Skip to main content
Skip to main navigation
Skip to talk navigation

Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Saved Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Flip

Find bereavement help and support from other Mumsnetters.

1 2

Find bereavement help and support from other Mumsnetters.

Bereavement

Blighted ovum?

33 replies

aku · 27/04/2004 12:16

I went for what I thought was my 12 week scan only to discover my aminiotic sac? is empty! I have been told to come back in two weeks for another scan in case my dates are wrong. The sac is just 2cm whatever that means.

At the moment I do not know how to feel. Has anybody else experienced this?

OP posts:

Report

berries · 27/04/2004 16:25

Yes, I had it with my first pregnancy. Apparently the foetus failed to develop properly. They think it is usually due to a chromosomal abnormality, but is completely non-genetic and there is no greater risk of any problems with the next pregnancy. It's a horrible shock to hear though, hope you have someone with you at the mo. Not sure if you already have any children or not, but I had a blighted ovum found at a scan in July 1994, in October 1995 I had my first lovely dd, and July '97 had my second, both with no problems (well, hyperemesis with both but that's another story).
Will be thinking of you & take care.
X

aku · 27/04/2004 17:09

Thanks Berries. It was a shock and i was on my own when the scan was done. I am just carrying on, I am at work at the moment but feel I am about to give in and just lie down somewhere. I had'nt told anybody about the pregnancy and still have'nt.

I have a 5yr old daughter and just assumed everything will be as normal. two weeks to wait for the next scan is agony as well.

OP posts:

bunny2 · 27/04/2004 20:50

aku, that sounds awful. I'm sorry. I havent had a blighted ovum but have had bad news twice at scans. Do you have someone close who can help you get through the next 2 weeks?

gingernut · 27/04/2004 23:17

aku, so sorry to hear this, particularly since you have to wait to find out more. I had a blighted ovum with my first p/g. As berries says, it means the fertilised egg didn't develop properly, probably because of a major chromosomal defect. It's likely to have been caused by a mistake during the cell divisions when either the sperm or the egg was forming. It's fairly common and just one of those things I'm afraid. I've since had a normal pregnancy (and now have ds) and am p/g again (although it's early days so I'm not counting on anything just yet).

I found out about mine when I started bleeding just before 12 weeks. I went into hospital for an emergency scan and they could immediately see the sac was empty. I was booked in for an ERPC but actually miscarried naturally before I could have the op. So you may find at some point over the next 2 weeks before you go back for your re-scan that you will start to bleed, possibly have some contractions and pass the sac naturally.

HTH. I feel so sorry for you with that 2 week wait . You might want to have a look at The Miscarriage Association website ; I found it quite helpful.

Penguin2 · 30/04/2004 13:08

I had a blighted ovum with my last pregnancy - and I mean "with" as there was also a perfectly normal baby developing "next door". If you still have symptoms of pregnancy, and have done for the 12 weeks, is there a chance you have another baby hidden in there? I don't want to raise your hopes but I don't understand how you can be pregnant when there is only an empty egg sac there. Anyway, all the best for the next scan. I remember the wait well and how scary it was.

gingernut · 30/04/2004 13:45

Penguin, unfortunately it isn't uncommon for the body to take a long time to miscarry naturally in these cases. You do feel symptoms of pregnancy which are apparently due to the hormones produced by the placenta, which starts to develop normally even though the embryo does not.

aku · 30/04/2004 14:37

I am still waiting. So far apart from a slight brownish discharge, nothing has happened.

I must say i don't feel pregnant really. I did't with my first pregnancy anyway.

All will be revealed by my next scan. Penguin what do you mean by baby developing next door?

OP posts:

Jimjams · 30/04/2004 15:17

You do feel pregnant with a blighted ovum as its the placenta that produces the hormones and that develops normally. I had one which m/carried at 7 weeks (no D and C). Agree that waiting 2 weeks is awful- it seems a long time to wait- I suspect they just want to make sure that you aren't way behind on your dates.....

Penguin2 · 30/04/2004 21:02

Sorry, stupid phrase. By next door I meant I had another baby in the womb next to the blighted ovum, ie I suppose for a brief time I was carrying non identical twins.
I didn't realise the pregnancy symptoms could go on so long. For me, the symptoms seemed to disappear immediately. I had a mild feeling of sickness which I had never had with my other pregnancies and when that suddenly stopped I was convinced I had lost the baby. A day later, I had the bleeding and found out about the blighted ovum. Fortunately, the other baby survived. But reading what other people have to say here, it sounds as though my symptoms out lasted the life of the blighted ovum, I just didn't know it.

nevska · 10/05/2004 23:08

Hi everyone,

I too discovered today that I have a sac but no baby inside it. I will be 11 weeks tomorrow and would have been still happilly awaiting my first 12-week nuchal scan, had i not made this appointment with my previous doctor, who had the time to scan me on the spot. And to think that i only went hoping that they will let me hear the heartbeat!
The doctor booked me for another scan in three days and he said that I can go for D&C if i wished. I am still shocked and don't quite believe him. may be the baby is hiding somwhere?
Any happy stories of people being misdiognised?
Aku how are you doing? have you been for the second scan yet?

greetings to everybody,
nevska

bunny2 · 11/05/2004 07:10

nevska, I am so sorry. What horrible news for you. I am waiting for my 12 wk scan too.

fisil · 11/05/2004 07:33

I'm sorry I missed this earlier. I had the two week wait earlier this year and I can fully empathise with you. I took the third week off work - to recover from the D&C - but really I should have taken the previous two weeks. It was during those two weeks that I grieved for the loss. After the D&C I actually felt relieved, I had had a terrible pg up until that point, and the stress of those two weeks had been so immense, it was in a way good to be able to move on.

Big hugs to both of you, aku and nevska (((())))

nevska · 11/05/2004 12:07

Hi Fisil,

Thanks for the support! I like this site because there are a lot of informative messages from real life experience. When I found out I was pregnant I bought loads of books (one of them Mums on Pregnancy ) and kept on reading! I think I was just too worried about the whole thing, my dh kept on telling me that I am too obsessed with the matter and should just let nature take its course (the first trimester info is riddled with worries and complications), so I was really counting the days when I enter the care-free cheek-glowing second trimester. I guess it wasn't meant to be. Anyhow, I sort of drifted away.... so Fisil, how long after your D&C did you stabilise and get your first period?

Anybody else on the subject is more than welcome! I spent all night reading this website and couldn't bring myself to go to work this morning. I have a scan tomorrow in the local hospital for second opinion.

cheers,
nevska

nevska · 11/05/2004 13:22

Also, Bunny2, all the best to you with your scan, keep us posted.... you are my hope that pregnancies go beyond 12 weeks!

nevska

Azure · 11/05/2004 13:27

Nevska, so sorry to hear your news.

bunny2 · 11/05/2004 15:15

nevska, was this to be your first baby? I have had 2 d&cs following missed miscarriages. They are painless and quick procedures and 'I recovered quickly from both. After the second I had a bit of a complication with lots of clotting and I was taken back into hospital but it was all fine. My periods returned after about 4 weeks and after the last one I conceived again within a few months (2nd month of trying).

funkydiva · 11/05/2004 15:31

Nevska, I am very sorry to hear this, please take care. i had a blighted ovum that was discovered at the 12 week scan and it is a huge shock, then dealing with the d&c as well, although it was painless & I recovered very quickly too. I luckily went on to conceive very quickly once my periods returned.
Take care xx

fisil · 11/05/2004 22:27

Hi nevska. I am on period no. 2 - exactly 8 weeks after my D&C - never had 28 day cycles before, but that's what I seem to be getting now! Remember that you have choices, and you can refuse a D&C if that's what you want. I felt I was well listened to (although I overwhelmingly wanted to have the D&C as soon as possible, so maybe I just fitted into what they wanted to hear.) Stay home and take as long as you need, look after yourself, pamper yourself. The best advice I received was to have no expectations of yourself right now!

nevska · 12/05/2004 08:21

Hi everyone!

thanks for all your messages, they are very reasuring!!! Yes it is my first pg, and you know what the most difficult bit for me it seems to be right now, it's telling the parents and in-laws (apart from waking up in the morning and realising I am not pregnant anymore). It was going to be their first grandchild and they sure were excited. But I guess we learn in life, next time I shall not tell anybody until i have a picture in my hand from the first scan.
I too want to have the D&C as soon as it is confirmed today. I don't think I can go on like this anticipating for it to happen naturally, and from what I read from other messages on this board, they can carry on for quite sometime.

Thank you so much again! My warmest wishes to all of you who are pg, and best of luck to those trying!

nevska

berries · 12/05/2004 16:07

Nevska & aku, thinking of you & hope everything goes ok. It can take a few weeks for hormones etc to settle down, as these are produced by the placenta which in my case was still developing normally. I was also advised by the hospital not to try again until I had had at least 1 'normal' period - not sure if there is any medical reason for this, suspect it was as much to get over the shock as everything else. Take care of yourselves.
xx

nevska · 13/05/2004 01:12

Hello Ladies,

with regards to yhe b/o did any of you bleed prior to its discovery? i for instance had a brief brown discharge at week 6. I called the emergency midwife line (as it happened to be Easter) and they asked me whether I was in pain, which I wasn't or wether i had a back pain which I didn't so the lady just told me to rest and relax. All the books I read indicated that brown discharge can only be a bad thing. I also found loads of bb's with women asking the same thing at week 6 but no answer.

greetings,
nevska

gingernut · 13/05/2004 08:12

Hello nevska. Firstly, just to say I'm sorry you're going through this. I did have a lot of brown discharge when I was pg with the blighted ovum. In fact, it happened on and off most of the time, bar a couple of weeks. I did mention it to my doctor but was told not to worry as it was `old blood'. I wasn't offered a scan. In hindsight I wish I'd pressed for one, but then hindsight is a wonderful thing. This time however I arranged an early scan so I could at least find out if it had happened again so I could get a D&C if necessary and start trying again (thankfully, it was OK this time and hopefully will remain so).

I don't think a brown discharge is always a bad sign and I don't think everyone who has a b/o will experience it however.

nevska · 16/05/2004 11:02

Hi Gingernut,

How long did the bleeding last afterwards? and how long before you started trying again?

When I was in the hospital for the ERPC, all the other women who were scheduled for the same procedure had b/o, so it was surpirsing how common this is. we were all discussing the first couple of questions as there is no medical rule on that.

good to hear form experienced people.
nevska

aku · 16/05/2004 16:29

Hello everyone. I went back for my second scan and the sac had grown but stil no baby inside so I opted for a D&C which I went back for the next day.

It went as well as expected and I will be back at work on Monday.

I hope it is all behind us now and my period will come back soon as I will like to try again.

My thoughts are with anybody undergoing the same thing as it was a very disappointing and unsettling.

Thanks for all the messages. Mumsnetters are the best when you need honest answers and reasurrance.

OP posts:

bunny2 · 16/05/2004 20:54

So sorry Aku, good luck with conceiving again soon.

Flip

1 2

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.