How soon can I conceive after my miscarriage?

[plummymummy]

Ok this is going to expose my ignorance, but what is the earliest I can get pregnant once I miscarry? I am 7.5 weeks pregnant but almost certainly will miscarry (confirmed by EPU). I want to try again straight away. I know the advice is to have one normal period prior to conception but there is no evidence to suggest this makes any difference to pregnancy outcome. So after I miscarry, should I get an ovulation kit to give myself the best chance? Or will the test strips be unreliable because of the miscarriage. I was assuming once the HCG has returned to zero that I should start to get fertile days again, but maybe not.

Hello... sorry to hear you are going through this. I had a m/c about 4 weeks ago and like you want to get pg again asap. I've also read that the advice about having one normal period is more for dating reasons than anything else.

I think that it's a personal decision based on how you feel...if you feel you want to try again quickly then do what's best for you.

I guess the risk is that it would be even more upsetting to have a subsequent m/c so soon if things didnt go right again, thats always going to be an unknown though i reckion??

I think medically there is no reason against conceiving straight away, emotionally and physically I guess it varies for me it was the right thing but for others it may not be.

merrylissie and plummy I hope you are both feeling better I dont know what to say its a horrible time

I cant believe how thoughtless some medical staff are, and said something so callous about a late period. I was quite strong until the doctor said to me about erpc, I have worked in gynae and knew to much

thank you all so much. we have made a formal complaint, so should hear something soon. i keep looking at ds and thinking iam so lucky. but part of me misses my 3 other babies.

good for you merry, I think what a lot of staff dont realise is that to most women the moment we know we are pregnant its a baby to us.

I have worked with some wonderful people who were very aware of this fact

i was angrier that i was made to apologise for grieving. with all 4 pg's i knew at about 3 weeks. it was just a shift, with ds i started bleeding at 5-6 weeks and had a eps which showed him in a sac. and i think that sac became noah.

merrylissimas so sorry to hear af arrived but at least you can get some tests done. The way I am dealing with this is by focussing on something positive further down the line (eg ttc). This time I have to think cosmic positive thoughts to keep the baby as conception seems to not be a problem. Yes I agree they are babies to us (from the minute we find out)and so called professionals who don't recognise that shouldn't be working with women of child bearing age (or their partners). Have to say that staff at EPU have been very kind and supportive and importantly, honest too. Thanks to everyone else who has contributed to this thread. Still feeling optimistic after re-reading some of your posts.

merrylissie is there anything they can do to limit risk caused by gbs?

anti-biotics thru pg found a fab doc in usa who has done loads of research and just need to get docs to read his studies. think infection is still in my uterus tho coz i'm still getting vvvv bad pains. how are you doing now?

I'm getting heavy red blood loss now and cramps but still not worse than some periods I've had. Don't know how long this will go on for. I had 2 large glasses of wine last night knowing at last I could safely drink! Do you have to take the anti-biotices preconception?

poor thing. have you been to see your gp yet? and yes have to take tabs pre-conception in fact

I can't be bothered to see my gp. Will just go to epu on Monday. I've got some diclofenac if I need them.

try to take it easy, it really takes it out of you. thinking of you.

Thanks. I had an outburst last night (so much for my dignified resigned demeanour). DH had taken my newly bought sanitary towels upstairs so I protested cos they weren't in the downstairs loo. He promptly brought them to me and I threw them around the room (the downstairs loo) a few times in anger, then burst into tears! Had to apologise after. He's suffering too but we tend to take it out on the nearest and dearest. I read that research. It sounds very promising doesn't it. How did you find out you were a carrier for Strep B? It's much more common than I thought.

i was so ill after noah was born that i was being rushed back into hospital every week. in the end a midwife asked my consultant to do some tests on the placenta coz i'd lost a LOT of blood too, and they found it all over. it had got in coz i'd been in labour for so long. i'm a size 8 with size 2 feet and noah was 9lb 2oz, figures.

I really feel for you. the littlest things can look like they're mocking you. and i know your dh is suffering too, but it's not the same for them. are you going to see your gp?

Wow what a huge baby for your build! I'm 5ft,10" a size 12 (well, pre-pregnancy)and thought my 91b 4oz ds was large enough thank you!! It must at least be reassuring to know that your body can allow a baby to grow that big (it's just a case of keeping it). When I was pregnant with ds I worried about this because I was told I had a bicornuate uterus (though it now seems it is subseptate). Once I had him I never thought I would have two miscarriages in a row afterwards. I think you get a bit complacent when you've had one fairly normal pregnancy and birth. I really hope that the prophylactic anti-biotics helps. Hears keeping fingers crossed for our next pregnancy. I've got the clinic scan on Monday. Depending on the outcome I will visit my GP. If the HCG is back to zero I don't suppose there's much point unless I ask for some screening bloods. Don't know if they will though as I heard they don't usually start investigations until 3 successive miscarriages. I've passed a lot of tissue today, but luckily no pain (in fact altogether I've been very lucky as the worst so far has been better than some periods I've had). I feel tired but I'm starting to feel more like my normal self again. Thanks for your words of support merrylissie and thinking of you also. Are you going to ttc before xmas or wait til afterwards? I'm not sure what to do as ideally I would like to ttc asap but I can't work out when I will next ovulate (I believe it's before my periods restart). Someone on the site said approx 25 days after m/c but surely that depends on the date of the m/c? Did you read that someone said ttc straight after m/c increases risk of molar pregnancy? What do you think? Having looked it up, it sounds horrible.

this may help it's disgraceful isn't it? if i were you i'd wait til you've had a period, more to clean everything out. plus christmas is around the corner, so you can relax, give your body time to settle down etc. now af's been i've got my tests on thurs which is also the start of my fertile period. i think you've got to push the docs . which area do you live in? coz the standard of care varies so much. we live in shropshire so if i do get pg again we'll be going to staffordshire HA.

Thanks for that link. Only 5 fertile days a month. Crikey. Amazing I seem to conceive so quickly considering the amount I bd!! Of course you are right - I should wait for my next period but I so wanted not to have a winter baby. That sounds crass doesn't it - afterall we should be thankful for a healthy baby no matter what the month of birth. It's just that my birthday is January and it's so miserable. Dh and ds both have summer birthdays. Also it's lovely to go for walks with baby in summer and they are less likely to get colds etc. Oh well it's either accept it's not going to be or wait another year and I think a 4 yr gap is too long.

Oh and I live in Surrey. Haven't changed my GP yet, old one is based in South East London and they are pretty good.

autumn is a lovely time of year tho. if you wait til jan before ttc then poss baby will be born in oct.

i'm the opposite i would love a winter baby. my bday is in jan too and i love that time of year. you've got cold crisp days, the possibility of snow, xmas, new year.

the important thing is that you feel right about it. allow yurself to grieve and get your body back on track. maybe you should just leave it to chance. have a few glasses of wine over xmas and see what happens. it's so easy to obsess over fertile days and due dates....

how are you feeling today?

Oh you talk so much sense and I feel like being so irrational just for the sheer hell of it (she stamps her feet and throws her rattle out of the pram!). Yeah October's not too bad. There's no way you can convince me about January though - a bloody depressing month! Glad you're pleased with it though as there's no changing it! I feel ok, but was a bit annoyed when I had my scan yesterday. Dr said there's retained products but a small amount and not advisable to have an ERPC. Then when I left he'd typed in the letter he gave me that we had discussed options and I had chosen expectant management - that's not what happened at all! How are you feeling? Also when do your tests start?

they start on friday, with anice invasive examination and swab. i can't believe your gp did that (well i can but ykwim) they really are a law unto themselves aren't they? been a bit down lately. my sil is pg, so is dh's mates dw. so finding it a bit difficult. i really ache at the mo and don't know if we should ttc during tests.

It wasn't my GP, it was the doctor at EPU who did the scan. I'm not surprised you feel down what with other women around you getting pregnant. After I had my scan yesterday which showed I'd had an incomplete m/c there was a pregnant woman in the lift showing her mum the scan picture of her baby. I felt a mixture of being happy for her (remembering what it felt like with ds)and feeling sorry for myself. On a positive note, if you have the tests and get the all clear plus prophylactic anti-biotics you might have a baby not much younger than those two women (that would be nice for you and sis in law - assuming you get on). How's your husband by the way - how is he coping with it all?

Forgot to say that I hope the examination isn't too awful

sil is fab. her ds is 12 weeks older than noah. dh is coping ok, he doesn't understand how i can feel pg tho. to him its not real. what about your dh

Hi plummymummy! Just saw your thread and thought I'd see what happened on Monday. I'm glad you don't have to do anything else. I had a look at molar pgs too, but on the other hand, there are a few threads where people have conceived directly after a m/c and the doctors haven't been that worried. The problem is that there is so much information out there that it is confusing!

Still trying to work out whether I want to ttc straight away, but quite nervous about a third m/c, vaguely worried that there wasn't that "much" this last time, iykwim, and wondering whether I shouldn't go and have a scan to make sure it is all okay... Still, I've got to persuade dh to come near me first and I think he's as nervous as I am now!!! What do you think you're going to do?

I went to see my mum and a good friend who is due in about 10 days and it made me a bit sad because when I was pg, I was really looking forward to telling them about it.