What if your daughter shows an inconclusive blood pregnancy test she would be 13 weeks along if she is pregnant?

Answer 1

One of the two standard blood tests in determining pregnancy is the qualitative human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) test, this is the same hormone a urine test (EPT or HPT) looks for and gives the same results: yes or no.

The second test is quantitative - beta human chorionic gonadotropin beta-(hCG) test. This test measures the exact amount of hCG in the blood, it will detect the most minute amount of hormone and can be used the measure the viability of a very early pregnancy, as the hormone starts out very low, but will continue to climb very rapidly for the first 12 weeks following conception, in a healthy pregnancy. If the level stops rising, then begins to drop in these first days and weeks, it can be the the first indication of problems to come.

A beta - hCG test is reliable as early as 7 to 10 daysafter conception. An hCG level of less than 5mIU/ml is considered negative for pregnancy, and anything above 25mIU/ml is considered positive for pregnancy, (some labs call under 50mIU/ml inconclusive) but even at that level she should have passed that point 11 weeks ago.

Obviously there needs to be more testing done, I would be calling the doctor, asking what he found on exam and requesting a clear explanation of her lab results, also "demanding"(nicely as possible) a sonogram, ASAP.

I have listed the quantitative values in a beta hCG by the week or weeks. There are other tests she may have had but these are the standard. Blood tests have a 98% to 99% accuracy rate, in early (2 to 4 weeks) pregnancy, so for hers to be inconclusive at 13 weeks makes no sense. Even if she tested low for thirteen weeks, the test still should have read clearly pregnant or not.

Diuretics aka water pills can cause a test to read abnormally low, as can Promethazine (used as an antihistamine in combination cough and cold products to treat allergy symptoms and to treat nausea or vomiting from illness or motion sickness)

If the level is checked before conception it would be expected to be about 5mIU/ml. In the first days following conception changes are minimal, until about 10 to 12 days, when the fertilized egg begins implanting in the uterine wall, the beta-hCG level will jump to an average of 21mIU/ml at 14 days. Between 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 weeks, the urine hCG level jumps to 50mIU - 80mIU/ml. 50mIU/ml is the level most home pregnancy tests need to detect for a positive test result.

4 weeks - 425mIU/ml.

6 wks - 56,500mIU/ml.

7 - 8 wks - 7,650 - 229,000mIU/ml.

9 - 12 wks - 25,700 - 288,000mIU/ml

13 - 16 wks - *13,300 - 254,000mIU/ml

17 - 24 wks 4,060-165,400mIU/ml

25 - 40 wks - 3,640-117,000mIU/ml

After delivery the levels will return to the pre - pregnancy 0 - 5mIU/ml over a few weeks time.

hCG is produced by the same cells that form the placenta and nourishes the embryo as it becomes attached to the uterine wall. *At the start of the second trimester (right where your daughter is or should be) you notice the first normal decline as the placenta takes over the job of caring for the baby. It is quite normal for the values to decline 10% to l5% from the 12 week peak concentration during the 2nd and 3rd trimesters. The very high variation during each time span are due to each pregnancy and each woman being unique. Very rarely there will be extreme variations in the levels, with a perfectly healthy pregnancy.

Because your daughter may have passed the point of plateau, a 10% to 15% drop is not a concern. A concern is a test value that doesn't clearly show a test value in the 10 to 13 week zone and a fetus, with a beating heart on ultra sound and in all actuality, from 12 weeks on the top of the fundus or uterus, should be felt above the pelvic bone on an external exam.