What is going to happen now?

Mrs.Mugsie · August 2009

Hi ladies,

As I sit here waiting for my appt this afternoon I have some questions I thought you all might be able to answer. (For those who missed my earlier post my baby had no h/b yesterday at 11wks and I started spotting).

1. As of now I am still bleeding like a light period with no real cramping. This has been going on since yesterday afternoon. If I continue with a natural miscarriage how bad do you think it will get (what were your experiences)? How long will it last?

2. If I have a choice should I opt to continue naturally or get a D&C? What were your D&C experiences? I don't know much about these other than google info.

I am sorry if these are dumb questions or they get asked alot I just feel like I have no idea what to expect and I didn't have the energy to look at back posts. Thank you!

smileychic10986 · August 2009

I am so sorry for your loss. It's so hard to lose a little one. As for your question, I personally opted to have a d & c. I had it done at the hospital, so I was out cold for it. I don't remember any of it, after they put the oxygen mask on me. I chose to have the d & c because after finding out my baby had no heart beat I just wanted it over with as soon as possible. I has bleeding for about 1 week after the operation. After that light spotting for a couple more days. I had no pain associated with the operation, only cramping like period cramps after it. Lots of Advil did the trick for me to help with that...

Good luck to you with whatever choice you make. Make whatever choice you feel most comfortable with. My thoughts and prayers will be with you.

Kel&Jay · August 2009

I opted for a D&C, but I hadn't started to m/c naturally and I have awesome insurance so I knew it would be completely covered. It really is a personal decision. I've had 2 D&Cs due to m/c and both were pretty simple and painless. I was knocked out for the first (it started naturally, but I was bleeding too much and ended up with the D&C) and the most recent I was under "twilight" anesthesia. I don't remember anything about the procedure and and felt like I was sleeping through the whole thing. The only difference is that I did not wake up groggy after the twilight anesthesia.

Since you're going to see the Dr. today I would ask for a professional opinion. Since it appears you've already started to m/c naturally, it might make sense for you to just let it continue.

There is also a third option your Dr. might mention. It is medically induced m/c with a vaginal suppository. I don't have any experience with this so I can't really offer an opinion.

GL. I know it's a horrible decision to have to make.

grr_aargh · August 2009

Kel&Jay:
There is also a third option your Dr. might mention. It is medically induced m/c with a vaginal suppository. I don't have any experience with this so I can't really offer an opinion.

I wanted to chime in on this: I had a natural m/c at 6w5d and a medically induced miscarriage at 10w5d. Honestly, because you are spotting now, there's still no way to really tell whether you'll miscarry today or in 2 weeks. Generally speaking, after a woman starts spotting, about 60% of pregnancies with diagnosed demise miscarry by 14 days after diagnosis, 85% by 28 days. It really comes to this: can you wait? How will you feel?

If the answer is no - and it often is, then you can decide between a d&c or medically induced miscarriage. The D&C has its advantages - you're under anesthesia (general or twilight or serious narcotic haze), it's fast, it's generally complete (93% right the first time). Potential disadvantages are: it's surgery, it could be expensive (though for MANY this is not an issue - money, I mean, in terms of making the decision), there's a slight potential for scarring or having to have another follow-up d&c if tissue is retained (although statistically speaking, this is a moot point for me because that % is still lower than all the other options).

You could investigate a medically induced miscarriage with misoprostal. I think it, too, has its advantages: you choose when the miscarriage happens, so you can clear your schedule/take care of yourself, you go through the physical process (and can retain/bury your baby if that is part of the healing process for you -- the physical process, for me, was part of the healing process), you will be given pain medication to help. There are some disadvantages as well - the misoprostol works in about 80% of women, a recent study showed that of all women who used it, about 75% would use it again when faced with the same situation (and 83% would recommend it to someone else), but you go through the physical process. Many women do not wish to experience that - and at this stage in the game want to just have it over with. Misoprostol also has a very low (about 1%) rate of serious complications - uterine rupture - when used after 11 weeks of pregnany (though the majority of those complications occur when used to induce a term-birth).

If you wait for a natural miscarriage, it could be tomorrow or it could be in 3 weeks. Advantages are that your body does it on its own - your hormones drop at a lower rate as your body prepares for the loss. Disadvantages are that it could take awhile, you might not have pain medication, and that there's a significant chance you could retain tissue.

There's no statistical difference in rates of infection between all three of these choices, minor statistical difference in rates of scarring (though some argue that there's significantly more scaring in those who get d&cs, though I honestly haven't done the research as I was hell-bent on avoiding the surgery if at all possible and if it wasn't possible, I wasn't interested in knowing more).

I'm sorry for your loss. I hope this helps a bit.

Swede25 · August 2009

I'm so sorry you are having to experience this. I had a very early miscarriage (chemical pregnancy) in October, and it was just like having my period, except a little heavier. This last time I had a missed miscarriage. I opted for a D&E (similar to a D&C) because my body was showing no signs of a problem or dealing with it on its own. I'm glad I decided to do it because waiting would have killed me, and I feel going through a natural miscarriage would have been too hard for me, knowing how I was feeling. The procedure was actually a piece of cake for my physically. They knocked me out, I woke up an hour later, and left to go home an hour after that after I checked out okay. I had medium bleeding the first day, and light for 2 more days. After that I spotted and it ended yesterday. I never had to take my pain meds they gave me and never had any bad cramping.

summerbee1 · August 2009

Hi there. I am so sorry for you. Let me tell you what I am currently experiencing and what I have been told by drs and others who have had this experience: I should be 10w today, but have been spotting light brown for about 3 &1/2 weeks. I had 2 u/s at 7 & 8 weeks with good hb and no hematoma, but measured a week behind. Monday night I went for a followup u/s as my spotting continued and found no hb and growth at 7w6d. I had been taking progesterone and stopped Monday night. Yesterday I experienced increased bleeding (all dark brown), no cramping. Today I am cramping some, not too much more than a bad period (took an over the counter med usually used for indigestion and cramping as recommended by my FIL who is an OB). I am bleeding a lot more and have some clots too, like a heavy period. Physically I would say it is not too bad.

I chose not to have a D&C for 4 reasons:

1. heard about a friend who had scarring from it.

2. FIL gave me 3 options, telling me natural is the best, but can be hard if you have to wait for your body to expel it, taking a pill to get rid of it, or D&C, which he told me is not a first option in his opinion mostly because of having to dilate the cervix, too invasive. He told me it's better to wait to do a D&C until your cervix has opened (mine was tightly closed on Monday), and it is quite possible I will still have to do one if my body doesn't eliminate all of the tissue.

3. my gynecologist (not an OB) told me that she prefers to wait and not have to intervene.

4. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I know this is crazy and irrational, but I would feel like I was having an abortion on purpose and getting rid of my baby. I just didn't think I could handle it. I refused the pill as well for the same reason. To make matters worse, one of our employee's wife is pregnant and on Monday (imagine the coincidence! same day I found out about our loss...) they consulted my FIL on having an abortion (they already have 3 kids) and he is giving them this pill. It just makes me angry....and I know this is crazy, (I am totally pro-choice!) but I feel like they are such jerks for getting rid of this baby, even though I know it is the best thing because they do not have enough money to support another kid. Sorry for getting off topic.

Anyway, I hope you find the best way for you to deal with this....there is no right way, just do what you think is easiest. I posted asking about this yesterday and most people had a D&C, but a few didn't and one girl did tell a horror story of ending up in the ER with cramps so bad they were like labor contractions, but so far I haven't had anything like that. I was glad she told me about it so I could be prepared.

Good luck and I hope for the best for you.

Mrs.Mugsie · August 2009

Thanks everyone for the very helpful info. I guess I will have to wait and see what the doc has to say and go from there.

davis779 · August 2009

I am so sorry for your loss. We are all here for you! I found out last friday that my baby stopped growing and no hb at 6 weeks but I was really 8wks. I waited over the weekend to see if anything would happen. The stress and sadness it put be thru was horriable. We chose to do a D&C it was a hard thing to do b/c I have never had surgery before so to even think about going to the hospital freaked me out a bit. But my DH was wonderful and has helped me get thru that fear. I ended up getting yesterday AM. I have hardly any pain physically or bleeding. They put you out and before you know it you will be in recovery. It was only a 1/2 hour process for me but could be different for all women and what stage they are at.

Again, I am sorry for your loss and I'm praying that you will get thru this!!!

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