Should we track HcG levels?

[clairebear0239]

Hi fellow worriers

When I find this subreddit I felt like I find my comrades, so please don’t take my greeting using “worriers” as offensive. If anything, I feel so relatable to so many stories and questions posted here. I also find the responses so overwhelmingly heartwarming and comforting. I feel like I find my support group and this is the right place to ask my questions with similarly mind people

I had a chemical pregnancy in my last cycle. It was my first experience getting pregnant. I knew chemical was likely, tried not to get too excited and hopeful, but failed completely. After 10 days of hoping and inevitably attached to the embryo, my first response test turned from bright line to faint line, and I started bleeding soon after. It was so hard and despite trying to move past it as soon as possible and focus on the next cycle, I cried uncontrollably at least three times in the week after. It was a level of emotional pain I never experienced before.

Now onto now, just ovulated according to my tracker and we caught the peak. Planning ahead, I am thinking of tracking my hcg if I get pregnant this time. I have two questions about this. First, how do you get doctors to test this for you? My obstetrician is the typical not testing unless there is some signs to worry about type. I can’t imagine her agreeing to test me every 2 to 3 days just to satisfy my need to know.

Second, should I be tracking hcg levels at all? I know chemical can happen any time until week 7, so if I track it starting at week 4, that would be 3 weeks of blood tests every other day? Even if my levels increase well until say 5weeks, there’s no guarantee that it will stay that way until after chemical pregnancy window. So basically I just have to test until week 7?

Thank you in advance! I hope my post doesn’t violate any rules but it does, I’m happy to revise it.

 

[jpmac]

@clairebear0239 A miscarriage can happen at any time. Before 7 weeks, after 7 weeks, after strong betas, after a strong heartbeat is seen, and there’s nothing we can do to intervene. Also when your Hcg rises above 1500 (which can happen as early as 15dpo) they don’t necessarily double every 48.

It makes sense to want all the info in the world after a loss but at a point we just have to accept that we have no control over what’s happening and even getting good data doesn’t guarantee a positive outcome.

I would say that getting 2 betas to confirm that things are rising appropriately is fine. Your doc should do this to confirm pregnancy. More than that is overkill and only needed if the first draws are inconclusive. Then get a viability scan sometime between 6-9wk to see if there’s a heartbeat. Then work with your doctor for scans after that. It’s really all there is to do.

 

[clairebear0239]

@jpmac Thank you for the wise words! Much appreciated as I was obsessing over how to know for sure everything is ok. I feel like I was down the wrong path but hearing from you and others might be just the thing needed to pull myself back

 

[somebodysangel_88]

@clairebear0239 From my personal experience, testing your betas more than once or twice is a level of hell I never want to go through again. This is my first pregnancy, I’m currently 5wk4 days and will be having my second ultrasound on Wednesday because for some reason my doc decided I needed to have my levels tested every 48hrs for the first full week after I found out I was pregnant at 3wk2 days, even though I have no additional risk factors other than suspected endometriosis. My levels didn’t double how she wanted (took around 74 hours instead of the ideal of 48-72) and even after we located the gestational sac in my uterus at 4wk6 days she is still acting like this could be ectopic, even though I have zero symptoms that would indicate it. I had to decline further beta testing because I can’t handle the spiraling it causes when my doc literally admitted that knowing the levels doesn’t actually give any answers, and won’t change the course of action. I’d say get your levels taken to confirm pregnancy and then let it be. Knowing what your levels are won’t change anything and at least in my case has done nothing except cause endless worry and anxiety, and steal all the joy I initially had when I found out I was pregnant. I wish we had just taken my one level and left it at that to be checked on in the early ultrasound.

 

[tigr]

@clairebear0239 I think it much more likely a chemical will happen before 5w, as that is when the hcg usually is sufficient to support visualization of some evidence of a gestational sac and thus it becomes a clinical pregnancy. If you want betas, maybe consider getting one at 16dpo and one at 5w. Then you know doubling times, and whether you are likely out of chemical territory.

 

[lokii]

@clairebear0239 Personally, I’m really glad I was getting betas. They were doubling every 48 hours at first, and then around 5 weeks they slowed down. This allowed me to know the pregnancy was not viable in advance. I’m now 9 weeks and just started miscarrying 2 days ago. I’m so glad I didn’t spend the last month assuming everything was okay and I was going to bring a baby home. Because I already knew the outcome, I prepared myself mentally and physically for an eventual miscarriage. The miscarriage starting was not a shock and I am ready for it to be over.

Meanwhile, the last time I had a loss at 8.5 weeks, I was totally blindsided because I had not done betas and hadnt had my first ultrasound yet. I spent a month in absolute anxiety because while my symptoms were minimal, I told myself all was must be going well since I haven’t miscarried, so I did do some dreaming and planning for a baby.

I much prefer to know what’s going on.

 

[marina1]

@lokii If you don’t mind me asking, did you have any pregnancy symptoms prior to your current miscarriage?

 

[lokii]

@marina1 I did have symptoms during week 4. I was super bloated, exhausted, and started having acid reflux at night. All symptoms I usually get during a successful pregnancy. At the start of week 5 the symptoms started to disappear and that’s when I got worried so I kept up on the betas. During week 5 that’s when my betas started to slow down and I knew it was over. I’m 9 weeks now, so for the past month I’ve already known this isn’t viable and I’ve just been waiting to miscarry. I haven’t had any symptoms at all this whole past month; don’t feel pregnant at all.

 

[marina1]

@lokii I feel the same way. I had a miscarriage last year at 12 weeks and I just felt something was off the entire time because I felt too good to be pregnant. I’m currently 5 weeks and have no symptoms. Just some slight pulling in my uterus and that’s it. No cravings. No aversions. No nausea. No fatigue. My beta went up high in one week but I am following this closely. The lack of symptoms is getting me ready mentally for a miscarriage again.

 

[lokii]

@marina1 Well, there’s plenty of anecdotes across Reddit of women having no symptoms at all and it turns out fine. For me though, lack of symptoms was always a warning sign things stopped developing. That’s why betas are key, the numbers don’t lie and you don’t have to guess. You’ll know where you truly stand.

 

[ibelieveinmiracles]

@clairebear0239 I would test from when you get a positive home pregnancy test for perhaps 4-6 blood tests after. If you're doubling, I would stop testing and be happy! Sending so much love.