HCG Levels & Ovulation After Miscarriage: What to Expect

Question
I had a miscarriage on June 19th, had u/s at 8 weeks and baby stopped growing at 6 weeks. Hcg has been going down but very slowly, have been getting it checked almost every week. On 8/9/05 beta was 21 and 8/22/05 beta was 17. My dr. does not seemed concerned that its been over 2 months and my numbers are still not back to 0.  I've been charting and feel like I may have had another early miscarriage, but my dr. said there was no way to tell.  Is it possible to ovulate while you still have hcg in your system?  And should I wait till all of the hcg is out of my system to try to conceive again and should I wait until I get another period after the hcg is out of my system to try to conceive again?

Answer
Usually, you can ovulate whether the HCG value has dropped to less than 5 or is still on its way down. It will not have any effect on a subsequent pregnancy. If you did conceive again, the numbers would be much higher once you conceived. Unless there was a suspicion of a molar degeneration or molar pregnancy, you so not have to monitor or chart the drop of HCG to less than 5 (which is considered not pregnant). You probably ovlated around two weeks after your miscarriage and can conceive again at any time. If you had become pregnant, the HCG values would have suddenly soared. Don't worry. I don't think it is necessary to chart your HCG anymore.