I don't remember with my first pregnancy (it ended a late-term miscarriage for reasons not related to PCOS), but with my second, I tested something like 5 days before I expected to have my period (I got "that feeling" and decided to try a test) and it showed positive. That was a pretty uneventful pregnancy, though watched like a hawk due to the previous miscarriage.

I haven't heard that about HGC, either (not specifically, anyway), but if I had to guess, I'd say it's linked to the progesterone deficiencies many women with PCOS have. Our hormone levels are very often determined by other hormones and it's a lot about the balances between them. If your progesterone is low and not increasing properly, then it's not telling HGC to increase properly, either. Without those two, the uterus doesn't get set up properly for a pregnancy.

I highly recommend talking to your Endo and/or OB/GYN if you're actively trying to get pregnant, and have them test your progesterone and LH/FSH levels. These are key to getting and staying pregnant.

KnitOrMiss wrote: »

I was similar to you, @berrieblu . I KNEW I was PG the first time around. I just knew it. Everything changed. I took multiple tests, finally got one to come up super faintly positive. That was a Thursday or Friday. Set up all the appointments to confirm and all (we'd been trying over a year), and I miscarried over the weekend. I was considered 5 weeks 3 days.

With my daughter, I actually conceived 9 days after my miscarriage, which is supposed to be impossible, so my OB told me in all likelihood, an embryo never actually formed past the initial stage. It was just enough to trigger hormones and all that. So, I continued having "morning sickness" and all after my miscarriage, and I couldn't figure out why it wouldn't go away.

The ladies I worked with actually figured things out before I did. I started suspecting around 6 weeks or so, took at test at 8 weeks (obviously, timing was found out later), and I got a screaming positive result as soon as the urine passed the test box. I was terrified.

But whatever had happened, I'd gotten past the point where I'd lost the first one, I the test results were SOOO different, and all that. My pregnancy was classified high risk due to the miscarriage, etc., but I had no problems. I was told that they only reason my daughter's pregnancy "stuck" was because I was so depressed I was laying around all the time and not doing anything - else gravity probably would have "taken over." She was my little miracle.

After that, I had severe secondary infertility, and in the 15 years that have passed, I have not ever conceived again. I'm now 39, and the factory is closed, but other complications prevent me from surgical options... So I'm stuck on BCP for now...

And dear gods, the sheer number of hopeful testing for late cycles, the terrified testing when I was late, all of the whole fertility mess, it's truly a wonder how any of us who struggle maintain any sanity.

This reminds me -- with PCOS, we often also suffer from poor egg quality, which is one of the other big causes of the very early miscarriages (and for what it's worth, even among the general population, the miscarriage rate is generally considered 20%, with it going up to an estimated 50% when pre-hpt detection ("chemical pregnancy") is included, so we are by no means alone or uniquely "defective").

If you're actively looking to get pregnant, I highly recommend taking Inositol. It's part of the B-vitamin family, and not only helps prevent defects like the other B vitamins, but it also helps improve egg quality and can help regulate your cycle. It will increase your chances of getting pregnant and staying that way, and will reduce the change of birth defects, if for no other reason that it helps you release more viable and properly matured eggs.

Dragonwolf wrote: »

I haven't heard that about HGC, either (not specifically, anyway), but if I had to guess, I'd say it's linked to the progesterone deficiencies many women with PCOS have. Our hormone levels are very often determined by other hormones and it's a lot about the balances between them. If your progesterone is low and not increasing properly, then it's not telling HGC to increase properly, either. Without those two, the uterus doesn't get set up properly for a pregnancy.

I highly recommend talking to your Endo and/or OB/GYN if you're actively trying to get pregnant, and have them test your progesterone and LH/FSH levels. These are key to getting and staying pregnant.

This is exactly right. HCG is created by your body when the baby attaches to the uterine wall, which is why you wont get a positive on pregnancy tests when you ovulate, only after implantation. Progesterone is the number one ESSENTIAL hormone in getting your baby to stick to the uterine wall. If it doesnt implant well, correctly, or enough, your hcg will not rise like it should and you can miscarry an otherwise healthy baby. PCOS is notorious for not letting our ovaries produce enough progesterone to get the baby to stick well, so you should always get it tested as soon as you get a bfp or even suppliment with things like bio-identical progesterone cream you can get over the counter starting a couple days after you ovulate. If you wait until you get your bfp, it is sometimes too late. The placenta doesnt take over making the hormones needed, including progesterone, until after the 12w mark and it takes a week or two to get going well enough to keep baby, so most of us who have needed progesterone help have stayed on it until 13w or so.

I got on metformin and inositol last year, went Keto, got pregnant somehow but I lost it. At 7w my hcg was only 742 and my progesterone was 2.5. It needs to be a minimum of 10 to keep a baby attached. By the time they tested, it was too late and progesterone help wouldnt have kept the baby attached. I didnt fully pass the baby until 11w, it was heartbreaking because they'd told hubby and i we'd have a better chance at being struck my lightening then conceiving naturally.

I stayed on metformin and inositol but added vitex and EPO along with using the progesterone cream starting 3 days after I ovulated. That meant tracking ovulation using OPKs, cervical mucous, etc. This time I felt I was pregnant even tho I never thought in a million years it would happen again. I just couldnt fit my pants anymore, and when I got them up it hurt my tummy/ovaries sooo bad, and I hadnt gained any scale weight. I tested and got my bfp at 3w3d. Called my family doctor and she tested my hcg (72) and progesterone (20.2). Got me into a high risk ob/gyn right away because of my previous miscarriages and they put me on progesterone pills, 100mg 3x a day and I was weaned off by 13w. I am 17w today and baby is perfect, kicking away as I type.

I have had two miscarriages, both tested for progesterone too late and both times I was very low. I have one daughter (18) who I kept with progesterone help and now this one where I had progesterone help.

PLEASE if you are ttc and have pcos, get your progesterone tested or use progesterone help before you get your bfp. There are studies that show NO medical problems for you or baby with too much progesterone, but miscarriage is a very real risk if you have too little. I spent months researching this issue after my last miscarriage

Since I am pregnant, I am not on here much, but if anyone has questions, pm me and Ill answer.