? for a pregnant friend

teakum

she is pregnant with baby #2. At her first apt they told her she was about 12 weeks. Well she went back to the dr yesterday and an ultrasound was done. The Tech could not find the HB so scheduled her for a DNC. She is not bleeding nor hurting ect and wondering if just because the tech did not see the HB if it was normal to sch. a DNC right away. I have no idea I have never been through this type of thing. Friends biggest fear is that this DNC will be done on a live baby. Like I said I have no idea, I have been blessed enough to have never lost a baby. What do you think? Her other concern is the DR never came in to check for a HB.

katy75

You should cross-post this on the miscarriage/pregnancy loss board.

Personally, I wouldn't do a D&C without another u/s WITH the doctor present.  I don't think I could live with the constant wondering the rest of my life.

Emmasmom30

That's very odd that a tech is making that kind of judgment call.  I'd tell her to call her own doctor ASAP.

teakum

thanks I did post over there as well.

 

gisellems

i would ask for another appoinment, i remember a long time ago on the trimester boards there was a lady that had a similar situation and she asked if they could wait another week before a DNC and they did, that next week they did another ultrasound and there was the baby, fine and healthy.. i wouldnt want to get her hopes up.. since its such a difficult situation, but if she thinks they didnt take enough time to check her correctly i would ask for another opinion/appointment/ultrasound and see how that goes..  i hope they are wrong and the baby is there! good luck to your friend

Dani123

Emmasmom30:

That's very odd that a tech is making that kind of judgment call.  I'd tell her to call her own doctor ASAP.

This DEFINITELY!!!  I would have them check and check again WITH doc present!

abpdjs

Dani123:

Emmasmom30:

That's very odd that a tech is making that kind of judgment call.  I'd tell her to call her own doctor ASAP.

This DEFINITELY!!!  I would have them check and check again WITH doc present!

ditto, that seems very strange.

mrshutch

I had this happen- perfectly normal h/b at one appt. and then there was no h/b at 10.5 wks. But my OB was right there by my side holding my hand during the internal u/s (the external didn't detect a h/b so she knew something was wrong). I had a D&C 2 days later. Even going into the surgery, I kept saying, well, it was really clear there was no h/b, right? And my OB continued to reassure me that the baby was no longer living. It would've been all that much more devastating to have to second guess that whole time, especially after the surgery.

 I really surprised your friend's tech went ahead and made the call. I would have your friend call her dr. immediately and have the dr. present for another u/s. It might be traumatizing to have to go through another u/s to not see a h/b, but I think it would be worse to wonder. I'm so sorry she's going through this.

TheMalleys

It seems like it was a pretty quick decision, so I wonder if there was something else the tech saw that made her think the pregnancy was not viable. I mean, not being able to find a HB is one thing, but wouldn't there be other things you can detect, like no movement, no growth for the gestational age, etc. I would have your friend call and discuss with the doctor the reasons why they don't think the pregnancy is viable before the DNC. That would definitley ease her mind.

jen5-03

My u/s tech didn't even tell me, she ran and got the OB to come and look first and then the OB was the one who told me and showed me where there should be a heartbeat, because you should be able to see it on an internal.

I can't believe a tech would even tell you, let alone make the call. I agree, another u/s is called for, and it needs to be an internal one.

Josie22

I had a friend have a u/s around 12 weeks, the tech didn't find a baby, and couldn't tell her. I don't know how that tech could have made the call.

eacabraham@gmail.com

Definitely check the pregnancy loss boards, but I would say that a second opinion is appropriate before a D&C.  I certainly would not take a U/S tech's word for it on a lack of heartbeat.  I'd want to hear about fetal growth, or lack thereof, and I'd want to take another look (possibly a transvaginal u/s) for heartbeat.

Among other things, there are risks to D&C, and if your friend can safely miscarry naturally she's likely to recover faster.