BLIGHTED OVUM/MMC?! 15mm empty sac

[SJVX]

Hi All

I know where this is going, I have two sacs, the bigger one 15mm, the smaller one I do not know the measurements of. The EPU and myself know this isn’t going to end well. The sacs are completely empty, at my scan I was 7w2 but she said realistically the sac is measuring a week behind so around 6w2. Booked in 9 days later for the rescan (this Friday). I have done my mourning and I am now ready for this chapter to be over, I am struggling massively more with the fact I cannot move on whilst these sacs are still inside me. My body feels like a graveyard.

The annoying thing is we fly to Spain for a week on the Sunday after my scan so really I am looking for advice. When I go to my appointment on Friday should I take the tablets? Anybody who has done this how long will it take to miscarry, will I have passed it by Sunday? Should I wait it out and sort it after my holiday, if my body hasn’t already miscarried? Do I cancel the holiday? I have no idea what to do in this situation. I am leaning more towards sorting it after my holiday but I don’t know how bad the miscarriage will be if it happens naturally.

Any advice welcomed.

@SJVX so sorry for what you're going through. I can't speak to your exact situation but didn't want to read and run. I recently (2 weeks ago now) had a MMC. Scanned at 11+5 but baby had sadly stopped developing a month earlier. I didn't take tablets as I ended miscarrying naturally shortly after the scan (I think being confronted with the reality sort of shocked my body into action).

Point being, you could wait it out and might not miscarry until after your holiday - I still can't believe I was carrying them round for a month when the worst had already happened - however there is just no way of knowing when things could start up and it would be really horrendous to be travelling when things started up.

I hope someone with experience of the tablets can help... I personally know of people who've had them and they didn't do anything so they ended up with surgical management, but for others I think the response can be very immediate. Does your EPU know of your travel situation? Would there be an option for surgical management this week so you know that it's done? Or even getting the tablets sooner? I appreciate they are waiting to do the rescan after a certain time but you seem pretty certain there won't be a surprise happy result so I'm basing my response on that..?

All in all, I hope you're as ok as can be. I really relate to you just wanting to get it done with now you know the worst. I was quite keen for the same and for my body to start getting 'back to normal' although that has come with its own grieving process too. Lots of hugs. I hope you manage to get to Spain. We have a week in Italy from Monday and I can't wait to get away and reset a bit. 💕

Hi there.

I have had several of these so can speak from experience.
One example I can give is knowing at 7 weeks that it was a blighted ovum, not actually miscarrying until 13 weeks with full on pregnancy symptoms the whole time.

It can take a long time for your body to realise and expel the pregnancy.

I have also had the tablets on several occasions. (I have had lots of these kind of miscarriages unfortunately).
Everyone is different, everyone will respond differently but for me, each time, i laboured until the empty sac had passed, even at 6, 7, 8 weeks, full on contractions, torrential blood loss and I needed gas and air and morphine to control the pain in hospital.
With the tablets, this lasted for up to 12/16 hours each time.
It took me about 2 weeks to physically recover.

Sometimes the tablets don’t work so you need repeats.
I know that people will come on and say that surgery was the quickest, easier option with a fast recovery time afterwards. I kind of wished that is how I did it looking back.

Its a bitch.
Good luck op, I feel for you xx

Thank you both for your replies.

Firstly just want to say I’m so sorry for your losses, I say that with the deepest sincerity because the emotions I’ve been through over this past week have been hell. I would not wish this on my worst enemy.

In my case, I am beyond the point of expecting a miracle, after researching (Dr Google) sacs being completely empty at this size and this far along is doomed to end in a miscarriage. I hoped that at my last scan my body would realise and do it’s job but nop here I am still carrying this around even though we know it’s destined to fail.

Surgery is my last option really, I am really scared and would rather try and get this out myself, ofc I know it may not always work but I at least want to try.

Taking into account both of your replies I think I’m going to wait, I mentioned that I am on holiday and the EPU said that the pressure from the plane may bring it on, ofc that absolutely petrified me but will be sure to carry those joyous maternity pads in my hand luggage if that is the case.

I am more worried if I did opt for medical management before the holiday I would be open to infection, I am blessed to have a gorgeous 4 year old who is so excited for this holiday and I want to be able to go into the pool/slides etc with her. It really is a toss situation.

xx

I also rang the EPU and begged them to see me sooner, maybe this coming Wednesday but they flat out refused which annoyed me a little bit, I know they have guidelines to follow and need that sac to measure 25mm before I am offered any kind of management but I feel such a lack of control of my own body, it’s cruel.

I have started to bleed, well it’s brown right now, brown creamy discharge, is this it? I am praying it is. When can I expect the bleeding to get heavier?

So sorry, they’re always so shitty. I think everyone and every miscarriage is different, so no one could tell you what to expect/how long bleeding might last etc. I’ve had a few and all have been different, one actually whilst on holiday, which thankfully was early on so straight forward to manage myself. But the others I’ve ended up each time in hospital having transfusions etc. That happened both when it all started naturally and from medical management. From my experience of MM, it can happen quite quickly (within several hours) or just not at all! See what the hospital advise on Friday.

I'm so sorry about this, OP.
My experience is that you could bleed on and off for a couple odd of weeks before you really miscarry.
To be honest, I would not go away at the moment. You could end up needing hospital treatment and a blood transfusion abroad.
The physical pain of a miscarriage is usually severe. I needed morphine.
I was actually in the hospital, waiting for my surgical management, while I was bleeding very heavily and passing enormous clots.
If you get a choice, go for surgical management. I do think you should reconsider going to Spain.

How are you today, OP?

The bleeding has completely stopped :( back to creamy discharge.

I am in no pain, the brown discharge has completely stopped and is now back to my normal white pregnancy discharge. I rang the EPU this morning and still they will not see me until Friday, I think they know me by voice now haha. All jokes aside this really is messing with my mental health, I am living on edge.

I'm not surprised and I really sympathize.
It's a mixture of sad, horrible and scary.
I hope you have support from your husband, and family.
You'll very likely find the bleeding starts up again.
Mine was on and off for several days, then it suddenly got worse and I began to get severe pain.
It was as bad as actual labour.
I hope this doesn't happen to you but it's possible.

How are you, OP?

Hi hun

I went back for my scan today and chose to have the medical management. I inserted 4 tablets at 12.00, have had slight cramping but nothing too bad. Feeling surprisingly positive but just want to get this show on the road as horrible as that sounds.
how are you? Thanks for checking in.

I hope they work quickly and the experience isn't too bad for you.

@SJVX Hi, I was going to share my experience of passing it naturally but I see you opted for the tablets. I miscarried in March the day before one of my daughters birthdays. In my case after the browny discharge thing (this is why I visited EPU) it was about 9 days when the floodgates opened. Bled for around 10days. Was really really really heavy whilst passing the miscarriage (about 15 hours) but just like a normal period for the rest. I was 11+4 in dates but sacs were only measuring 7+2 so I'd actually been miscarrying a while without even noticing. On my first visit to EPU (brown discharge stage) I was examined and my cervix was still closed. I hope everything moves quickly for you and sending you lots of hugs and smiles. Enjoy your holiday and the time in the sun with your daughter xxxxx

I hope you're okay, OP.

Just in case anyone reads this but you can have miscarriages without much pain. It might depend if you have had children. Most of my recent 10 week MC I didn't have pain. I was surprised. I only needed to take paracetamol when what I think was the sac passed as it became like reasonably bad period pains. It might depend on your pain threshold though!

@SJVX I hope you're ok. Did the tablets work ok and did you get to Spain? So sorry for not replying but I was on holiday myself last week and didn't check MN at all whilst away. I really hope you're ok.

Also for anyone reading through. Like @HistoryFanatic above, my MMC last month ended up passing naturally at 12wks just before I was due in for surgical management. I also found the pain very bearable with just some paracetamol. For me it was like early stage labour type cramps and not unbearable at all. I also wondered if having given birth previously helped. Just adding a voice to the 'it won't necessarily be unbearable' side of things.

HI OP - are you all right? Did you go on holiday?

so it’s been a journey, I took the tablets on the Friday 5th May and unfortunately they did not work for me, I had some slight spotting and cramps but I knew it was just not going to work. I went on holiday and had a beautiful time with my daughter and my OH, I did not bleed or spot once. I returned Sunday 14th May and rang EPU yesterday, they asked me to come in right away, scanned me again and the two perfectly formed sacs were still there. I was booked in for surgical management today and this was undertaken at 1pm. I wish I had gone down this route all along. The op went really well, took 15 minutes, I was back on the ward for 2.30pm sat up drinking tea and eating toast, left the hospital at 5.30pm. I am relieved that it is all over and that I can finally move on. Anybody reading this who is also petrified of the surgery, don’t be! I was so scared that things would go wrong but it was a very routine operation and apart from some minor period cramps I physically feel back to my pre-pregnant self.

I want to say thank you to all that provided support to me, I am sorry we are all part of this crappy club but I just know there will be babies in our future.

xxx

Also @SnookyPook i hope you had a lovely holiday and @TheShellBeach thank you for your continuous checking in, it means the world in these really rubbish times.

Thank you to everyone who has replied, I mean that from the bottom of my heart, I have had no one to talk to about this, no one to vent to, no one to share their experiences with me so I am grateful to all who have re-shared their experiences as I know how traumatic this can be and for all the advice that you have given me. It means the world to me, I promise this isn’t the codeine taking haha xx

So glad you're okay now.
I always had surgical management myself.
I have seen too many women having medical management which ended up being incomplete and needing surgery anyway.

I just don’t think the tablets were for me. The doctor said there are 10% of women who just won’t have any luck with them, I have got a retroverted uterus too and wonder if that had anything to do with the effectiveness of them? I suppose you could keep trying and trying but I was at breaking point, I wanted it all over and it is. I feel good and I feel positive.

@SJVX so lovely to hear from you. I'm so glad that you got away on your holiday and that you have now had the surgery and are in recovery. I really did feel that once I knew the pregnancy was properly over and no longer in me etc it did help me to enter a different stage of moving forwards from the loss.

I love your positivity and also believe there will be little 🌈 babies in the future.

Big hugs to you. Go easy on yourself the next few days. And let's keep chatting here if it helps 😊

P.S. my holiday was wonderful and did me the world of good! Thanks for asking. X