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Miscarriage/pregnancy loss

3rd Recurrent Miscarriages & No Answers Why This is Happening to us....

12 replies

atavener · 11/01/2014 15:31

Hello All,

I am really keen to share what we are going through to see if anyone else has experienced the same to give us some much needed support about what the future may hold.

I've just had my 3rd miscarriage and finding it hard to believe we are ever going to achieve our dream of having children. I have now been pregnant 3 times in the past two years which in itself is great news however for some reason each time i miscarry at between 6-7weeks.

Since the second miscarriage we got help from fertility experts and have had just about every test possible. After the second miscarriage in May 2013 I had an ERPC and tissue was sent for analysis and it showed it was a normal pregnancy we no genetic abnormalities. Then both my husband and I were tested and we both have normal karyotyping. I have had a thrombophilia screening which was negative, checked for Natural Killer cells which came back as elevated so I was given IVIG treatment and yet our 3rd pregnancy in Dec 2013 failed again at 7 weeks. We went for the 6 week scan and there was really lively heartbeat and everything looked good but when we went back for the 7 week and 2 day scan on Thursday this week it had stopped growing and there was no heart beat. I was taking Aspirin 75 mg daily because of my high platlets, Folic Acid, 25 mg Prednisolone for NK's and also IVIG infusions and Clexane injections, Metformin and Vit D throughout.

I went yesterday for my 2nd ERPC and we have again had the tissue sent away for analysis and pray that just maybe this was sheer bad luck and maybe down to chromosone abnormality. But if not then we really dont know what to try next and wonder if maybe it's just not going to be possible for us which i really dont want to think as being a Mum is the one thing Ive wanted all my life since my Mum left me and my brother when we were 2 and 1 years old.

Please if anyone has any thoughts or experience on this let me know as we really dont want to give up but not sure how much more we can go through and it's impacting our life and happiness.

Also if anyone has any advice on surrogacy it would be much appreciated as perhaps that's what we need to think about next.

Thanks in advance and my heart goes out to anyone else that is going through a similar situation.

BR

A

OP posts:
LaCerbiatta · 11/01/2014 15:41

No experience, but have a friend who also went through a series of miscarriages. In the end she managed to take the pregnancy to term and have a healthy baby. This was also after investigation and although tthy didn't find anything she was also put on aspirin. A few months after the baby was born though she became really ill with serious hypothyroidism. The doctors then conculded that she probably already had a somewhat low working thyroid when she miscarried and this could be the reason. For some reason she was never tested for thyroid function when she had the investigation. ...

This of course may not apply to you so apologies if it's of no help at all.

bakingtins · 11/01/2014 16:58

Hi atavener I'm so sorry for all you've been through. I have had 4MC, all the standard tests normal, 4th loss was a perfect embryo, saw Prof Quenby and diagnosed with high NK cells. I'm now 19 weeks pregnant after treatment with progesterone, 20mg pred, 5mg folic acid, 20mg clexane in first trimester. I was given odds of 60% success with treatment. You are v welcome on the RMC thread on this board though I'm the only one diagnosed with NK issues. There is a pregnant or TTC on pred thread on the conception board specifically for women with high NK cells. A lot of the women there have unfortunately had further losses on treatment, but there are also many success stories.
We have been round and round the discussion on how long to keep trying and ultimately only you can decide. This pregnancy was our final, last ditch attempt but then so were the previous two before giving up and deciding it wasn't to be. That question has been endlessly debated on both threads I mentioned, along with adoption or surrogacy options, so whilst nobody can answer the question for you, you will at least be in good company. It makes a big difference not to feel alone with it all.
Wishing you a speedy physical recovery and much wisdom in deciding what next. Flowers

atavener · 12/01/2014 13:41

Hi Both, thanks for your messages both give me useful information and hope which is much appreciated.

bakingtins, thanks for sharing your experience and it's great to hear how your now progressing I wish you all the luck in the world and sounds like this is the one. My hope is that maybe just maybe this was a chromosone issue and then we can try again with the same medications as the ones you list above. Although all of those are the same as the ones that i was prescribed yet still no joy. Anyway we need to wait and get our results. I have looked up Prof Quenby and emailed her to make an appointment as it sounds like she offers a different type of NK test which is worth looking into - thanks for the reference.

If you think of anything else please let me know.

Wishing you lots of luck & best wishes - thanks again xx

OP posts:
bakingtins · 12/01/2014 13:54

Prof Q runs an implantation clinic, she specialises in looking for poor endometrial growth in the luteal phase and high NK cells on a uterine biopsy. It costs £350 for consultation, scan and taking the biopsy, then she contacts you about a month later with results and a treatment plan. If you already have a diagnosis of high NK cells (from a blood test?) I don't know what different treatment she would offer, but if she can't help I'm sure she'll tell you, I found her refreshingly straightforward.

CarrotCakeMuffins · 12/01/2014 14:04

Hello ataverner.
Firstly I am very sorry for your losses, as I know how heartbreaking it can be. So lots of Thanks for you.

To give you hope, like baking tins I am also 19 weeks pregnant. Prior to this I had 3 miscarriages in 2 years like yourself and a full range of testing which was inconclusive and I was told I was just 'unlucky'. (Great help). I am also the wrong side of 40, so in my case 'dodgy eggs' could well be a factor.

Give yourself time to recover and then decide whether or not you want to / are ready to try again. I always said I would know when it was time to stop trying and say enough. I decided this was my last attempt regardless of the outcome, and fortunately as I said, all is well.

I am taking 75mg aspirin, took progesterone up to 12 weeks, and have daily injections of fragmin (similar to clexane?) - I am hoping to stop these this week after my consultant appointment. These were all prescribed 'just in case' though, as no tests proved they would definitely help in my case.
And I took the aspirin & progesterone before mc3 too, so there are no guarantees.
I will also have extra scans and checkups because of my mc history to make sure the baby is growing properly later on.

So, hopefully baking tins and I have shown that there is some hope despite the 'no reasons found' outcome. Do follow up any leads you have / see any doctors you can to get any help possible - the one suggested above sounds useful.

But do give yourself time to grieve and come to terms with this loss before making too many decisions.

I can't help with surrogacy / adoption though I'm afraid.

I wish you the very best of luck!

atavener · 13/01/2014 18:12

Hello CarrotCakeMuffins,

Thank you so much for your post really appreciate you sharing your experience and so happy all is well for you this time.

I had a low day yesterday but feeling a lot better today and more positive that we could still have a chance it just makes me nervous that we tried all the medication that was supposed to help but yet it still didnt work but maybe it just wasnt our time.

I have a few interesting leads to follow and I am determined not to give up just yet.

Please let me know if you think of anything else and I will let you know how things go.

Wishing you lots of luck and best wishes xx

OP posts:
atavener · 04/02/2014 19:19

Hi All,
Hope your all well.
I wanted to get back in touch as yesterday we got the results of the ERPC and it confirmed it was a normal pregnancy and all looked fine. Part of me had hope that maybe it was just sheer bad luck and now I feel like we are going through it all again.
I want to start thinking about the future and although I still want to believe it will happen for us I think we also need to have a Plan B around Surrogacy and Adoption. Does anyone on here have any experience of how best to kick off these routes and anyone that can help please?

Thanks in advance
xxxx

OP posts:
JuliaScurr · 04/02/2014 19:27

I've heard of new NHS treatment in Manchester

hope you find some help soon

cher31 · 04/02/2014 19:30

I too had 3 rmc. All the tests showed nothing and it was put down to bad luck. Grasping at straws I tried accupuncture. I didn't really believe in it and tbh thought it was a load of nonsense but decided to go with it as I had nothing to lose.
I started 3 months before ttc, fell pregnant straight away (usually takes 6 months) and had my baby girl last year. May be worth a try?

livingzuid · 04/02/2014 20:34

Someone else has also mentioned this buy do get your thyroid tested if they have not done that already. I mc last year and it was all over the place after ttc for 2 years. Got put on medication and six weeks later was pg again and currently 22+3. I bang on about thyroid on so many threads but it's so debilitating and a stealth illness that is a leading cause of mc.

They test for two hormones, t4 and tsh. The latter should be under two for ideal conception but the range annoyingly is up to 4. It is worth exploring if you haven't had it checked already. So sorry you are going through this Thanks

bakingtins · 05/02/2014 07:32

atavener I'm sorry it's been confirmed that baby was genetically ok. I've only known that for my 4th loss but it was a real kick in the teeth, DH didn't understand at all and kept saying 'but that's good'.
I'm sorry I lose track of who is posting where, but if you are not already on the pred thread (conception board) then it's worth joining. Lots of combinations for treatment of high NK cells there, lots of successes but unfortunately also quite a few failures. What odds of success were you given? I was told 60% on treatment with my levels, I think Dr S claims up to 80%.
We did at one point look into adoption, if you contact your local authority and google private providers in your area they often have introduction evenings to learn more. We were not encouraged to proceed as we have young birth children, but you're in a different situation. If you've had any sort of fertility treatment/pregnancy loss you need to leave a year between stopping trying and adopting, and they would be likely to require counselling to resolve any issues surrounding your losses, but you can explore the option in parallel with TTC whilst you are still considering what is best. We didn't consider surrogacy but I think a few of the pred ladies know more about it. Flowers

DomesticGoddess31 · 11/02/2014 21:41

Another vote for looking into hypothyroidism as a possible cause. I had full testing after 3 MCs, was taking aspirin and clexane and mc'd again and then took matters into my own hands and pushed for thyroid tests and am now on 50mcg of thyroxine and 33 wks pregnant. My consultant says tsh should be under 2 and close to 1 is best. T4 should be in low teens.

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