Pregnancy & PCOS: A Patient's Experience with Early Pregnancy Complications

Question
I have PCOS and found out I was pregnant 2 weeks ago. When I told the midwife I have PCOS she did not seem to listen to me. They called in the my prenatal pills and I left. On Thursday the 27 I started spotting very light pink like my period was going to start. Called the doctor and the told me to go to the hospital. I went to the hospital and they put me on bed rest. The next day it got worse the blood then began to get red. No cramps but a little heavier. They sent me in to do an ultra sound and she said I was to gassy to see anything. When she did the vaginal ultrasound I was in a lot of pain felt like she was tearing my ovaries. She said there was no egg so not having an eptopic pregnancy but it was to early to see anything with the other ultrasound. After I left the hospital I started cramping and the blood got heavier. They told me my Hcg levels were dropping and I was having a miscarriage. I asked the doctor if my cervix was open and he said no. I went back on Saturday and Sunday and they would not do a D&C or give me any medication. They told me they wanted me to see my doctor on Monday. I don't think the doctors were considering my pcos.Today is seven days and the bleeding has complete stopped. I bled like I was on my cycle. Do you think that there is a possibility that I am still pregnant? I still feel pregnant and I still have the weight. When the bleeding stopped I took another at home pregnancy test and it came back positive.What are the chance that the doctors are wrong? Should I get another opinion? Please advise.

Answer
Dear Janae,

Women who have PCOS typically have a hard time conceiving a pregnancy, but many who do become pregnant have healthy babies. There is a higher incidence of gestational diabetes, pregnancy-induced high blood pressure, miscarriage and premature delivery, but many PCOS pregnancies are managed quite well. I just felt I needed to share that with you because you seemed panicked about your PCOS. There really was no need to be. The biggest issue with PCOS sufferers is becoming pregnant in the first place.

The information about the scans I had a hard time understanding. Did they see a gestational sac in your uterus? A trans-vaginal ultrasound should have given them a clear view of everything they needed to see.

The PCOS will not affect your hCG levels. In the early weeks of a healthy pregnancy, hCG levels will double every 48-72 hours. If your hCG level is falling, then unfortunately the pregnancy is most likely failing or lost. A home pregnancy test may still be reading positive because it will take at least a few weeks for the hCG to come back down to a non-pregnant level.

You really do need to see your OB doctor. He/she will run another quantitative blood pregnancy test to see exactly what your hCG level is. You will then know for sure whether the pregnancy is progressing or failing. They also need to know the date of your last menstrual period so that they can calculate how far along you should be and whether the ultrasound results were significant. If you were not 4 weeks at that point, they may not have been able to see anything yet. I would suggest you see your doctor as soon as possible.

I hope this information has helped you and answered your question. I wish you well.

Brenda