Normal Pathology Report from D&C?

Jewels292

Hi All -- Hope you're having a nice Thursday!

I had a D&C 3 weeks ago and received my pathology report yesterday. All the nurse could tell me was that it was a "normal male." 

Honestly, it made me so upset. I was hoping they could tell me there was something wrong that caused the miscarriage and we could work on fixing (or a chromosomal abnormality), but instead I am just scared that it's something unknown and it could happen again. 

I love the nurse I am working with, but all she could tell me is that "miscarriages are normal." 

What I am more curious about is if this kind of normal pathology report doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong and that stuff just happens. 

Has anyone had this experience and learned anything insightful from their Dr? I would love as much information as I can get. 

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me! 

monkey41

I'm sorry your not getting the information you want through this situation. I think what you received is the standard type of pathology report that comes back from any D&C, just to make sure they've removed everything. Just yesterday I was told my pathology report stated something along the lines of  "POC accounted for" with no other remarks. They usually only do more expensive chromosomal testing after 3+ miscarriages or maybe other high-risk situations because most insurance won't cover it until then, as we aren't considered high risk until after 3 miscarriages.

Jewels292

Hi @monkey41 -- Thank you so much for your note! I am so sorry for your loss. Looks like we were on the same schedule... The holidays pretty much sucked, right?! 

I was told about 2 pathology reports for the D&C. One was just confirming that the pregnancy tissue was removed. The second was looking for chromosomal abnormalities and that also came back normal -- no abnormality. I'm guessing there is still a fancier level of testing beyond that if there was really an issue, right?! 

Hope you are doing OK! I was just given permission on Tuesday to try again naturally this cycle -- I couldn't believe my body healed so soon! (I should be ovulating today or tomorrow.) We're going to try one natural cycle and then move on to IVF... Sending you lots of hugs and support!  

ceu

I'm so sorry for your loss.  I had a d&c in late november, because my doctor believed it was a partial molar pregnancy.  The only results I got from pathology was that "no evidence of molar tissue present".  I thought I would honestly hear more than this because my doctor indicated that there was reason to suspect an abnormality because it was my second loss in a row, and I do not have any children.
What he did tell me was that 50-70% of people suffering from infertility or multiple losses never wind up figuring out why, even with all the tests which are available.  The only thing that helped me with is thinking I might have answers before trying again.  Now I can feel certain that trying again is the only thing we can do.  
I do hope you take care of yourself.  I'm very sorry for your loss.

monkey41

@Jewels292 - yeah, the holidays were tough, but I tried to use it as a chance to get out of town, see family, and do stuff other than think about the loss. I've never heard of testing fancier than the chromosomal testing on the pregnancy tissue. I think beyond that, they start testing you and your partner for possible conditions that may cause miscarriage.

That's awesome that you're cleared for trying again immediately! I wasn't physically examined after the D&C, but was just told to wait 3 cycles (!) and use condoms until then. I'm switching doctors due to insurance anyways, so instead, I think we're just going to go with the not trying to not get pregnant approach for this and maybe one more cycle, since that seems to be the normal waiting length. It seems too weird to go back to using condoms with my husband. I don't think we can do it. I've just started charting again (had to buy a new thermometer because I gave mine to another friend), and just ordered some OPKs so I can maybe try to avoid getting pregnant for a month or two, but who knows. Is there any medical reason why we need to wait? I know the whole "to help with dating the new pregnancy" reason, but that seems unnecessary, especially in the age of charting and opks. I have no idea how long this cycle will be since I don't have enough good temperature data yet to see ovulation, but my temps are low enough to know I haven't yet, and we've only been cleared to starting having sex again a couple days ago. I'm hoping my next doctor will let me do some tests (I want to make sure my progesterone levels are sufficient) early on to potentially help a pregnancy.

If you do end up going into the IVF process soon, best wishes with that. I hope it goes smoothly and works! It took my sister nearly 5 years of trying, IUI failures, and turning 35 before they were really willing to try IVF on her. She has her first embryo transfer next week, so I'm getting a pretty good feel for that process as well.

kja2011

I am sorry for your loss.  

While my miscarriage at 11.5 weeks was natural, my Materniti21 results came back the next week, only to learn the baby was female, and no chromosomal abnormalities detected.

I completely understand where you were hoping for something wrong, or that you could fix.  I really pressed my doctor for more answers.  She stressed that the tests don't identify everything. I'm also afraid that it was something completely random, that could happen again.  

Something that helped me was to do a fertility yoga program through my acupuncture office.  Most of the ladies in the group had been through 1 or more losses, and it was nice to be able to share, talk with others.  

I know this isn't helpful, but wanted to let you are not along in wanting to know more.  I am sorry you are going though this.  

catiecatp

I'm sorry for your loss.

I'm pulling on some university course information from years ago - please keep that in mind as you read the following - but I think a chromosomal analysis will look for something like trisomy (or monosomy? not sure that is a word, but what I mean is that instead of 2 copies of each gene there would be 1). But that doesn't mean (I think) that there isn't a genetic issue with a particular fetus.

Gene based issues could be random genetic issues (which I think most are - which is why they don't tend to test until multiple miscarriages?). When our cells divide in meiosis (formation of the eggs and sperm) they line up in pairs and then one of each chromosome goes to each cell (gamete) - when they line up there can be cross over between the chromosomes (a good thing for genetic diversity) but sometimes the crossing doesn't swap equivalent genes. If this is the case a gamete could be missing some critical genes - or it could have extra copies. I think that unfortunately this is a random occurrence - which means there is nothing we can do to prevent it. The crossing over is random, and which egg matures (or sperm swims fastest) is random (I think). Without a full genetic analysis this wouldn't be detected - and I think that level of analysis would be associated with a genetic counsellor.

jgl907

I just got my results today from the same procedure. Normal just means that there was a baby and that they got all of the tissue out, which is a good thing! Don't get me wrong, it still sucks and it has left me with a ton of questions. I'm trying my best to find the positive in all of this, which has been difficult because I have so many questions and feel like there aren't any answers or reasons.

I was able to ask my doctor a ton of questions, and the facts are that miscarriages are normal (25% of all pregnancies), and there was nothing that you could have done to change the outcome. I have spent the week asking questions and blaming myself, and this is the mantra that I have adopted. It doesn't make sense to me, but it helps. 

In my case, my baby just wasn't developing right. He stopped growing between 10-12 weeks and had a healthy heartbeat all the way up until 14 weeks. It wasn't until my 18 week appointment that we knew anything was wrong. We thought everything was going fine. It was devastating to go in for our anatomy scan only to find out that we had lost the baby. I had no symptoms of miscarriage besides spotting the evening before my appointment. We thought everything was fine.

Unfortunately, this kind of thing does just happen. Just remember that it was nothing you did. I have found some information by using Google Scholar to access some article. 

I hope this helps. Researching has helped me find some closure.

malanay

**Removed for TOU violation**

prudence9-2

@Jewels292 I'm sorry for your loss. 

When i I had a m/c, I was also hoping to hear that something was wrong. But like you, I got the "normal female embryo" result. 

Once my hcg went down, my dr ordered me blood tests to make sure I don't have thyroid, immune or any other problem that might have caused the m/c. But those results came back normal as well. 

Like @catiecatp mentioned, it might be a genetic issue. Which means all the chromosomes were fine was there was a genetic defect. That's what my dr thinks that happened to with my embryo. 

I got my dr to do one more test, a biopsy to the uterine lining, to make sure I don't have an infection. I'm still waiting for those results...

i totally know what you're going thru. You want to have a cause to make sure you can take of it so it won't happen again...