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7 Weeks Pregnant: Missed Heartbeat & D&C - Seeking Advice


Question
QUESTION: According to my Dr I am 7 weeks pregnant from LMP 10/30. I was taking clomid due to irregular menstrual cycles.  I did the OPK 3 days after my last pill.  I got a positive surge on 11/11/07 so I know i didnt ovulate before that date. i went in for an U/S yesterday 12/21 and they said they can not find a heartbeat and they scheduled me for a D&C.  Could it be too early to detect a heart beat?  Should I wait another week or so?  Please advise

ANSWER: It is possible that you ovulated later than you think, even after the positive OPK.  What day did you get a positive home pregnancy test?  The latest you could have ovulated would be about 8-10 days prior to that.  Once you have pinpointed a maximum date for ovulation, a heartbeat should be detectable by ultrasound within 3 weeks of ovulation.

No matter what, a D&C is not a necessity just yet.  Even if your pregnancy is not viable, you have the option of waiting for your body to miscarry naturally.  If you are concerned about an inaccurate diagnosis (which can happen), avoiding the D&C would eliminate the possibility that you were terminating a viable pregnancy.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I believe i took the PG test on Dec 3rd or 4th b/c I was expecting my period by 11/30.  I was on a 32 day cyle.  I was reading online that sometimes you can't detect a heartbeat until 8 weeks.  I was thinking maybe I was earlier than they said or maybe the position the fetus could of been in

Answer
It is possible that you just weren't far enough along yet.  If you didn't test until December 3, it's possible that you could have ovulated as late as November 26.  This would have put you at only 5 weeks along when you had your ultrasound on December 21, and heartbeats may not be picked up until at least 6 weeks.  I would definitely ask for another check.  You can also ask to have your blood HCG levels checked; if you do two tests two days apart, and the numbers are going up, then your pregnancy is still viable.

Good luck!