Miscarriages vs Chemical pregnancy - is there a difference?

A chemical pregnancy is any pregnancy that by definition made the specific pregnancy hormone (hCG) and was noticed either on bloodwork or an hpt. This pregnancy however, doesn't make it and usually goes away on its own.

A Clinical Pregnancy is a prgnancy that was actually visualized on ultrasound (you see a sac, a fetus and/or heartbeat). These can still miscarry especially in the first trimester unfortunately, and sometimes, not always requires a D&C to remove.

Sometimes, Blighted Ovums, a type of clinical pregnancy is noted on ultrasounds, generally referred to as "empty sacs", which means that a fetus never truly developed, only the sac did, usually because it was very chromosomally abnormal to begin with

Thanks Angel! So I went into the Dr. the day of my miscarriage (?) now sounds more like a chemical pregnancy. They did an u/s and saw absolutely nothing. No sign of anything. Does that mean that it was a chemical pregnancy? What causes those? DO they have any ideas? So does that mean that I did not have a miscarriage? Or is it considered a miscarriage?

A lot of docs dont even say chemical pregnancies, just call them all m/c's.

My first one was a chemical but they called it a m/c and this next one they called a missed abortion..... i didnt like that but they are all a loss.

Yours sounds like a chemical since it was so close to your period, if you werent TTC you would have just thought you were late i bet.

in the medical field they all of called missed abortion esp in the billing part of for insurance and any type of early lost or when it hits 20 wks is considered missed abortion or in better terms miscarriage.

I missed abortion is a terrible name! Does that mean that you were farther along? Sorry, I don't know anything about all of this. I just always thought that once you can finally get pregnant that you will have a sweet little baby 9 months later. What a roller coaster of emotion! I appreciate all of the answers. I am just trying to figure out what went wrong and if it was anything I did to prevent it next time.

I so appreciate everyone's input. It helps a lot.

or called not of called

i was about 8 weeks and no heartbeat and my body wouldnt m/c it cuz i had a huge cyst that was giving off hormones making my body think it was still preggo. It was not fun, thats for sure!

Nothing you can do or could do to prevent a m/c.... just bad luck. Caffiene and ibuprofen can cause a m/c tho so stay away from those.

But there are plenty of ladies who didnt know that years ago that have kids even after drinking cans of caffiene and dowing ibuprofen tho.

Its too hard to make sure you are doing everything right. I did and i still had 2 loses in the last year and had 2 healthy wonderful children without knowing any of the stuff i know now. Its so darn confusing! lol!

Thanks chels - Its hopeful to me that you had 2 healthy children. My husband and I want kids SOOOO bad. Its hard. My best friend got pregnant 2 days before me last month - it was a one night stand - and she was praying for a miscarriage. Its so hard to want it so bad and then get your BFP just to have it ripped from you. I don't wish it on anyone, even a chemical pregnancy. I don't know how I would get through if I was 8 weeks. I am so sorry for your losses. I appreciate the info though and the hope!

Holly

thank you holly - it was hard. We have spent the last 13 months trying to get pregnant. I have 2 children from a previous marriage. We have gone thru IUI’s and IVF and now are just gonna chil after the last loss. It was very hard to take, just like it would be for anyone.

Im so sorry about you having to deal with your friend. That is a horrible situation, I hope that she doenst continue to say how much she wishes for a m/c to you. I don’t know that I would be able to contain myself if it were me.

I believe usually with every pregnancy and depends on the age also you have a risk of miscarriage rate of 30%...that doesn't decrease with age the older you get it increases. Miscarriages are usually due to problems with the embryo many times it's a case of bad luck. Most women now will have at least 1 miscarriage during their reproductive years and those numbers are increases due to women waiting longer to have kids. Not even doing IVF will prevent a miscarriage...most IVF %'s are high in empty sac...meaning the embryo never fully developed. So there are many factors that come involved in ttc and the human body isn't perfect...things happen it's sad to say. I have had 4 so far and my age isn't helping me infact I'm have an increase of having more because my eggs are getting weaker and the aging process of that happens esp after 35....

I believe went you are 4 to 6wks it's thought of a chemical...

after 6 wks it's a miscarriage and if no sac it's a empty sac...if you see the heartbeat then it stops usually miscarriage all are really thought as a missed abortion

Chels, forutnately for her, my friend DID have a miscarriage... sort of. She had really bad cramping and went to planned parenthood (she didn't have insurance) and they told her that her baby was ok now, but it looks like she will miscarry soon. That doesn't really make sense to me, but they gave her a D&C because it was a Friday and she didn't want to risk going to the ER on a weekend. To me that sounds like an abortion. I am so mad at her. She is/was my best friend and the person I confided in the most. Now I feel like i never even knew her. We are both teachers at a private school (well she is looking for a teaching job) and went to college together, both own a house, she isn't married, but isn't a terrible person - it was so unlike her to have a one night stand to being with! She was my maid of honor and it kills me to know what she did. She justifies it by saying that they told her that there was no hope. I don't believe it. As long as the heart is beating, there is hope. Am I wrong?

Angel, I am 28 and the Dr. just gave me a ton of blood tests, everything was normal. I am overweight, but active and otherwise healthy. I feel like we are running out of time and will soon hit that ceiling of being too old. I would love 3-5 kids, but I am so scared that I will only have miscarriages:(

I am waiting to see if I am pregnant already, but my symptoms may totally be just in my head. I have to wait a few more days to test.

Hello I Believe,

Your situation sounds very similar to mine. I just turned 28, had my first pregnancy and miscarriage earlier this year, and am currently (and desperately) trying to conceive again.

Are you charting by any chance? If so, it may provide you with some answers. They say that when you miscarry, your chances are not any higher for a miscarriage the second time around. That sure doesn't ease my mind!

I started charting after my miscarriage and I now have 4 charts under my belt. It looks to me like I have a luteal phase defect (my luteal phase is about 9-11 days, which is generally considered not long enough to sustain a pregnancy). I have an appointment to see my OBGYN on 9/19/08, but I am having a hard time waiting until then. I feel a bit discouraged because if my luteal phase is the problem, then I feel like all of our efforts are for nothing (and we tried extra hard this month :). I am hoping for some answers soon.

If you are not charting, I would recommend the book "Taking Control of Your Fertility" by Toni Weschler. I have found the information contained in the book to be very useful.

holly, sounds like your friend went and had an abortion and couldnt face telling you. Its sad but happens all the time.

Depends how far along she was at the time, they gave me til 9 weeks with no heartbeat before they told me there was "no hope". You should see a HB at about 6 weeks, sometimes earlier but always at 7 weeks.

I dont know about yoru planned parenthoods but ours are not that advanced and wouldnt be giving out that info. In order to know if there was "no hope" she would have had to go thru a couple of ultrasounds to see that there was no progression and you have to have that done a week apart for measuring. SHe could have also had blood tests done to see if her numbers were doubling in the beggining. SOunds like a fishy story to me, but i wasnt there so i couldnt really know for sure.

Hi Sheppler, We are charting - sort of. We have been doing natural family planning for the past year to PREVENT pregnancy. We wanted to wait a year after we got married to TTC. We decided to start trying last month and got pregnant the first month we tried. Ended in a miscarriage. Now currently awaiting my first period after the miscarriage and want to start trying right away. It took my mom 6 years to concieve, so I am kind of worried.

We chart by watching cervical mucus. When I have cervical mucus we avoid having sex if we don't want to get pregnant, now we are bding when I DO have cervical mucus. That is how we chart. But I am not sure that's what you mean.

I had like 10-12 days of cervical mucus this month, which is really strange, so I have no idea what went on this month. We avoided sex all 10-12 days, but now I have some preg symptoms again, so I don't know what is going on. I would be REALLY surprised if we were pregnant again so soon.

Good luck to you! I will have to check out that book though for sure!

I just don't want another miscarriage for sure!

Chels, yes, I completely agree with you. It sounds REALLY fishy. Its so hard to be her friend again. Its all I can think about. She didn't even care what I was going through. Just herself. I know I can't just not be friends with her, but its soooo hard.

Holly after you ovulate your body starts producing a hormone called progestorne is it can mimic preggo signs. The best way to determine ovulation is via opk's because sometimes you can or cannot have cm and you can ovulate anytime during the mth. Also start using veggie oil yes the oil you cook with it is sperm friendly and can help you when you are dry!!!!