No Fetal Pole at 5Weeks 6Days Dr Gave Me Cylotec UPDATED

Hi L.,

This happened to me and I did get a second opinion which helped with my choice of a D&C which they were able to obtain a sample for testing.

5 weeks is very early and you never EVER do anything life changing without a second opinion. I wish you the best and hope that doctor was wrong.

I just experienced this myself a few months back. Very unexpected, and sad! I feel for you! My Dr. sent me to have my levels checked. My levels were high, and I knew I should have been far enough along for something to show up, so I didn't have much hope. My levels the next time barely went up, so I knew for sure there was no baby. My Dr. still wanted to wait to make sure. I went back the following week to have another u/s and it still showed empty. So, they set up another appt for a week later to give me the cylotec if I didn't miscarry on my own. Well, that morning of the appt. I felt a gush and began to miscarry. But, with me, I didn't lose everything. 3 days later I cramped and bled very bad...I almost went to the ER. And the next day, heavy bleeding again. The next day, I went to the Dr. and had another u/s only to find out I still had remains in me! So, I was given the pill to take to make me get rid of everything. This finally worked. What a long, drawn out experience. Like, you, I had no spotting or cramping, I just felt very pregnant! I was about 9 weeks along when I miscarried. And, at my first appt. the sac was measuring 5 or 6 weeks. I would talk to your Dr. and maybe in a week or so request another u/s to know 100%. I do recommend taking this pill instead of waiting it out, that way you can get it all out and be done! Best wishes to you, I know how you are feeling!!

It sounds like your gut is already telling you what to do. I really don't know a lot about the drug that you are talking about, but it seems like you could do no harm by waiting. I don't want to give you false hope either, but you don't want to ever make a decision you would regret and if there is ANY chance that the pregnancy could still be viable then I would wait. Go to another doctor or just wait it out and see what happens. Good luck and I wish you the best!

M.

I hada 6 week miscarriage and I am sorry you are facing this possibility. Don't do anything you are uncomfortable with. Call your doctor and ask fo a reapeat ultrasound next week. Or if you are uncomfortable with this, go to a different doctor. Explain that want a second opinion, and that should get you in soon. However, you also seem to feel that your doctor was a bit dismissive of you and your feelings, so you might want to see someone else anyway regardless of the outcome. Good luck.

I'm sorry for your position that you are in now. This happened to me a few years back - but my dr. made sure I was comfortable with the decision at hand. I waited two weeks to see if anything happened on it's own and when it didn't, I was still offered one more week (I was 12 wks at that point), a D&C or the same med as you.
I chose the med b/c I did not want a D&C and I didn't want to drag the process out any further.
My Dr had me take it in the morning on a day that he was on call "in case" I was very glad too, b/c I took it and ended up with an incomplete miscarriage which resulted in lots of bleeding and a D&C anyway that night. I don't say that to scare you, and the chances are very slim that that happens - I would take the same route if I had to. I just think mom's should be sure of their decision and feel completly with it and the dr - so that it does not seem to be a "hurry up and get it out - it just doesn't look good" I hope you will be able to come to a decision you feel sure of and I am truly sorry that this has happened to you.

Hi L.,

I am so sorry you are going through this. Like some of the other women who have responded I also had a miscarriage early on in my pregnancy.

5 weeks is very early, in my mind, to dismiss the pregnancy as non-viable. Your dates may be a bit off and that could be the reason no fetal pole is visible. I am currently 12 weeks pregnant and at my first appointment at 5 weeks all that could be seen was the sac, at least my Dr. did not mention the fetal pole and I could not see it at all in the u/s. Had a second u/s at 8 weeks and baby was doing just fine with a good heartbeat, etc.

Although it is so difficult not knowing I would get a second opinion and even wait for a week and then have another u/s to see if the baby has developed at all. The dates being a bit off could explain everything and I am really shocked that a Dr would recommend ending the pregnancy on so little information. So my advice: make an appointment with another ob/gyn, have another u/s done. If nothing shows up again wait a week and then have another u/s to confirm that the baby has stopped growing.

I wish you all the best.

Hi L.,

I just had a miscarriage in October at 11 weeks and I know how hard it is so I'm really sorry that your going through this right now. I started spotting on a Saturday so instead of waiting until Monday I went to the er, where they determined that I was having a miscarriage and that I too had a blighted ovum. I was so surprised b/c I have had two normal, healthy pregnancies before this one and everything was the exact same with this pregnancy as with my previous pregnancies. I came home to give myself some time to think about what I was going to do next. I decided to have a d&c the following Tuesday.

The fact that you are still so early in this pregnancy, my advice to you is to wait a little longer before you start the medication. Maybe, see if you can schedule another ultrasound in a week and go with the results from that. Because of the way you’re feeling right now, if you start the medication now without a second ultrasound you may always find yourself wondering if you made the right decision or not.
I really hope that this is helpful and again I’m sorry that you’re having to deal with this. I wish you all the best.

I'm in agreement with the other ladies here. Wait a bit until you know, in your mind and heart, that this is not a viable pregnancy. Good luck, L., and God bless you.

I have a friend who recently experienced this. Her hcg levels were high enough that the dr. said a heartbeat should be visible, but they couldn't find one. Her dr. offered a d&c and the medicine (whichever she preferred) or that she could wait and see what happened. Well, a week and a half later she was feeling sick, had a low grade fever, and her body still hadn't miscarried the baby. She went back in to the dr, and she was pregnant! The baby's heartbeat was visible. If you don't feel ready to take the medicine then wait! There's no reason why you can't wait until you feel more comfortable with the situation before taking it.

I'm sorry that you are going through this.

I went through something similar 3 yrs ago when I was 8-11 weeks along. Its still crystal clear in my head. I would ask for the dr. to schedule another ultrasound on Thurs. or Friday morning. Then there should be a change of some type. If not, then you know.

I ended up having the D&C at my drs. advice, because we had been watching the pregnancy over 3 weeks, and in the end there had been no change over the last week and it was obvious to him that my body wasn't getting the message that the pregnancy had ended.

Hugs.
M.

I would get a second opinion. If the second doctor confirms, then I would start the cylotec....better safe than sorry!!

A second opinion in this case is worth the money.

L.,

Let me add to the chorus of voices telling you to wait. There is no harm in a second opinion. 5 weeks is really early- I had an ultrasound at 5+ weeks and only a gestational sac was showing. I had a perfectly normal pregnancy. You sound level headed and reasonable. No harm giving it a week. Best wishes to you- I know how stressful this is.

I'm sorry you are going through this. I've had two miscarriages and the waiting is the hardest part. Are you 100% sure of how far along you are? I would call the Dr and ask for a repeat ultrasound in one week. If there's still an empty sac I think it's safe to say it's a blighted ovum, but waiting won't hurt anything. Odds are the doc is correct though, 13,000 is a high number not to see anything. But crazier things have happened.

L. -

I had a similar situation last year. I went in to have an ultrasound at 6 weeks and everything looked fine but no heartbeat. The doctor said that wasn't totally unusual but to come back in a week for another ultrasound. Still no heartbeat and this time no fetal pole. I opted for a D&C instead of letting my body go through it naturally. While waiting for my scheduled D&C, I had no cramping, bleeding, or anything to make me believe that I wasn't still pregnant. When I got to the office they did a last ultrasound to confirm that this was not a viable pregnancy (just like you, I wanted to be absolutely sure before doing anything since we had tried for years on our own and with medical intervention to get pregnant and I wanted to take no chances). In short, if it makes you feel better, talk to your doctor about doing another ultrasound to put your mind at ease before taking the cylotec.

On another note, the "quickness" of the D&C helped me to deal with losing the pregnancy as opposed to taking medication and letting my body expel it in its own time. I guess I felt some semblance of control since I was the one to schedule it instead of waiting for my body to recognize the failed pregnancy. It was a tough time emotionally but through some miracle we got pregnant (on our own!) soon after and delivered a healthy baby girl this past May.

Hugs - K.

I am so sorry that you have to go through this. I just lost a pregnancy 2 months ago and still am not completely okay with it. I chose to do nothing. I waited I guess thinking that maybe god would let me have this baby. I have three other children and all was fine so I never thought it would happen to me. I could not bare the thought of taking medication to "get rid of it" to me it was still my baby and not just some piece of tissue as my doctor had described. I did not go back to that doctor either. It took almost 7 weeks but my body did expel it. To me that was somewhat closure. It is very difficult. You will actually go into labor and you will dialate. I began spotting 3 days before that happened. Once the cramping started it was over within 2 hours. That gave me enough time to pray for the lost baby and let me feel like I had done everything I could to make it work. Everyone told me that I should have the d&c and just "get it over with". I am thankful that I did not take that advice. I did see another doctor the day after for an ultrasound. At that point there were still things inside my uterus but he was great and just did a follow up appointment in 3 weeks to give my body time. That appointment showed that everything was fine. I still cannot talk much about it because to me it was a baby. Do what you feel is right for you and don't let anyone even the doctor make you do something that you are not 100 percent sure about. There is no do over. Best of luck to you and if there is anything that I can do to help, please let me know. God bless.

I know you already gave an update saying you were seeking a second opinion, but I wanted to say that I agree with the other ladies too that a second opinion is the best thing you could be doing. Five weeks is too early to know whether this pregnancy is viable or not and there are many, many stories of women who were told a pregnancy wasn't viable, sought a second opinion, or had one last ultrasound right before a scheduled D&C and there was a baby with a heartbeat on the screen! You might want to check out this website for more information on this subject as many women share their stories (www.misdiagnosedmiscarriage.com).

I work at a pregnancy clinic where we do ultrasounds and they don't even schedule the ultrasounds until the women are at a minimum of 7 wks for the very reason that often it is hard to detect a heartbeat and see much prior to that. By 7 wks a heartbeat should be detected by an ultrasound machine. So I heartily agree that you should wait a couple weeks, get that second opinion, and not do anything hasty until you know for sure that this pregnancy will end in miscarriage.

Wishing you the best,
M.