So much info on 'natural' birth, but so little on 'natural' miscarriage. (Blighted ovum.)

[neutronflow]

I learned two new phrases last night. Anembryonic pregnancy, and "blighted ovum". The latter sounds like a Shakespearean insult tbh.

I went for a scan at what I thought was coming up for 11 weeks. But the sonographer couldn't find anything the usual way, she scanned internally and saw a sac, with nothing in it.

It took me a while to process. I'd heard of missed miscarriages before, but never this.

(I have to mention, they check all these things just to be sure it's not ectopic, so I have to go back on Weds for another blood test to be certain.)

They were very sensitive and gave me my options. Wait it out, medical management (like an induction - I was induced with ds and I do not want to go through anything like that ever again btw) or something like a D&C under general anaesthetic (scared of that too tbh).

The thing is, after the birth of ds, which was highly medicalised and left me feeling traumatised, I wanted so much, if I ever had another baby, to have a home birth. There's so much information out there on that too. Some of it feels a little biased, but most of it is useful and helpful and I had planned with this pregnancy to have a home birth.

Now, I have a totally different scenario to think about. The thing is though, I would rather do this as naturally as I can. I know I cannot have anything even approaching the home birth I wanted, but I felt after ds that my body had let me down, and so many other awful feelings, I want to feel that at least this time my body is doing its thing in this one respect. I am struggling to put this into words but I don't want yet again to feel my body has let me down (and I already feel a bit like this tbh).

But there's so little info. Like - can I really expect, at what would have been ten weeks, to miscarry spontaneously at some point? If so, how long can I expect to wait, and how long should I wait before giving up hope of it happening naturally? It's so confusing. Even searching the blighted ovum forum (I didn't know there even was one) doesn't give me many answers.

Also - if I have a 'natural' miscarriage eventually and it's a bit like labour, will I get the oxytocin that people get during a non-induced birth, to help with the pain? Or is it more just like a heavy period? I mean - what happens? And how long can I wait before I have to give up and use medical methods?

I could really use some answers, but there doesn't seem to be much information?

Sorry for your loss. This thread may help you.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/miscarriage/1344311-Tips-for-coping-with-the-practicalities-of-miscarriage

Personally I had a natural mc at 10/11 weeks and it's not an experience I would wish on my worst enemy, but everyone is different

I had a missed miscarriage at 11 weeks. My MIL is a nurse so I was quite happy to go home and wait for it all to pass naturally. By the Sunday night I was climbing the walls I was in so much pain, and passing heavier clots was just getting very very upsetting (is that the baby?) I went back to hospital and had a D&C on the Monday morning.

First I'm so sorry to hear this has happened, I'm just finishing off my missed miscarriage at 12 weeks- slightly different in that the pregnancy had progressed to 8 weeks and then stopped.

I can't help with the blighted ovulation but I can share what happened with my medical management- this might be TMI but I felt that the info I got at the hospital played down what was going to happen!

At our hospital they do 4 misoprostol placed internally (some hospitals give oral medication as well) this wasn't uncomfortable and I then waited in the ward for an hour. Initially it made me quiye shaky and very shivery. I went home and started having cramps at about 11.00 am ibroprufen and 2 hot water bottles helped, id describe them as more like Labour pains than period pains (heaviness down below and tightening rather than aching) but no where near as bad. I started bleeding at about 7pm, it got more painful then and I felt a little push and passed several large clots (hand sized) and the pain lessened. 2 hours of very heavy bleeding (night pad every hour) and then like a heavy period but more uncomfortable. It's was sore and achey for the next week and I felt very weak and tired.
I bled on and off for a week, I then had more pain and pushing feelings one morning and passed a large clot and started bleeding again, went back in and the doctor removed some bits that had got stuck in my cervix- this was very painful as I had no pain relief, but felt better immediately bar sore bits! I'm still quite sore and feel rather beaten up- anemic and quite down but taking liquid iron, still using pain relief on and off and plenty of rest help. I've had 2 weeks off and doing a staggered return to work which helps.

Pain wise- it was more painful than they led me to expect (but then I don't have painful periods!) And more blood/larger clots but 2 hot water bottles one on my back and one on my front plus ibroprufen every 4 hours made it manageable- the hot water was the best really. I think the amount of blood and size of clots did panic me and have made me quite anxious, I had a hemorage after my son and worried a lot about bleeding.

The hospital also didn't talk about the hormonal side- my stomach is still swollen and I got a horrible mix of the hormone crash (similar to after having DS) coupled with the sadness of loosing the pregnancy.

I hope this has helped in some way- I know I wanted to know more about what was physically going to happen and wish the hospital had been more honest about it.

I'm sorry for your loss.

I can understand your want for a 'natural' miscarriage. I don't know the answers, my gut wold say if there isn't a formed baby but a small sack (sorry if I've got the wrong end of the stick) then a mc will be like a heavy period as there isn't much tissue to pass. I am totally not sure though.

I will say, I delivered my dd2 stillborn at 22 weeks. I was induced after a tfmr with all the 'normal' induction drugs. It was painful, possibly more so than with dd1 who was a live birth. However the 'up' side is that because it's not a live birth you can have morphine, which I did, and it gets you through fairly easily (physically, emotionally and mentally is a totally different matter but there's no drugs for that)

I just wanted you to know that in case you don't get a natural MC and have to have the medical management.

Oh yes, the hormone crash still happens. And milk. I'm not sure how far along this happens, my mw and hospital warned me, but my milk came in which was sore and awful.

I'm not sure if this is the case just for me (as I had been carrying dd2 after she'd died for 2 days) but they also give you pretty hardcore antibiotics. Mine made me pretty ill for a week or so.

Thank you all so much for your help.

So many sad stories. It isn't fair at all. I just keep thinking of billions of years of evolution - and yet still nature makes these cruel mistakes.

I'm so sorry that you are going through this, I've just had a mmc. Our hosp only offers natural management or surgical. After much soul searching I opted for surgical with GA. I was terrified also, really didn't want an anaesthetic but if it helps you to hear it was absolutely fine. The staff are all understanding and caring and one minute you are closing your eyes the next second it seems you are opening them and it's all over. It's a real quick light anaesthetic. Personally I couldn't have hung round waiting for weeks (NICE guidelines recommend 2 weeks), worrying about spontaneous bleeding with young children to care for.

None of us want to make these choices but I just wanted to say the worrying was far worse than the procedure for me.

Hi,

Sorry for your loss. I had a mmc at 11 weeks and looked like nothing had much developed after about 6 weeks.
This is what happened to me, sorry it's quite graphic and hope it doesn't upset anyone but no one told me what to expect..although every mc is different.
The mc itself was basically 6 hours of very heavy bleeding on a drip in a and e (a friend who is a nurse said it sounded like haemorrhage), when I started to pass the placenta I felt I needed to go to the loo and it plopped out then. Had an internal when they removed more material, bleeding slowed a bit.
I continued to bleed heavily and the mc was judged incomplete so about 12 hours later I had an eprc under GA (when the sac was removed) after that the bleeding stopped.
In a way it would have been easier to go straight to a eprc (although I couldn't have as wasn't aware pregnancy wasn't developing) As I wouldn't have had such big blood loss (hb dropped a lot and nearly had a transfusion). Blood loss made me feel rotten for a couple of weeks afterwards.
So sorry for you and you will come through this xxxx

Yea and as others have said no one tells you about the hormone crash afterwards, I had night sweats like I did post Partum with my two children. Xx

Also, I found my first period after was really really heavy and lasted over a week. Didn't help that a friend told me she was pregnant literally to the second that my period started. (Sorry still a bit bitter, couldn't believe the timing!!)

Thanks everyone. I hadn't realised the blood loss would be so dangerous, I thought it would be like with birth where there's a risk but not a high one. But it seems so many people experience scary blood loss. Starting to wonder what to do now.

The amount of blood was scary as I wasn't expecting it. I wouldn't have wanted to be on my own for the few days after as I was exhausted and very wobbly. Still shattered 2 weeks later!

I had a blighted ovum diagnosed at around 10w (a few years ago and one of three miscarriages so I don't remember exact details). I opted to wait it out, but after a couple of weeks nothing was happening - the sac was still growing but nothing inside. They recommended a D&C and tbh I was fairly keen to get it over with by then, especially as I had a holiday booked. The D&C was fine, but the cramping the next day was quite bad and there was a lot of blood loss for 24 hours. However, when they did a f/u scan they'd taken only a bit of placenta and the sac was still there, still continuing to grow, still empty. I then had another D&C the next afternoon, the day before going on holiday (I do remember being told I needed to stay in overnight after a GA and saying that I needed to go home and pack because I had to be at the airport at 4.30am... All I can say that the airport/flight was made immeasurably better by being half-anaesthetised ). Again, cramping and quite a lot of blood.

However, the cramps got steadily worse, the bleeding got worse (not much bikini-wearing that holiday...) and then finally I miscarried naturally at 17w and passed the sac, which the second D&C also missed. It was a huge relief to see it, because then I knew it was finally over. With my next miscarriage I decided to wait it out and MC naturally, for that reason - but also because I was concerned about scarring. Plus I didn't want to go into hospital because of DC1.

The operation itself was nothing to be worried about and it may well be that I was very unlucky in having a persistent and blighted ovum (I also had retained products after the birth of DC1 by CS so clearly my body likes hanging on to useless bits of pregnancy-related tissue).

The positive aspect of my story is that I was sent for another f/u scan six weeks later because I suddenly haemorrhaged unexpectedly, and there was a teeny 5w6d embryo... And a massive subchorionic haematoma, but that's a different story! And so DD came into being...

I'm sorry you're going through it right now, and can't give you any advice other than to say that neither the D&C or the natural miscarriage are that bad - but there are no guarantees of success with the first and no time limit with the second. Cramps are bad but tbh the cramps after I had Dc2 (also CS) were considerably worse. I didn't need the horse tablet painkillers they gave me, a couple of paracetamol were enough. I guess it depends on how you would cope with the visual evidence - in a strange way I've found with all three of my MCs that seeing the sac gave me relief, it was definitely not viable, etc. I've also conceived both my DC first cycle after a MC so I'm totally at peace with the fact that it wasn't meant to be first time, I obviously need a bit of a practice run each time and without those miscarriages, I wouldn't have my gorgeous DC. I'm not going for a third though! I hope all goes as smoothly as it can for you

Like Jeffrey, meant to say that the pain for me during the mc wasn't all that bad. Like light to medium period pain - although mine are quite painful. Not sure if it made a difference that I've got kids already.

And Jeffrey I also had a subchronionic haematoma with my first pregnancy, basically a big sudden bleed in first trimester but I managed to carry to term. Bled more in 1st pregnancy than I did with my mmc pregnancy (until the mc), my body does strange things.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I know exactly what you mean about the lack of information - there seems to be a lot more about miscarriages that happen when the embryo has kept developing.

I had the same experience but a few weeks earlier. I had a tiny bit of bleeding at 7 weeks and went to the EPAU 'just in case'. They couldn't see anything externally as I have a tilted womb, and when they did an internal scan they just said 'I can't see anything'. It's such a horrible shock when you go in for a scan having imagined your tiny baby to find out that there was nothing growing. I had a lined womb, but there was just a tiny dot on the screen. They never even said whether it was the sac, or gave it a name (which I find difficult as I like to put a name to things!)- but I'm assuming it was a blighted ovum. It implanted but never developed. I was 'lucky' in a way, as in between that first scan and the return visit I started bleeding. It was actually when my second missed period should have been and it was just like a normal period with some little clotty bits. The normal period I have had since then was actually heavier and more painful. I think this is normal with blighted ovums, as there isn't a lot to pass.

I had to go back for a third blood test just to make sure the pregnancy wasn't ectopic, and I was discharged once they were sure my HCG was falling. I know it's hard, but try to be assertive with the hospital staff and make a list of questions before you go in next time so you get the answers you want.

Take care of yourself xx

I'm sorry you're going through this. I had the exact same experience in almost the exact same timeframes at the beginning of August. 3rd pregnancy (1 previous mmc, 1 3yo DD), tiny bit of spotting just after 10 weeks, went for a scan and there was an empty sac although only measuring 5w. Was scheduled for a repeat scan in 1 week in case messed dates up (knew I hadn't). Carried on for a day still spotting/v v slight bleeding, the evening after my scan I started to bleed. A lot. Thought okay, things are kicking off and I can do this at home, so was all ready to wait it out. (My OH works away so was just me and DD).
First - the bleeding was VERY heavy. I was a student midwife (until I gave up to have another baby, HA!) so I know blood loss always looks worse than it is, etc, and wasn't too panicked but was a bit taken aback. Gushes and gushes, plus loads of clots right up to fist-sized. Was changing pads constantly. Went to bed, was up and down all night bleeding through 3 pads and 2 towels right into the bed. Come morning I thought things had slowed down...but it hadn't. Like I said, I'm not a panicker but also pretty good at guesstimating blood loss and knew enough was enough, so rang 111 who sent an ambulance out. Had to ring my mum to come and get DD on no notice, was trying to get her stuff and my stuff sorted and kept going dizzy and woozy from blood loss. Everything was a massive effort and I felt absolutely exhausted.
When the ambulance arrived I was having trouble standing up for any length of time and my heart rate was 150 - was blue lighted straight into A&E, had a horrible speculum exam, they couldn't see anything thanks to blood and clots everywhere, so then had an appallingly painful internal - this was the worst bit of the whole thing IMO. Was taken straight to theatre for an emergency ERPC and the bleeding FINALLY stopped.
I was very VERY pale for a good few weeks as my iron was absolutely shite, my hair has only just stopped falling out now. Luckily for me I was pretty much fine but as I said, I was a student mw and I've seen people close to bleeding out. I know for 100% fact that I was very lucky and that things could easily have been a helluva lot worse.
Personally I feel that there are just no guarantees with mc. I only had a 5wk empty sac so you wouldn't think there would be much to pass but I still managed to haemorrhage massively - and didn't even pass the sac, hence the continued bleeding and need for the op. I would have another ERPC in a heartbeat - yes there are risks but for me the risks of trying to do things naturally outweigh those of the surgery.
The one downside was the lack of follow up - i wasn't scheduled for a scan, blood tests or anything else, not even for GP to check my iron! AF came back 5 weeks after the op though so I assume everything went back to normal and we are now trying again. Another plus - if you are thinking of ttc again, the natural route can drag on for weeks whereas with the ERPC you know it's over and done with. Ultimately only you can make the decision though! Xx

Sorry that was a huge essay!! - just wanted to add, I am a full on hippy - home birthed my DD, into being 'in tune with my body' and all that type of stuff - but there is a time and a place IMO and sometimes medical intervention is there for a very, very good reason xx

I wanted to mc naturally, but also put a 2 week limit on waiting, as I hated the limbo. I did miscarry within that time. As soon as I knew the pregnancy wasn't viable I started "project eviction" - strong coffee, hard exercise and anything else that I felt probably wasn't a great idea in early pregnancy. I've no idea if it made any difference but I felt like I was doing something. I started to miscarry a couple of days later. I had one day of quite a lot of blood and pain, but went into work every other day and was on a plane to the US for work 3 days after passing the sac. Some people feel the need to retreat or physically need to recover. I just wanted to keep my life as normal as possible.

It was horrible, but bearable with some otc painkillers.

I have had two "natural" miscarriages. The first started with a bleed. My second was a missed miscarriage. The second one was harder as I had to wait about 3 weeks before it started from knowing there was no heartbeat.
It's a bit cruel because it happens in waves. You think it is over then it starts up again. I used paracetomol. I didn't need medical help. You do have to watch that it is complete and have another scan at the end.
I just stayed at home once it started. Near the loo. Lots of loo roll.
I must admit I understand what you mean by wanting your body to do it. Even though it was hard I preferred to experience it in a physical way.
A big hug. I hope you are as okay as you can be.

If I remember correctly I would get a cramp. Pass something. Then bleed a bit. Then there would be no blood for a while. Then it would start again. It's a bit worse than a period because it's emotional and a bit heavier.

I had a mmc at 11 weeks just over 4 weeks ago. Baby had developed to 6 weeks. I had a scan and showed no heart beat, miscarried two days later.

I read others experiences of miscarriage and was scared about what was to come. I was cramping badly and took a couple of paracetamol and a couple of ibuprofen.

I bought new baggy pj's, got my blanket and hot water bottle and we cuddled up and tried to watch a movie and drink hot chocolate. Although I had to jump up every few minutes if I felt a clot pass so that I could clean up.

I bled quite heavily but was expecting much worse. At one point I went through four pads in an hour and more down the toilet. It didn't hurt to pass anything but at times the cramps were pretty sore. I took extra painkillers as soon as I was able to. Within a few hours it was over.

To be honest, I was relieved that the physical aspect was over so I could then allow myself to grieve. In that sense it wasn't as bad as I expected - the emotional fall out since has been horrific though. I am getting married in six weeks and would have been 21 weeks pregnant