How long the (physical) process lasts?

ZZsmommy

I guess I am now 'officially' a mother who has miscarried.  I have had assumptions that I was pregnant and gone on to have really heavy periods in the past, but this time I was 7 weeks pregnant before I found out my baby was gone.  Last night I went to the ER with bleeding and clotting.  On the ultrasound, they found a yolk sac inside a 5 1/2 week gestational sac; no fetal pole or heartbeat.  From Tuesday to Saturday, my HCG levels went from 4500 - 5000. 

I started bleeding on Tuesday, and its gotten progressively worse since then.  They started me on Progesterone suppositories Wednesday, and I took them for 3 days (did not bother taking one last night).  After all the "abuse" my body took in the ER, I started bleeding and cramping a LOT.  I was in a great deal of pain last night.  But now, the pain is not really there, and I am not passing clots this morning. Can anyone tell me how long I should expect the physical process of miscarrying to last?  What can I expect?  The pain last night was so bad, I took a vicodin that was left over from my son's C-section.  If it is going to get worse, I am definitely not looking forward to that.  I know eventually I will have to pass the gestational sac, not looking forward to that part, either. 

If I've been bleeding for almost a week, but still have a closed cervix and have not passed the tissue from the pregnancy, is that too long?  Am I going to need a D&C?  Will the D&C make it easier than miscarrying naturally?  From what I understand, the baby died at 5 weeks, 6 days.  I started bleeding at 6 weeks, 6 Days.  Today, my pregnancy would be 7 weeks, 4 days.  It seems 2 weeks is a long time for this process to still be going on.  I won't get to see my OB until Tuesday.  I also don't know what to do about work tomorrow (I am a teacher).  After the pain I felt last night (not to mention the fact that I am an emotional mess), I can't imagine driving myself to work and teaching all day tomorrow knowing my baby is dead inside of me.  How long did you take off work when you miscarried?

 

Thanks for any help in answering my questions.  I wish this board didn't exist, and we all had healthy babies instead, but since it has to be this way, I am glad you are here to help those of us who are just experiencing this for the first time.

 

mammag66

I don't have a lot of answers for you about natural m/c since I had a dc&e (d&c with suction). I will tell you my surgery was pretty smooth and almost painless. I have had some cramping and bleeding post but nothing horrible. It does end the process more quickly. There are sevral posts if you scroll down and back a page or 2 describing the procedures, including my own post.

 

I have heard of natural m/c taking quite a long time, unfortunately. I am so sorry for your loss. This is a wonderful board for support.

shouldbworkin

I had a natural m/c last time around 7w2d. I bled for about 4-5 days. The 2nd and 3rd days were pretty bad and I needed meds, very near labor pains. Passed tissue the first 3 days and then it was just bleeding with mucous/lining, like a heavy period/lochia. I didn't have any u/s to see if I'd passed everything. I went in about 5-6 days after I started bleeding to get my betas checked and they dropped down to 27.  AF returned about 4 weeks after that.  I think if my betas hadn't dropped as fast, I probably would have had a follow up u/s and more b/w. 

GL!  I hope you feel better soon.  (((hugs)))

Karen1998

I'm sorry for your loss.  I don't know how long the bleeding will last for you, but I will tell you my story in case that helps.  I should warn you that my story is hard to hear and is unlikely to be your story as I seem to have had a somewhat unusual experience.  When I was about to miscarry and miscarrying, it really helped me to read others detailed accounts of the experiences so I knew what to expect.  I hope this helps you too.  I also hope that your experience is much easier than mine was.

As for taking time off, take the time off you think you need.  Only you can determine that.  It will take time for your mind and body to heal, so you have to give them time.  As for the possible d/c, you may need one but you may not.  You and your doctor will have to determine that.  Can you go in Monday morning and get your betas tested?  That might help with the decision when you see your doctor on Tuesday.

My natural m/c experience is extreme.  My doctor told me that it would be like a very bad period.  It was much worse. 

I had a blighted ovum, discovered when I was about 6 weeks, though the baby stopped developing somewhere around 5 weeks.  I had brown spotting/discharge regularly from the time I was about 5 weeks pregnant.  I didn't start miscarrying until I was about 8 weeks.  I started bleeding on Friday and having regular contractions.  They'd start each day around noon and last into the night.  Each day they got worse, though the bleeding was never a lot.

For days prior to starting bleeding, I had pain in a single spot in my uterus.  It was a sharp pain and seemed to be where the embryo implanted (it was about the area the ultrasound showed, so I'm guessing it's where it was implanted).  My sack tore apart before exiting, so that may have been part of why I was having a sharp pain there.

Monday at about 4pm, I started having much, much worse contractions.  The pain was about an 8 on a 1 to 10 pain scale and no pain pills touched it.  My contractions got more intense and closer together.  The pain also started shooting from my back through my hip bones, which hurt the worst.  Pushing seemed to help.  I was passing very small clots and bleeding a bit more, though not much.  Finally, at about 8pm, I passed a broken up sack.  The sack was a grayish pink color, so I knew it was not a clot.  I felt a sudden relief from the pain.  About 20 minutes later, I started hemorrhaging.  I knew this was likely to come right after the sack, so I wasn't scared about it.  I was bleeding so fast that the overnight pads couldn't soak up the flow at all, so it came shooting through my pjs.  My husband was a complete sweetie and took my pjs from me in the bathroom, got me clean ones, and washed the soiled ones, all without me asking. 

I hemorrhaged heavily for about 2 hours.  We had a 2 hour time limit for the flow to decrease or we were going to the hospital.  I did use tampons (which you're not supposed to do) to try to measure the flow.  A Super Plus tampon lasted about 5-8 minutes and would come shooting out when I'd sit on the toilet (as the blood flow was so heavy it would literally force it out).  Almost exactly at the 2 hour mark the flow decreased considerably.  It was still heavier than any period I've ever had (and I have heavy ones), but was still much less.  The flow gradually decreased over the next 4 hours giving me increased freedom from the toilet (it went from 5 minutes to 20 minutes to 45 minutes to an hour).  By the morning, I hadn't slept much but my flow was tolerable.  I thought I was done.

At noon on that day (Tuesday), I started having the contractions again.  I panicked.  I was sore all morning and exhausted (both mentally and physically), but I thought I was done.  I called the doctor and they said that sometimes it goes this way.  At about 4:30 p.m., the contractions massively increased.  They were much worse than the day before.  Much worse.  I think this is partially due to my being sore and not mentally ready for a round 2.  I'd prepared myself for the first part but not the second as I didn't know the second was possible.  I got very upset because I thought I was past that part.  The contractions continued (and bleeding continued) for about 5 hours.  They were much longer and closer together than the day before.  They were also shooting through my hip joints like the day before.  Pushing did not help, and in fact, made it worse. My bleeding was not very heavy, but was steady.  Finally, at nearly 10, they subsided.  I'd passed mostly clots (big ones - like golf ball sized) and a little bit of sack.  Thankfully, I did not hemorrhage this time.  I was able to sleep that night. 

Wednesday and Thursday, I continued to bleed and have pain.  I was also still passing clots, but smaller ones (quarter sized).  The pain was more twinges and cramps than anything else.  The bleeding was like a normal period.  If I did too much (i.e. if I did much more than sit on the couch and rest), I had more pain.  Advil did help with this pain.  On Friday, the pain was about the same, but my bleeding suddenly increased.  I passed a bit more of the sack.  I had what I think is a small hemorrhage with it as the bleeding suddenly markedly increased.  It only increased for a very short time though, so maybe it was to push that part of the sack out.  By Saturday, my bleeding had decreased to the level of spotting.  It ebbed and flowed from spotting to a bit heavier off and on for a week.

On Monday, I went to the doctor and she ran my HCG beta.  It came back as a 78, so she thought my miscarriage was complete (I was at 1,000+ only a week before).  I continued to bleed for about another week after that, though my pain gradually went away.         

I'm sorry to be so graphic.  My experience was incredibly traumatic.  The first day was not unlike what I'd read others had, but the second was.  I wish I'd known that so I could have been better prepared.  

babydreams710

I am really sorry to say that we are going through the same exact thing right now and I am also a teacher.  I went in for my u/s last Monday and they discovered just the sac and it measured only at 5 weeks. I was a few days over 7 at the time.  Obviously this week was really hard emotionally but physically I felt fine.  Friday night I started spotting really heavy and it quickly turned to blood and clots with pretty bad cramps.  I felt this way most of Saturday as well.  Then last night (Saturday night) the pain got MUCH worse and the bleeding also increased.  It was almost like I could feel my cervix opening and the pain/pressure was what I would imagine contractions to be (on a smaller scale I am sure) I used a heating pad and lots of advil for the pain but it still hurt a lot.  This morning I felt better but the same pattern started over this afternoon.  I have read that it could last for a few weeks doing it the natural way but I am hoping that the pain/flow decreases with time as well.  From what I have read it is differnt for everyone.  I feel for you with work.  Teaching is a difficult job to just go and zone out and do.  You have to be "on" all day.  Are you already into your school year or is this your workshop week?  If you are already with students, I would plan on getting a sub for at least a few days this week.  I start my first day of workshop tomorrow so i am going to try to go but I am dreading all of the regular back to school surface conversation..."how was your summer?"  "any baby news yet?"  Good luck to you!

Thembi

shouldbworkin:

I had a natural m/c last time around 7w2d. I bled for about 4-5 days. The 2nd and 3rd days were pretty bad and I needed meds, very near labor pains. Passed tissue the first 3 days and then it was just bleeding with mucous/lining, like a heavy period/lochia. I didn't have any u/s to see if I'd passed everything.

GL!  I hope you feel better soon.  (((hugs)))

 

this....however I didn't come back in for any follow-ups.  I had a blood test the day I started to miscarry and my hormone levels were already below 5.  Still waiting on my first AF after m/c.