6 weeks pregnant, gestational sac, yolk sac but not embyro seen

[Cheer2020]

Hi everyone, we had a scan yesterday after undergoing IVF, my wife is carrying my embyros (eeek!) my wife experienced some slight spotting yesterday so we were super worried and booked for an early scan. The scan showed one gestational sac with a yolk and our little baby and it’s heartbeat!! And then they said we had another gestational sac, yolk sac but no embyro…has anyone else ever had this at 6 weeks and it developed into an embyro/baby?

We are super happy we saw our baby, we both sobbed when we saw the heartbeat but we are also confused and unsure about the empty sac.

Thank you for any advice !

[sun-and-rain]

Probably a twin that started to grow, but then passed away. It's not unusual that this happens when you have more than one embryo transferred. Usually they transfer two or three not to obtain a multiples pregnancy (which is more risky than a singleton pregnancy), but because they are uncertain about the quality of the embryos or the uterine conditions, so transferring two or three they hope that one will stick. So be happy about the heartbeat you saw, and don't put too much emotions into the empty sac. It might be for the best ❤

[Cheer2020 in reply to sun-and-rain]

Definitely so happy for the heartbeat we saw! Just intrigued to know peoples experiences. Thank you 🤞🏼

[IVFat40]

Hello hun, I had this at 7 weeks, one embryo with a heartbeat, sack as it should be etc., and a second empty sack. For me the heartbeat embryo is still going strong at 21 weeks, but nothing ever appeared in the second sack (I was re-scanned at 9 weeks). That said, 6 weeks is still really early, so the outcome may well be different for you. In my case I only had one embryo transferred, so it looks like the embryo split early on but the second embryo stopped growing very early (I had some light bleeding around 5 and a half weeks, which I've thought would fit).

Apparently it's actually surprisingly common for there to be a second early sack/embryo (I think they call it a vanishing twin), and it's something they're realizing now that more women are having early scans (by my 12 week scan the second sack had gone).

But I'm sorry I don't want to come off as negative, 6 weeks is still early and definitely you may go on to have twins. Either way, one or two, huge congratulations!

[Cheer2020 in reply to IVFat40]

No this is really helpful and not negative! We’re so happy we got to see our babies heartbeat after having the bleed, we were surprised there were two sacs! Thank you for sharing your experience and fingers crossed for the rest of your pregnancy xxx

[IVFat40 in reply to Cheer2020]

Thank you lovely 😊