Scan showed empty sac

[honey123]

I had a scan yesterday which was meant to be a dating scan, but I said that I had had some light bleeding. The scan showed an empty sac, no heartbeat. I asked what happens now and I was told to go home and wait for my GP to call.The doc said I could either do it naturally and just wait, expect some period like heavy bleeding and only go to hosp if I was in severe pain. Or go to hosp, prob not till middle of next week, for a D&C.
Now I'm wondering if I'm doing the right thing, some people seem to have such awful experiences on their own, I know it's not going to be nice but I hate hospitals, also I keep thinking that they might have made a mistake, I know it's silly but I don't want a D&C in case!
My DH has gone to work, he didn't even consider staying home, I think he assumed I would go to work today as well. I'm self employed and it is difficult to get cover so I don't knowhow long I can stay at home 'waiting' but I can't face people now.
Sorry for this moaning, just felt the need to get it off my chest and have no-one else at the mo.

Hi Honey123

So sorry to hear about your experience, am thinking about you.

I would say go with your instincts, if you want to stay at home and see what happens then do so as you can always go straight to A&E if bleeding is soaking through pads in less then an hour and the pain is bad.

The waiting is agony, I know and scary. There are plenty of people who have had D&Cs though on other posts and do say it's simpler and less scary?

I also couldn't face anyone and was scared of massive bleed at work so stayed off. However, I can understand if you are self e'eed that can be tough. Only you can answer that but if you can't face anyone, then simply don't. You must be kind to yourself. Can you work remotely and/or reschedule meetings etc w/o giving anything away? I think whatever makes your day to day that little bit more bearable at the mo.

You are not alone, this site has given me so much strength recently through the support, and practical advice and, for me, just the very moving thought that someone somewhere is reading about my experience, listening and responding has meant so much. I hope this helps and am sending you hugs xx

I'm very sorry honey

I recently had a 'natural' miscarriage and I have to say it wasn't the 'heavy period' they tell you to expect. It was very painful (despite the painkillers). Then again I didn't want a D&C like you not keen on hospitals.

Then again my first mc I also didn't go for a D&C and it was like a heavy period, so it varies.

If you do go for the natural combine nurofen and paracetamol (assuming you're OK to take them) and get a hot water bottle just in case you get bad cramps. And it can be frightening so you may want DH with you when it gets bad.

I can't advise you either way but I just want to say again how sorry I am.

Hi Honey,

I am sorry that you are going through this.

The same thing happened to me in August. I was shattered by it. The grief I felt was terrible and it felt so much more cruel to find out on what should have been such a happy day. I suppose I had been thinking that we were at the safer stage and had let myself think further along the line towards having a baby and seeing a future as a family.

The protocol at the hospital I was seen at is that you are sent away for a week, after which they do a second scan to double check and after that there are 3 options:
Medical - where you are admitted to hospital and take pills until the miscarriage is complete
Surgical - the d&c
Conservative - where you wait for nature to take its course.

In the end, I did not have to wait a week as started to bleed 5 days after the first scan. The first day was quite light and I felt fine but the next was very heavy with contraction-type pains and I ended up having to go into hospital for a d&c that night as the bleeding was uncontrolled. I think that was bad luck though as I know people who have had a miscarriage in a similar scenario and had no such problems.

I was off work for two weeks in the end - a week of waiting after the scan and then a second week after the D&C. Physically, I absolutely could have been at work in the waiting period and could have got back quicker after the op but emotionally, there was no chance. That was just my experience though and everyone reacts differently.

I really feel for you having to go through this. I found the boards here a great comfort - I did not post but reading that other people had been through the same experience helped me.

Hey
Sorry you are going through this. Each option has its pros and cons but for now, I am waiting it out for nature to take its course. I found out 2.5 weeks ago that baby hadn't developed beyond 5-6 weeks (I was 9 weeks). Went back 10 days later and that confirmed it. The wait for the second scan was agonising so I decided to get my HCG blood tests done in that week. As HCG went down, I knew I had miscarried.

If you need reassurance, I reckon get your HCG tested before any procedure to remove the tissue.

My bleeding is still very very light. I am giving it another week max (I am now 11 weeks) for a natural loss. If nothing happens, will consider medical option.

I had wonderful support from the lovely people on this board so please ask any questions or just share your thoughts.

xx

Thanks everyone for your support. Talking to people who are going or have gone through it themselves helps.
I am not bleeding at all now, and it wasn't really bleeding before, more like brown coloured discharge, like you sometimes have at the end of a period.
I don't know if anyone has experienced this, most people seem to have red spotting going on to heavier bleeding. I don't know if the fact that it was brown (old) blood is significant, the GP just seemed to accept what the scan said.
I don't know if it is possble that the scan failed to pick up anything just because it is too soon to show a heartbeat and the scanner just assumed as I said I was bleeding that was why she couldn't find a heartbeat.My DS is only 8mths so I haven't had periods to date anything by.
I know it is probably false hope, but all the time I'm not bleeding I keep thinking they may be wrong.
Am I kidding myself?

Given you (and the sonographer and GP) have no idea how far along you are I think it's wise to sit tight and get re-scanned in 2 weeks, or get your HCG levels monitored as sh77 says.

How long is it since you had your first +ve hpt?

Also - what type of scan did they do? We watched the screen on my most recent scan and the abdominal scan showed an empty sac whereas the internal showed a small embryo (admittedly non-viable). But if you're only 5-6 weeks then I think it can be hard to see things on an external scan.

I know it is really hard but I think for now it is a case of wait and see.

Thanks Claire
I did my hpt 3.5 weeks ago, so it is just feasable thatI could be only 7 weeks pg, but I thought that I was more. The sonographer did an internal scan yesterday too so she probably is correct, I suppose because she had such an abrupt bedside manner I want her to be wrong.
I appreciate your advice, I will try to stick it out for another week, if there has been no change I will go to EPU and ask for another scan, before I discuss a D&C.
Thanks Again Mumsnet is such a support to so many,

hi honey sorry to hear about your experiences. i have a slightly different point of view to some of the others who have posted here, and hope my experience might help you make up your mind.
i have had four miscarriages; two "natural" and two D+Cs. both the natural ones were "fine" in a physical sense - just like a normal period. not painful at all, but then, i only usually get light periods anyway.
in both cases they happened at about eight weeks, so not as far along as your body has got, so you might have a lot more bleeding.
In one of my miscarriages all they could see was an empty sac, like your situation. i have to say it is highly, highly unlikely that if that is all they are picking up at a dating scan - presumably carried out at about 11 or 12 weeks? - there is any mistake ...even if your dates were quite wrong you should be able to see a heartbeat from seven weeks. I hope you don't feel i'm being blunt and of course i really hope i'm wrong but i speak from experience .
my most recent miscarriage was picked up at about nine weeks on a scan. i wanted to try and avoid another D+C, not that it was a bad experience the first time, but i just wanted to give my body a chance to do it by itself. i waited over two weeks and after all that time i only had the tiniest bit of bleeding. in your case it sounds like the embryo stopped developing many weeks ago and your body has already held off bleeding properly for all this time. It could drag on a lot longer. there is a risk of infection if you leave it too long. I don't want to frighten you unnecessarily but it's something to bear in mind and ask your GP/hospital about.
i got really fed up after more than two weeks of waiting and ended up having a D+C anyway! it really isn't bad at all as you don't really know anything (you have a general anasthaetic). you wake up and it is all over. If it wasn't for the risk of scarring then i would opt for a D+C every time. Scarring is very unlikely if you only have one or two D+Cs. Sadly i'm a recurrent miscarrier so i have to think about these things, but in your case it's most likely, hopefully, that your miscarriage is a one off and there's a lot to be said for just getting it over with. sorry it's such a long ramble, i'm very tired. hope you're ok. oh, one more thing. i got given the so-called miscarriage/abortion pill BEFORE my D+C as that is the protocol at my hospital. so i have experienced what this is like too. not fun. Very painful. i would not advise this option!

Hi Kissmummy,
Thanks for your advice, I appreciate all points of view. I guess it's just the waiting that is getting to me. Also not really relevant but totally relevant at the same time, have just found out that a situation that I thought was sorted with my husband has reared it's ugly head again. I really feel I can't trust him. There is no way we can try for another baby so losing this one feels like the end of my marriage too!
I know being pregnant is not an excuse to stay with someone, but now I feel I have to face the situation because he is already saying 'don't worry we can try again'
I suppose that is why I'm clutching at straws.

Anyway I think I will wait out the weekend and see if I start bleeding properly, if not I will go to the EPU for another scan, blood test and maybe a D&C.

Sorry about the rant, it just all seems to be happening at once!

Sounds like a good plan. Ignore the husband for now, talk to maybe a sister instead? Thinking of you. (Big very un-mumsnety hugs).

Thanks Sis!

i agree to try and ignore the husband issue fo now. I have found during my miscarriages that if any other problem crops up at the same time, you feel like your entire life is crashing down. it is definitely not a time when you can be at all objective about your marriage and things may feel quite different and a lot better a few months from now.

I'm so sorry to hear about your troubles. I'd say try and deal with one thing at this point, and look after your health (be selfish and let your husband look after himself for now)

Just to share my experience, when my first missed mc was diagnosed I chose to wait a week to let it happen naturally. Nothing happened so I opten for the surgery. I did this because the pregnancy had ended at 7 weeks and I was already 12 weeks when I found out, so my body was clearly not ready to naturally miscarry the baby and I worried that it might have taken a lot longer. The week's waiting was horrible, not wanting to leave the house just in case, knowing I was still pregnant, and all that goes with it emotionally.

Since then, I've had several more missed mc's and have always chosen surgery, as at least you know where you are with everything, the recovery has been quick (physically speaking) and the post-op bleeding has been minimal with all but one of mine.

It's a very personal choice but hearing about friends who've chosen to miscarry naturally or rather, who had no choice, it does sound painful and imho, more traumatic than surgery. I know the waiting is horrible and you do wonder if something will "appear", but I think you have to do what feels instinctively right for you. Usually by 6-7 weeks a heartbeat is detected. I know what that wait feels like, so I always choose medical intervention so I can get life back on track as quickly as possible.

Just as an aside, I have now had 5 ERPC's and three were done with no prior "help", but with two of them I took the (awfully named) "abortion" pessary a couple of hours before the op and i have to say it cut down the post-op bleeing as it gave the surgeon less need to be "thorough" if you see what I mean, as the process had already begun (although I felt nothing at all before they put me under).

You take care of yourself and do what feels right for you. Most of all, keep asking questions and ask for as many scans as you feel you need before deciding what to do.

I've found this site really useful for sharing experiences, so hope this helps you too.

Just a quick update, I had a scan yesterday to confirm that I had a missed miscarriage, looks like it happened about 2 weeks ago, so I have opted for the 'medically managed' route. took the tablet yesterday, due to take the rest tomorrow.

I feel OK now. physically I've just started bleeding and emotionally I'm just releived that things are resolved. But at the same time I feel numb, I guess the emotions will hit later.

Thank you for everyone who helped me, just reading other womens experiences, the positive and the not so good, helps.

I hope that I can now move on with the rest of my life.

hey honey123 it's so comforting to hear someone saying "moving on with life", I thought i was being really insensitive when Iv'e said that in the past 4 weeks,(had ectopic, treated with drugs then emergency surgery), i feel that i just want to move on.

I really hope all goes well for you over the next few days, and that emtionally your ok too, take lots of rest and make use of chocolate...x