pregnant but no beta test?

PinaColada · 07-25-2006, 11:30 AM

hiya ladies i was looking for a bit of advice. ive been having fertility treatment in scotland and have had 4 positive hpks, ive to go to clinic this afternoon for my official test which she says is just another urine test, she say i wouldnt get any blood work done at this point, but im confused as ive read about so many ladies going for a beta to confirm pregnancy and that it has to be above 5.will they do this test at another date, as im worried that if they leave the test till later and my results were under 5 that would only prolong the heartache. wot is the norm here in the uk? im exactly 3 weeks from conception but from wot ive read that makes me about 4 and a half weeks, wot should i expect to happen now at clinic appointments etc

if any1 has any advice please let me know

thanks xx

paddy · 07-25-2006, 12:29 PM

Hi Mollie

Firstly congratulations...four positive pregnancy tests - you're definitely pregnant! Well done! Fantastic stuff...

As far has having a beta goes... Where I am you only have these if there is reason to believe there are problems with the pregnancy. I had 3 betas because they couldn't find a heartbeat during a scan to rule out an ectopic pregnancy, turns out it was just too early to see it when they looked. Having said that I'm not sure what the policy is for ladies on injectibles. I say ask when you get there...

Good luck, hope you have a happy and healthy nine months!

Paddy

naomi123 · 07-25-2006, 12:33 PM

Hi firstly congratulations!!!
Here in the UK they dont routinely do betas... I think its a US thing. As far as I know its a test to make sure the pregnancy hormone is increasing.

To be honest the norm here in the UK is just to leave you to get on with it! The USA has a very medicalised approach to pregnancy. If you are having fertility treatment maybe your fertility clinic would give you an early scan but I dont know to be honest.

I guess your next step would be a booking in appointment with your midwife- they just tend to take your medical history in this appointment and also do some blood tests- these bloods just check you are fit and healthy- in the booking bloods they dont test for pregnancy hormones (or at least that how it was with my booking in app with my midwife).

Have a happy and healthy 9 months! Congrats again!

Purple_monkfish · 07-25-2006, 12:41 PM

I hate the uk system of dealing with pregnant women.. but congratuations! the tests the hospitals use and the HPT are pretty much identical... so that many positives it's pretty damned certain.
I only ever did one test myself... the line was so clear I figured it was fairly obvious... heh.

what to expect? well.. expect a lot of waiting around. I didn't get my first midwife appointment till 16 weeks! and i'm still waiting on blood test results.

hopefully with you having been treated for infertility they'll be a little more proactive... I have my fingers crossed for you. Unfortunately those of us who through some miracle beat the odds without treatment get sorta shunted to one side and ignored.

Supposedly you should get a dating scan at 12 weeks... but being the NHS I wouldn't guarentee it... I don't mean to sound negative but my own experience with them missing deadlines and generally screwing me around has made me a little bitter. I hope you have a better experience than me... as I said... being that you were having fertility treatment they might actually sit up and pay attention.

Carrie76 · 07-25-2006, 02:15 PM

Hi Mollie, Firstly I just wanted to say congratulations!! I have not been pregnant but I hope to be soon. I can only tell you the experiences that my best friend and my two sister in laws have had. None of them had betas done, all of their pregnancies were confirmed by a urine test. After this they got an appointment at 12 weeks for a scan and routine blood tests ect. All of them have nothing but praise for the service that the NHS provided so please don't think that the previous posters experience is typical of the NHS. One of my sister in laws had quite a complicated pregnancy and she was told if she has any fears or worries just to phone or go along to the hospital, at 26 weeks she had what she thought were contractions, she phoned the hospital and they told her just to come along and she was seen straight away. I know I am rambling,but if I had just found out I was pregnant and then read that post I think I would have been a little concerned. I just wanted to tell you not to worry.

Congratulations again

Carrie

07-25-2006, 09:37 PM

Congratulations!

PinaColada · 07-25-2006, 09:53 PM

hi ladies thanks for all your advice. i got BFP and it was a strong result, im 5 weeks pregnant and having my ultrasound on 15th aug then after that i will get referred back to gp, i was quite suprised as i thought my gp would want to see me asap for an assessment lol, they didnt even have any leaflets to give me,what a sham, but at least everything looks good so far so i can do my own research, does any1 have any informative websites etc with info on what i should and should not be eating etc

thanks
mollie xx

Purple_monkfish · 07-25-2006, 10:00 PM

I'm glad your having more luck than I have... I didn't even find out I was pregnant till 9 weeks... I'm so used to irregular cycles and wasn't ttc... *shrug* I got the feeling the doctor was a bit annoyed with me for leaving it so long when I went to see him and I also think the midwives and all them are thinking i'm not as far along as I say I am... It annoys me because I know my dates are right... they just can't seem to understand that when you're used to not having AF for months on end it really doesn't cause much panic when it doesn't come.
I'm actually a little more bitter learning that women have had good experiences with the nhs... it kinda irritates me to think that i'm getting shafted.

Mollie> the BBC has a good site... look up pregnancy on google and you should find a fair amount of stuff. To be honest i'm a little surprised they didn't go over details of eating and all that with you. Congrats on such an early U/S.