When a Blighted Ovum is not a Blighted Ovum!

I am not a medical professional. The information I share is meant to supplement the information given you by your doctor. If you feel your doctor is not doing enough for you or not willing to listen to your concerns, I strongly encourage you to take what you've learned here and get a second opinion.

My own misdiagnosed blighted ovum story

I've been sharing my story for several years online. If you're researching blighted ovum information, you have probably stumbled upon it already. For those who have not, let me tell you the tale of my own little misdiagnosed blighted ovum.

Hey, I'm Pregnant!
Back in September 2002 I found out I was pregnant. Because there was only one possible date of conception, I knew exactly how far along I was. At 5 1/2 weeks, my OB-GYN wanted to do an ultrasound because I had been high risk during my first pregnancy. Well, the tech kept looking and looking, commenting on my tilted uterus several times, and could only find the sac. The sac looked much smaller than a 5 1/2 week sac. I was not concerned because that happened during my first pregnancy as well and that doctor was not concerned. Well, apparently, this doctor was concerned because when he came in he started discussing the possibility of a blighted ovum. He said I needed to come back in a few days when I was six weeks and check again. He said we'd know more there. In the meantime, they took my hCG levels and the nurse called to tell me they should be higher. This didn't sound very good but I was not panicked yet. I was a bit worried though.

Six Week Exam
At my six week exam, my doctor did not sound optimistic about my hCG levels even though I had looked online and they fell in the normal range. He came in for the ultrasound. Again, had to contort a bit for the trans-vaginal ultrasound because of my tilted uterus. And, again, a larger sac was growing appropriately but no baby. My doctor believed this was a blighted ovum and explained that hCG levels can and will rise with a blighted ovum and the gestational sac will grow as well. We discussed again the possibility of me not being as far along but I told him again that was impossible. My husband and I were in different States the day after I conceived (thanks to Uncle Sam). He said he was concerned because the sac looked a week and a half behind. That happened during my first pregnancy too (I looked two weeks behind during the first trimester which again was impossible) and, again, my first doctor was not concerned at all. This doctor however had me very worried and because I was pregnant and hormonal, I was beginning to believe him.

I spent the next week scouring the web looking for anybody who had experienced the same thing. Women were very kind but didn't give me much hope. I had already begun to experience pregnancy symptoms but they were beginning to fade. Even my tummy which had seemed a little harder, suddenly seemed soft again. I was worried.

Seven Week Exam
At my seven week appointment, long story short, my hCG levels had risen and the gestational sac grew appropriately. However, I still looked a week and a half behind which, again, was impossible and we explained that to the doctor AGAIN. And, again, no baby, no heartbeat, not even a yolk sac to give us hope. Because my hCG levels were much higher at this point, in the tens of thousands, a baby should have been seen according to the ultrasound literature. According to the same ultrasound literature, my gestational sac was large enough that a baby or at the very least, a yolk sac should have been seen. Also, when I told my doctor about my loss of pregnancy symptoms, that seemed to cinch it for him. My doctor diagnosed a blighted ovum and strongly recommended a D&C. I have a fear of D&Cs and maybe this fear is a good thing because I just absolutely refused. I begged for any sort of hope and he very skeptically but kindly gave me a 95% chance of miscarriage at this point. I grabbed onto that 5% chance. By this time, I was more than worried, though, I was an emotional wreck.

During the next week, I continued to rip apart the web looking for hopeful stories. Women on the pregnancy and miscarriage sites I was visiting very kindly told me I needed to accept my loss and should have the D&C in order to move on and heal. I suspect, if I hadn't had such a fear of D&Cs (due largely to two women I know who had serious complications from the procedure), I would have considered it. I was a wreck that week and spent much of the week in tears.

Eight Week Exam
By week eight, my physician was pretty much just monitoring me to see if I was about to miscarry. Again, larger gestational sac growing appropriately but small for eight weeks. No baby. The tech did say she thought she saw something unusual in the sac but after searching and searching, could not find what she had thought she'd seen. My doctor again tried to convince me to have a D&C due to risk of infection and all sorts of complications but, I couldn't do it. At this point, I was upset but beginning to feel numb.

By this time, I'd found two women online who were kind enough to email me. They kept encouraging me not to give up entirely. If I was going to miscarry, so be it but could deal with that grief when it happened. For the time being, they told me to hold on to faith and hope. Because of these women, I began reaching out to other women later but that is another story for another time.

Ultrasound just before 9 Weeks (according to u/s photos)
At almost nine weeks, my doctor was stunned when the tech found my baby with a very strong beating heart. We'd completely skipped over the yolk sac and fetal pole and went straight to a wonderfully formed, if not small looking one and a half weeks behind, baby. To say my doctor was stunned was an understatement. He began to say again that I must have conceived later but when reminded AGAIN, he said that maybe the sperm was just really slow. He did not even want to consider that with his dating, I turned up positive on an HPT a day or so after conception. Now, you know that is impossible. I know that is impossible but try telling that to the doctor who uses the ultrasound literature as his guide. By those guidelines, my baby is officially a 'blighted ovum' baby.

I'll leave my story at that for now. I will just say that I had one more ultrasound somewhere around 20 weeks and my dates were more accurate by that point. Interesting to note that the tilted uterus was no longer an issue either but I'll discuss that in more detail later.

Today my 'blighted ovum' is a happy, healthy four old girl. She's bright and feisty and loves life. Thankfully, a D&C did not change that.

Thank you for reading. No matter what, if you are going through this same scare, I hope you can find some comfort in knowing you are not alone.

After eight years of trying to get misdiagnosed miscarriages in the news, we're finally seeing results. Here is an article by Time Magazine.

Ultrasound Guidelines May Wrongly Diagnose Miscarriage

A snippet from that article:

As if the worry over potential miscarriage weren't stressful enough for newly pregnant women, research released Friday shows that current guidelines for using ultrasound to determine that a pregnancy has ended may not always be accurate.

The four new studies looked at U.K. ultrasound specifications, but when the findings are extrapolated to U.S. guidelines, the researchers suggest 1 in 23 women diagnosed with miscarriage could still have a viable pregnancy.

On the Misdiagnosed Miscarriage site, we believe that that figure might be much higher. For women diagnosed with a blighted ovum, something like one in five may be much more accurate.

Misdiagnosed Miscarriages are fairly common. This week alone, three women who were emailing me found out they were misdiagnosed. They had been given no hope and even turned down the D&C. Each and every misdiagnosed story provides comfort to women who are going through their own miscarriage scare. Your story will help women. Please consider taking the time to share your story at The Misdiagnosed Miscarriage website. Thank you!

My Own Misdiagnosed Blighted Ovum Story
- After turning down the D&C twice, we found my baby at nearly nine weeks!
My First Misdiagnosed Miscarriage
- During my first pregnancy, we believed I was miscarrying at 12 weeks

A collection of Misdiagnosed Miscarriage stories

Bleeding during the First Trimester

What your Doctor may not know about your pregnancy after IVF

Coping With A Miscarriage

Miscarriage News and Research

hCG levels and Pregnancy FAQ

When You've Been Diagnosed with a Miscarriage

Tilted Uterus and Early Pregnancy

16 Days Past Ovulation (DPO) and hCG levels

Blighted Ovum FAQ

Infant Survival Rates during Pregnancy

Progesterone and Miscarriage

Asherman's Syndrome: Why you may want to rethink your D&C

So You've Been Told You Have A Blighted Ovum

Non-Doubling hCG Levels in the First Trimester Do Not Mean Inevitable Miscarriage!

Can Stress Lead to Miscarriage?

The First Trimester: Enlarged Yolk Sac

Getting a Second Opinion about a Miscarriage Diagnosis

Why You May Want an Ultrasound Right Before Your D&C

Is This Really an Ectopic Pregnancy?

High hCGs and No Baby?