Could I have ovulated BEFORE a D&C (blighted ovum)?

dikkilona

New member
I want to start off by saying, this community has been my rock. Thank you to everyone! This is my first time posting here - please redirect me if this is inappropriate in any way!

I hope this post answers questions of at least one other struggling person and I am hoping for some answers too.

See a quick summary at the bottom.

A little background: I have a 2 and a half year old daughter that we conceived on the first try and I have a super predictable 28 day period, like clockwork.

6 weeks ago, my husband got back from a 2 month trip abroad and we got pregnant on the first day. I had a very faint BFP on 14 dpo that did not darken very much over the next few days. I instinctively new something was off.

I am an overthinking, methodical, analytical (scientist) by nature and after obsessively peeing on an obscene amount of test, I reached out to my OB/GYN’s office to order blood tests.

According to my calculations, at 5 weeks, my HcG betas were only at 90 and subsequent tests at 48 hour intervals increased by 30-35% over the next few weeks. Very low and slow, but frustratingly, still increasing.

This has been the worst December of my life!

Dr. scheduled an ultrasound to rule out an ectopic 2 days before Christmas (huge relief!) and scheduled a follow up US a weeks later.

Two days before my next US, I started spotting on my birthday, even though my HcG levels were still steadily climbing. At the US, they could see an empty sack measuring 3 weeks behind.

Please don’t judge me, but I felt…relief. I felt I dodged many bullets and that an early loss is far leas traumatic to me than holding on to a dream that never existed.

I had a very “text-book” uneventful D&C this morning.

My take-away from this part: Allow yourself to feel the feels, even if isn’t socially normal.

To my bizarre question:

I continued tracking my symptoms throughout this weird failed pregnancy. At the date that I would normally have ovulated (2 weeks ago), I had all my normal ovulation symptoms: mild cramping, EW CM, high libido out of nowhere. I made a note, but ignored it.

Then, when my normal period was scheduled to start, I had all my normal period symptoms: cramping, bleeding (although light), specific acne patterns, insane chocolate craving.

Is there any way that my cycle resumed when the pregnancy failed early on with low HcG levels?

Summary: I experienced normal ovulation and period symptoms (although anecdotal) while having a failing pregnancy (blighted ovum) BEFORE my D&C. Any similar experiences or advice please?
 
@dikkilona Generally speaking, it’s not possible to ovulate while hCG levels are still nonzero, since this will keep estrogen and progesterone levels high enough to suppress follicular selection and ovulation.

I’m sorry for your loss, and hope that you’ll be back to ovulating normally soon after your D&C.
 
@mcg1102 Hi developmentalbiology. I genuinely appreciate your speedy response.

I typically have the same facts in the back of my mind, but upon digging in the literature, it seems that this is not always true. (Some not-so-light reading: hCG and fertility after d&c.90383-1/pdf) AND ovulation after medical abortion01122-2/fulltext) AND ovulation and spontaneous miscarriage.

Although some of these studies are older, it seems that the presence of hCG is not enough to suppress ovulation.

Although the outcome of my obsessive reading will have no effect on my current situation, I guess I am simply trying to silence my overthinking mind.

Thank you again for helping with that! I shall stop researching now…or try at the very least!
 
@dikkilona I’m puzzled — these studies are referring to resumption of ovulation after D&C, administration of pregnancy-terminating medication, clearance of hCG down to 2mIU/mL or less, etc.

It is possible to ovulate while hCG levels are being reduced, which is why I started my comment with “generally speaking”, but it’s unlikely, and it’s probably not best to hang your hat on the idea that it did happen.
 
@mcg1102 Thanks for weighing in! Yes, definitely not common “generally speaking”.

Again, fortunately the answer will have no outcome on my past, present or future. Just curious!

Hope to be back to this group with a positive long-term outcome soon 🙂
 
I think the take-away from your post is that our bodies and ttc is more complex than I ever imagined. Although we have experienced losses and I cannot imagine you must be going through, our bodies are pretty incredible and I hope you have great success in the future!

Thank you for confirming that anything is possible!
 
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