Miscarried 16 weeks baby was alive up until the end. Anyone else have this?

[Jessbird1]

Hi all,
I am struggling with low mood and still in great shock having miscarried a week ago at 16+4. Started with cramps and bleeding, admitted to hospital with possible infection (vaginal swabs came back clear but I had infection markers in my blood which they said may or may not be relevant). Was in hospital for 3 nights with mild cramping and bloody show which eased in the day and came back each night whilst I was pumped full of antibiotics. Cervix was funnelling and shortening to 1.7mm so it was inevitable. Baby was alive with strong heartbeat right up until the end, it took 14 hours of contractions and Doctors saying that they couldn't pop my waters to help move things along as it would be classed as a termination. I am glad in the end we didn't go down that route anyway as it would have made it harder emotionally. He was born with sac still in tact, I like to think that my body was protecting him and didn't want to let him go, though I suppose it's quite common at this early stage. I suppose I am just trying to find other people who's little ones were alive this long? I seem to come across a lot of threads for missed miscarriages and nothing much for babies who were still alive and looking strong? I guess I feel like it was my fault as my body seemed to go into labour with no clear signs anything was wrong. Most posts I see regarding cervical incompetence seem to be much later around 20 weeks or so, and as there was nothing on vaginal swabs I can't see how my womb could have been infected? Anyone have a similar story and have anything from their results that indicate what happened? Searching for answers as I guess we all do..

[Zephyroux1]

I'm so so sorry for your loss, I don't have experiences to share as my miscarriage was much earlier but I wanted to reply anyway x x

[sparechange]

I'm so sorry for your loss.
I haven't had a directly comparable situation, but I do understand the need for answers and the desperate thoughts when you don't know why it happened.

Have you tried contacting the miscarriage association or SANDS? They probably won't be able to give you specific answers on what happened, but can give you more general information and also maybe suggest questions to ask the hospital.

Have you got an appointment for a follow up with your consultant? They are usually 6 weeks after the loss so they have time to get back test results

and un-MN hugs

[nappyrat]

Hugs to you Jess...sorry I can't help with answers but I wanted to send a reply. Xx

[MrsGlam]

Hi Jess,
I have a similar story well two really I have had two late miscarriage ones at 19+1 weeks the second 20+6 with my first I wasn't sure when baby passed away but with my second miscarriage I know my boy was alive 20 minutes before I gave birth, They checked for a heartbeat before trying something that unfortunately didn't work.
It's hard knowing that but I try not to focus on it.. No reason was found for both of mine but it was suggested mine was due to infection as I had good cervical scan measurements.
To add a little positivity to this post I am currently sat here at 37+1 weeks pregnant being induced next week for other medical reasons..
So although it feels like hell now, You can have your rainbow baby. I have had excellent care with cervical scans and weekly swabs to check for infections and progesterone suppositories.
Don't be afraid to do some research and ask your consultant what plan of action they have and what you would like.
Wishing you all the best x

[Kitty1971]

Hi I'm soo sorry I myself have just miscarried last week I wasn't quite as far as you I was 14 weeks baby's heart stopped and measured 12 weeks I miscarried at home which was horrendous I lost so much blood I passed out and cut my head and knocked my teeth out !! I then called an ambulance and was taken to hospital in left with the guilt of seeing my baby but flushed it down the toilet along with the placenta as I wasn't thinking straight at the time I now feel really traumatised and guilty about what I did - I'm still bleeding and wish it would stop - I hope your ok and you recover soon as I have had four early miscarriages but this has been the hardest by far being a bit later on so I know exactly how you are feeling and just want to say how sorry I am for anyone that is going through this or are waiting to miscarry my heart goes out to you all xx

[Paige84]

Hi Jess
I'm here looking for similar answers. I gave birth to my perfect little one last week at 15+4. I'd had some pain on Monday so had been to a&e who checked me out and said all fine, heard a good heartbeat but arranged a scan for Tuesday for reassurance. Tuesday's scan was perfect. She was very bright and active and heartbeat was normal. On Wednesday I felt nauseaous all morning but checked baby's heartbeat at lunchtime and all was fine. At 9pm my waters broke at home and within 15 mins I was having extremely painful contractions every 4 minutes. Obviously at that stage the hospital could do nothing and my baby way born at 11.48pm. She was perfect. Nobody has any answers for me and I'm left devastated and convinced I will never find the courage to try again. It was my first pregnancy. Hugs to you during this horrific time x

[Jessbird1]

Hi lovely ladies
Thank you all so much for replying and I am so sorry for all of your losses I know how you all feel and my heart goes out to you. I think the worse thing with later miscarriages is that you never expect it to happe once you get out of the first trimester as its much rarer and especially hard if you've had no complications what so ever and then it suddenly happens.

MrsGlam do you mind me asking what the Doctors tried that didn't work for you? Was it a cervical stitch? I so sore that you had to go through two late miscarriages and I sincerely hope you have a beautiful healthy little baby to look after keeping you busy!!

Kitty1971 I am so so sorry to hear your story, how awful to go through it at home and collapsing. Please don't feel guilty about flushing your baby down the toilet. In all honesty having lost so much blood and collapsing and doing it all at home I shouldn't imagine you had any faculties to think straight at all. You must try not to feel guilty or blame yourself, a miscarriage is such a traumatic event I was having nightmares and waking up crying in hysterics from it all you are certainly not in your right mind when you are going through it. I hope you are doing ok and starting to feel better.

Paige84 I am so sorry that you went through this it sounds very similar to my situation and so hard to give birth to what essentially seems a healthy baby. It breaks my heart and I'm sure it has broken yours too. Did you have any tests done to see if they can find out any answers? We were due to have an appointment at the end of May but they've cancelled it until the results are actually in and they can't give a clear date which is frustrating as we are eager to try again ( I am 36 and don't have time on my side)

We have the cremation service tomorrow which is going to be extremely hard but I know I will feel better looking back that we did it.

Thanks again for sharing your stories, such brave strong women, I hope we can all at least find some comfort in knowing we are not alone.

Xxx

[Paige84]

Thinking of you today Jess xxx

I did have all of the tests done but have been told we could be looking at 12 weeks to get results. Seems irrelevant now anyway. I turned 32 yesterday, I know I should've tried to start a family sooner but it didn't ever seem like the time and now..... Well. Now this. I wouldn't survive should anything like this happen again.
xx

[Talilab]

I know this is an old post, but I've just had the same thing happen and in my frantic searching have not found many others with similar experiences on the internet. I lost my baby boy at 16 weeks and 4 days just like you because I went into labor. He was alive until the end. I'd come to the ER for the second time that week because I was having labor like contractions and bleeding. The contractions only came at night. I'd had them for three nights and they had gotten worse every night. I'd gone to the ER after the first night of contractions. They checked and my cervix was closed and mucus plug in. The ultrasound showed a healthy baby and a low lying placenta about one centimeter from my cervix. A urine test showed a possible uti infection and I was prescribed antibiotics, given some IV fluids, told to have bed rest, no sexual intercourse, and to get with my obgyn ASAP. After that visit the bleeding got worse and I started passing clots. I had contractions again the night after the visit. They kept me awake. I rested and napped the whole next day. I drank water when I was awake and took my antibiotics. I felt good during the day with no contractions. But then the night came and the contractions were worse than ever. I returned to the ER. The nurse practitioner attempted a cervical check twice and could not find my cervix. My husband says the nurse' s hands and the speculum were covered in blood. It was very painful and shortly after the check my water broke in a huge gush. They did an ultrasound soon after and my baby was still alive but his head was already in my cervix. In reference to the night I birthed him, the nurse practitioner put in her notes that I may have been dehydrated. Yet they never gave me any IV fluids. They put in an IV port when I first arrived in the hospital but did not bring a bag of fluids until Labor and Delivery came to get me four hours later. They never did give me the fluids. I'm not sure it would even have made a difference, but I wonder if I had had them earlier and if I'd refused the cervical check would my contractions have stopped? I had night only contractions for days when getting ready for labor with my now three year old. Similar to this " miscarriage" the contractions had gotten worse each night and on the last night my water broke. However, by daytime my contractions had stopped and I had to be induced. I don't even know if I was dilated at all before being induced, but I know it took like fifteen more hours to give birth. The similarities of labors leave me puzzled. I'm left grieving and with a million questions. I'm waiting for testing results on the baby, placenta, my blood, and my urine culture results. I was very sick during this pregnancy as I was for my pregnancy with my now three year old, maybe even more so. I'm pretty sure I had HG though my doctor never called it that. I know I was very dehydrated throughout the pregnancy. I was so sick and dizzy I felt like I was dying. I threw up a lot. I had trouble even keeping water down sometimes. I had trouble taking care of myself and my daughter. Ironically the sickness had somewhat improved just before this happened. This whole experience has been devastating and confusing.