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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Bizarre day - pregnancy disolved??

17 replies

chezza18 · 10/08/2009 18:37

I am emerging from a bizarre day, and not one I've quite got my head around. 4 weeks ago, after my period being 2 weeks late, peeing all day & night, feeling hot, sensitive boobs and acid nausea indigestion I did a pregnany test, it was positive.

My stomach popped out along with all the above symptoms. 2 weeks ago I had my first ante-natal was examined by doctor who said I was 8 weeks. Given a scan for the end of August.

Yesterday morning i started bleeding, after being on the receiving end of two miscarriages, i knew it wasn't looking good. However, the bleeding continued into what I would I would describe as a normal period.

after various calls this morning i was told to go to A&E. I had urine and blood tests for pregnancy, all of which came back negative. I was shocked, i felt stupid. but left thinking they were wrong, this couldn't be right.I contacted an EPAU at St helier and spoke to the senior midwife who was absolutely lovely. She asked my age (44) and said, we see so many women like you, basically you were pregnant at the time you took the test, but it just didn't develop into anything else and disolved. none of this has been backed up by a scan, i've been advised just to accept it. I am speechless, have never experienced this. As I said have had 2 previous miscarriages and have a DD 8. This wasn't planned, but DH and I accepted it in anycase. I'm stunned, has anyone else ever been through this, or know of it???

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hester · 10/08/2009 18:57

chezza, this is very very common and lots of us (me included) have been through it. It was a very early miscarriage, which is very common and especially so at our age (I'm just a little older than you).

It's interesting that the midwife talks in terms of the 'pregnancy not developing' and 'dissolving' as though that makes it distinct from a miscarriage. I think they do that because it is so very common, and because in years past it wouldn't have even been picked up because pregnancy tests weren't so sensitive. But I think that's sophistry: I didn't find it helpful to label my miscarriage as anything other than a miscarriage.

I'm so sorry you'have gone through this; my sympathies.

Original poster

chezza18 · 10/08/2009 19:04

thank you Hester. I'm so pleased you replied. I did get the impression it was common the older you are. I honestly can't get my head around it. I agree, I can think of it being anything else but a miscarriage, albeit at a very very early stage. I was made to feel it would just all come out in the wash, literally!

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RedDeadFail · 10/08/2009 19:16

More commonly called a chemical pregnancy. Very common. Had one aged 26. I am so sorry.

Original poster

chezza18 · 10/08/2009 20:06

thanks RedDeadFail. I'm glad it has a title, would explain why I couldn't google it under Dissolved pregnancy, will have a look up now. thanks

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QOD · 10/08/2009 20:22

It's just happened to my friend, she is 43 with a 10 yr old & 8 yr old - preg test, all the symptoms, etc etc now period and nothing.
SHe is happy though!
I am sorry for your loss (((hug)))

Original poster

chezza18 · 11/08/2009 07:57

Thanks QOD. I have to say, like your friend, although initially filled with utter disbelief, I am in a way, slightly relieved. have DD 8 (nearly 9) and we have our life back. What has made it worse, when the test was positive (backed up by symptoms) I spent 2 days in shock, 3 days crying because I was terrified of having another terrible pregnancy which I did with DD (hence only 1 child)...but then, I started to accept it, discussed it with GP and was offered lots of support and it became exciting. My DH was excited, we knew DD would be absolutely thrilled. So, I am filled with mixed emtotions. Thanks everyone for enlightening me, never heard of it before but as I am now having the period from HELL... I know what I have bee told is correct.

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Original poster

chezza18 · 11/08/2009 07:59

I've got a dodgy keyboard so apologies for the typos

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mummytopebs · 11/08/2009 08:19

I have had 2 mc and my 1st this happened at 7 weeks, apparently it can just absorb back into your body! Well thats what i got told - weird

Original poster

chezza18 · 11/08/2009 09:06

mummytopebs - that's more or less what the midwife said to me. She said, I was pregnant at the time I took the test and had symptoms. After that, apparently at 6/7 weeks pregnant it just absorbed (or dissolved were her words) back into my body and comes out in a late period.

I am fortunate and blessed that I at least have a child, but this would be absolutely devastating for women who are desperately trying.

My biggest problem were A&E... I was given no choice but to go there, they simply said after all the tests you are not pregnant "it ends here" (yes they were the junior doctors words). No sympathy, no real explanation apart from it was probably a false positive result! I suppose, yes they are general medicine, but then they wouldn't even refer me to their womens unit to find out why this happened. I had to phone a different hospital with an EPAU and get some information from the midwife there.

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mogend77 · 11/08/2009 09:15

I'm so sorry you are going through this & that it has been handled so awkwardly. A chemical pregnancy is still a miscarriage in effect - because you still have all the grieving. Your HPs have been horribly dismissive by the sounds of things, but don't let that undermine what you are going through. Give yourself permission & time to feel whatever you need to feel.

blinks · 11/08/2009 09:36

i've also had a chemical pregnancy and it was quite traumatic. people are quite dismissive of, as if it's less of a pregnancy.

i felt quite unwell with it also.

Original poster

chezza18 · 11/08/2009 10:12

thank you blinks & mogend77... I'm so pleased I posted this ... have received more information and support on here, then from those people who are paid out of our taxes to diagnose and provide it !!

It really has been a revelation.

I have taken 8 pregnancy tests in the last 24 years (I'm 44).

4 were negative, 4 were postive. Of the four positives, I had 2 miscarriages which were traumatic and ended up having D&C's on both occasions. one full term pregnancy which ended in my beautiful DD and one (first time for me) chemical pregnancy. So I get very annoyed when a health professional seemingly is questioning my judgement.. its a false positive, are you sure you are pregnant.. I did ask the 25 year old junior doctor (female) how many times she had taken a pregnancy test after experiencing symptoms.. she said "it was irrelevant".. well in that case refer women to a proper unit that do know and have information to hand. I'm pretty P**D off.

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hester · 11/08/2009 22:21

I also found A&E very unhelpful. I was absolutely desperate for the pregnancy to continue - I had been trying for so long and saw this as my last chance for a baby. I just couldn't understand why a pregnancy test would turn negative and was desperately hoping they would tell me that this sometimes happened but it didn't mean I was miscarrying. I explained to the A&E doctor what had happened; she just shrugged at me and said, "Well, what do you want me to do?". I said, "I want you to tell me if there's any way I can save this pregnancy" and she laughed and said, "Of COURSE not".

Reading your post is bringing back to me how very, very painful and lonely that experience was, chezza. I am truly sorry for your loss of three pregnancies.

Original poster

chezza18 · 12/08/2009 11:39

Hester - i am so sorry you went through this as well. As I said in one of my earlier replies, it must be devastating for women who are desperately trying to have children. There is a complete lack of support for what, now I am seeing, as 'you've not really been pregnant attitude'. An earlier reply from Mogend77 said they were horribly dismissive, and she is absolutely right. The words "it ends here" gave me the impression they thought I was some sort of fantasise.

Its unfortunate that women are sent to A&E. When I had my previous miscarriages (many years ago) I was sent immediately to Gyne and received a great deal of sympathy, everything was explained in as much detail as possible. The primary care trust are using busy A&E departments as a filter before referral.

I did actually take myself straight to the womens unit at the hospital(Think this is our hospitals EPAU)but they wouldn't see me without an appointment or a referral.

I'm beginning to think its my fault, why didn't I do another test, should I have insisted my GP did one?

I suppose none of it matters now, I just feel stupid. I've had to explain to those people (who I told around me) I'm not pregnant anymore, I didn't have a full blown miscarriage. According to the hospital, I was never pregnant!

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Sallypuss · 12/08/2009 13:36

Sorry to hear you went through this. I went through similar in 2007. Having got a BFP I sat in A&E to be told I wasn't pregnant. Very upset, not just at losing the baby but also because the nurses obviously thought I'd imagined the whole thing. Better to get yourself checked out with your GP afterwards though.

LittleSilver · 12/08/2009 19:31

Please could you give some feedback to your A and E? I am really shocked at the way that your care was handled - it shouldn't have been dealt with like that. If you get in touch with your hospital's Patient Advice and Liason service (PALS) they should be able to help. That SHO sounds as if she needs a hefty dose re-training.

And I am very sorry for your loss.

TotallyAndUtterlyPaninied · 14/08/2009 21:57

Haven't read all the replies but this exact thing happened to me in April and it is soooooooooooo sureal. I wouldn't believe it, then I thought maybe I'd dreamt that I was pregnant... 16 positive tests later I had a 2nd scan, still no baby. Hospital did second test, and it was negative. I continued to get positive tests until they eventually tapered off. Very, very strange scenario.

I'm so sorry xx

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