Planning a Baby  Discussion Forum

Hi Archie,

My doc did blood test on 6/19 to confirm preg...she confirmed it yday and said that my progestrone was 15 (is this a decent number or shd i talk to doc abt progestrone supplements) and , my hcg beta level (i think thats what she called it) was 787 which she said was low but it may be too early in preg so maybe thats why....i went again today to doc to do blood test she said she may want to keep repeating blood test till hcg goes up..and then ask me to do ultrasound

I wanted to ask you one thing....my doc keep saying that today i start 6 weeks but since i ovulated 5 days late I keep counting today as my 5 weeks and 1 day of pregnancy....which one shd i follow..

I am not feeling much preg sysmptons except very swollen and hurting breats and once a day i feel a bit of discomfort in lower back and stomach...but its very mild....

Let me know what you think

Thanks
NEha
archie replied. Neha,
This is perhaps the most delicate time of pregnancy and you should take as much bed rest as possible. Drink at least 10-12 glasses of water per day.

Lets start with confusion over estimated gestation. If not today this confusion will be clear when a first ultrasound will be done, until then one must keep free from any concern.
You say that you are ovulated 5 days late than normal (I consider you ovulated on 19th day). This will mean that if you were to take an ultrasound your gestation will be not 6 weeks but 5 weeks and a day or two. In either event this is too early to establish pregnancy.

About hCG to my judgement your hCG level sounds in range. But it's good idea to repeat the test and see the numbers are doubled (sampling gap between first and second blood is at least 48 hours).

about progesterone: your level is just around the range not bad or not excitingly high and this is why I call a delicate situation and needs a caution. It's true that progesterone levels are going to boost as gestation progresses but you need to avoid any stress and any kind of physical work that would lead to bleeding. 15ng/ml progesterone is somewhat on the normal side but could be better. I think this has again to do with your delayed ovulation.

Remember one thing even if you ovulated on time sometime many face delayed implantation and from that point only hCG and progesterone starts rising therefore as long as the values of these two hormones are in pregnancy category one should not worry. This means your case is almost normal and you should be worry free until we get to see your next results. If progesterone levels are below 16ng/ml even after repeat in next weeks then you would need a supplement otherwise it's your Dr. who should choose supplement or to wait.

Archie