How are you feeling after MC?

[freelancegirl]

Hello everyone,

I though I would start a new thread for all of us who have been through a mc recently or not so recently and want to carry on swapping stories, bitching about crap feelings, celebrating any good feelings etc etc.

I will kick off, but I hope some of you will join me.

Bleeding has more or less stopped so am still worried about that 'last 2cm of product' the scan revealed still needed to emerge. Docs have given me antibiotics to ward off infection and am due back for another scan around 12th April.

Today I woke up feeling like shit! Emotionally I am still getting better but I feel so tired at times. I woke up feeling exhausted today, but there are other times during the day when I will be walking around fine and then suddenly feel totally knackered. No idea why. Hormones shifting? It's almost the same tiredness as had when pg. Sometimes I feel a bit sick too and am having the odd dizzy spell. I don't think there's any infection but like I said am already on antibiotics.

I am also really annoyed about my weight. I haven't weighed myself since the mc as don't have any scales at home but I go away at weekend so I can weigh myself tomorrow. But I know I had put on about 5lbs in the first trimester and my small jeans are still not fitting me. I was a bit of a gym bunny before getting pg (which coincided with xmas so I was eating more/exercising less anyway and had put on 3lbs, which I wasn't then bothered about as I knew I could shift it after xmas - not expecting to be a) pg and b) have an mc). Now I feel bloated and miserable about my weight because am guessing am around 8lbs heavier than my best. I realise there are other priorities but now there's no baby I would like to have my size and my energy back!

As regards moving forward and possibly ttc again, I have bought two cheap pg tests and when I am brave enough am going to see if I get a BFN. I feel that would be a step in the right direction to start with.

Hope all are well and feeling positive. Feel free to join in xxx

Wow, this thread moves fast!

Can anyone enlighten me on thyroid antibodies?
How do you know if you've got them?
I had a blood test a few weeks ago to check my thyroid - would they have shown up then?

Thank-you

I am Queen of Advanced Obsessing and Limited Internet Based Knowledge on thyroid antibodies blue and I can tell you what I know.

You can have high thyroid antibodies even when your thyroid shows it is normal so do make sure they tested for these too. If they didn't you could always ask just in case.

Basically if you have high ABs your body can be attacking any 'foreign objects' including a foetus thinking it is doing you a favour. Treatment in so far as I can tell is via a specialist with either aspirin, heparin or some steroid which I can't spell beginning with a P, and naturally using selenium and vitamin D. Apparently women (like me!) with high ABs can have up to 50% chance of having an mc and with treatment this goes down to 20%.

Here is an article that explains:

www.ivf1.com/anti-thyroid-antibodies/

Freelance Does treatment start before you get pregnant or after? That's a shame you will have to wait for 10 weeks to see the consultant. Do you think you could get your level tested this week say, take the natural treatments until your appt. in approx. 10 weeks and then ask him to check your levels again and see if there's a difference? If you DID get pregnant beforehand, would you get to see the consultant any quicker?

Not sure if that made any sense at all. Wiffley, waffley.

Big No idea how to do the fancy stuff, sorry. And would have loved to have seen the pic .

No idea about pic either, soz big. Am ok phone now on way out. Those are all the questions am asking myself too Really. I am assuming treatment starts before but am not sure. That's one of my worries- what if it should start before and I go ahead and get pg. I already know my levels , around 430 when normal us around 1-60 and am already taking selenium and vitamin d. Have thought about aspirin too but I think that's nor always advised so not sure. Again am not sure whether an appointment would get hurried through if was pg but I have my doubts. Tough decision isn't it! I may ttc get pg and be in the 50% where it all works out fine but it's a real gamble. Then again, as per conversation earlier maybe I will just have to do that and try to take it in my stride if it went wrong again

Hello everyone and welcome iloveblue I know nothing on antibodies so cant help I'm afraid
freelance great news about referrals - enjoy your dinner tonight.
Full on day here - Easter holidays - cant keep on top of anything - am wondering if thinking about a #4 is completly and utterly mad!!
Entries might be rather sporadic now as I have 2 weeks of chaos xx

ooh and yes please to Lanzarote with a nanny - just what I could handle!!

Hi everyone.... I'm a new mumsnetter.... Have been on one other forum re miscarriage... In a nutshell on 14th March went for my 16 week scan but bubbas heart had stopped around 5 days earlier (i'd been very sick with flu). Was induced in hospital (arabic speaking government hospital with not a lot of bedside manner shall we say (I live in the United Arab Emirates) had a horrible immensely painful labour then lost too much blood and had to get rushed into theatre for d n c...) Sorry if TMI but I just feel so utterly sad, angry, exhausted....(Sorry again...) Where was I, our 12 week scan was perfect.. What can I say.. devastated still am and not too sure what to do with myself.. UM, but re thyroid antibodies.. doesn't it depend exactly which antibodies they are.. I have REALLY high counts but Thyroid function test is normal.... My antibodies been high for around 4 years. I just want you all to know (as you are worried about antibodies) i am blessed with 2 beautiful little girls (nearly 3 and 14 month old) and my doc was never concerned with antibodies (she specialises in thyroid problems during pregnancy) she said that it is Thyroid Function that is the biggy..... I don't know what to think. Feel scared that maybe I lost my angel baby last month due to antibodies??!?? Oh poo I'm off for a glass of wine.. sorry to go on and on and on.. Will get the hang of this!!xx

Sorry for taking a while to respond, fellow ENNs... I've just made it to the end of the thread after being distracted by DD and the Feminism section.

Re: Spanglish nursery rhyme, Really - Sorry, but after that build up of anticipation, I can't offer a suitable translation..! BUT I remember singing it myself donkey's yonks ago, except the refrain was "Ch'chee ch'cha, ch'chee, ch'cha, ch'chee ch'cha-cha....
So I have a suspicion it may simply be nonsense words. I could be wrong!
We've asked numerous Spanish friends about traditional Spanish nursery rhymes and we usually get the reply that they don't really exist and their nursery rhymes tend to be imports with translated lyrics....

How interesting to go back to Lanzarote after such a long time, Big! I've actually never been myself, but grandparents used to go every year to a time-share (hence my knowledge of the volcano tour...)

Good luck with finding out about the thyroid business freelance and sorting out your referrals. You're clearly a fast-moving lass, so I'm not surprised at your frustration over whether or not the correct bureaucracy is in motion.
No need to feel silly about your baby concerns as articulated in your previous thread/s on MN (where I met you ) - those are perfectly understandable feelings and ones that it is helpful to explore pre-motherhood. You weren't to know you would have to wait a little longer before finding out for yourself. And like you say, a mc certainly shifts the priorities around (unfortunately).

I'm so glad the "travel hopefully" mantra is proving helpful, if not popular on this thread! I can't think of a better approach to the business of pregnancy myself.

My obstetrician friend said she was not inclined to be paranoid about her own pregnancy, despite her specialist knowledge of the various pregnancy pitfalls (I asked her if her job made her more worried about every little thing, especially after her mmc). She replied it was better to try and strike a balance and in her experience, those who hadn't had mcs were probably too naively blithe about their pregnancies and those who had were overly fearful about things going wrong (understandably).

Stating the obvious, I guess, but I was interested to hear what she had to say about it.
She might have just as well said "travel hopefully", really

Sorry, X-posted...

Welcome desertmummy - I'm so sorry you had such a harrowing experience. I can relate to the business of being in a place where you don't really speak the language, too....

You can go on as much as you like on this thread (you may have noticed the rest of us sure do ) - that's why freelance started it.

Thanks for sharing the thyroid wisdom, too.

Dear Desertmummy welcome to the thread. I am so sorry to hear of your loss. Your grief must be immense, it sounds like it was an awful, traumatic experience. No wonder you feel so sad and angry and exhausted. We have been discussing thyroid antibodies today because Freelance plans to see a consultant to find out if there is a risk to a future p/g with her raised antibodies and whether there's anything she can do to counter it. At the moment we don't know because there seems to be a lack of information on the net. To be honest your post might be the best indication so far that antibodies aren't dangerous (or your doctor would have mentioned it). Sorry if it has freaked you out.

I hope you stay for some handholding, it is a tough time. Feel free to write and write (and IMHO, the wine helps). xxxx

Hi desertmummy - I'm so sorry to hear what happened to you.
I too had a late loss, at 20 weeks, and cannot imagine having to go through it in the way you described. Its still very early days for you too - it took me a long time to recover, physically and mentally.
Give yourself time - it is a real rollercoaster. There is a thread here - that I started after my loss in October, where other mums who have lost babies in the 2nd trimester shared their experiences. I have found it immensely helpful to chat to others about my feelings.
I'm not sure how it works where you are? But will they do a post mortem on the baby and did they take any blood from you to test?
It took 5 months for our follow-up appointment to come through with our consultant - and they found no reason, which is frustrating but good in a way as they ruled lots of things.
Thinking of you and please feel free to chat on here x

Thank-you freelancegirl for the info on thyroid antibodies. How did you find out you had them?
I had 9 lots of blood taken and tested for various things after our late loss - I know I was tested for: diabetes, kidney/liver function, full blood count, a few different viruses and a test for anti-bodies - would that be the one or are there different types of anti-bodies? I need to get a definite list really.

Evening all. Just been out for a lovely meal (shared bottle of red and a post dinner liquour) with my best friend. Haven?t seen her since the mc so there were a few emotional moments as I explained it all and we had a good chat. She has a one year old but works full time and is brilliant to talk to about anything along these lines. We are very similar to a certain extent and both had similar concerns about having children. I think she was pretty upset to know I have only a 50% chance of a successful pg with treatment. But onwards?

Hello desert, welcome to the thread. Really is right, it helps to chat here and it helps to drink wine. Unless of course you are in a dry middle eastern country! How awful that your mc was so late. I can?t imagine what it must be like to have the 12 week scan and lose the baby beyond that. Are there meant to be other reasons for a late mc than one in the first trimester? Am sorry but I think your doctor is wrong about thyroid function being the biggy. Thyroid function, if untreated and not normal, does mean you have a hard time conceiving and can also cause a certain amont of retardation in children (that?s where that awful word ?cretin? comes from) so it can be the biggy if untreated, but high thyroid antibodies can definitely cause mc even if your thyroid levels are normal. I am not a doctor so really can?t say whether that can have an affect so far into the pg but I think it is really something you should investigate. Again I am not a doctor, just a humble (non health!) journalist but I have really looked into this in the last few weeks and I think I have found a definite link between raised antibodies and mc ? with the autoimmune system basically attacking the foetus. Please read some of the links I have put on here and ask to see a specialist.

I feel I have hijacked our thread now with antibodies as I have gone on about it all day, so sorry about that! It?s good that we are all aware of it though so can get it checked.

IC I am indeed a fast mover! When it comes to anything outside the home I am completely proactive and want to know what is happening immediately. Anything I touch domestically however falls apart. I get kicked out of kitchens and am constantly getting ?told off? in the manner of a 12 year old girl by my DH who wants me to tidy my room! He rules the roost at home - does most of the cooking, food shopping, washing etc etc.

I love your obs friend attitude, she's very pragmatic.

Blue there are several different types of antibodies so do get tested for all. Some of them thyroid, some related to clotting and other functions. Any autoimmune problem can potentially have an affect, as far as my research has shown. You all need to get all autoimmune antibodies tested so ask your gp if you are not under any specialist.

So I decided after conversations with my DH earlier and also over dinner with my best friend that I think I WILL ttc again after af returns. Ok, there might be a 50% chance it will go wrong but I am not sure if I want to wait just in case that screws me up too! So the next few months or however long it takes to get pg and see what the outcome is are going to be tough going. I think as Big said earlier I might just have to grit my teeth and somehow learn to compartmentalise the pain of it going wrong again if I have to. Might need some hand holding.

But the next step for now is the scan tomorrow. Am up early to sit and EPU for hours so will probably be checking and posting from the iPhone from there. Wish me luck! I had some weird pale pink spotting earlier. It doesn?t seem to end!

Big wave to everyone I haven?t mentioned xx

Blimey!! This is the problem with being on a thread where most of you are based in the northern hemisphere. How can I hope to keep up? But I will soldier on as I do love the chat on here with you ladies.

Welcome to desertmummy and I echo the empathy that has already been proffered before I got out of bed (am in Australia).

At the risk of making a comment that make you all say "We've moved on from that topic BLL: Bigflip* nice sentiment and rings true for me about other people's babies being their babies, not one you are secretly wishing could be yours. I find it helps to have the attitude that anyone's healthy pregnancy is a beautiful thing and something to be happy about, even if we are left a bit about it.

Random documentary someone told me to watch on YouTube - The Great Sperm Race - has anyone seen it? It is worth a look - presented in a very entertaining fashion but still full of useful information about the process of TTC. All those sperm (presented as life-size people) are indeed travelling hopefully.

DH is coming to London in October for a work conference. He is trying to convince me to come with him, since I will no longer be "too pregnant" to travel at that time (if I am indeed PG at all). So tempting, but doubt I could really travel that far away from the DCs, and yet I think it would be all too much to bring them with us. Pondering.

Well I'd better go before, Really, my self-written appraisal is something along the lines of "needs improvement in the area of paying attention to the DCs, spends too much time on MN".

Good luck with your scan tomorrow Freelance.

Ooh I like the idea of my own written appraisal, I have no boss either. I think mine might be along the lines of: tries hard and has bursts of enthusiasm, would do better if didn't spend so much time on mn, Facebook, twitter and sitting in EPU. Domestic skills severely lacking. Bll hope you had a good day down under. I would be very tempted personally to jump at the chance of a trip abroad with your dh. And london is such fun as you know! But then I don't have kids so don't know what it is like to leave them! How long would it be for? Morning everyone else, sorry about the annoying lack of paragraphs ( which initially came up on my predictive spell as karachis :) ) but am on iPhone in EPU waiting for that scan. No idea what it will show as had a tiny bit of pink spotting over the last couple of days and some odd twinges. All part and parcel of it I guess. Anyone else feeling bloated as well?

Good luck freelance x

Just been for scan bur not seen doctor yet. Scan lady said there was definitely a bit still there, which I had a feeling there might be hence the spotting. She also said I'd ovulated which am pretty pleases about as a) it's nice to know I still am and b) I was right in identifying I had been ovulating and knew it had come from the left side! It's the first time I have felt the ovaries in the act, prob because it was stronger than usual. And I correctly identified my ov cm :) all good news for when I ttc again. Just waiting to see what the dr says now about this last bit to eject. Gosh this process lasts a while doesn't it.

Freelance Good luck with the scan, I can't wait to hear how it goes and fx that you get the all clear. You have spent alot of time there, perhaps they will name a hospital wing after you .

Bll The appraisal sounds good. I personally will be giving myself a bonus this year, I am a stay at home fatcat. . That is a tough, tough call re. the trip to London. I can see why you're torn. Any chance you would consider the hell that is long haul with the DC?

Well I have had 2 wine free nights now and feel like Ghandi in terms of purity. AND I had brown rice yesterday. I have my acupuncture appt today so will report back after that. I will be lurking for Freelance though (and any other news).

Big waves at everyone else - and thank you Immaculada for the song advice. I think we may just have to move to Madrid in the vague hope we hear it again

Reporting live from the freelance ex Nazi Nun wing of the Queen elizabeth hospital: So have seen the doc at EPU and they said there is indeed a bit of retained products, less than 2cm, but that it is not fresh blood therefore unlikely to cause any problems and probably come out with next period. Good news on that front is that I have ovulated (I knew I had - even knew it had been from the left side and identified cm so al pretty pleased I can hopefully now keep track of this in future) and should hopefully get af soon. They said af will probably be longer than usual but if it does anything really odd to go back. Otherwise, re ttc they said no reason why I can't start after af. I asked if it would cause problems if the clot stayed and I got pregnant and they said if it stayed I wouldnt get pregnant! So will have to keep an eye in that. Think I will come back after period for a scan anyway. Ohh Really you really are a beacon of shiny health and an example to all of us :) I have only managed one day wine free so have a good deal to live up to!

I'll keep an ear out in the meantime, Really

Glad the scan went well freelance - well as well as can be expected. Good news on the ovulation front.
I found my EPU strangely comforting the times I had to go in - all the nurses there were lovely and I had a real feeling that I wasn't alone.

I found this article today - I'm sure you've already seen it freelance, but I found it quite infomative.
Have you had any symptoms related to a thyroid problem?
It seems that some doctors believe that high thyroid antibodies should be treated with small amounts of thyroxine.

I think I should get mine checked - can I just ask my GP for the test, or would I need to go private?

Hi blue Yes the nurses were really comforting actually. The reception staff are terrible in my hospital though, really rude and unwelcoming. I guess they are busy and see a lot of people but they don't really acknowledge people who are standing there until they are ready. I know from years behind a bar when as a student that a simple 'I'll be with you in a few minutes' works wonders.

Yes I have seen that article thanks. I was actually diagnosed with an under active thyroid when I was 21. I could post some articles about my experience but that would 'out' me on mn :) I take thyroxine every day and this addresses my thyroid but not the antibodies that are attacking it to go under active in the first place. thought I knew a lot about thyroid and it turns out I did but what I didn't know was about antibodies. You can be thyroid-prob-free and still have these. Worth getting checked I guess. I asked my GP to do mine and got them through the hospital on NHS.

Hi all! No chance of catching up now! Hope you've all been well. We've just returned from Germany(went on business trip, turned into a few days off as Dh joined me out there for a mini break: lovely).
However, want to pick your brains girls! Had a follow up scan after 2 weeks since last one. The sac was sitting just on top of cervix at last scan. All bleeding and discharge stopped now. But the scan shows sac still sitting on top of cervix. Doc has offered 2 options, medically managed miscarriage: via pill and suppository, or ERPC. What are the risks with each? Does pill cause period pain or labour pain and how well managed is it? Is there a chance everything may expel by itself or are the infection risks too great to take? Thanks in advance - still in shock!

Hi Diamonds, I was wondering where you had got to! No you didn't miss anything exciting apart from random witterings which have been helpful and at time amusing nonetheless :)

Hope you had a god time in Germany and drank some nice beer.

Gosh, what a pain!!!! I remember having conversations about your sac and thinking it would just down of its own accord. I am gutted for you that that has not happened. I know what it is like to just want to get this over with and it just seems to drag and drag with one more thing to address before back to some level of normality. At least one compensation is the sac was empty as that would have been even worse if it wasn't.

Here's where my experience stops I am afraid as I have only gone down the natural route. I am sure someone else might be able to advise though as to whether medical management or ERPC would be better?

I thought that might be happen to me actually as I still have a clot or something that needs to come out but they say hopefully it will come out with the period when it EVENTUALLY gets here.

Sorry I can't help further but hope someone else can and we can get you out of the other side of this as quick as possible. Glad you have you back anyway! xx

Hi Diamonds nice to hear you've had a little break, just what the Doctor ordered I'll bet?
With regards your sac (sorry) do you know how big it is? Some of these structures are tiny and the process of medical management could be excessive as your body will expell or re-absorb this by itself. I've had a miscarriage medically managed, and after this miscarriage that was an ERPC the Doctor told me that actually we should have left that one alone and let nature take its course, he felt it had been a poor decision as it's not a very pleasant process, and in my Health Authority involves an over night stay in hospital. However as I say, this all depends on the size. Hope some of that made a teensy bit of sense