Miscarriage - surgical management experience

[mumofthe21stcentury]

I have had a missed/delayed miscarriage and need to have a surgical management under general anaesthetic.

Has anyone had this procedure in the past couple of years. It is no longer D&C but it's MVA (a little auction vacuum).

If you can share your experience about how scary it is and your recovery I would really appreciate it.

Today is Friday and my procedure is on Monday 24 June 2019.

Thank you x

I had my procedure at the day unit in my local hospital. I was the only person in that day allowed dh with me due to the nature of the procedure. I also asked for cream on my hands to numb them for when the cannula was inserted and this really helped. Ask for it straight away though as it can take two hours to kick in.

Mine was a good few years ago, Jan 2011 but was a ERPC. It was fine, as fine as these things can be anyway, I was told I could try ASAP. I waited one cycle and conceived twins on the next. I did some me time in between, acupressure, reflexology, message etc, I always Joke it worked too well conceiving twins.

So sorry for your loss OP. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Hi @Beingnicetomyself thank you for sharing your story with me. It’s really good to know these details and set my expectations. I think it’s going to be hard but knowing what might happen give me some comfort.

@SamRwl I know exactly how you feel. I was in limbo for 6 weeks. This pregnancy did not start well as I started spotting but it was because of a polyp. After it was removed the spotting returned about 3 weeks ago and every week the scan said something different. Week 6 they said it was heartbeat but faint. Week 7 they said it was no heartbeat, week 8 there was heart beat and week 9 it was heart beats at 80 pm and 3 days after the week 9 scan there was no more heartbeat.

The limbo I found very difficult to cope. As horrible was it sounds when I found out there was no more heart beat I was sad and then relieved. The past month in limbo has been hell. I didn’t know how to feel. Should I have grieved? I don’t know. I was on google for at least 3-4 hours every day, looking for miracles.

I have been to EPU weekly for about 6-7 weeks now so I can tell you my experience. If it’s your first time there, get there 15 mins before it opens to ensure that you’re seen asap. The queue can be really long depending on where you live. A nurse will assess you and ask you the reason to come in. If your reason is that you had a 7 week private scan but no heartbeat they will offer you a scan to confirm. Whether or not it’s on the same day depends on the facility and staff. If there is no sonography they will ask you to come back. If they have you will wait to see it. It’s an emergency service so the wait can be up to 4 hours.

Did you private scan say that your embryo size and sac measure okay? And there is a yolk sac? My dates were out by 10 days so I wasn’t as far along as they thought. Also, medically I don’t think it’s possible that my embryo had heart beat one week, none the next week but returned the week after? I think the sonographer who could detect a heartbeat wasn’t very good. She was also private and she’s at Harley Street doctor that I paid £450 to see her but she got it wrong!

Long story but I want to assure you your sonographer could be wrong or that you’re too early to detect a heartbeat. :) I will you in my prayers.

Xxx

@SamRwl sorry in the second to last paragraph I meant ‘I think the sonographer who could NOT detect a heartbeat wasn’t very good...’

@mumofthe21stcentury thank you so much, I had a scan at one place last week she said I was measuring 2 weeks behind 5+5 instead of 7+5 she said all looked okay for 5 weeks, sack and yolk, but no fetal pole, I went to a different place yesterday she said I was measuring at 5+6 so not really any growth although there was a fetal pole, so I asked it this showed growth she said the other place place probably just missed it !!!
And also I have a little bleed above the sack, although I've had no bleeding what so ever, she said there should be a heartbeat at this stage that's why she's referred me to EPU

I'm in 2 minds, I don't want to loose hope but then I want to also prepare myself for the worst

Could I be possible I was even earlier at the first scan and there is growth !!?

Will the EPU take into account the private scans or start a fresh !?

@SamRwl epu will scan again. I was taken with a midwife to discuss my options afterwards. They said I didn't have to decide there and then - I didn't - it took me a week to decide on surgical management when I googled everything which they told me not to.

They advise you wait one cycle just to date the pregnancy easily which we did and I was pregnant three months after each missed miscarriage. Third time lucky for me, he’s now seven months old .

Be kind to yourself OP .

Hi @SamRwl what you've described sounds very similar to what I went through. However I think it's a 50/50 at the moment.

Don't loose hope but also prepare yourself.

It's entirely possible that it's earlier than everyone thinks. Embryos grow at different rate.

Also EPU will take into the private scan for comparison purpose if you have a copy of a scan. You have to be quite firm in telling them. I even did a table of all my numbers and forced them to read it.

Hi @Pinkmouse6 thank you very much for sharing this with me. It's very good to know that you succeeded after 3 times.

Hi all just so you all know that the ERPC procedure went well and I'm very pleased that I've opted for this route.

Knowing that you're carrying a lifeless embryo was distressing and I'm pleased that it's all over now.

Thank you all for your support.

I'm so glad it went well @mumofthe21stcentury. I know what you mean about carrying your lifeless child with you, it's horrendous isn't it.
I have my procedure booked in for Thursday. I should have been 15 weeks then but my baby would have died 5+1 weeks ago at that point.
Take time to look after yourself and don't do to much to soon as its not good for you

Hi @Mammyofasuperbaby thank you for kind message. I hope all goes well with you on Thursday. If you do ERPC, it was such a smooth experience. I am not bleeding that much either. I would have been 11 weeks today but embryo's size was at 6 weeks.

Will be thinking of you on Thursday xx

So glad to hear all fine with you, OP! Xxx

Oh OP I'm so sorry I didn't check to see if you'd replied - am so pleased it went smoothly and you're back recuperating. Well done for being so brave, wishing you all the best for your next steps

Thank you @NavyBerry and @jacquesjacques for thinking of me.

Day 1 after ERPC was fine and actually quite normal. May be I still had the GA in my system. The bleeding was minimal.

Day 2 after ERPC was slightly worse. I was so tired and the cramps were quite frequent. I had to take paracetamol to calm the cramps. I carried my son (2 year old) for a bit and after that my stomach hurts. So if you have kids I recommend that you don't lift your toddler too much.

Day 3 after EPRC I returned to work. I felt okay but get tired easily. Had to rest periodically. The bleeding actually is the heaviest this day comparing to others.

I would still recommend this procedure if you find yourself in the same situation, this may be a solution to consider.

Was supposed to have my erpc yesterday but it was a complete shit show from start to finish.
I went in and had all the pre op stuff done - all fine. The only thing was that bmi is slightly too high so they explained the risks and asked me if I still wanted the procedure or to go with medical management, I explained I understood the risks and for my mental health I feel surgery is the best option. They OK it and I sign all the consent forms.
Surgeon comes in and tells me its my choice but she refuses to do the procedure and I have to have medical and completely backed me into a corner, took away all my choices, told me I'm not thinking straight and makes my decision for me.
By now I was completely distraught and having a panic attack so forms are shoved in front of me and I'm told to sign which I did but I didn't want to.
End up in a room and watched till I take the damn pills and then left by that time I'm breaking down and feel trapped. They say im not trapped but I can't leave and go home.
I'm eventually let home after I refused any more meds and my new nurse can see that the above should have never had happened so I was booked for surgery the next day by the head surgeon who can't see a reason not to do the op.
I end up having contractions in the car park when blood gushes down my legs and my baby is born there and then in front of everyone. I end up back on the ward where I have to have pieces of placenta manually removed and I keep gushing blood.
I eventually got home last night but I feel so violated. I'm putting in a complaint asap once I'm better

Sorry for the very long post oops

Hi @Mammyofasuperbaby I am so sorry to hear about your experience. That is completely not acceptable. I am so saddened by the fact that you had to give birth to your angel baby in a car park??? I hope they take responsibility for this.

Oh my gosh Mammyofasuperbaby that is awful I'm so sorry. That feeling of powerlessness was the worst thin about my surgical management (and mine went well so I can only imagine how you felt). I hope you have a supportive partner and do encourage you to complain. I have no idea whether the first surgeon was being "reasonable"or not in her view of whether the surgery was safe but there must have been a better way of handling it (i.e. not telling you it was your decision and then taking that decision away from you!).

Thank you everyone. My partner has been amazing and was my voice when I couldn't advocate for myself, held my hand through the contractions and frankly has been my rock. He's amazing.
As for the first surgeon being "reasonable" in her opinion. My partner, myself, the head nurse and clinical consultant (department head) all agreed that my procedure was only a slightly higher risk and all things considered was the best option for me. And that she only didn't want to do it in case it went wrong and she got a blip on her record and she didn't want to take responsibility for that. The clinical consultant was furious and doing everything to fix it and told us it should have never happened

Sorry Mammyofasuperbaby, I didn't want to suggest that she was reasonable, just that the way they dealt with it was awful too. I'm glad the consultant is on your side.

I know that @WantLifeToBeBetter, I was just explaining want had been said a little better

Thank you for this thread. I am booked in for this procedure on Monday. They offered it to me Friday but it would be after 6pm, I didn't want to risk a night away from my DS so they offered Monday instead.

It's soul destroying knowing your still carrying the baby around. I am 9+1 but baby died at 6+2. Nature is cruel.

Hi @Mammyofasuperbaby I truly hope that your compliant will go somewhere.

Hi @nespressowoo I am so sorry to hear that you have had a missed miscarriage too. I remember feeling so aweful but I promise that you will feel better someday. I also have a DS at home who is 2. One tip I would say, try not to carry him standing up for too long. I made a mistake of doing carry him from the park two days after my surgery and I bled quite a lot and had really bad cramps. Whereas the other days I didn't have any cramps or the bleeding was more like spotting.

I am sorry to hear that some of you had a bad experience with the surgical procedure. I would like to clarify that my local hospital (London) has a long waiting list so I went private and got it done in Harley street. I didn't want to mislead people's expectations. My private health insurance with work covered it. If private health insurance covers for miscarriage. If you have it, it's definitely worth checking with them. Miscarriage is a devastating experience and I think going private (if you have insurance) definitely was the best out of the worst situation.

Thank you @mumofthe21stcentury. It's an awful time isn't it. Luckily my DS is in nursery so it shouldn't be too bad. I am taking the week off work, maybe the week after too just so I can get my head together.

How did you feel in the days leading up to the procedure? I have had moments where I've cried today, yesterday was awful with finding out. I think Monday will be the hardest day knowing I'll no longer be pregnant.

I had a MC last year too which I managed to pass, then it took over a year to conceive again. It's so so hard.