8 weeks pregnant but no baby in the sack is this normal?

Yes, it is normal, and that two-fold.

I.
One in 5 women experience a form of miscarriage called Blighted Ovum. This means, there was an egg and sperm, they fertilized, they implanted, the gestational sac formed, but for some reason the yolk sac did not continue developing. In these cases, Doctors consider this a pregnancy, yes, but it is no longer considered viable. The options I was given were:


a) Wait it out and let your body miscarry, which is fine and natural (not necessarily dangerous but certainly no picnic) and you want to be certain an ectopic pregnancy has been ruled out, or


b) Go ahead and schedule a surgical appointment for a D&C (or D&E) to have the traces of residual pregnancy removed so that your cycle can start again; also so the docs can verify there is no cancer, etc. This is probably the most useful if you want to start trying again right away. (They do recommend you wait 1 - 3 cycles before getting pregnant again, based on your circumstances.)




II.
*HOWEVER* There is something else out there, many consider it a Misdiagnosed Miscarriage. This is what you think it is: there is a baby in there and it is being missed. Even irregular HCG levels can contradict this presence. It's less common than the actual Blighted Ovum scenario, but it has been known to happen, yet it's more often than people think.


Reasons for this can be due to a Tilted, or "Retroverted," Uterus. This can be do to advanced maternal age, and other factors, but because of the angle, it seems the ultrasound cannot reach, and therefore find, the tiny embryo beyond the barrier. You can find out all you need to know about this circumstance at www.misdiagnosedmiscarriage.com. There are plenty of medical links as well. There seem to be several women on there who have waited their Blighted Ovums out (declining the D&C once, some twice) and are now buying clothes and shoes for their child. But there are many others who miscarried and have moved on in their own way.


For me personally, I am waiting it out, as I type to you. I don't know which it will be. Will I miscarry at 40? Will my little Tiger appear? Will I ever get pregnant again? Only the future knows, but for me, I know I am sleeping better at night waiting to see, trying to trust my body's answer, whatever it's going to be. There are parts of me though that want this huge uncertainty to be over, to just go with the mainstream. My Doc is fine, either way it seems, and that's a huge relief to me.


Good luck to you.