Caution must be used in making too much of hCG numbers. A normal pregnancy may have low hCG levels and deliver a perfectly healthy baby. The results on an ultrasound after 5 - 6 weeks gestation are much more accurate than using hCG numbers.
A single hCG reading is not enough information for most diagnoses. When there is a question regarding the health of the pregnancy, multiple testings of hCG done a couple of days apart give a more accurate look at assessing the situation.
hCG levels should not be used to date a pregnancy since these numbers can vary so widely.
The first detection of hCG in the blood depends on when implantation happens. Extremely sensitive tests which are not available in a regular laboratory can detect the hCG even before implantation. But with regular laboratory hCG tests, hCG is usually found in sufficient levels as early as 2-3 days after implantation.
Implantation happens as early as 6 days after ovulation/fertilization (usually about 9 days after ovulation), so blood hCG can be found as early as 8-9 days after ovulation/fertilization.
Pregnant women usually attain blood serum concentrations of at least 10-50 mIU/cc in the 7-8 days following implantation.
At hCG levels above 1,000-1,500 mIU/ml, vaginal sonography usually identifies the presence of an intrauterine pregnancy
Within the first 2-4 weeks after fertilization, hCG usually doubles every 48-72 hours
An increase of 60% in 48 hours is still considered normal
Below 1,200 mIU/ml, hCG usually doubles every 48-72 hours
Between 1,200 and 6,000 mIU/ml serum, the hCG usually takes 72-96 hours to double
Above 6,000 mIU/ml, the hCG often takes over four days to double
More than two in three normal pregnancies have a doubling of the hCG every 72 hours
There is a wide variation of normal hCG levels. An hCG that does not double every two to three days does not necessarily indicate a problem
Normal hCG values vary up to 20 times between different pregnancies
A single hCG value doesn't give enough information about the viability of the pregnancy
Pregnancies that will miscarry and ectopic (tubal) pregnancies are likely to show lower levels and slower rises, but often have normal levels initially
Some normal pregnancies will have quite low levels of hCG -- and deliver perfect babies
Normal levels of hCG can vary tremendously. After 5-6 weeks of pregnancy, sonogram findings are much more predictive of pregnancy outcome than are HCG levels. Once the fetal heart rate is seen, most doctors will monitor the fetal heart rate rather than drawing hCG
and to share some information that I found on the babymed website. I hope this helps reassure you, Natty!
I'm sure you'll get a BFP really soon and it will be a really sticky one!
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- looks like I got some rebuilding to do. Do you happen to know what it means when the spiders are chasing you? just thought I'd ask.... ooooooh! pampering - what an excellent idea!!! enjoy, sweety!!!
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that your syptoms are a BFP!
. AF is due tomorrow, but I haven't been able to help myself, so I have been POAS. Some have been a BFN, but some have had that faint 2nd line appear. So I guess I just need to suck it up and think about something else (Yeah right) for a couple of days before testing again, just to be sure, to be sure! 
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