Reality star Evelyn Lozada of Livin’ Lozada recently announced that she’s expecting another baby with her fiancé Carl Crawford. Unfortunately, she received some scary news at the six-weeks mark, saying that her HCG hormone levels dropped and most likely she will have to miscarry the baby.
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The Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) is the pregnancy hormone that is produced by the placenta after the embryo is implanted. HCG levels double every two or three days until finally level off. After they’re leveled out, they can begin to drop at weeks 10 to 12 of the pregnancy. This is considered normal. During this time you can hear the baby’s heartbeat or see it on a Doppler ultrasound.
Your HCG levels should be increasing before the first trimester, and if they’re not, or worse–decreasing, than this could be a sign of a problem, like in Lozada’s case. Unfortunately, decreasing HCG levels and spotting or bleeding of any type can lead to a miscarriage. Don’t keep this information from your doctor and tell him right away in order for him to assess the problem as soon as possible.
There have been cases where women have decreasing HCG levels, but their child has come to term perfectly healthy. This is why it’s very important to tell your doctor about what you’re experiencing. He will be able to keep a watch on your HCG levels by doing blood tests and monitoring your pregnancy.
There have been some women whose HCG levels are low and have made the personal decision of avoiding the tests because they feel no pain and have no bleeding. Many times, the anxiety of your doctor telling you that you may lose your child puts extra stress on your pregnancy. Every case is different, which is why it’s strongly adviced to visit your doctor with any worries or problems you are facing during your pregnancy.