Recurrent Miscarriage Support - tests, treatment, trying again - thread 11

[bakingtins]

Welcome everyone - pull up a chair! A thread for anyone who has suffered multiple miscarriages and is in need of information, moral support, tea or sympathy. Newbies very welcome.

Can we start the thread with a recap of where we are all up to again, please?

Although she got it wrong on the letter and put 3 MCs after my daughter, but I think they counted the chemical...

Hi charlie I was sorry to see your update that the HB had gone. I know you thought it was heading that way, and certainty is better than limbo, but it is always crushing to give up that last vestige of hope.
Don't worry too much about size of sac, you are still talking small at 7-8 weeks. In your shoes I'd try to get an ERPC date booked for once your DH is around to support you, but have a plan for some moral support ( mum? friend? ) if the MC does happen in the meantime. A friend of mine always swore by furious digging for emotional outlet and getting a natural MC moving. Ask the hospital if you can get any 'products' (sorry) genetically tested. It's a bit unusual to have a MC after a HB develops,if embryo had a chromosome problem you were just bloody unlucky, if it was normal then I'd pursue RMC testing before TTC again. They can save products from the ERPC, if you MC naturally it means catching anything you pass in a sieve which is grim but useful. I didn't do this until MC4, with my perfect 20:20 hindsight I wish I'd known from the outset that the problem was me, not the babies. You may have to persuade beg the hospital to get this as it wouldn't be routine until MC3.

X posted tiny glad you have a plan. Do you have an early scan booked? I did this at 5+ weeks, before a HB but just to make sure not ectopic.

Not yet. Need to book an appointment with my GP to get the ball rolling. If I can't get an appointment I will try to get on his call list.

Hi Catlover, thanks for your kind words. No family close by but I've got a friend on speed dial! She actually came over last night and shared a bottle of wine & good gossip with me which was nice.
EPU can't fit me in for the op until next week when he'll be away so I'm going to ring them on Friday or Monday to try to get in for the week after. For some reason she didn't want to book me in for 2 weeks' time - I think people then have natural MCs but don't remember to cancel the procedure so they have wasted appointments.

I'm only just 4w I think...

Welcome lazy great that your GP is being proactive.

cat I like your picture, in a funny sort of way. Those we have loved never really leave us completely.

Hi Charlie, so sorry to hear your news. I joined this thread after two, so no worries there.

What a predicament for you! I understand not wanting to be alone, just for some comfort and someone to bring you tea/wine/chocolate.

All mine have been natural MCs, and I have usually started bleeding within a week of the pg starting to fail.

My acupuncturist will hasten things along for me when I MC, so that is definitely an option. I also recommend raspberry leaf tea by the gallon to get things going, lots of painkillers including some cocodomol, and not trying to be a martyr and go to work.

The amount you bleed will be different every time, and it might not be as heavy as you dread.

People here recommend catching any "products" (a truly horrible name) for testing, if your hospital will do it. You need a sterile container, like a piss pot, if possible, and put it in the fridge until you can get it to your local epu. This would be able to tell you about any genetic issues with this pg, and is the first step to finding some answers.

We're a pretty supportive and knowledgeable bunch, and are here if and when you need us.

Good luck x

Tiny, good, a plan is good! Hope your GP isn't like mine bloody jobsworth !

Welcome lazy and charlie sorry to you both that you find yourselves here.

lazy think the first appointment has been covered on here. Though actually they never tested my OH blood. It is possible to have things like a chromosome rearrangement, which doesnt affect thd individual (sorry on phone it wont write properly) but can make miscarriage more likely. That could be checked by doing a karyotype of your/OH blood to look at chromosomes.hope you dont have a long wait.

charlie would you consider/have they offered you/ the medical route to manage your mc? I am just at tail end of a mc like that, was 8.5 weeks - dont worry about sac size. I took an oral tablet which blocks prpgesterone to encourage body to mc, then 24 hrs later insert meds into vagina to bring on cramping. They are meant to work within 2 hours..mine took about 7 hours to work but my body really hangs on to pregnancies for an age. There can be alot of blood, and the seive is awkward and a little grim, but testing products provides useful info. Only you know if that is the sort of thing you would want to do. O didnt want another erpc and found it ok-ish. 20 percent people still need erpc later due to retained products.

Sorry to sound so buisness like to you both, phons writing is driving me crazy so wanted to get info down. Hugs to you both.

tiny a plan!

Tiny good to hear you have a plan. I hope your GP
Is helpful. Let us know what happens! XXX

Morning Ladies,
Tiny, glad you got your plan and your letter. Hope your GP cooperates. Progesterone should be fine, but there are funny rules about the heparin. My GP simply does not have the authority to prescribe it without referring me to see a haematologist. I hope you can get it sorted.
Charlie, so sorry that you are going through this. Where abouts are you located? If you were near UCLH (Euston, London), you can walk in to their clinic and get booked in for an ERPC the next day. It would be easier than waiting for things to start to happen when your DH might be away? I hope it is over as painlessly as possible, and you can get some answers.
I'm off to see my GP today to try to sort out the heparin situation so it's in place for when (she wrote, confidently) I need it. I had fertility reflexology the other day, and the lady seemed very on the ball and had lots of success stories. I need to get a bank loan to pay for all these alternative therapies!
Waves to all. xx

Hello everyone and welcome newbies, so sorry you find yourselves here. My mcs have not been physically all that bad so you might be 'lucky' and have everything over with pretty quickly and painlessly. I post that because I scared myself researching what to expect the first time. Not much to update here. Still enjoying my holiday though finding myself checking my emails for the final test results from st Mary's. Hope they arrive before my appointment. It's the due date from mc2 this week, though I am not sure exactly when. Is also 1year since mc1 but feel pretty ok about both of these at the moment

Got a GP appointment tomorrow morning... fingers crossed he will prescribe me the things...

At least need to be sent for a scan next week when I will be 5w ish to see if everything is in place and get the heparin sorted...

Tiny, if they are funny about the scan, pop into UCLH walk in clinic :)

Good idea Just

Hi everyone
Have had a terrible morning. Decided overnight after having several panic attacks at the idea of bleeding alone to have an ERPC. Rang UCH who were horrible, the switchboard had no idea and kept asking me "what's an ERPC? What do you need?" until I was sobbing & panicking. Left voicemail for nurses at EPU. In meantime I rang another couple of hospitals who were also not that nice - telling me I needed a referral - I knew that, I just wanted to see if they HAD appointments this week, I knew I could get GP to refer. Even called the Portland for private but it's SO expensive. I'd rather save the $$ to maybe go to a private fertility person.
Finally UCH called back & offered local anaesthetic EPRC Friday so I think I'm going to do that, at least DH will be there with me. I'm so terrified though, I hope they'll let me use ipod & headphones so I can't hear anything. Ate a third of a tub of ben & jerrys and now feel slightly better :/

so sorry charlie!
in my hospital they only do ERPCs on wednesdays I think... annoying all these rules...

Oh Charlie, that's the last thing you needed. Sorry to hear that UCH were so useless - I have always found them great, but then I have always just walked in in person rather than phoning, so maybe the switchboard useless:( I do hope that they get you sorted and comfortable on Friday. Maybe pop in if you can (and if you are feeling up to it) and speak to a real person. They did mine under general last year, and I had just walked in off the street without a referral etc. ((Hugs)) to you.

Charli So sorry to hear that you are having a rough time. It is never an easy decision, trying to figure out which option to go for with the mc management, especially because you never know how it'll work out.
The great 'advantage' of an ERPC is that at least you know exactly what is going to happen, where and when. I'm intrigued that they offered you a local anaesthetic, I didn't know that this is an option - at my hospital, they will only do it under GA. But they are a nightmare to get scheduled there, too, I was very lucky that they had a cancellation and managed to fit me in at very short notice.
Hopefully, you can relax a little bit now and that it all goes smoothly on Friday...

It is quite amazing how there does not seem a standardised treatment plan for mcs - at my hospital, you have to stay in for the medical management, they give you the first tablet 2 days before, and then you stay in for the day for the induction - at least, there will never be an issue with 'catching' the pg products, and they are on hand with full-on pain relief - you'll get morphine, if you want.

Just How was the reflexology? So , I really want to do it! If I get a BFN next week, I'll try and find someone who is prepared to let me have it. But yes, it's bloody expensive - how often are you having the treatments?

Hugs to you charlie I think you'll be given a general for the operation so at least you won't have to remember any of it. I had a natural mc and an ERPC and I found the op much less distressing and painful. Everyone is different but as you're feel in anxious I think you've made the right call. I hope you're just resting at home with DH? Heart totally goes out to you

Xxx

Hope it goes well with the GP tomorrow tiny. Xx

Hi Catlover & others

I think I'm going to get the general anesthetic ERPC. Nurse at EPU pretty much talked me out of the local, said it could be quite painful & traumatic. So I'll have to have a friend come and pick me up from the hosp as it won't be until next week when DH is away.

I'm alone today (DH away this week as well) and really struggling emotionally. Made chicken soup then early night I think.

Charlie, big hugs and it sounds like a plan.

Agree that self-TLC sounds like a good idea Charlie. Sorry you're having a tough time of it and that your DH is away during such a difficult time.

Longest - glad you're enjoying your hols and fc you get your results asap. Glad you're holding up well in the face of anniversaries.

Tiny - glad you have a plan.

Waves at everyone else - I can't see the last page.

I'm good. Mooching along waiting for my op. House move finished. Work still stressful. Pretty average really - which is pretty good really.