"Missed" Miscarriage Questions

[luvtoteachlaw]

Hi - I am trying to process what has just happened at my appointment today. Previously, I had went to my first prenatal appt. four weeks ago, and they measured the pregnancy at 6 weeks. We heard the heartbeat at 135 bpm. We even saw the little bean in the sac.

Today, I went in for my regular prenatal visit at 10 weeks. I told them of light spotting over the weekend, but no cramping. They tried to find the hb on the doppler, but didn't seem concerned when they couldn't find it. We went right to the ultrasound. I could tell by the tech's face that something was wrong. She said that there was no longer anything visible in the sack, and that the sack measured 7w 3d. I will be meeting with another doc tomorrow to go over options.

It just seems so crazy to have continued to "grow" and experience symptoms (nausea, exhaustion, etc.) after everything ended. I even had to get out a pair of maternity capri pants over the weekend. How has my body not known the baby died 2 1/2 weeks ago? And does the body really reabsorb the baby so that there is next to nothing visible?

The OB said they will likely schedule me for a procedure by the end of the week.

[Babidol]

I'm not sure about any of that but I am so sorry. I know with my BO I kept all my pregnancy symptoms and was growing and there wasn't a baby. My body never figured it out. I ended up having a D&C. My doc was worried about the bleeding being too heavy after 10 weeks to let me miscarry naturally.

[JJorn]

With my miscarriage, I had my first appointment at 8 weeks and then the ultrasound a few days later. Heart beat was at 135 and everything looked good. For some reason I didn't think that things were right and I ended up being right. Most of my symptoms cleared up by week 10 but my body had changed by that point anyway. I had a check up at 11 weeks and they could not find the heart beat so I also had an ultrasound. What was left measured a week smaller than when the heart was beating. The doctor said that sometimes a woman needs confirmation before she will naturally miscarry. I was given the option to wait to miscarry and I took it. I miscarried at exactly 12 weeks.

[moosh34]

So sorry. I had a missed miscarriage with my first pregnancy. It was so confusing to me that I didn't feel any changes. No spotting or difference in pregnancy symptoms or anything. It makes it hard to accept. I think I read it on here in the info pages, but the embryo starts to shrink at the same rate it would have grown after the hb stops. I found out about my miscarriage at about 10.5 weeks and measured about 8.5 weeks so I guess that would mean the hb stopped at 9.5 weeks. I'm not sure I really understand it. I opted for a D&C because I was not comfortable waiting to miscarry. Again, so sorry. Good luck with everything.

[luvtoteachlaw]

My doc scheduled me for a D & C on Thursday morning. This afternoon, I started bleeding, but not really alot. Tonight, it has picked up, but still not what I would expect (not that I would know exactly . . .).

A nurse told me that even if I start to bleed, they would likely still do the procedure. I wasn't sure that sounded right to me. I am going to call tomorrow and find out if it is necessary to do it even if I appear to be naturally processing this situation. Anyone have any advice on this?

[moosh34]

You could still have the procedure or you could ask your doc to let you wait it out. If you are more comfortable having your body do things naturally I'd make sure you talk to your ob and not a nurse to see if there really is a reason the procedure would be strongly advised. Either way they should have you getting blood drawn (or maybe it's urine) to make sure your hormone levels return to normal. I think that they would recommend the procedure if your levels did not return to normal even if it seemed that your body took care of things. Good luck!

[JJorn]

It is entirely up to you what you want to do. When I found out that the baby's heart had stopped my doctor gave me several options. I could just wait a bit to see if I didn't need to do anything, I could take a pill orally to start contractions, take a pill vaginally to dilate the cervix or I could have a D&C. I was 12 weeks along so you should really have the same options that I did. Whatever you do, your doctor will probably have you do periodic betas or POAS until you have a negative result once you've miscarried.

I didn't mention this before, but I found out that the baby's heart had stopped on Friday (as long ago as two weeks before) and I started spotting Sunday, bleeding on Tuesday and then I miscarried on Wednesday.

[l&dmommy]

My situation is a little different because I was a lil earlier on than you 8 weeks.... I started spotting on Saturday, then really bleeding lk a period with clots on Monday afternoon. I called my Dr. and told him that I would like to do it as naturally as possible.. He told me to monitor my bleeding and go in if I had severe pain 8/10, nausea, vomiting, increased amounts of bleeding or if I felt dizzy.

You should have options on how you wish to proceed though... as long as you are stable (not having the symptoms listed above or whatever your doctor tells you)

some options doctors give include:

oral medication to cause contractions

vaginal medication to help dilate your cervix to help facilitate the passage bleeding and clots

monitor you closely and let you do it naturally (which not many doctors like to do)

D&C (I personally think doctor's like to do this the most to avoid potential complications of waiting for the natural course:anemia, hemorrhage (if a piece of placenta ect. stays in and isn't passed), infection)


I wanted to do it as naturally as possible.. and decided to monitor my symptoms.. day 2 I started bleeding more and felt dizzy.. day 3 I called my doctor who suggested I get the D&C before complications arose. I got my D&C last Wednesday.. the bleeding decreased immediately, the cramping increased because of medications you have to take.. and I was able to focus more on emotionally dealing with my loss. I was completely against the D&C and didn't want to have it done at all.. but once I started bleeding more and saw there was nothing I could do.. I decided to do the D&C. I am bouncing back physically.. but am at a snails pace emotionally.

Please fight for your options.. ask for reasons why you can't wait if you don't want the D&C right away.. In any case make sure they continue to watch your HCG (beta levels) throughout whatever you may choose.

Although its so difficult to think about I know it was personally for me.. the D &C allows the doctor's to send samples to pathology and chromosome studies.. to try and see what happened.. IF that is something you are interested in please ask your doctor.

[Krystal5]

I am so sorry for your loss! My situation was entirely different, so I don't have any answers to your original questions.

As for the procedure... I started passing the day before my D&C, but I went ahead with it, so they could collect what they could and try to get me some answers. I didn't get any answers, because there was so little there, but it was worth a shot. I would have never forgiven myself if I didn't at least try to get an answer!!

Keep us updated, if you feel up to it. And good luck, whatever you decide.

[luvtoteachlaw]

Thanks for all your support, ladies.

I had my procedure at 7:30 a.m., and it went as well as could be expected. I am still bleeding now, but from what I have been told, that is common. However, I did just start passing some larger clots (TMI, sorry), and that kinda freaked me out (like didn't they get all that when they were in there?). Hopefully, I will be feeling better tomorrow, at least physically.

The bloating makes me think I will continue to wear maternity stuff for a bit, which I really don't want to think about right now. How long did it take for your belly to start shrinking after?

[JJorn]

My belly is back to about what it was before now which is about two months later. I wasn't working at it, though.

[l&dmommy]

I will be thinking about you and hope you make a quick recovery. Just keep an eye on those clots and let the doctor know if you are passing too many big clots...or having other side effects on your discharge sheet. I am still so bloated from my procedure a week ago and am having to wear maternity clothes... so I can sympathize.

[luvtoteachlaw]

I felt much better physically on Saturday and then Sunday with little bleeding. Today, I feel like the depression has hit full force, and the bleeding has picked up (now red again instead of just brown). Not a good combination. Is that normal to have the bleeding pick up after it has seemingly stopped?

[l&dmommy]

When I had my D&C my bleeding picked up whenever I was emotionally upset... Just keep an eye on it and let your MD know if it continues to increase.. Did he/she give you any medication to help your uterus contract like methergine? My MD had me take methergine for 4 days after my D&C to help decrease the bleeding.

Its normal for the depression to be hitting you now.. because after all the emotions and physical symptoms of the D&C are now on the back burner... your emotions come out full force. Its been exactly 2 weeks for me since I started miscarrying and I am still so sad and devastated.. looking for answers.. to why this happened to me. Know that you are not alone and that we are here to listen and support you on your journey to healing...

I started keeping a journal about memories of my pregnancy and my emotions.. its been helpful... also joined a support group (Mommies Enduring Neonatal Loss) that has connected me with women going through similar situations.. this forum continues to help too!

Here if you need someone to talk to..