Yes I realise that a "positive miscarriage" is somewhat of an oxymoron, however I was TERRIFIED of how bad it would be and I wanted to let women know that for some, including me, it was not as scary as one may think.
This may be TMI so don't read if squeamish!
I was 8-9 weeks along (blighted ovum measured around 6 weeks). I was expecting to miscarry as I was told during several scans that the sac was empty. I was booked for a D&C (ERPC) but was advised to try natural expectant miscarriage for a couple of weeks first. I then proceeded to do what all of you are doing: GOOGLED FURIOUSLY! I completely freaked myself out with savage horror stories and spent 10 days seriously anxious. I also have an anxiety and panic disorder so the unknown was ridiculous for me!
What did I actually experience?
It started with light pink spotting every time I wiped. The next day it was darker pink with brown "bits" in it every time I wiped. This went on for 2 more days, then it was red blood and I needed panty liners for a couple more days. No pain med. No pads yet.
The next couple of days the blood started to have little stringy bits in it and mucus-type bits hanging down if I pushed downwards. Several clots (which by the way look like little pieces of liver ranging from a small button size to a 50p piece to an oreo cookie size!). Now filling a pad 4 times a day. The pain was like moderate period cramps every so often throughout the days and a couple moments of deep, thick lower back pain. I took Neurofen twice at this point more for the back ache.
Then on night 7, I woke up 4 times in the night with an urge to wee. No pain, just blood when I pushed. During my morning wee I wiped and something slipped out of me (it looked like a dull-coloured-but-still-bloody, slightly flattened, large tongue-sized piece of tissue-like flesh). It slipped to the bottom of the toilet bowl before I could really inspect. No pain. A scan later the next day confirmed this was the sac.
I then got more pain for the next couple of days. Like a very heavy period and deep, thick lower back pain again. A couple of sharper pains in my pubic bone. On and off for about 5 more days after the sac had passed. Lots of blood (much more than a heavy period) and maybe 5 pads a day. I took Neurofen 3 more times.
Then the bleeding stopped completely.
That was it. I never got to the D&C. It took about 2 weeks from the first spotting to the last pad. I took Neurofen about 5 times and paracetamol twice. There was no "gush". There was no "2-3 hours of labour like pains". The wait and anxiety of what would happen was far worse than what actually happened and I hope somebody reads this and truly believes that it is not always as horrendous as Googling will have you believe. I wish I had known how manageable it really would be.
Of course, everyone is different, but perhaps your expectant miscarriage will be similar to mine.
Love to you all. Everything happens for a reason & the child you do end up having if you continue TTC would never have come about if you hadn't had this experience. xx