empty sac?

[x-kirsty-x]

just writing this for one of my friends, wasnt sure which section to put it in but anyway....

My friend is 10 weeks pregnant and apart from a positive test she hasnt really had any symptoms. When she went to the doctors to confirm her pregnancy they told her they wouldnt repeat the test as the home test shed done was proof enough.

About a week ago she started having dark pink discharge which carried on for a few days and turned into heavier bleeding but not with pains. It didnt have clotting either. She rang the hospital who said she wasnt to go into the maternity ward, she had to go to out of hours GP centre instead.

By the time shed been examined the bleeding had died down and the doctor told her there was no evidence of a miscarriage or anything like that.

Heres the weird part....she went for a scan today and they told her they could see the sac but they couldnt see anything in it. I asked if she'd ever listened to the babys heartbeat but she hasnt. The doctors told her that perhaps the foetus is too small to see but at 10 weeks I thought it would be visible.

She did a pregnancy test when she got home as obviously she's confused and the test was positive. Now she has to wait 10 days for another scan but she's really worried, just wanted to ask if anyone knows about these things so i can put her mind at rest.

Any help appreciated, kirsty xxx

 

[Lucy]

Hi Kirsty

I had an early scan when I thought I was 9 wks pregnant but the scan showed that my baby Olivia was only 6wks old so my dates were - could it be that your friend's dates are also out?

Lucy

 

[Rachael]

Hiya Kirsty

By 10weeks gestation a baby and it's heartbeat should be detectable on an ultrasound scan. However it is quite possible that your friend is not as far along as she thinks.
A fetal heartbeat is detectable by 42 days gestational age (six weeks from her last normal menstrual period. It is usually easier to detect a heartbeat using transvaginal technique than transabdominal technique, this is due to the fact that the transvaginal ultrasound probe is closer to the embryonal heart. If your friend had an abdominal scan, its possible that the baby was too small to be seen, especially if the baby is younger than she has calculated.

She may need to take into consideration factors suchas if she is uncertain of her LMP, if her cycles are longer than 28 days, if her menstrual cycles are irregular in duration. Any one of these factors could make her pregnancy fewer weeks in gestation and therefore she should not be discouraged that a heartbeat has not yet been seen.

Hope this helps

 

[Manda]

I had an empty sac with my 1st pregnancy, i had positive tests and started bleeding but had no pain or clots when i went for a scan the sac was empty i was told to go back the following week then again the week after that it was confirmed the sac was empty, on my 2nd pregnancy i had same bleeding again went for scan i was 5 1/2 weeks pregnant and there was a heart beat. maybe her dates are out or maybe it's not meant to be this time.

 

The girls have given some great advice, but I just wanted to send my well wishes to your friend, the early weeks are scary especially when you are so confused as to what is going on.