Recurrent Miscarriage Support Thread 20 - tests, treatment, trying again.

[barkingtreefrog]

Buckle up, the threads move like lightening! Tea, sympathy, information, support and combined wisdom to guide you through the maze of testing and treatment for recurrent miscarriage. Newbies always most welcome.

Please start with the traditional recap of your stats.

Ouch Barking defo take it easy. Hope it wears off soon

flower29 I got progesterone from Coventry Hosp pharmacy and was told heparin was a good idea and will be recommended in my results letter. Then steroids if nk cells are high. Idea (or hope is) I show letter to gp who us suitably impressed by lots of fancy letters after prof's name that they agree to the treatment plan. Don't have a plan b. I was going to tell gp I've been but have chickened out so far. Worse case I will ask Hosp for a private prescription. Worse worse case I will try a private gp. Our epu isn't self referral and in my experience they won't do anything for you unless your gp has referred you. Or you're over 7 weeks.

Sorry rubbishly written rushed post. Dogs have decided to fight a fox in our garden. Suitably not impressed by them or the fox for choosing our little garden to hang out in.

Good news just hope they let you out soon.

flower I got all my Meds from the GP, suitably impressed by a letter from a professor and early pregnancy care including a week 5 scan for the heparin from the local RMC. Try to get it all agreed in advance though, you don't want to be stressing about it when you have a BFP.

Hi march - am doing ok - thx so much for asking. Did another test this am (4+1 today) and it is a slightly darker line than Monday. Guess will keep testing to see if anything changes in the next few days. Still no symptoms and still spotting so not expecting a good outcome. Very worried that the progesterone is stopping me bleeding properly and wondering if it would be better to just stop taking it. As expected its been a nightmare to get any advice - eventually got hold of consultants assistant who recommended to keep taking it though. Panicking about going to China for 2 weeks from good Friday and having mc over there

just - really pleased that the bleed seems under control and things are looking good. Hope you are home very soon.

Just a quickie before head to the nursery. Brummie not sure if things are different but I've been told to get to kiddiminster for 7.30 on Monday. After they gave me that time, I explained my situation to Monica and she is putting me as second on Mr Watts list, he starts theatre at 8am. As we have to get a 2 and 4 year old out of bed, change nappies and dress them and I need to have a shower, and manage to drop them at the child minders for 6.15am!!!!!!!!! (who they had never seen before, until I had to book her to look after them this morning and drop them at nursery for me so that I could get to the pre op one on time). Understandably the childminder doesn't want to start her working day any earlier, she doesn't normally start until 7.30 am and it's not like I usually use her anyhow. We are an hour from the hospital according to google so we have 15 minutes to allow for traffic and parking and that's assuming we manage to drop them off bang on 6.15 and then head straight off.

Hmmm mine could be 7.30 too - not properly read letter yet, I judt remember it being early!!!!

Sun where in china are you going? If it's Beijing or even better Shanghai they have excellent western medical facilities so please don't worry in that respect - I know that is little comfort though. My family lived in Shanghai for 15 years and facilities are excellent.

I hope everything is ok though and all you have to worry about is not drinking!!!

just glad your scan went well and the situation has actually improved, yey! Hope your bleeding stops soon so you can get home and back into your own bed.

sun sounds positive that it's still positive, and darker. I hope your spotting stops asap. Is it possible to get a scan before you fly? Although I realise this could cause more worry as measurements aren't exact etc.

Thanks everyone for your answers. Yes, I'm intending to get it sorted in advance so hopefully can just get the meds easily as soon as I need them. I'm sure they'll be impressed with the letter and comply but if not, they will feel my wrath, ha!!

I'm also going to call the 2 local epu's to check the meds with them and if they'll offer any extra scans etc next time. I'm thinking of going back to Jessops next time tho (where I had DS), the nurses at Barnsley have been lovely through both mcs and I would love to draw a line under the mcs with a happy ending there but I don't think I can bear to go back there again.

Glad the line is getting darker sun, that's definitely encouraging. Hope the spotting stops before China so you can relax a tiny bit. Good news that healthcare in major cities is good

I don't know if this makes any sense but i was just thinking it out loud. If prog masks mc bleeding but you are still spotting despite now taking prog, then maybe your spotting isn't mc bleeding but innocent other source of bleeding. I've no idea and maybe I'm just talking rubbish, but just had that thought.

Sun, I spotted on progesterone until 7 weeks, so it can happen. Remember, many times symptoms don't really kick in until after 6 weeks, too. The good news is that the line is getting darker. Hope you can relax w little bit. x

loopy I know just how you feel. I love my ds to bits and I feel so guilty that it seems like he's not enough. I just see him playing on his own and desperately want a sibling for him. Like you I wish I could just get to the point where I accept my lot and move on but if I didn't try I would always wonder.

just glad the scan looked all good and plan a is a go. Hope you're home soon.

flower29 thanks for that question Ive been wondering that too.

barking hope your pains have eased off this afternoon.

Following on from flower's question. Is the heparin an injection and do they have to show you how to do it? I think I'd need to pick and choose my gp to get one to agree to the prescription. Do rmcs prescribe the same sometimes?

minnie, yes it's an injection so you need to get someone to show you and get a sharps bin etc. I think some rmc consultants prescribe (mine has agreed to after a lot of persuading), but it's not standard protocol for nhs.
A lot of people had it prescribed at hospital at their scan appt to check its not ectopic and this is what will happen with me. I will call consultant when i get a positive and arrange prescription to be picked up at my early scan, where the mw will show me how to use it

Minnie, for the heparin, nhs rules where I live mean that GPs can't prescribe it, they have to refer you to a consultant. In my case, I gave the Coventry letter to my GP and she wrote to the RMC consultant at my local hospital, and then the consultant wrote back with their version of the care plan which included early scans and agreed to prescribe heparin in my next pg. Then I always took both letters to each EPU appointment. I got the actual heparin (fragmin in my case) the day I had my confirmed 'in uterine' scan. They showed me how to inject it on the day (after sending me on a couple of laps of the hospital because the EPU thought the pharmacy would do it....). Got there in the end. Good luck with yours.

Thanks again for all the good wishes, looks like I'm being released tomorrow, with any luck

Thanks for the encouragement ladies.

brummie - thanks so much for the info on healthcare in China - we are going to Beijing, xian, Yangzhou and Shanghai so hopefully will be reasonably near good healthcare most of the time. Probably just worrying irrationally about keeling over with an ectopic in the middle of the Chinese countryside.

flower - unfortunately no chance of scan before I fly as I will only be 5+3 by then, so rmc said they wouldn't see anything on a scan. I'm currently booked in for 24th April when I will be nearly 8 weeks - yikes! I guess at least we should have a definitive answer by then, rather than the usual 6 week, repeat at 7 / 8 to see if any growth / hb.

march - really hoping your theory is true!

just - yes I was reading early about timing of symptoms. I guess what worries me is that in the two pg where they saw a fetus, I had sore boobs, indigestion, stuffy nose from week 3. Only in the second pg did I have no symptoms at this stage... and that was a blighted ovum. Brain has jumped straight to the obvious conclusion

x

sun it sounds positive. I also flew (to oz) at 5 weeks and came back to a good news 8 week scan. Know how you feel but it can be ok! And symptoms really vary from pregnancy to pregnancy too

Thanks longest - really hope to be following in your footsteps at the 8 week scan!

Hmm not sure about Xian etc although they are major tourist spots now. Beijing is still very traditional culture wise but as the capital has absolutely all the necessary medical facilities. Shanghai, you will have no problem. You'd think you were in an episode of ER playing spot George Clooney with all the hot American doctors. You'll be shocked at how westernised Shanghai is. I miss it. It was a huge part of my life for a long time. My Dad working there paid for me to go university and my sis to get through medical school. We are very grateful for the opportunities it gave us.

So am in Brighton for my conference. Treated myself to a glass of wine sat on the seafront and toasted baby number 2.

Onwards and upwards ladies, it can only get better.

Love to you all xx

brummie

brummie I am waving from within Brighton!

Ooh hello Flen

I've been to Choccywoccydoodah for DP - trying not to eat it!

brummie yum yum yum! Maybe appropriate to pop back in the morning and replace it...

brummie - ah that sounds a lovely toast

Thx so much for the info on China. Hopefully I won't have to meet any George Clooney look alikes in a medical capacity but I will certainly be on the look out when out and about

Ha ha! So funny thinking of brummie* and flen probably within moments of each other! We're all here, and 'out there' - it kinda blows my mind! I bet i drive by pop and minnie* daily!!!

Girls can I ask a question please? Come back tonight to a letter from the hospital asking me to attend a 'Quiet Room Clinic at the end of April with a Consultant.

The description is '...45 min appointment. Will give you the opportunity to discuss results, reports and events surrounding your pregnancy. In some cases a plan for future care will also be discussed'.

It says the clinic is held once a month and I can bring a relative and friend along for support.

Do you think this is just a meeting to discuss the tissue results from the foetus or do you think this is the RMC? I'm very