inconclusive

Well, my ultrasound on Friday didn’t go how I would have liked. I was nervous, but really wasn’t too worried- since my hCG is already so much better than last time (Thursday’s number was 5700- up from 1907 on Tuesday). The ultrasound tech is the same lady I had for my very first ultrasound, and also for the ultrasound I found out that I was miscarrying. I think at first she thought I was being abused or something, because she looked quite surprised when she looked at my stomach and it was covered with bruises. Then once I clarified, she looked relieved. :)

She did her thing and didn’t say much. I still wasn’t worried, because the first ultrasound I had back in August, she didn’t say much either until the end. So, I thought this was just like that time. At the end though, she said she was going to talk to the doctor and be right back. She was gone for 30 minutes, which really started to make me worry. When she got back, I asked her if everything was ok, and she said the ultrasound was “inconclusive”. I asked her to clarify, and basically she said she saw a gestational sac but no fetal pole. Don’t know what that is? Yeah, neither did I. So, I wikipedia’d it:

The fetal pole is a thickening on the margin of the yolk sac of a fetus during pregnancy. It is usually identified at 6.5 weeks with abdominal ultrasound imaging, and 6 weeks with vaginal ultrasound imaging. However it is quite normal for the fetal pole to not be visible until about 9 weeks. The fetal pole may be seen at 2–4 mm crown-rump length (CRL), and heart motion is often detected when it is seen. In the embryo, the heartbeat is seen as a regular flutter, which should be first evident at 5 mm CRL. If the embryo is less than 5 mm CRL, it is possible for it to be healthy without showing a heartbeat, though a follow up study in 5–7 days will almost always demonstrate the heartbeat.

Last time I was pregnant, I saw a heartbeat and everything at the first ultrasound, but I got it at 6 weeks; this time they sent me at 5 weeks. So, I’m just hoping that it was too early to see anything. Of course if you look up “ultrasound, no fetal pole” you get everything from “don’t worry, sometimes it’s too early to tell” to “this is a sign you will miscarry”. So, yay! I love not knowing. I just wish they hadn’t sent me in so early. Sigh. So, I’m waiting for Dr. David’s office to call me today to tell me what my blood levels were from this morning, and also to talk to me about the ultrasound. I hope they think it’s ok; that will help me a little.

More waiting, more not knowing. I think it’s positive that my hcG has been good so far (though we’ll see what it says today); so, I’m hoping that means things are going to be ok. Though it doesn’t help that you can find stories online that say “my hcG was great, but they didn’t see a fetal pole and I miscarried.” Blech. There are also stories that say “They didn’t see a fetal pole, but a week later, they did, and now all is well.” So, it goes both ways.

Just more waiting, and crossing of fingers.

~M