OB-GYN (Obstetrician-Gynecologist) Questions OB-GYN

Early pregnancy symptoms?

I found out I was pregnant on Jan 11 and my last menstrual cycle was on Dec 11. I started to have slight on and off cramps few days and then now Jan 17 fewer cramps as I did stop morphine and Xanax when I found out and on Subutex now and been doing the best I can but I’m nervous as there are fewer cramps today. Is this normal fewer cramps? Never had spots or blood at all during this and it is my second pregnancy baby, I was 34 at the time and now I'm 35. Will this baby be fine it's fewer cramps already at 5 weeks and 2 days? Could some of the cramps have also been from my withdrawals as I have withdrawal before when I was not pregnant? I have 8 positive tests and went to the ER. They did blood 9000 levels and said I’m super early as the sac was so small and no baby is seen yet. No spots and no bleeding and no bad cramps.

Female | 35 years old
Complaint duration: Week
Medications: Subutex
Conditions: Pregnancy

2 Answers

It is normal to be anxious in your situation! You should consult your doctor early as you are high risk. At 6 weeks, you can see a heartbeat!
Having cramping initially can be a symptom of the uterine muscle starting to stretch and the uterus trying to contract back. The cramping can also be the round ligament stretching but that is usually a sharper pulling pain that goes to your groin (the normal distribution of where your round ligament actually goes). If I understand your question correctly, a blood serum HCG of 9,000 was done; you are able to see a fetus with a beating heart at 5wk 2days so being told it’s too early at 9,000 is incorrect. The exception may be that you are pregnant with twins which would show 2 sacs by Ultrasound before it would show a fetus. However, you may have an empty sac or empty sacs or 1 sac with a fetus and 1 sac empty; in any of those cases, the placenta is what is registering the HCG test of 9,000. So if it is a singleton pregnancy with a single sac, your dates may actually be off; or you may also have a 2nd pregnancy sac in the tube or an ectopic; this can also give pelvic cramping with an empty uterus. And of course it’s possible to have a pregnancy in the uterus and in the tube at the same time; the ectopic pregnancy in the tube is a medical emergency that will grow and rupture the tube causing internal bleeding, possible hemorrhage and can be fatal so make certain you quiz your healthcare provider about all of these possibilities before settling on the explanation you are given.