Recurrent miscarriage

[czycoup]

After a smooth first pregnancy I've now found myself in the recurrent miscarriage club where no one wants to be and where no one should be.

So far I've had 3 different types of MC, first was MMC which was blighted ovum, then a chemical pregnancy and most recently a MMC at 11+1 where the baby died at 8+3. I had a scan at 6+6 which showed a heartbeat. This is the hardest one (to me at least) because there was an actual baby rather than the hopes of a baby if that makes sense. (I hope that's not insensitive of me to say, I know every MC is hard but this is just my own personal feelings).

The latest one was strange because based on the scan (showing 6+6) I would have conceived 8 days after sex (although I think this is just when it implants so it's possible) and got a positive FRER 7 days after conceiving (or implanting) so I wonder if perhaps I should have known something was wrong and questioned it more when they said 6+6 instead of 7+4. At the time I was just happy there was a heartbeat.

They have sent the baby off for genetic testing, has anyone had this and wouldn't mind sharing what their experience was in terms of when results come back and if it says the baby's sex etc?

I've been referred to the recurrent miscarriage place, I'm not sure how long it will be before I get an appointment. If it's going to be a couple of months I'd wait until I spoken to someone but if it takes 6+ months then i might just carry on TTC but I don't want to if there's something I need to do or take when TTC. I'm not sure what to do as I was told the likelihood is that they won't find a reason and i'm thinking with 3 different types of miscarriage it's probably just bad luck. Anyone else been in this situation? Does it even matter that each MC was different?

Sorry I'm probably just rambling because a few weeks ago I was suffering with horrible morning sickness and now I feel like the past few months haven't happened.

Hi OP, sorry you have joined this club, it's a tough thing to go through (understatement of the year!)
I had my 3rd mc tested, they found a trisomy. I assume they must have found out the sex but the letter I got did not say. The RMC clinic took bloods but didn't find anything in my case. For me, I suspected an immune issue and I had treatment privately for high levels of natural killer cells. If you haven't read much about RMC I found Lesley Regan's book very good.
(Like you I had one dc first, then I'd four mcs, then dc2).

Thanks for your reply. I don't know why but me and DH really want to know the sex and the hospital said any report would give us the sex.

I just been reading up on APS and my dads side of the family have all had heart attacks young (besides my grandad who died of a heart attack in his 40s and an aunt they are all ok after a heart bypass- god bless the NHS!) so I wonder if this is a reason. I'm not sure what a trisomy is but I'll google it.

I'm so sorry you experienced this too but I'm pleased to hear you had a DC2. Would you mind me asking how old you were? DC1 was my early 30s but now I'm late 30s so I wonder if that's why.

Hello, a trisomy is a chromosomal abnormality. Very common. The one we had was incompatible with life (hence the embryo stopped developing) some, like Downs Syndrome, are not generally. I was 37 with dc1, 41 when dc2 arrived.
Even if there is another cause for your mcs (like NKC, or a blood clotting issue) you will still get some that are just down to a not-great egg or a random malfunction. You need to keep rolling the dice. If you're still in your 30s the odds are on your side.

Hi @czycoup, I'm in a similar situation to you. Had an early natural miscarriage at six weeks in January 2020. Then a blighted ovum in May 2020 - had a D&C with that one. Then most recently a mmc in February 2021 - baby stopped developing at 8w4d after I'd seen a heartbeat the week before. I knew there was something wrong because, like you, the dates didn't quite add up - I was measuring about a week behind throughout. I had another D&C for that.

I was then referred to the recurrent miscarriage clinic; the appointment is later this month so it has taken five months! I am also on the IVF waiting list and will get treatment in January 2022. DH and I are still trying and hoping to fall naturally in the meantime, although I'm a bit worried I'll just have another mc again. But it's too long to wait without trying - I'm 36 now so feel like time is running out.

It's all so horrible and stressful, you have my sympathy!

Oh, and I had genetic testing of the last embryo and it came back as having had triploidy (three sets of chromosomes instead of the usual two). The consultant told me over the phone; she also asked if I wanted to know the sex, but she made a blunder and said "do you want to know if it was a girl?".

Luckily I did want to know - not sure what would have happened if I'd been adamant I didn't want to find out and she'd put her foot in it like that!

@itssquidstella thanks for responding. I was hoping the appointments will come through in less than 5 months. I'm not a very patient person. Do you know what sort of things will happen at the appointment?

I'm a similar age to you but I don't think we will be offered IVF, it's not the getting pregnant that's a problem for me it's just managing to stay pregnant.

I hope you are doing ok

Hi, sorry to hear this, it’s very tough. I also had three miscarriages, all around 10wks and after seeing a heartbeat. They tested the third and wrote back with the sex and that it had a trisomy incompatible with life.

@czycoup I'm not sure what will happen to be honest. I’ve already had a lot of tests done privately and nothing has been flagged up, so although they'll probably want to repeat some of them, I'm not sure what the value in that will be.

I don't seem to have an issue getting pregnant either (although I'm clearly not super fertile, as it took six months between the blighted ovum and the mmc, and I'm still not pregnant again after having the MVA in February), but I really pushed for IVF as at least the embryos you get with IVF are developing normally at the point of implantation. If this round on the NHS doesn't work, and I haven't got pregnant successfully naturally, then we'll probably pay for private treatment with genetic pre-screening. Trying to avoid that, though, as it's about £9k!

If tttc while you wait, make sure you have a decent dose of vitamin D3, baby aspirin (but read up on this to decide if it's for you) and I also took high strength folic acid, co-enzyme Q10 and some mineral supplements. The ones that were recommended by RMC were the D3 and the baby aspirin.

Thank you @Iggi999. I'm hoping we can see someone at the hospital before we are ready to TTC again but if not the information you give is useful.

@itssquidstella as we already have one DC I don't think we would be eligible for IVF on the NHS. I've always said if I can't have children naturally I wouldn't do IVF (nothing wrong with it just not something I wanted to do) but it's easy to say that when I've not experienced loss. £9k is a lot of money, I really hope it all works out for you