Those who've done post-m/c testing, please come in

bobbydsgirl

Hello ladies,

This isn't my board anymore since I found out I had a 2nd loss this weekend. But I thought women who now have a successful pregnancy might be the right people to ask about their experiences with doing testing to find the cause of repeat m/c.

Here are my questions:

1. What did your Dr. test for?

2. Did you request additional tests other than what the OB/RE offered initially?

3. How many of you found an answer, how many of you had testing come back with m/c cause unknown?

4. If you had a successful pregnancy before you had multiple losses (my case), did you find an answer to why you suddenly had problems when you didn't have problems the first time around?

I meet with my OB to discuss testing tomorrow afternoon. Any and all advice and personal stories are welcome and appreciated.

Thank you,

Stacie

kokokat

I'm really sorry about your losses, Stacie.  I've had one loss to date, so maybe I'm not who you want to hear from.  That said, my doctor did do testing after my m/c.  There was no genetic cause ever found, which was explained to me to be best case scenario because it meant DH and I were passing on normal genetic material.  It was a bit difficult not to have a "name" to put with the loss, or really understand fully what had happened.  It seemed so senseless to me with no genetic issue.  I think most docs check if you've had 2 or more losses, to make sure there's nothing genetic happening.  It could be you're passing on perfectly normal genes and just got really unlucky twice with developmental hiccups.  Again, I'm sorry for your losses, and hope you find some answers in this process.

jess123456

Hi Stacie,

So sorry for your losses.  I am lurking here and though I haven't had a successful pregnancy yet I hope to be back on PGAL soon. I had two losses in a short amount of time in 2010 and 2011 (at a little over 6 weeks and then again at a little over 9 weeks) and we decided to get testing done to determine what was going on. 

My RE tested for just about everything.  I had full bloodwork and an HCG and he gave me a few ultrasounds to get a better look at what was going on. Luckily, the HCG came back great (both tubes open etc) but my bloodwork showed that I tested positive for two MTHFR (or as I like to say Mother-F***er) mutations which the medical community hasn't directly correlated to my losses but I now take 4 extra pills of folic acid, a B-complex with B-12, a baby Aspirin (once I conceive) and my regular prenatal.  They will also put me on progesterone once I get a positive test.

We took a full year off from trying to get our emotional sanity back and will be trying again starting next week.  Hopefully this will do the trick for us but we have no expectations of course.

I am so glad that I did the testing because my mutations also put me at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease etc. My sister carried her baby to term a few months ago and she also tested positive for one of the mutations.

Best of luck to you and know whatever decision you make will be the best one for you.  Unfortunately many insurance companies won't cover the cost of an RE unless you have 3 or more losses so check with your insurance provider. Luckily mine was willing to cover the cost of a specialist up to a certain amount.

jess123456

Sorry about that... I meant HSG. Too many acronyms to remember

hopefulmom81

bobbydsgirl:

I'm so sorry for your losses.

1. What did your Dr. test for?   Clotting disorders, thyroid balance, and I had an HSG to rule out any structural issues/scarring

2. Did you request additional tests other than what the OB/RE offered initially?  After those all came back "fine", I pushed for progesterone testing (thanks to petra)

3. How many of you found an answer, how many of you had testing come back with m/c cause unknown?  My progesterone was SCARY low, so I was put on supplements and got pregnant with a so-far sticky baby one month later.  They say it is hard to know if it was the progesterone that did it or not, but I believe it was.

4. If you had a successful pregnancy before you had multiple losses (my case), did you find an answer to why you suddenly had problems when you didn't have problems the first time around?  N/A

texasmeg1

First, I am so sorry for your losses. Hang in there sista and just know that you are not alone.

1. What did your Dr. test for?

- After our 2nd miscarriage (blighted ovum), we had the usual RPL testing done. However, blighted ovums are almost 99% caused by chromosomal problems - usually monosomy or tri 16 is what we were told, so we basically were told "bad luck". During the testing though, we did find that I have a Factor V Leiden mutation (though that did not cause the miscarriage).

2. Did you request additional tests other than what the OB/RE offered initially?

- I asked repeatedly if we were getting everything done. I requested the karotyping of my DH and I after our 3rd loss (due to Trisomy 13). My RE kept insisting that tri 13 is a random act of nature and there is nothing wrong with our chromosomes, I just wanted to keep testing. I couldn't comprehend the "bad luck" diagnosis.

3. How many of you found an answer, how many of you had testing come back with m/c cause unknown?

- The only answer for 2 our of our 3 miscarriages was "bad luck" - random fluke act of nature. It is so hard to understand but science is telling us that that is all it is. I focused on a strict fertility diet and began acupuncture and CoQ10 supplements. I wanted to be sure my eggs were being nourished correctly. A month later, we got pregnant with this lil girl.

angelak24

I am so sorry for your loss. ((Hugs))

 I had a D&C last time and along with that they did testing on the fetus. It came back that it was a chromosomal abnormality. It wasn't one of the ones for anything serious but they said it did explain why the m/c happened. I had been tested while pregnant with the typical blood tests but it must be common for my doctor to test progesterone levels while testing blood for those doubling numbers of pregnancy. They found my progesterone was low and gave me a supplement for it. I didn't really have any other testing done before the m/c at that point. 

 This time around my progesterone was low again but not quite as low. I again got a supplement. Since then I have had all the typical prego tests and also found I am anemic. 

I didn't really have much other testing done. I did get sent to a fertility specialist (Similar to what other people have termed RE). He followed this pregnancy through 12/13 weeks and I had an ultrasound done regularly from like week 7 through week 12. I found that piece very reassuring but then when I had to go back to the reg OB found I had grown a little too comfortable with getting those ultrasounds! But I ask my OB whenever I think it's necessary and so far she has been very accommodating. 

Good Luck to you! 

LucyVanPelt

bobbydsgirl:

Hello ladies,

This isn't my board anymore since I found out I had a 2nd loss this weekend. But I thought women who now have a successful pregnancy might be the right people to ask about their experiences with doing testing to find the cause of repeat m/c.

Here are my questions:

1. What did your Dr. test for?

2. Did you request additional tests other than what the OB/RE offered initially?

3. How many of you found an answer, how many of you had testing come back with m/c cause unknown?

4. If you had a successful pregnancy before you had multiple losses (my case), did you find an answer to why you suddenly had problems when you didn't have problems the first time around?

I meet with my OB to discuss testing tomorrow afternoon. Any and all advice and personal stories are welcome and appreciated.

Thank you,

Stacie

 Hi Stacie.  Very sorry for your losses as well.  I am in the very early stages of PGAL (4w1d), so am lurking here for now.  I also have had one other very stint here on PGAL before my second loss in Dec.  Here is what we've done so far:

 1.  After the first loss (a BO), we did no testing.  This was back when we were naive and thought it was a fluke.  After the second loss, my RE did genetic testing on the "products of conception" (result: triploidy) and a full RPL panel plus saline hysterogram.  Everything was normal other than a single heterozygous MTHFR mutation (T877, i think?).  I am now taking Folgard (a folate supplement) and baby aspirin.  She initially prescribed progesterone for the 2ww, but I declined since i haven't had problems with low progesterone.

2.  We did request the full panel.  REwanted to do some testing, but we insisted on doing everything we could to determine what went wrong.  I'm 36 so age is a factor for me - we want to have #2 as quickly as possible to preserve the ability to have #3, if we should be so lucky.   We also got a second opinion from another well respected fertility specialist in the area.

3.  See above re MTHFR.  She actually doesn't think that was the cause of the MCs, though. 

4.  I had the most uneventful, boring pregnancy ever with #1, so this is a complete mystery. 

I hope this is helpful!  Again, I am so sorry for your losses.   At 4w1d, I'm still so uncertain whether this one will stick, so not sure any of the above will have actually led to a successful PGAL. 

chusum

Sorry abut your losses.

1. No clue, there was a lot and a lot of blood taken (that's it though). Luckily it seems like what they tested was enough because they found two things that were very likely causing the miscarriages.

2. Nope. I assumed they were checking for everything, but I know now that not every doctor does test for everything or that it's really possible to check for every single thing.

3. We got two answers. Chromosome inversion & MTHFR.

4. I haven't had a successful pregnancy yet, but I have an identical twin sister who had a successful pregnancy days before my third loss and a couple weeks before my testing. We have since found out (of course) she has the same issues. So having a successful pregnancy doesn't mean you are void of problems. Just because she had one success doesn't mean that she won't be in my boat when she attempts for #2, though now that I've been the guinea pig she most likely won't have to suffer as many as I did.

Relax. It takes time. Be patient. You will not get results over night. From my third loss to my fourth pregnancy (and loss) I had to wait almost 6 months between the testing, and meeting with a genetic specialist, to wait an additional amount of time for healing and upping my folic acid in take.

swtbelle

bobbydsgirl:

Hello ladies,

This isn't my board anymore since I found out I had a 2nd loss this weekend. But I thought women who now have a successful pregnancy might be the right people to ask about their experiences with doing testing to find the cause of repeat m/c.

Here are my questions:

1. What did your Dr. test for? I had an sonohysterogram to look for abnormalities in my uterus and we did a full round of genetic testing. I was diagnosed with an arcuate uterus and they did find abnormalities in my chromosones but not enough to cause a loss. Doesn't make total sense but I guess it was worth finding.

2. Did you request additional tests other than what the OB/RE offered initially? My OB offered nothing he was a joke so I requested a specialist and she did a great job I didn't have to ask for anything more. She is still with me even though I have a regular OB too.

3. How many of you found an answer, how many of you had testing come back with m/c cause unknown? In my case we only had the pathology report to go off of so we don't know exactly what happened but we have really good theories from the testing and we took preventative measures to prevent it from happening again so it wasn't time wasted.

4. If you had a successful pregnancy before you had multiple losses (my case), did you find an answer to why you suddenly had problems when you didn't have problems the first time around? n/a my first pregnancy ended around 6 weeks with no cause and the second was a 2nd trimester loss so the dr. didn't feel they were related.

I meet with my OB to discuss testing tomorrow afternoon. Any and all advice and personal stories are welcome and appreciated.

Thank you,

Stacie

 

I put my answers in above but I wanted to wish you luck and express my deepest sympathy for your losses. I don't know if it was the right way to cope but finding answers was the only thing I knew to do. I hope you find the answers you need

Medic99

I have had 2 miscarriages. They were never able to do testing on the fetus due to it already being gone. I did blood tests for chromosomes, thyroid, and a bunch of others that I cannot remember. We never received any answers other then I might have PCOS and that a bad egg was probably the one that was fertilized. This is our first pregnancy since those two miscarriages that has lasted longer than 7 weeks gestation. We took almost 3 years off ttc after the miscarriages due to how painful it was to lose them.