No heartbeat on the ultrasound at 6 weeks, Could the doctor be wrong? What will happen?

I went for an early u/s June 2nd 2010 .I was should have been 9w 6d .They said there was no heart beat and it was the size of 7w. I was totally heartbroken.My husband and I have alreay gone through 3 previous miscarriges.We thankfully have a wonder son.Anyways..I dont have any signs of miscarrige .Not like the other times. Im so confused! I dont want to except it. I had gone for a u/s when I was 7w cause I hurt my self and they wanted to see if the baby was ok. He found the heartbeat right away so I dont understand that the u/s I just had said it was the size of 7w .Thats when I saw the heatbeat on the u/s!!He said there is no reason to think I will miscarry again. I dont know if I should go to my OB/GNY or what?? Im just praying for a miracle !! I will tell the outcome in a few weeks.

Hello all ,
thought maybe u could shed some light on my situation.
i planned to getpregnant took my coil out had a period the day after just as normal, then i have not come on since found out i am pregnant but dates might be wrong due to having coil removed. Started bleeding 4 a few days 1 wk ago and ended up havin a scan by my dates i shouldve been 9 wks.
I had to have an internal scan which showed 2 sacs, one has gone and bled out and the other is still there but they couldnt detect a heartbeat they said the baby is measuring 5 1/2 wks, which dont seem right and they have told me to go bac in on 6th july to have yet another scan to see if there is any change.

Could it be possible that when the other baby died that this one did too and could still be there because the dates to my calculation meant the 1st baby wouldve died at about 5 weeks?
any information would be mostly helpful as i am on my own with 2 kids and my partner has his head up his own ass xxxx
Rachel xx

Hello.I had wrote on here 06/04/2010 .I ended up losing the baby.....4 times wow thats hard !! I have to go for a MRI and my husband and I have to go for blood work......im praying that its nothing too major so we can try again.Keep your head up ladies !!God is one olny reason I can stay strong !!

I feel like you guys need to be realistic. I had my first u/s at 6 weeks and 1 day, and saw the fetal pole, sac, and heard the heartbeat loud and clear at 122bpm. It is normal to see it that early, but in rare occasions it would be difficult. RARE occasions.

hello, just thought i would ask all you ladies if anyone has experienced what i am going through. I have had a few positive urine tests, hadn't seen my midwife as of yet but do have an appointment. the doctors say i should be 6 weeks pregnant but my cycle is so abnormal some months its 21 days but has been known to be up to 38 days so i think it would be more difficult to determine as to exactly when i conceived. last night i started spotting pinkish brown and called the midwives association to have a page sent out, she told me to lay down with my feet up and rest if it had not stopped by morning to go to the hospital which i did. at the hospital they were great did blood work immediately, had me in for a trans-vaginal ultrasound within an hour and put me immediately back in my room where i only waited 5 min for the doctor who then told me the fetus was "not normal" was way too small for 6 weeks according to the u/s. the doctor then told me he was going to do an internal to see if the cervix was open, if it was open that indicates a miscarriage, fortunately it was closed so no current miscarriage, but that doesn't mean that wont happen, my hgc levels are 750 which is well within normal range but normal is anywhere between 25 and 10,000. the emergency room doctor gave me his personal line to call in one week after further testing he set up another u/s for 5-6 days he will be calling with the exact date and time and instructed me to go for more blood work in 3 days and wrote on the order for blood tests that they send him the results and also notify me directly. he said if hgc levels rise then all is well if they drop then that means my baby isn't developing anymore.

i am quite nervous, is it possible that because my cycle varies that the dates are wrong? has anyone been through this or something similar? trying to stay positive buts its hard not to panic and worry... please i need some reassurance

im 6.5 weeks and i have some bleeding like a mucose color. im worried that i might m/c, iv had an ultrasound my dates say that i was ment to be 9 weeks but my sac measured to be 6 1/2 weeks. there was a little bit pf bleeding around he sac and they couldnt find a heart beat.
can anyone PLEASE help me understand what is goin on. im so scared and i just want eerything to be ok.
i really need some answers.

I was frantic when at my 6 week us i was told that they didn't see a fetal pole or heartbeat.....i went back a 8 weeks and saw everything. everyone is different. all expecting mothers should get off the internet bc it will increase your anxiety for no reason!

Hello all, I have been reading over all of your post. I appear to be going trough a very similar thing. I a first time mom. Accrding t my caculations I am 6 weeks 2 days and I am very sure of this. I went o te ER yesterday becasue I have been having pain,not cramping in my lower abdomen over my left ovary (I have a history of endometriosis) so thought I may be having tubal pregancy. I am not having any cramping or bleeding and still having sore brest and nausea. The doctors did a blood HCGlvel and i came in at 22,000 which I was told was very good. Then they did an internal ultrasound and I was told the baby appeared to be the right side and all looked well ten I was told that they couldn't see a heartbeat. I was given information on a D&Cand told to follow up with my regular in 2 days but that I was miscarring.

I have been reading all these post that say that not hearing a heartbeat this early is common and that it doesn't mean that you are miscarring, is that true? Some say that it might just be too early or ht the baby just migh be in a bad positiong to see it.

Any informtion or advice would be greatly appericiated.

Hello everyone,

I am a medical student currently studying (I want to stress this and that I am NOT giving a medical opinion or advice as such) and after reading your posts I just wanted to say a couple of things. To anyone who is reading this posting, has posted before, had a similar experience to what the women above have described, etc.; unless your doctor has explicitly told you there is something to worry about, you should try to relax and not worry.

There are many reasons why you may not hear the heartbeat at your 6 week check up. For one thing it is impossible to know exactly when you conceived even if you have exact dates of when you tried to conceive. There is also the difference between the actual fetal developmental age (fertilization age) versus the gestational age and our estimations of both. Just as each person you meet is different so would be each new individual that will be brought into this world. Every date in pregnancy is just an estimation based on averages. And as we all have know since the time of our first period, you will rarely fit the average mold.

The rate of development for each baby is different, some will be slower than others. A friend of mine was in a similar situation to the ones described above. She also did not hear the heartbeat at the 6 week ultrasound, and even at then next appointment at 8 weeks there still wasn't a heartbeat detected, but at the 11th week of her pregnancy the heartbeat was detected and just this last May she gave birth to a healthy baby girl. I can't stress this enough, DIFFERENCES ARE NOT ONLY POSSIBLE BUT COMPLETELY NORMAL!

Ultrasound and the people who use them may also not be perfect! Perhaps the heartbeat is there, but due to the position and size of the baby you may be unable to hear the heartbeat.

I guess the main point that I would like to end with is that you should trust your doctor that you have chosen to bring your precious new life into this world with. And if you DON'T then please FIND A DOCTOR YOU ARE BOTH COMFORTABLE WITH and CAN TRUST to give you the advice and confidence you need. A good doctor will explain to you that it is natural to not fit the exact pregnancy mold of "what to expect when you're expecting", and will explain to you if there are any reasons you should be concerned.

I hope this helps to calm some nerves out there (I know it won't, but that too is natural), and I wish each of you the best in your pregnancy and for your childs life beyond that.

Thanks :-)

Hi! I've read all of these posts and would really love to hear how they turned out. I want to share my story as it is soo similiar to all of yours. This past Sunday I started bleeding with clots very heavy..I went to the ER and they told me I was pregnant and diagnosed me with a threatened miscarriage.. I did a follow up appointment today with the OB-GYN. We did a vaginal u/s and saw the baby and the sac. It was measuring 6 almost 7 wks but, according to my last menstrual cycle I should be 8 wks. The doctor didnt see the heartbeat or the fetal pole. He told me that generally this far along he should see one or the other..He ran some test on my HCG count and also my thyroid (I have hyper-thyroid.). I have to go back next week for another ultra-sound. He said that if everything was the same then he was going to schedule me for a D/C. I am freaking out and don't want to give up hope that everything is going to be ok. My husband is telling me not to get my hopes up and that most likely the baby is gone..

I am in the same boat

I'm sorry that I only have bad news. I was pregnant a year and a half ago, and I got an ultrasound at 6 weeks (+2 days I think). Sac and fetal pole, but no heartbeat. I was shocked when my doctor started talking about D&C. I had another transvaginal ultrasound a week later-- fetus measured almost exactly the same, no growth, no heartbeat. I decided to let nature take its course. About 2 weeks later I miscarried naturally. 

Hi I am in the same position, 8 weeks by the Drs but my husband and i think 6 weeks by conception.  No heartbeat detected at 8 weeks.  Dr said was measuring 6 weeks which makes me think my husband and I are right re age of fetus.  Had scan 2 weeks ago and there has been growth since then but heartbeat could not be seen.  Dr told me about d and c.  Sick with worry.  Paranoid that my pregnancy symptoms have gone.  I am booked in for another ultrasound next week and praying that we will see a heartbeat.  Would love to hear if anyone has been in this position. Has anyone not seen a heartbeat at 6 - 8 weeks but waited at saw it at later ultrasound? Thanks

These people are talking about seeing a heartbeat on ultrasound...NOT at the doctor's office.  It can usually be seen approx at 6 ½ weeks with a transvaginal probe, sometimes a little later.

im going through same today went for a scan I'm six weeks all they can see is a sack I've had brownie and pink loss I'm so worried as internet is saying the heartbeat should be seen at six weeks I'm going back in 1week :( good luck every one xx