The First Trimester: Enlarged Yolk Sac

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When a woman is told she has an enlarged yolk sac during the first trimester, often she is told there is no hope and miscarriage is inevitable.

Thanks to the Misdiagnosed Miscarriage site and our numerous misdiagnosed miscarriage stories, we now know that there is hope even with an enlarged yolk sac.

I believe every woman deserves to have no doubt before having her pregnancy ended.

 

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.

The Yolk Sac 

So, what is this thing known as the yolk sac?

Very simply, the yolk sac provides the earliest nourishment to the baby. Toward the end of the first trimester the yolk sac will begin shrinking as the placenta takes over the job of nourishing the baby.

According to Embryo and Fetal Pathology "The detection of a yolk sac excludes the diagnosis of a blighted ovum because a viable embryo is necessary for yolk sac development." Basically, if a yolk sac is seen during a trasvaginal ultrasound, you cannot be diagnosed with a true blighted ovum. This does not mean miscarriage in not a possibility. It just means this is not a blighted ovum.

Generally, a yolk sac can be seen as early as five weeks during a transvaginal ultrasound. However, many women have said their doctors never saw the yolk sac during the ultrasound and later found their babies. This just shows that, yes despite some medical literature indicating otherwise, yolk sacs are not always visible in viable pregnancies. In my own pregnancy, misdiagnosed as a blighted ovum, nothing was seen in the gestational sac until it was 28.5mm. Even at 21.5mm a week earlier, the gestational sac looked completely empty. Because of my story and many other misdiagnosed stories like mine , we now know that the medical literature is not always correct about when the yolk sac should definitely be seen.

An Enlarged Yolk Sac 

what the medical literature says

Most women who are told they have an enlarged yolk sac are told they should expect to miscarry. Since we know women do go on to have successful pregnancies despite a large yolk sac, why are they told this?

WARNING: before you read, remember, we have stories to show this is wrong!


An example of the medical literature gives the reason why. In the Core Curriculum - Ultrasound, the author states:

An abnormal appearance of the yolk sac correlates with early pregnancy failure. The yolk sac may be too large (>6mm). Differentiation of an enlarged yolk sac from the amniotic cavity is difficult but irrelevant because any empty cystic structure whithin the GS larger than 6-mm diameter predicts a failed pregnancy.

Here we have a basic text that gives no hope to women with a yolk sac larger than 6mm. Fortunately, real life stories show that there is hope. Of course, the pregnancy may end in miscarriage but miscarriage is certainly not a given with an enlarged yolk sac.

Successful Pregnancies Beginning with Large Yolk Sacs 

buy at AllPostersOne of my hopes by sharing these stories and links is that women who know of other stories or have their own success story will share them here as well.


Story A:
Stacy was sent home to miscarry by her doctor because her yolk sac was enlarged. Her yolk sac grew to 9mm. Her baby was born perfectly healthy.
Read Stacy's story,

Story B:
Tulip was measuring about a week behind and the yolk sac measured 9.2mm. She went on to have her beautiful baby.
Read Tulip's story,

Story C:
Tara had a yolk sac measuring 8mm. She's just recently had her 20-week ultrasound and everything looks wonderful!
Read Tara's story,

Story D:
One concerned husband reported that the yolk sac during his wife's pregnancy measured 8.2mm. They went on to have a healthy baby girl.
Read his story,

Case Study:
Very Large Yolk Sac and Bicornuate Uterus in a Live Birth A case report in which a yolk sac was measured at 8.1mm but resulted in a live birth. This report states that "the quality of the yolk sac might be more important than its size."

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Leave a Comment 

Do you know of anybody else who has had been had an enlarged yolk sac and gone on to have their baby? Please, encourage them to share their stories (or your story!) at the Misdiagnosed Miscarriage site.

If I don't reply to you here, please feel free to e-mail me directly at bonzobean@gmail.com

Thanks for reading.

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  • Reply
    Lisa Lisa Nov 3, 2009 @ 4:46 pm
    My husband and I have been trying for a child for 6 years. We are on our second Reproductive Endocrinolgist and just found out we are pregnant for the first time 6 weeks ago. I couldn't belive it... then I found out at our first ultrasound that the doctor was concerned about the size of the yolk sac and the slow growth. We went back for our second ultrasound and heard the heartbeat (144). The doctor became even more grim and said he only gives us a 1 in 5 chance on this pregnancy continuing and that we should look into genetic testing if it does continue. My husband and I are so upset and are preapring for the worst... In my search for understanding this situation I came across your website... it's the only hopeful information we've found. Thank you - it's not over yet. I've got a strong heartbeat and we still are hoping for the best!
  • Reply
    Erin Erin Oct 8, 2009 @ 11:17 am
    Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU for this! My doctor had told me I had a large yolk sac but also told me not to worry. Of course I did and everything I read on the internet just made things worse. I was crying and getting worked up even though I had seen the baby at my 11 week ultrasound and heard the heart beat at my 14 week ultrasound. After thinking I was "out of the clear" when i had no yet had a miscarriage and continued to reaserach and found that abnormalities are usually present. This sent me again, over the edge but after reading the "success" stories I feel much better about my situation and I now feel i am able to enjoy my pregnancy with little worry. Thank you again.
  • Reply
    a_willow a_willow Apr 15, 2009 @ 10:18 am
    This is very helpful lens! Both me and my sister had miscarriages and tried to find reasons. All test were just fine. Maybe we should have looked a little deeper! Blessing to you for this informative lens!
  • Reply
    Tara Tara Mar 20, 2009 @ 11:33 pm
    Thank you so much for posting all of this amazing information including our success stories. When I first found out I had an enlarged yolk sac I was unable to find any information that would lead me to believe my baby would be alright.

    Finding your site and reading the stories shared by others in my position and hearing about their positive out comes gave me the strength I needed to fight for this pregnancy and believe I would have a healthy pregnancy/baby.

    Thank you so much for all you have done.

    Tara

    (enlarged yolk sac survivor - 22 weeks a long with a healthy baby boy!)

by Cari_Kay

Hello. My name is Kay. I'm not a medical professional but due to life's twists and turns, I've learned a bit about topics like miscarriage (as well... (more)
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