So...what defines a chemical pregnancy and how do you know if you've had one?
What's the difference between CP and MC?
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Chemical pregnancy is the term for a pregnancy that you haven't "seen" proof of on an ultrasound. Usually before 6 weeks. I personally hate the term, because it makes it sound like a less significant miscarriage.
I knew I had them when I got a positive pregnancy test, then the pregnancy didn't progress. I also suspect I had another one when my period was 2 days late and I happen to see a small sac in the flow.
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@Mrs.Someone: Ah, thanks! So technically it still is a miscarriage, just very early on.
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@babycanuck: Yep. A loss is a loss in my book.
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@Mrs.Someone: Not quite. Its not that you just haven't seen anything on the ultrasound but that nothing would be visible on an ultrasound. So really it would be any loss before 5 weeks:
"The baby and gestational sac will not develop enough to be visible on an ultrasound. The term "chemical" pregnancy can be confusing. In a chemical pregnancy, the sperm and egg do meet but the fertilized egg does not implant properly in the uterus, resulting in an early miscarriage.".
Definitely still a loss, but nothing was developed.
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@T.H.O.U.: Yep, good point
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@T.H.O.U.: So if something is visible on the ultrasound, then it's not a chemical pregnancy? I lost a pregnancy in June 2012 (I think i was about 5 weeks) and we did see the sac on an ultrasound. I always thought it was a chemical pregnancy since it was so early, but I guess it was an early miscarriage.
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@jodyblair: Yes, I think since something was visible there, meaning your body had prepared for a pregnancy then it wasn't a chemical. It sounds like you may have even had more of a blighted ovum which is the next step that a a sac was forming but no baby was there.
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This is not a technical definition, but my definition of a CP is when you get a
, but then get your period - either on time or a few days late. So it's a MC that happens before many people would even know they were pregnant. Also, in my mind, a loss is a loss. So a CP is definitely a MC.
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My RE "Hates" the term chemical pregnancies....
I have had 2 both cases I got positive betas and BFP on HPT but days later the numbers started to drop.......a loss is a loss in my book too!I think it gets the name chemical from there really being noting to show your PG other than the
HCG chemical/hormone in your body! -
@septca: That's how I view it as well. I had one around...my 5th cycle trying. Got the faintest positive on a HPT a day or two before my period was due (D could see it, too) and then started my period a day later than expected. Slightly heavier than normal flow.
As opposed to what I call my miscarriage, when I had dark positives, made it a bit over a week after my period was due before I started bleeding heavily + passed a sac.
As far as I'm concerned they're both losses, but the latter hurt me a lot more than the former, because I had longer to get used to the idea?
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@lovehoneybee: I agree with the later loss, sorry to hear!
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I made it to 6 weeks, a few days before my ultrasound appointment.
Either way, it was really hard.
I am unsure of what kind to call it since I never saw the sac, but one should have been developed at that point.
I dislike the term chemical pregnancy, only because it makes it seem like it wasn't something real.
, but then get your period - either on time or a few days late. So it's a MC that happens before many people would even know they were pregnant. Reply
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