Pregnancy after missed miscarriage

[BabyBrindley]

I lost my first baby in January I found out at the 12 week scan my baby stopped developing at 5 weeks. A long time to be carrying a little one, still feeling pregnant when they are no longer there. I started bleeding the day after the scan but the miscarriage took in total 6 weeks to finish. 2 trips in an ambulance, the first trip I nearly lost my own life through blood loss and I had a medical miscarriage to try and help the baby pass, little one was really comfy in there. Then unplanned I have just found out I am 5 weeks pregnant. I am nothing short of a nervous wreck. I really want this little one but fear the same has happened again. The midwife has put me on 2 weekly call backs until my scan at 12 weeks but how can I wait that long when the baby’s already possibly gone and nothing happens till that point again? I had few symptoms with baby 1 and feel few symptoms again which is not helping. Should I book myself in for a private scan at 8 weeks?

Aw bless you that sounds tough. I have just been through a MMC but at 8 weeks, I opted for an ERPC so it was quite straightforward. Your experience sounds awful no wonder you are scared! When does the midwife plan on scanning you? If they don't plan on scanning at any of those early apps I would book a private scan around 8 weeks (any earlier and I think it could just be confusing, I saw a hb at 6 weeks but poor wee thing was gone by 8) I was reading that a hb at 8 weeks suggests a 2% risk of MC so waaaaay lower. I think you'll be fine, good luck!

Sorry to hear about your miscarriage @BabyBrindley. I had a mmc at 9+4. I was under the epu for a month and they said I could contact them directly to arrange an early scan. It's good your midwife is supportive but maybe you could ask her or your GP to refer you to epu?

Congratulations x

I am so sorry you had a MMC too, they are such a shock. It's hard to accept that our bodies can carry around our dead babies for so long

I was offered a 7 week scan with this one, through my MW and everything checked out fine. But then I had bleeding and they refused to offer me another scan before my 12 week one so I did go private just to check.

For peace of mind, I think it is worth getting yourself a private scan if you can afford one. It does help to see they are all okay. But do try to wait as close to 7 weeks as possible because before that it can still be so hit and miss as to what should have been developed already and what you can see.

Are you sure on your dates too? Like was you tracking ovulation, I only ask because last thing you want is to go for a scan thinking your 7 weeks but they date you as 5 weeks as the dates are wrong.

And if, god forbid, this does happen again, I would really recommend the surgery to help remove the failed pregnancy. I only lightly bled for 2 days afterwards and was glad i was able to put it all behind me quicker.

Oh bless you. My first pregnancy ended in a mmc, detected at the 12 week scan. Devastating and cruel enough without the horrendous process that you went through afterwards. You poor thing, no wonder you’re a nervous wreck.

I was absolutely terrified when I got pregnant again 3 months later, wouldn’t let myself believe it was real as a form of self preservation I guess. No early scans are offered in my region until you’ve had three miscarriages so we went private for reassurance, at 9 weeks which is when my first baby died. Worth every penny, although it was just a snapshot in time and they couldn’t guarantee it would all be fine I found it really beneficial to be told that everything was exactly as it should be at 9 weeks. I didn’t relax until after 25 weeks and viability though, it’s so hard.

Both of my subsequent pregnancies went smoothly, my mmc appears to have been a biological blip with no clear reason for it as is the case for many of us. Chances are the same will be true for you, wishing you lots of luck x

Thanks for your replies everyone, my midwife has told me there is no need to send me for an early scan as I’ve only had one loss but she’s put me on callbacks due to my worries. I’ll happily pay for an early scan but I’m leaving it until 8 weeks just in case my dates are slightly off. As it was not planned midwife has told me to go off date of last period which makes me 5+2 at the moment. With my last baby I bled for a week the date after my scan I thought the miscarriage was taking it’s natural course but a week later I was rushed to hospital with haemorrhaging they put me on drip which helped my blood count and lying down was stopping me bleeding so much. It was 1am in the morning they realised baby was stuck and decided I was too weak for surgery at that point so they gave me tablets to clot the bleed and they delayed surgery until 8am in the morning so they could get my blood pressure back up. But by 4am little one made an appearance and I was told later that day by a scan there was just 12ml tissue remaining so I could go home and the rest will expel naturally. For 2 weeks the bleeding did stop but I was having awful cramps which I was told were normal still. I was visiting my mum in a hospice in the countryside when I had another haemorrhage when I was walking up the stairs I bled through everything but thankfully had nurses around me to help treat me until an ambulance could get to us. Got to hospital where I was kept for monitoring and more scans but again was told there was not enough left for surgery so I just had to stay until the bleeding was under control and I bled for a further few weeks but I did not leave the house in case I bled out again. This is what has made me so scared because it was such a horrible experience losing the baby and weeks and weeks of pain. It’s a shame my area can’t offer more for worried mums because there isn’t the resources so I think an early scan will certainly put me at ease. X