HCG level post MC

I had a miscarriage early December and have been doing weekly hcg labs ever since watching for them to zero out. They have been going down until this week. Last week it was 42 and today it was 48. At first my doctor said this was normal for an ectopic miscarriage until I told her I wasn’t following her advice not to have unprotected sex till my numbers are zero. Now she wants me to do my labs earlier next week and see if they start going up consistently. I’m just confused. Is this normal or not normal? Has anyone here experienced this type of drop for 2 months just to start going back up before you reach zero?