3 consecutive chemical pregnancies

[ClaireJane87]

There is such little information surrounding chemical pregnancies online, so any help or experience would be appreciated. I'm 36. I have two children already (DD14 & DS12) both healthy births. My partner and I have been trying for a baby since January when I had my coil removed. I hadn't even had a period before I caught on straight away in March, quickly followed by a miscarriage. I caught on again in April; within days... miscarriage. And again in May; then at 5 weeks; miscarriage.

We have left it a couple of months until I have had 2 actual periods, not just early loss bleeds, before we start again. It has left me feeling uneasy about trying again though. Has anybody had a similar pregnancy journey?

I had 2 when trying for my 2nd baby.

Got there in the end and it finally worked out, but it was gut wrenching getting excited just for it to be over days later.

So sorry you've been going through this, OP. It's shit. I've had 8 losses including several chemical pregnancies. Unfortunately it can be really difficult even for experts to establish exactly why - I have been under the care of the recurrent miscarriage clinic at my local hospital and had a raft of tests, with no real explanation. It might be that you are just getting the crappy end of the law of averages, pure bad luck and coincidence. Might be a genetic issue (is your current partner different from the father of your children?), might be something to do with your eggs, hormones, uterus... so hard to know! The fact you've carried typical, healthy children to term in the past will rule some things out.

The 'good' thing is that you probably now meet the threshhold for further investigations, so speak to your GP and see if they can refer you to recurrent miscarriage. it's a crap club to be part of but you might get some answers.

I'm now 30 weeks pregnant with a textbook healthy baby... nobody can explain why this one stuck and the others didn't and I am trying to accept that I'll probably never have all the answers. I hesitate to say 'keep trying' because it is utterly gruelling and there are only so many times you want to go through something like this. But this is not necessarily the end for you. Good luck x

Thank you. I just wondered if it's typical after the coil being in for 5 years whether that's a possible cause if try so soon after. Everything just seems to be a "possible cause." Such little knowledge on the subject because it isn't really a fertility issue. I have been offered progesterone the next time I fall pregnant, but as I seem to miscarry so early, I'm not sure they'd be able to see me in time for it to help. I've heard of taking small doses of aspirin in the early stages but I don't want to self medicate; I've just exhausted Google.

I had 5 between my children. Yes it can be one of those things but in my experience help was needed, by the third I just knew something was wrong.
Get your GP to make a referral for recurrant miscarriage, they will check for thyroid issues, hormone imbalances, clotting disorders and the like.
I had developed a thyroid disorder after first child. Not uncommon and very treatable.
This didn't fix things entirely, had more mc after. I'd recommend looking up Professor Brosens and the implantation clinic that he runs. I had low uterine stem cells that was treated with straightforward medication, and got pregnant with my daughter the very same month that treatment ended. The NHS checks are health checks, they may find something making mc more likely, but if they don't, it doesn't mean you are out of options.

Sending strength on this very tough journey.

100% see GP. Could be as 'simple' as needing progesterone to maintain. Could he more complex, Could be unexplained. But at least you'll know.

I have seen the GP. They said it was "probably" nothing to worry about, "probably" because of the coil. No tests offered even after 3. I will book in again though. To ease my mind if anything. EPU have offer progesterone. They said it's a 50 week wait for the clinic though. I think private would be the best option as I'm already 36.

I’ve had at least 5 in the past 18 months - all had lines that failed to get very dark on pregnancy tests and then I’d miscarried by 5.5 or 6 weeks (some were earlier).

I am currently 5w 6d weeks pregnant and have just started having morning sickness. Because of all the chemicals, they are scanning me at 6 weeks (tomorrow) to check all is okay.

I was quite quick to conceive previously and had no issues once pregnant but these losses have all followed a tfmr and I was sure it was linked to it. On reflection, I think I’m just a lot older and have eggs that aren’t of a good enough quality. Fingers crossed that this one sticks and has no issues.

Thats really disappointing. Can you request another doctor? It's absolutely within the remit of the GP to run a basic hormone and thyroid profile. It's so sad the lack of support with these issues.

First of all, I'm so sorry for your losses.
I had 3 trying for my second baby. My first child is now 14 and my new partner and I wanted a baby.
I lost all mine at 7/8 weeks, one pregnancy being twins. After the 3rd they said they would do tests etc but i became pregnant again before the process got started.
I was put on baby aspirin and progesterone from the moment I found out and I had regular scans too. A few private for peace of mind.
I went on the have a healthy little girl who is 10 months now.
Please don't give up hope. I know it's so difficult and horrible, and nature can be so cruel.
Push them to do tests if they can. Hopefully this will happen for you.

I'm so sorry, OP, it's awful. I had two consecutive chemical pregnancies right before my current pregnancy and was worried something was wrong with me. I reached out to Tommy's for advice who told me to ask my GP to request blood tests to test FBC, TSH and vitamin D3 levels, could you ask for that? x

This is all really helpful. Thank you. X

Hi I am sorry I know this is an old thread but I am in a similar situation myself right now and I wondered if @ClaireJane87 had any updates, I really hope you got your rainbow! Thanks x

Thank you @Sparkle880 for asking. I remember exactly how I was feeling when I wrote this post. I went on to have 1 more early miscarriage in August but currently I'm sitting here in bed feeding my baby boy and it's all a distant memory. He is 4 weeks tomorrow and absolutely worth the journey to get here.

I did a lot of research after what I went through. I spoke with many doctors and midwives about what happened. The responses were, it's very common but not spoken about enough. We often have many early miscarriages as our body tries to accept the healthiest embryo but these are only obvious when trying for a baby, otherwise many women are unaware. I was told it is only a good thing if you can repeatedly get pregnant and it is often the quality of the sperm that is the issue in early losses. Luckily we got there in the end and my son is perfect beyond words.

I wish anyone going through a similar situation strength and perseverance, because it can feel hopeless when in the midst of it. But, for reassurance, a senior midwife told me, if you go for an early scan and they find a heartbeat, the chance of a healthy pregnancy is the same as if you have your scan at 12 weeks. X

Baby aspirin worked for me after two early loses.

i continued until 36 weeks as advised by a consultant.

a horrible midwife told me off for self medicating when I told them at my checking in appointment and referred me to a consultant.

the consultant told me I had done exactly the right thing on taking it after repeated loses and to continue until 36weeks.

i am now 39+5 and hoping my baby comes asap!

good luck OP

Hi OP,

Seeing your update in this thread has given me a small bit of hope❤️ I came across the thread as I believe I am experiencing my 3rd chemical in the last year (I also had an ectopic in January), am desperately looking for answers, we currently do not have any children.

I have have had detailed blood tests done with an endocrinologist very recently, so have have been tested for thyroid issues/blood clotting disorders/diabetes etc.

I was wondering if you mind sharing if you had any particular tests/made any changes to go into have a healthy pregnancy?

Thank you in advance & wishing you and your little family lots of happiness with your new arrival x

Hi @Blondepeach
I don't think early losses are spoken about enough to give people the confidence to understand that a lot of the time there is no underlying cause for concern. I have also been told by midwives and doctors that I have spoken to, that the quality of the sperm has more to do with early losses. My doctor also said the fact I was getting pregnant was positive. I had blood tests but in the end the only thing that worked was time and high strength folic acid. Once I was pregnant the midwife team prescribed progesterone and aspirin. I don't know if that kept the pregnancy going or if I just had a healthy embryo.

Early losses are so common, a lot of people don't know they're having them because they're so similar to a period, you only really notice when you're trying to get pregnant. I know more women that have had them than haven't. Wishing you all the luck in your baby journey. X