QuestionI am 40, have a 14 y.o. daughter, have had 3 spontaneous abortions and should be 11 weeks pregnant. LMP was 09-16-05. On 11-02-05 and 11-10-05 pregnancy tests were positive. In week 6 I had a scant amount of spotting, probably less than 10 mL total over 3 days. I didn't go in for an exam as they thought it was implantation spotting. I did not have any pain or discomfort with it.
I went for a confirmatory ultrasound today, 12-16-05. The tech did both abdominal and transvaginal. All that is visible is a fetal pole in the sac. Is there any chance that this is a viable pregnancy?
Where in gestation does the contents of the uterus no longer show as a fetal pole but as a fetus? Anything else that you can explain on this subject would be greatly appreciated.
AnswerIf your lst period started on September 16, you should now be 13 weeks pregnant. (We count pregnancy from the first day of your last period, not from the date of conception).Usually, after 6 weeks (from your last period) we see a fetal pole and a fetal heartbeat on sonogram. At 5-6 weeks, we can see an empty gestational sac. Prior to 5 weeks we do not see anything on sonogram. If they did see a fetal pole, but no fetal heartbeat it does not sound good. What was the measurement of the fetal pole? Did the sonogram say how far pregnant it was? If you have not had any vaginal bleeding, I would suggest that you repeat the sonogram in one week to see if there was any further growth. If not and there still is no fetal heartbeat, then it is not a viable pregnancy and is considered a "missed abortion". A fetal pole is the same as a fetus but is too small to see any characteristics distinguishing it as a fetus. The fetal pole is the first evidence we see of a baby and it usually appears on sonogram at around 6 weeks gestation.
