Pregnancy is one of the best milestones to experience when you and your partner aspire to become parents. Unfortunately, not all pregnancies would lead to successful births. There is such a thing as chemical pregnancy, which is what accounts for nearly 75% of miscarriages. But what is chemical pregnancy exactly?
Read on to learn more about chemical pregnancy and what to expect if you have gone through this process. You’ll be learning more about why it happens and how to differ the signs of chemical pregnancy with typical symptoms while carrying your baby.
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What is Chemical Pregnancy?
If you tested positive but miscarry before detecting a uterus on ultrasound, then that is chemical pregnancy. This very early miscarriage that happens about two weeks after implantation.
A fertilized egg would implant itself into the uterus three weeks after your period, with its cells producing pregnancy hormones to get ready for the next stages.
Unfortunately, there will be times that the implantation won’t happen and ultrasounds will not detect any development of your placenta.
Because of the failed implantation, you will notice heavy bleeding a week after you are due for your period. The heavy bleeding is most likely chemical pregnancy, so you will need to get checked by your doctor to find out.
A chemical pregnancy is similar to a false pregnancy test. You get the positive results due to a chemical reaction. Sometimes, women don’t even notice that they went through a chemical pregnancy if they aren’t expecting since a chemical pregnancy is similar to getting your period.
Here’s a video fully explaining chemical pregnancy:
Symptoms of Chemical Pregnancy
Chemical pregnancy has little to no symptoms, except for heavy menstrual bleeding. Sometimes it may be similar to your average period or lighter than that. If you have it checked with the doctor, you may notice that the pregnancy hormone (hCG), may have gotten lower.
One symptom would include cramping, just like having your regular period. But you will need to distinguish the differences between implantation symptoms and chemical pregnancy, as the former would also have a light bleeding.
Implantation bleeding is one of the pregnancy symptoms that some women don’t experience. If it does happen, then they expect a light bleeding rather than the heavy and menstrual-like flow that chemical pregnancy would do.
Whether you are experiencing light or heavy bleeding during your pregnancy, or even discharge like leukorrhea, it’s best to have it checked with your doctor to see if these symptoms will affect your baby.
Why Does Chemical Pregnancy Happen?
There are various reasons why you experience chemical pregnancy:
- Abnormal chromosomes are the most common cause, which would stop your baby from forming correctly during the first stage.
- If your uterus contains fibroids, then it may be the reason why it interfered or disrupted implantation.
- Women who have hormone deficiencies aren’t able to sustain their pregnancy, resulting in a miscarriage.
- Other risk factors such as old age or medical problems may interfere with your fertility and increase the danger of a miscarriage.
But remember that even though you experienced a chemical pregnancy, it is still possible to get pregnant. This miscarriage will not affect your conception and future pregnancies.
How to Treat Chemical Pregnancy
There is no treatment for chemical pregnancy, as it is not fatal for your body. You may need to consult a doctor so that he will monitor your hCG levels. You might be prescribed medicine to treat the changing hormone levels or to treat any infection that may have happened from the chemical pregnancy.
Chemical pregnancy may take a toll on your emotions as well, but do NOT let it stop you from trying again. Like mentioned, a chemical pregnancy won’t affect your future pregnancies, and there are still high chances that you can become the mother you aspire to be.
Just make sure that you stay healthy and have regular doctor checkups to make sure your uterus is ready to carry a child, which is about a month after the chemical pregnancy.
Are you more fertile after chemical pregnancy? While there are no official studies, women who have experienced this miscarriage have managed to achieve successful pregnancies with no issues.
In Conclusion
Going through chemical pregnancy is very unfortunate and may be trying times for you and your family. But do not worry, as this doesn’t mean you have no chance of conceiving again. As long as you take care of your body and continue to try, you’ll be able to carry your child and start a new family.
I hope that this article answers your question: “What is chemical pregnancy?” Now you are knowledgeable with your expectations while carrying your child, as well as how to take care of yourself.
If you have more questions or would like to share your experiences with chemical pregnancy, then comment down below. I would love to hear what you have to think.
