6 week scan - no yolk sac or embryo

[darkbuthappyplace]

Hi, hoping someone can offer some insight.

I had my 6 week scan yesterday, and they couldn’t see a yolk sac or the embryo.

Although I’m 6 weeks, they said the gestational sac is measuring at 5 weeks, 4 days.

How common is this and is it likely that it’s not going to continue? The doctor and nurses was very uncommital either way. They said it could have been a late implantation but I felt like their faces weren’t good.

I now have another two weeks to wait which is agonising and don’t how I’m going to mentally cope. My symptoms have slowed so I don’t have much hope.

I’m tempted to get a private scan in between but now sure if this is a good idea or not?

[KiboXX]

Hey lovely,Sorry you’ve been left in such limbo 🙁 Most clinics wait until 7 weeks to do the first scan because at 6 weeks it’s too early to see a heartbeat and can often cause more worry and not give you the reassurance it’s supposed to.

You’re only measuring a couple of days behind so I would say there is every chance it could catch up. I had a viability scan at 7 weeks and measured 6+2 and by the following week, baby had caught up and was measuring bang on my ivf dates.

You will absolutely get a definitive answer if you wait for the scan in two weeks however if you really can’t cope with waiting that long, a week (which would then get you past that 7 week mark) should give a clearer picture of of its progressing. If you do get a private scan, just look for somewhere with properly qualified and experienced sonographers.

Sending you a big hug xx

[Hanj10]

I’m so sorry you’re going through this. It happened to me twice the first found at 7+3 with sac measuring 5+6 and the second found at 6 weeks. With first I had 2 wait the 2 weeks to confirm which was an awful limbo. I had a private scan after a week just to stop the mental torture and start preparing myself properly then I had D&C once NHS confirmed. The second I miscarried naturally 3 days later. It’s called blighted ovum and is quite common type of miscarriage which is thought to be caused by chromosome problems. I’ve had 5 miscarriages in total but then went on to do ivf (found husband had high sperm dna fragmentation) and chromosome tested the embryos and I’m now 29 weeks so don’t give up. Look after yourself xx

[darkbuthappyplace in reply to Hanj10]

Thank you so much for the response. I’m so sorry you had to go through that but congratulations on your 29 weeker! You’re giving me encouragement not to give up at least. I barely feel any symptoms now so know that this one is most likely over x

[Hoop123]

Hi there, I'm so sorry to hear this. I've been here and the wait is torture. Mine wasn't the best outcome but that doesn't mean yours won't be okay.

6 weeks is still pretty early but with IVF the dates are usually accurate enough to indicate whether there should at least be a yolk sac, even if there's no embryo or heartbeat yet. You will know what's happening, for sure, if you wait the full two weeks. But if you wait a week you could get an idea from a private scan whether things are progressing as they should (just make sure they are experienced and properly qualified as you probably want to avoid more uncertainty and it may be quite emotional). If it is a blighted ovum, this is apparently one of the most common forms of early miscarriage (as Hanj10 said).

Be kind to yourself - sending lots of luck for the next few weeks. xx

❤️

[darkbuthappyplace]

Thank you for getting back to me, my gut feel is it's game over, i don't have many symptoms any more and like you say with IVF there's a more accurate expectation of where i should be. I think i'm going to pass on the private scan, it may bring too much uncertainty. xx

[Hoop123 in reply to darkbuthappyplace]

Completely fair enough to avoid more uncertainty. It's such an unfair process and I'm so sorry... I've got my fingers crossed for you and I really hope you're back here in two weeks with some good news. Keep off Google, if you can, and try and fill your time with something nice for yourself. You deserve it. xx

[Loublou1985]

How did your pregnancy turn out? X