Surgical management of suspected partial molar pregnancy tomorrow, what to expect?

[deadhead]

Hi all,
I am having surgical management of a miscarriage tomorrow early afternoon. It is a suspected (partial) molar pregnancy and I would have been almost 9 weeks. If anyone feels comfortable sharing their experience of molar pregnancy or D&C in general that would be really helpful. I am really struggling with the emotional aspects of miscarriage but right now I'm very scared of the procedure and general anaesthetic. I wanted expectant or medical management but was told that due to the risk of heavy bleeding I had to go for the surgical route. I'm concerned about the lengthy follow up and possible complications of a molar pregnancy also.

[HidCat]

No advice I'm afraid but just wanted to say I'm sorry that you're going through this and I'm sure everything will be fine tomorrow.

[Mangopassionfruit]

Hi @deadhead, sorry to hear what you’re going through. I have no experience of molar pregnancy but had surgical management yesterday afternoon for a missed miscarriage at 9 weeks. I was also very scared about the general anaesthetic and procedure too but none of it was as bad as I thought. The worst bit was the wait before hand. As soon as I went into the anaesthetic room I knew it was going to be over soon and it had to be done. Honestly, it just feels like you’re going to sleep then next thing you’re being woken up, surreal but not bad. I woke up absolutely freezing and in a bit of pain (strong period pain) but they gave me some painkiller and then just kept them up since and been fine. A little drowsy from antibiotic and bleeding.

I really hope someone can give you some reassurance with the molar pregnancy side of things. You will be fine tomorrow - you can do it! Xx

[deadhead]

The surgery was as you described, very quick and easy after the long wait beforehand. My cramps are quite bad today, finding it difficult to walk but managing. Of course it is the emotional side which hurts the most, but with time I'll be ok and I look forward to being a parent some day.
Thank you for sharing your experience, I won't know if it is molar for a little while.
Sorry that we have had to go through this, though I think it makes us stronger women and parents eventually x

[Catinabox21]

deadhead I am just seeing your original post now. This happened to me last year: I went for a scan at 9 weeks and was told there was no heartbeat - the pregnancy had stopped developing literally a couple of days beforehand. I opted for surgical management. 2 weeks later I got a call from the hospital and was told to come in straightaway 'to discuss the pathology results'. On top of being absolutely heartbroken over the loss, I was terrified of what I was going to be told - every horrible possibility was running through my mind. It turned out to be a partial molar pregnancy. I hadn't had any of the classic symptoms such as bleeding or severe morning sickness, and an 8 week scan had shown a healthy heartbeat and bang-on measurements. Had we not had the tests following the D&C it would never have been picked up.

I was referred to Charing Cross and my hcg was checked every 2 weeks for the next 5 months. I don't live in England so all the samples were sent to London via my GP. Follow-up for a partial molar will be different to that for a full molar - for PMP your hcg is simply checked until it returns to normal, then you can try again whenever you want. My levels were never very high to begin with, they just took their sweet time to come back to normal! I hovered between 5 and 15 for what seemed like forever - anything below 5 is considered 'normal'. I finally got there in November, after losing the baby in July.

It is a really horrible thing to go through. For a start, many people don't know what a molar/partial molar pregnancy is, even some people in the medical profession. I felt as though I was not even being allowed to TRY and move on from the miscarriage, because every week I'd either be going for tests or worrying about the results. I used to say to DH that it felt like the miscarriage that just wouldn't end. Worst of all was not being able to try again until we got the all-clear from the hospital, because of course after losing a baby that's often all you can think about.

On the plus side, my cycles returned to normal reasonably quickly (AF about 6 weeks after the surgery as I recall), and I was really impressed with the follow-up care I received from Charing Cross. The most important thing to remember is that even if this does turn out to be a PMP, it is EXTREMELY unlikely that you'll need any further treatment, just hcg monitoring. And once your hcg is back to normal, there's nothing to stop you trying again. It is also highly uncommon to have a second PMP.

Take care