Recurrent Chemical Pregnancies

[charlzz]

I have cross posted this so apologies!

TW: Recurrent chemicals

Hi everyone. I was looking for some advice really, and maybe some friendly people I can stay in touch with who have been through a similar situation.

TLDR: Trying to conceive my second child for 8 months. 3 consecutive early losses/chemical pregnancies. Looking for answers.

In April, May, and June I had 3 consecutive chemical pregnancies. For all three I've had darkening tests, followed by them getting lighter then I bleed. The first one was around 5 weeks, the following 2 were just a day or two after my period was due.

I went to my GP after the second, who was pretty dismissive but agreed to do some basic blood tests (iron, thyroid, vitamin levels) but nothing hormonal. The only relevant thing these showed were low vitamin D, which I'm now supplementing. They also showed low white blood cells and neutrophils (but I always have this so don't think it's relevant) and a slightly raised ALT (liver enzyme) which they are rechecking.

Now I've had a third chemical, they have reluctantly agreed to refer me to the recurrent miscarriage clinic but the wait is likely to be at least a year.

This cycle I took a break from trying and checked my progesterone privately. It was 45.5nmol/L at day 21 which looks pretty strong, and indicates I'm ovulating well. My luteal phase is anywhere from 11 to 14 days, although during my third chemical I started spotting at 9dpo. ChatGPT did say I could potentially still look at progesterone suppositories as my levels may not be staying high enough to sustain a pregnancy, but obviously I've got no way of knowing if that is good advice or not, and no way of getting progesterone anyway as I doubt my doctor would agree to prescribe it.

Up until this month I was still breastfeeding my 17 month old. I've now stopped as I convinced myself it may be affecting my hormones. So we will see if that helps at all.

Does anyone have any other advice or ideas of what I could do to try to have a healthy pregnancy?

Thank you so much for sharing this! Really interesting. I feel the same about my issue being implantation related so I may apply for this.

Just a little update on my cycle. That spotting i had at 11/12dpo never materialised into my period and I've still not come on at 15dpo which is unheard of for me. I think there are very very faint lines on my tests although I'm not comfortable calling it a definite chemical as it has stayed negative on a digital and the lines are so faint you can't even see them on camera. So frustrating.

I’m very late to this thread but reading through it and massively relate to so much of this and wanted to share my experience… I have a LB who’s almost 4. Before getting pregnant with him I had a 6 week loss and then a chemical the month after. Stopped trying for a month and then successfully conceived with him the month after that. Started TTC no2 last year and got caught straight away in September (much to my shock) but was a chemical (I only tested because I felt SO sick). Caught again in November but had an early loss just shy of 6 weeks then caught again in Feb and made it to 8 week private scan to find an MMC - which was confirmed the following week by NHS and I had a D&C at 10 weeks (end of March).

After that I went to a support group where I met a few ladies who’d experienced the same situation and had actually been told they are hyper fertile. When I looked this up it made a lot of sense to me - I could get pregnant SO fast and so easily but struggled with them sticking and it’s basically because my womb isn’t fussy and tried to implant any embryo that gets fertilised whether it’s good or not whereas most wombs won’t even try to implant any embryo embryo that isn’t good. So I figured my issue is probably with egg quality (especially I’m now 39) and meant embryos weren’t top class - it was thinking this that actually gave me some peace as made me think there was a reason for all my losses, but obviously never had any tests to confirm anything.

So I started to focus on my egg quality whilst I waited for my first period and let things settle down. I took baby aspirin (as can’t hurt), higher dose COQ10 and a decent prenatal supplement and had been really focussing on my exercise and diet recently so just carried on with this. Now this obviously isn’t medical advice and I’m not saying this will work for everyone but I got a BFP end of June and am now 21 weeks pregnant with a (so far) healthy little boy.

couple of other things - I was referred to the NHS recurrent MC clinic but was told the wait was 4-6 months plus. I also went to my GP and asked them to refer me to Tommy’s as I met the criteria of 3 losses. They did and I for the referral for this much quicker - I was actually due to go for me first appointment at 13 weeks so was able to cancel it after my successful dating scan but they are keeping me on the list for 12 months so I can call them if anything does happen with this pregnancy. I would def speak to your GP about a referral to Tommy’s. Only my MMC Is on record but they took my full history at face value and were happy to make the referral.

I hope sharing this is helpful in some way. And hope you all get your long awaited and sticky BFPs very soon!

Just can't believe this is happening again. 💔

I know the lines are basically invisible, especially on the EAH strip test... they were a tiny bit darker yesterday but barely. But I know they're there. I'm 16dpo, 2 or 3 days late for my period, so absolutely zero chance of this being an actual ongoing pregnancy if they are true lines (the fact I've had lines on two different brands of tests makes me pretty sure it's not indents/evaps).

I’m so sorry @charlzz, it is so unfair 😖

Has anyone (partners) looked at DNA fragmentation testing? My DH has a couple of risk factors, k know some doctors say no point testing, but it can be a factor in infertility and recurrent loss. It’s not cheap, and potentially better when it’s also done with other tests and ultrasound, but I think we’re probably looking at IVF and I don’t want to do that if it’s an issue that might affect ivf success too.

Yes, I think this is a really important one. I've seen a few stories of women with recurrent chemicals whose husband's regular sperm analysis was fine, but then with the dna fragmentation showed an issue!

Ah me too!!! Feels like it’s worth it, even if to rule it out as fine

I’m so sorry Charl! It’s s**t! It really is heartbreaking! ❤️‍🩹

Got "pregnant" on a digital just to prove to my husband (and myself) that there were actually lines there. But now bleeding and cramping big style. It was inevitable but I think you always have hope until AF is here.

After my first one which did completely blindside me, this one has definitely been the hardest emotionally. My first three were in the space of four months so happened so quickly. Plus since then I've done so much to try to improve my chances with vitamins, blood tests, antibiotics etc.

Oh @charlzz, I’m so sorry. Is the bleeding bad?

Yeah, full blown heavy AF x

How are you today @charlzz 🤍

@Iris2024 a bit sad but I'm ok thank you for checking in!!

Just an update, I've had a call from the recurrent miscarriage clinic who have said I'm not eligible to be seen as they unfortunately don't count chemical pregnancies. The lady was very nice but I feel completely back to square one with it all now.

What?? That’s absolutely crap. They don’t count early losses at all? Did they say what week they consider it no longer a chemical? Seems incredibly unfair; I’m sorry if that’s how it’s done in your jurisdiction. Feel very cross for you.

How are you feeling today, @charlzz? And how is everyone else getting on?

I have an update after my main midwife appointment yesterday. Very overwhelming; 2 and a half hours long! There was a lot to talk about due to my autism and physical disabilities. TW just for delivery, blood loss and general pregnancy things if you want to skip the rest of my post.

Upshot is the plan will be for me to have a natural delivery. To summarise, my disabilities mean I can’t stand for very long, can’t bend forwards, have extreme lower back pain and also experience numbness down my legs and in my saddle area when my back is flared up. So labouring normally is going to be pretty impossible past a certain point.
But I will be meeting with the anaesthetic team before 20 weeks for us to talk through a plan to avoid an elective section. So that was pretty big news. Feels really weird to know the experience my partner and have will likely be the whole “waiting for labour to start” one.

I’m also going to be consultant led it seems. My risk factors are age, it being more than 10 years since my last birth, and losing 1200ml of blood during that delivery. They’re booking me in for meetings, and then extra scans at 28 and 31 weeks, and then every two weeks after that. I’m not sure if this is because of the blood loss. I was a bit shattered by the end of the appointment and didn’t get round to asking 😅
I’ve got a point of contact with the additional needs and autism liaison at the hospital, and access to the mental health team. It really seems like everything has blown up so suddenly!

I had a scan last week at 10+3 but baby was measuring ahead again so I’m now 11+1. But I’m totally in third person mode. It’s like it’s all happening to somebody else at the moment. I’m just a spectator. But the scan was lovely. He/she was asleep at the bottom of the sac on its side at the start, and then woke up and began stretching and wiggling its body round to lie on its back 🥹 little arms and legs were going everywhere.

I’m sending the strongest prayers possible to everybody still trying here, and the strength not to give up. Also to have the courage to advocate for yourselves because you deserve happy and healthy pregnancies xxx

This does sound interesting, do you just have to email them?

They basically said the pregnancy needs to be visible on an ultrasound for them to count it as a miscarriage. She was very apologetic and did say she would email the consultant for me, but said it was very unlikely they'd be able to do anything for me. I wanted to shout down the phone 'BUT I CAN'T STAY PREGNANT LONG ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO SEE IT ON A SCAN, THAT'S THE ISSUE!!!'

Just shows what a gap in options there are for women who are in our situation. Doesn't count as infertility as we are getting pregnant, but also doesn't count as recurrent miscarriages as they are so early.

Oh my goodness that's a lot for you to take in!!!

What are your thoughts on having a natural delivery? Is it what you want? I ended up having a planned c section with my son, as I cracked my rib late on and TMI couldn't walk or even go for a number 2 through the pain, so it was decided that it wasn't feasible to attempt a natural delivery, as they couldn't guarantee that even an epidural would work as it would probably be below the rib. It ended up being such a beautiful calm experience, which was amazing as I was so heartbroken at the time I wouldn't get the delivery I wanted.

But equally if it's what you want then it's amazing they are happy to support you with a vaginal delivery despite your disabilities. It sounds like they're giving you loads of support which is fantastic!

I remember the scan at that time being so amazing. They really look like a baby by then don't they, it's so beautiful!!

Have you decided whether you'll find out the gender? It's all so exciting ☺️

I emailed them and got this reply 😔
Thank you for your email. The Implantation Clinic is currently on hold to new patients.If you would like to add your name to our waiting list, please register your interest by clicking the following: https://forms.microsoft.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=8dhxX-9p0UGfHk18S3tH5JQPqyQGnWlLrBhtEzvHARFUQkY1QkpNWVJYMUZKWU40TFJNMkFKWVdPQSQlQCN0PWcuUnfortunately we are not able to give a timeframe on when the clinic will reopen, however once it does, we will contact you with further information and next steps.

@charlzz the fact that there are literally things that could help get a pregnancy past 4 weeks and to being visible on a scan means they’re just wrong. Ridiculous it seems to be different from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. If you’re feeling strong at any point, perhaps an email asking whether things that we know here have helped other women such as progesterone and aspirin, would definitely not help. See what they say.

Yes I think I’m happy with the supported natural delivery. I was very, very anxious about a c-section, especially being restricted even more by having had surgery, and also may have found healing difficult due to my restrictions.
I also have trauma surrounding neither seeing nor feeling my first son be born, so the idea of everything being behind a screen was upsetting.

But yeah, tons of support. They’re putting me on 5mg of folic acid due to potential malabsorption from my hypermobility, aspirin to prevent blood clots, and vitamin D. And they want me to self refer to the gynaecological physio now rather than waiting. I’ve started looking at some back and bumps supports, but I’ll see what they have on offer first.

So far nobody has told me off for wanting a baby and getting pregnant, which is what I’ve been prepared for for months! It’s really surprised me how accommodating they are. They’ve even sent me a link to a book recently published by an autistic lady about pregnancy, birth and parenting.

@charlzz thank you, I’ll add my name to the waitlist and see what happens

Hi everyone

Just catching up on this thread, hadn’t been on Mumsnet for a while as was kinda trying to not obsess over things for a bit. We had a month off trying last month as got a bit much and decided to focus on doing some decorating in the house instead!

We did dtd once this cycle so we shall see what happens. Currently 2/3dpo and cd20

@charlzz so sorry to read that you’ve had another chemical and the shit response from the recurrent miscarriage clinic. That’s awful, surely a loss is a loss and the fact that the problem is that it doesn’t get to the stage of being able to be seen on a scan :-( definitely worth a strongly worded email.

@EmPeEf so pleased all going well for you and that you’ve got a plan in place for the birth, exciting times ❤️

Hey @Panda34! It's such a weird relief taking a month off isn't it. Hope you got lots of decorating done!!

I'm 6dpo today so not too far in front. I also have my first appointment with a fertility clinic tomorrow although it's only the initial super basic tests they do first (scan, AMH and sperm analysis).