OverAnalyzing

This whole pregnancy thing just might have been easier before the invention of all these tests that tell us probably too much information that doesn't really mean what we think it might mean...

I got the results back from the second HCG test last night. I was hoping it might be somewhat definitive in that either the levels were not going up at all, or else the levels would double... either way, that would have been a pretty clear sign.

What did I get? How about an increase of 50%? 72 hours after the level was at 22,000, it came back at 33,000. Hmmm. Still pretty high, but I thought the levels had to go up by at least 65% every 72 hours to show healthy pregnancy?

I got the results via email last night. So of course I spent the rest of the evening googling HCG levels and trying my best to diagnose myself, to no avail of course. I found some info that said levels should be doubling every 72ish hours throughout the first trimester, and some info that said once levels are high (over 6,000) they don't necessarily have to double.

The thing that I found most interesting last night was one website that said that once your HCG level hits 6,000 you should be able to see fetal activity via ultrasound. Hmmm. I had an ultrasound done 3 days prior to getting that first HCG level back (the one that said 22,000) so surely I must have had hcg over 6,000 on that day? But they found an empty sack that day.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Can you hear it? That's my head hitting the wall.

This morning I got a phone call from a nurse who pretty much knew nothing other than what my chart said. She told me my hcg levels were going up. Duh. I asked her if they had to double. She didn't know. I asked to talk to the doctor.

Eventually this morning I got to talk with the doctor about the results. She actually said that a rise of 22K to 33K over 72 hours wasn't something that concerned her, and that those levels put me in the normal range for 7-8 weeks pregnant, which is where she thought I was based on my LMP. But then we talked about the ultrasound last week that had me measuring just 5 weeks when the hcg levels surely must have been well over 6,000... she agreed and said that the blood test didn't match up with what was seen on the ultrasound so she ordered another ultrasound for tomorrow.

Bless her for not making me wait another week.

So that's all I've got. I can analyze it all day and night but I'm not going to know anything for sure until I go get the ultrasound tomorrow. And I swear, if it comes up with some ambiguous result I'm going to have a fit right there on the table.