What is a chemical pregnancy?

I see a lot of women talking about having one but idk what it is. I googled it and now I'm even more confused. To me it sounds like an early miscarriage but I'm struggling to tell the difference between the two... is it like a specific amount of time that makes it chemical vs normal miscarriage? I'm not trying to be insensitive I promise. I'm just wondering because I got pregnant back in September but miscarriaged in October and baby only got to 5w6d so I was "pregnant" for an extra month before I passed it so I'm just wondering the difference between them.

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My doctor explained that a pregnancy is chemical until they can see a viable embryo on ultrasound. Because until that point you only suspect you're pregnant via the presence of hcg. It took 6 days for us to figure out that I wasn't having a chemical pregnancy (I had an empty gestational sac we could see on ultrasound) I had an ectopic pregnancy that needed treatment.

@Alexis that makes so much more since then Google! Thank you for explaining it to me! I'm so sorry about your ectopic pregnancy, I have never been through one but they sound horrid, and I wish no one would have to go through that. ❤️

Glad I could be helpful!

I’ve had two chemical pregnancy. I only knew I was “pregnant” cuz I tested early bt if I didn’t test I wouldn’t have known I was pregnant & jus thot I was having a really heavy periods Bt long story short, for me how I knew was I tested & got positives and then hcg isn’t rising so I tested again & I got negatives. So u r pregnant cuz the tests say u are bt hcg doesn’t double cuz its not a viable pregnancy so the “baby”stops forming very early so tests go from positive to negatives & of course u can’t go to the hospital for ultra sound cuz there is nothing to really see. So a chemical pregnancy is an early miscarriage that happens with the 1st 5 weeks which is usually Like right when u find out ur pregnant :)

The way I've heard it is that the egg is fertilized, but for whatever reason it cannot attatch to the uterine wall. So you have successfully conceived, it just wasn't a viable embyro. Women can have one without even realizing it because it happens before you usually test so it feels like a normal period. If you do test before it's lost, the line is typically super faint. I had one a few months before I conceived my son, got a faint positive the day before I lost it.