

I'd like to hear any thoughts--good or bad. I just want to know what I should expect! Before January I've never been pregnant before.

[celesterra]

That is really frustrating to me - that your m/w expressed concern. It is true that the numbers don't increase as quickly over 6,000, and many practitioners won't even look at them when they're that high, since it doesn't really provide an accurate assessment.

Are you going to have an u/s to determine that you have an intrauterine pregnancy?

I'm 10 weeks pregnant, and right at the beginning (13dpo - 4 weeks) my levels were not doubling, but they were high (as was my progesterone)... but high at 13dpo was nowhere near what you're reporting... mine was 277 I think. My hcg was increasing by 42% every 48 hours (the practice wanted 55%), and I got a call from the nurse telling my that my pregnancy wasn't viable. :angry Turns out she was uninformed and wrong. After my doc saw an intrauterine pregnancy, she didn't even order another hcg draw. Turns out, I had been pregnant with triplets, though Baby C didn't hang on.

I'm sorry for your previous loss, and wish you all the best for this pregnancy. :hug

[annemoonstar]

Thank you for your reply! They are trying to schedule me for an U/S next Monday, which seems like an eternity away! I had another blood test yesterday (at my request) to see if the levels are falling or continuing to rise. I know it isn't conclusive, but somehow I feel like I'll be more prepared for whatever is happening if I continue to track numbers (something about needing some control I guess :o ).

I'm just really disillusioned by the fact that the midwives seem to be siding on the miscarriage scenario if there is evidence that my numbers shouldn't be doubling at this point anyway! I just don't know what to believe!