[gradstudentmommy]

Hi Ladies,

I started having some brown spotting last night and again this morning. I called my midwives and they sent me for a vaginal ultrasound. The baby looked fine and its heart rate was apparently normal (120 bpm) but I was only measuring 6 weeks 2 days and I think I'm 8 weeks 2 days! They keep telling me I must be wrong about my conception date but I only had sex once that entire month on July 23. So even if I ovulated 4 days after that and the sperm was still alive, that would still mean the baby is measuring WAY smaller than it should. This combined with the spotting is giving me a very bad feeling. The nurse, "If we just looked at this report, we'd say everything is fine." She can't explain the difference in the due dates since I'm positive about the day I had sex.

The ultrasound tech said the test is accurate +/- 4 days. So EVEN if the ultrasound was wrong and I'm 6 weeks 6 days and those sperm lived like 4 days before fertilizing the egg, the numbers are still way off.

Any thoughts? Has anyone ever had any experience with a baby measuring smaller than it should? I never had any spotting with either of my other two pregnancies so this is very, very stressful.

 

[Amandamanda]

okay well i just looked it up and it said that sperm can live up to 7 days- so its possible you didn't ovulate till the 30th and would be about 7 weeks today. the ultrasound can be off by about a week either direction, so i mean, you could still be just fine. try to relax.

 

[gradstudentmommy]

Thanks for looking that up Amandamanda. The other piece I forgot to mention is that I got two positive pregnancy tests on 8/4/09. So even if sperm could live a week and I really got pregnant on the 30th, I couldn't possibly have a positive pregnancy test on 8/4/09. But I'm staring right at the tests (yes, I saved them and they're labeled with the date.)

I will try to relax since it's out of my control. I just wish they could have told me what it meant to be measuring small. I did see one site that said either I'm wrong about my conception date or a miscarriage is imminent. That didn't exactly comfort me.

 

[Pepper44]

With my last pregnancy the baby stopped growing at 7 weeks, 5 days but stayed alive until 12 weeks. The placenta wasn't developed right and eventually it pulled away...

I hope yours is something different, maybe it's just a case of dates being slightly off and the ultrasound being slightly off also.

 

[Amandamanda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gradstudentmommy Thanks for looking that up Amandamanda. The other piece I forgot to mention is that I got two positive pregnancy tests on 8/4/09. So even if sperm could live a week and I really got pregnant on the 30th, I couldn't possibly have a positive pregnancy test on 8/4/09. But I'm staring right at the tests (yes, I saved them and they're labeled with the date.) I will try to relax since it's out of my control. I just wish they could have told me what it meant to be measuring small. I did see one site that said either I'm wrong about my conception date or a miscarriage is imminent. That didn't exactly comfort me.

okay, lets do another scenario then! miscarriage is NOT definitely imminent. quit reading stuff on the internet (except for here haha)

so lets say you had sex on the 23rd (which you did haha)
and then the spermies lived for 5 days, and you ovulated on the 28th. people have gotten positive pregnancy tests at 8dpo, which is what you wouldve been on 8/4. which would make you about 7w4d today. the ultrasound could be off by a week, showing 6w2d, its a little off, but not that much.

just relax. you saw a baby with a heartbeat, and that is really all that matters at this point right? id say if you REALLY need peace of mind ask to come back next week (or even in a few days if you are really worried) and get rescanned. i know how stressful not knowing is.

another thing i was going to mention, and i know nothing about twins or anything so it is just a theory- but is it possible that you were pg with twins (would explain getting an early bfp if your levels were super high) and the body reabsorbed one? (the brown spotting). dont twins usually measure , smaller at first than singletons? sorry if this theory upsets you- im just thinking.

 

[gradstudentmommy]

Pepper44-sorry to hear about your loss. That must have been very hard.

Amandamanda-Great theory about twins! I actually had a feeling I was pregnant with twins and was half expecting to see two sacs on the ultrasound. So maybe you're theory is right. Where did you read that ultrasounds can be a week off? My ultrasound tech said the margin of error if 4 days either direction. I've read online 3-4 days at this stage (as the pregnancy progresses to 18 weeks, it's more like 7-10 days margin of error).

I just happen to have my first midwives appointment next Friday so I can discuss it with the midwive then. In the meantime, I'm just trying to think positive thoughts and hope this spotting stops.

 

[Amandamanda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gradstudentmommy Where did you read that ultrasounds can be a week off? My ultrasound tech said the margin of error if 4 days either direction. I've read online 3-4 days at this stage (as the pregnancy progresses to 18 weeks, it's more like 7-10 days margin of error)

a quick google search turned up this on americanpregnancy.org
(i know this isnt your situation, but it was the best i could find haha)

Quote:

How accurate are ultrasounds in determining the conception date to determine paternity? Your healthcare provider will use hormone levels in your blood, the date of your last menstrual period and, in some cases, results from an ultrasound to generate an expected date of conception. However, many differences in each woman's cycle may hinder the accuracy of the conception date calculation. The viability of sperm varies as well, which means that intercourse three to five days prior to ovulation may result in conception. Ultrasound dating of conception is not reliable for determining paternity because the ultrasound can be off by at least 5-7 days in early pregnancy.

 

[Riverbeauty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gradstudentmommy Where did you read that ultrasounds can be a week off? My ultrasound tech said the margin of error if 4 days either direction. I've read online 3-4 days at this stage (as the pregnancy progresses to 18 weeks, it's more like 7-10 days margin of error).

When I got my ultrasound done the doc who did it (both times, different docs) said that they check for size and if it is within a week of your EDD they go with your EDD because the u/s can be off by about a week. Both times my baby measured 1 1/2 weeks further along than I think it is... because I know exactly which day I ovulated and we only had sex ONCE that whole week... so I either have a big baby for gestational age... or I have a super egg and my hubby has super sperm because for them both to survive more than 6 days to wait to be ferilized would be quite a feat.

 

[sanguine_speed]

Just wanted to tell you I'm in the same boat. Based on HcG along with my fertility monitoring, I *know* I should be 9w5d give or take implantation time, and I'm measuring 7w1d at u/s (and it's NOT possible that I conceived other than when I think I did, unless I sat the wrong way on a soiled toilet

. I got a full period's worth of bleeding and thought I was not pregnant. I've been in and out of the hospital and last week there was no fetal pole, even though I should have been 8+ weeks based on dates and hormones, but then 2 days later they found a small baby and slow heartbeat. Been back again, and I'm still measuring very behind, and hormones aren't increasing appropriately, even though they are very high for 7 weeks (and I know I should be 9+). They found a hematoma that could explain the heavy bleeding early on and the slow growth. So I, like you, am in limbo. It could go either way. I go back next week again. HUGS.

 

[gradstudentmommy]

Oh Sanguine Speed, I'm so sorry. Isn't the limbo awful? Did your doctor give you any hypotheses about why the baby would be measuring small? After all the research I've done, I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I will probably miscarry. I'm hoping for the best but expecting the worst. It's sad. I'm sorry you're in the same boat because I wouldn't wish this on anyone. Feel free to send me a private message if you want to talk about this more offline. ((((Hug))))

 

[gradstudentmommy]

Ooops-Sanguine Speed I realized you said your doctor thinks the hematoma may explain the slow growth. In my case they didn't seem to have any idea. They acted like they'd never seen this before (or they still think I'm wrong about my conception date).

 

[MyZymurgy]

I am so sorry you are going through this.

If you weren't keeping track of when you DTD, you'd think everything was just fine... which I still think it might be. I'll keep you and you baby in my prayers, and I hope we hear good news from you soon.

 

[sanguine_speed]

Thanks gradstudent. The hematoma is a wild hypothesis. They also look bewildered and offer no answers except "I've never seen this before".

. Good luck to us both!!!!

 

[gradstudentmommy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MyZymurgy I am so sorry you are going through this. If you weren't keeping track of when you DTD, you'd think everything was just fine... which I still think it might be. I'll keep you and you baby in my prayers, and I hope we hear good news from you soon.

What a lovely thing to say. Thank you. I do think I'm wrong about the day I ovulated. It's possible I'm 5 days less pregnant than I think. That, combined with the ultrasound maybe being off by 4 days makes my baby only 5 days behind. Of course, that would assume I could have gotten a positive pregnancy test at 7DPO! (I found a few women who claim this happened to them).

At least the spotting has stopped for now.

 

[gradstudentmommy]

Hi Mamas,

In case anyone is still reading this, I thought I'd give an update. The spotting lasted 24 hours. Then stopped for 2 days but I had a little mucus discharge (looked similar to egg white cervical mucus). Then yesterday I had some bright pink spotting in the A.M. I called the nurse midwife on call and she said it "could" still be normal. She said there's a lot of blood flow to the uterus and the transvaginal ultrasound may have caused some bleeding. She said unless I start bleeding heavily, I should just go in for my regularly scheduled appointment on Friday. I was also having mild/moderate cramps, like menstrual cramps yesterday. Though they seemed to get better when I took probiotics so some of that may have been my IBS acting up. The pink spotting was only that once and now it's back to very scant, intermittent brown spotting/staining.

So that's the update for now. I'm hoping for the best on Friday. It's not over yet!

 

[Carley]

 

[CherryBomb]

Oh, that must be never-wracking!

 

[shantiani]

: for Friday.

 

[Mandynee22]

Good luck on Friday. I hope everything is fine

 

[MyZymurgy]

I bet Friday seems FOREVER away...

I've had menstrual-like cramps in early pregnancy with both of my pregnancies. I think it is fairly common.

I hope you get wonderful and reassuring news on Friday! Thanks for keeping us posted!