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Miscarriage/pregnancy loss

Find support and share your experiences on our Miscarriage forum. See also legal rights and support after baby loss.

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Original poster

How long to wait fir a natural miscarriage?

11 replies

hotcrosbum · 13/04/2013 10:05

I went for a second early scan yesterday. I had a scan at 8 weeks, which showed it measuring 7 weeks and slow heat beat, when I went for the repeat scan yesterday, there was no heart beat and it hadn't grown past 8 weeks (I should have been 10 today).

How long to wait for a natural miscarriage until I contact a hospital? I was having my scans privately, I want to avoid the hospital if I can, heard terrible things about them, and I can't afford to have a medical procedure privately.

Pregnancy symptoms started to wain a few days ago, I was suffering terribly from nausea and tired ness until about 5 days ago, they have now abated.

OP posts:

Cyrli · 13/04/2013 10:55

I'm sorry to hear your going through this. I had my second erpc last week, and it wasn't too bad. I preferred this to waiting. With my first mmc i didn't start bleeding for three weeks and it can be longer. I can't tell you what to do but if you did decide to choose the surgical option, it wasn't that bad. Someone else might be able to tell yoy more about other options.

Look after yourself xxx

flutterbynight · 13/04/2013 11:05

Sorry this is happening to you hotcross. I had a mmc at the end of 2011 - our baby had died at around 9 weeks and we found out at the 12 week scan. I waited for a further 10 days to see if I would miscarry naturally but though I started to bleed a little, my body would not let go. I had been advised that the longer I waited, the greater the chance of getting an infection.

It is of course an intensely personal decision and such a hard one to make - I ended up going in for an ERPC when another scan showed no signs of the baby coming away naturally. I was worried about the procedure and being under GA but it was okay and a relief to no longer be in limbo, waiting and wondering.

I hope things work out whatever you decide.

GuffSmuggler · 13/04/2013 13:34

Hi hotcross, so sorry this is happening, it really is totally crap

I'm afraid there isn't really an answer to your question, I was nearly 14 weeks by the time I had my ERPC and hadn't miscarried naturally but I had a blighted ovum so not sure if that's different.

My sister went nearly 20 weeks without miscarrying naturally, so I think sometimes your body just doesn't let go, there is really no way of knowing.

Like others have said, it's an intensely personal decision, but I think general medical advice is if you haven't naturally miscarried 2 weeks after finding out it's probably best to go for an ERPC. I found having the OP a huge relief to get it all over and done with and it really was fine - just a few hours in hospital and no pain.

All the best x

Original poster

hotcrosbum · 13/04/2013 16:51

Thankyou.

I am just terrified of being put under. I was put under GA when I was a child to have teeth removed, I couldn't wake up. I knew what was going on, I heard them trying to wake me, heard my parents panicking, heard them calling an ambulance. I finally woke when I was on my way to hospital, I was aware of it all, I just could not wake up.

I am so scared of that happening again.

OP posts:

Original poster

hotcrosbum · 13/04/2013 16:53

My feelings are that I I hadn't have been paying for private scans then I wouldn't have known anything until 12 weeks anyway, so I have a few weeks grace on my side.

OP posts:

EuroShaggleton · 13/04/2013 17:23

Hi there. I'm sorry to hear what you are going through. There's no real answer to your question as everyone is different, but I'm happy to share my experience.

I had my first scan at 6+1 and the embryo was small. I feared the worst. My symptoms started to wane around the time of the scan. A few days after this, I had some cramping but no bleeding. I had a repeat scan at 7+1. The measurements hadn't changed at all, so it was now well behind where it should have been. I was offered a rescan a week later but we knew it was all over at that point. It was an IVF pregnancy so I was on progesterone, which I felt might be stopping a bleed. I stopped the progesterone at 7+2 and started bleeding at 7+6, so I'm pretty sure my hormones just needed to drop. All symptoms had pretty much gone by this point.

So if your symptoms are on the wane, I would say you are probably on the way to mcing naturally. I gave myself 2 weeks from the second scan and decided I would have an ERPC if it hadn't happened by then, but we didn't get to that point. I freak out with GA so was also keen to avoid it if I could.

I hope you are doing ok.

GuffSmuggler · 13/04/2013 21:23

Hi hotcross, it was the first time I had been put under GA and was terrified but it was absolutely fine. They have really improved over the years and give you a very light one as the ERPC is only about a 10 min op.

I can understand your concerns but I'm sure if you talked them through with the dr they would be able to reassure you. Who knows they might even agree to a spinal block or sedate you first if you are so concerned about it.

There is nothing wrong with waiting if that's what you want to do though. Perhaps give it a couple of weeks and then book an app with your GP to discuss your options?

Kiriwawa · 13/04/2013 21:37

I had a scan at 11 weeks (the first) and they said they thought the foetus had died around 8 weeks.
This might be TMI but this was my experience of a natural MC:

It was about 10 days before I started to bleed. It was pretty full on - very very heavy bleeding, lots of clots and material which I passed on the loo (I decided not to look), labour pains etc. I couldn't leave the house for nearly 3 days and then it abated into a normal period which lasted another 4 days or so.

I needed to do that for me because I thought they'd made a terrible mistake but it's not a great thing to go through. You really need someone with you because it's quite frightening.

Sorry if this isn't what you wanted to hear but I think an honest account will help you make an informed decision

Rockchick1984 · 14/04/2013 23:30

Hi Hotcross I'm sorry for your loss. I've had a MMC diagnosed last Monday - baby had died around 8 weeks, scan on Monday should have put me at 12+3 so I decided to have ERPC as my body clearly hadn't realised what was happening.

The op was fine, no pain and only 30 mins from being taken to theatre (still awake) to waking from the anaesthetic. Having spoken to other people, a friend who went through it has had a bad reaction in the past to GA so she had here done under local - don't know if this would be an option for you?

squizita · 15/04/2013 14:14

Sorry for your loss. I'm kind of in the same position - I've basically been warned that my pregnancy looks like a blighted ovum or MMC and given a week for it to show any signs of improvement. But I'm not bleeding, not even spotting.

This will be my 3rd MC so I actually want an ERPC because then they can test for chromasome problems. My last 2 were at a similar time so it might shed some light what/whether treatment is best.

Original poster

hotcrosbum · 15/04/2013 14:18

Sorry to hear it's your 3rd squizita.

I'm still in limbo. Pregnancy symptoms are all gone (I had terrible nausea and fatigue, pregnancy make me feel awful in general), aside from a bit of lingering breast tenderness I feel great. It's horrible, because I know all is not great.

I keep hoping it will all start, but i am terrified at the same time. i even have a reflexology app booked as I have heard it can help things along.

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