Anembryonic pregnancy

[Shopaholic29]

Hi. I believed I was 12 weeks and 5 days pg as of Friday, which was the date of my 12 week scan. I was exceptionally nervous for the scan and when it finally came, the first question The sonographer asked was are your dates correct, I knew then there must be something wrong. They were able to find a sac which measured at 8.5 weeks, but nothing else.
I had no symptoms that anything was wrong no bleeding or cramps and all the usual symptoms of pregnancy nausea, sore boobs etc so although anxious I was hoping for the best, but I now wonder if in the back of my mind I knew there was something a miss.
The hospital advised that dates could be wrong and I could be a little more behind than first anticipated and to come back in a week, 99% certain I’m not wrong on dates and it’ll just be a week extra of prolonged agony. It’s been a tough 2 days to get through and now in a state of limbo till Friday and the next scan.
Just wonder if anyone has been through similar and what the outcome was, and if they have gone on to have successful pregnancies since? This would be my first pregnancy aged.

Hi OP,

I'm sorry you are going through this. If the gestational sac measures 8.5 weeks then I would expect to see a yolk sac and fetal pole present.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you for your follow up scan x

Sorry you’re going through this. I had one too. My miscarriage started before the repeat scan. Unfortunately, I bled a lot and needed surgical management.

These things are really common but you can definitely get pregnant again. Il

Hello. It's tough to hear you are going through this.

Last year at 10ish weeks pregnant I went into meltdown out of nowhere. I knew something was wrong.
I had morning sickness and all the rest of it too.
I had an early scan and there it was a 5.5 to 6 week sac with nothing else. My suspicions were confirmed and it was heartbreaking. I wasn't offered anymore scans as I was certain of dates.

I naturally started to miscarry within 3 or 4 days.

I am pregnant now 5weeks 2 days and understandably quite anxious.

@Shopaholic29 I am sorry to hear this. I also had an anembryonic pregnancy back in March 2018. I had no idea anything was wrong until I went for a scan. I opted for medical management (pills) and had to take 2 doses before I passed the sac. It was a truly devastating time as we had been TTC baby number 2 for a while. It took me a long time to get over it but I finally got my BFP in April this year and I now have a 5 day old baby.

I wish you all the best and hope everything works out for you.

Thank you all for your messages.

@PandaPink I hope everything works out well for you this time round, I will keep everything crossed!
@thisyeargoodyear I think I’m going to opt for this also, do you mind me asking how long it took to pass and if the bleeding lasted for a long time, I’m torn between this and the d&c which I have been offered, but petrified for either! Glad to hear to hear you have a happy little one now though!

Hi @Shopaholic29,
I had an anembryonic pregnancy in February of this year. Unlike you I had a tiny bit of spotting but not much. I also had a sac that was much larger to be expected given that there was nothing inside of it. My follow up scan a week later confirmed it but I couldn’t bear waiting any longer so I had a d&c a few days after that. The operation was straightforward and I took a week off afterwards to recover physically and mentally.

It was heartbreaking at the time. I took a month off trying afterwards and then the following month got pregnant successfully, and am now nearly 34 weeks. Wishing you luck and a happy ending.

@Shopaholic29 I took the first set of tablets on the Wednesday and had some slight cramping and bleeding almost immediately (on the way back from the hospital), but then it stopped. The hospital couldn't get me back in until the Sunday so took the second set on Sunday morning and had passed most by about 4pm. The pain was like very bad period pains with a lot of bleeding. I ended up in hospital that evening due to the bleeding as had a clot stuck in my cervix, however once this was removed in A&E and after a night on the ward and a scan the following day they confirmed everything had passed. I was also torn between medical management and D&C but my hospital had quite a wait for the D&C and I didn't want to risk any more adhesions in my womb (had a previous c-section). They did tell me though that medical management isn't the most reliable method for an anembryonic pregnancy though and there was a 50:50 chance (or maybe less of it working). They also told me that as I had no bleeding or symptoms, if I had waited to pass naturally it could have taken weeks or maybe months (they told me up to 20 weeks pregnant). I was very keen to get it over and done with as quickly as possible.

I wish you all the best and just do what you need to do. Things will get better, it's just a really shitty fine at the moment but it won't last.

@Shopaholic29 I don't mean to scare you when I say this and I'm sure everyone's experience is different. But they say it is like a heavy period going naturally. I for one have never experienced a period that has contractions every 2 minutes and as heavy a flow as this. I was filling a pad every 20 or so minutes and tool myself into the maternity assessment unit.

I would say be prepared and realistic with pain relief. And know where to go if you need a little more help/comfort from professionals. I would go naturally if it were to happen again however I would want some pretty strong pain relief next time because paracetamol and ibuprofen didn't quite cut it for me.

Maybe I'm just a weakling!!

@thisyeargoodyear - I think the tablets is what I will go for, though the hospital have provisionally booked me in for a D&C next Tuesday, having had massive read ups of the options of both unless necessary I think I have decided against D&C.
@PandaPink all I have been doing is reading up on everything and I think I have a realistic expectation that I'm going to be in probably the worst pain of my life, both physically and emotionally.
I have experienced some cramping overnight last night and this morning there was some brown discharge when I wiped, I am praying that this is the start of things passing naturally, though my body has now held on to this for 13+ weeks, so im not holding out much hope. I have spoken to the EPU and they advised to keep all my bookings for scan in and if things get worse to go in.
thanks all for your advice and kind words