[aprilshower]

<p>At 9 weeks of pregnancy, an ultrasound showed my baby to be 6 weeks but with an almost 9 week sac and no cardiac activity.  I'm now 11 weeks and no sign of miscarriage...</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I very much want to avoid D&C and Cytotec.  My mw says that I will eventually miscarry.  I read that it can take 8 weeks from the baby's date - so that could get me to 14 weeks. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>This is my second loss.  My first was also a 6 week baby but miscarried right away.  It was not a major "event" as I was told it could be. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I'm scared that this miscarriage is going to be a real labor kind of event, due to how far along I am.  I kind of don't see how that could be with a 6 week baby, but maybe because my body has been pregnant for so long?  I've heard from others that the longer I go with this, the worse the labor will be.  I was planning a homebirth but never finalized plans with my hb mw due to my early loss.  So, I have a hospital cnm (that I was already with in a shadow care kind of situation) who is very sweet and kind - but she won't really be able to help me with much re my actual miscarriage, I don't think.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Just wondering if anyone has been where I am and what I should expect?  I apparently always bleed a lot with birth, so do I need to be worried about that?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Thanks so much</p>

 

[RoseRedHoofbeats]

<p>If you want, another option besides D&C is inducing with Cytotec. I did this for my first miscarriage, and I was very very happy with it. You can do it at home. It tends to make the miscarriage hard and fast, but I didn't experience a lot of pain compared to my natural miscarriage.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>You've probably absorbed a lot of the placental tissues by now, so that will help with the bleeding. Your placenta will look like a big stringy pink sac. It's possible but probably unlikely that you will see a recognizeable baby or amniotic sac. With a six week old baby, you aren't going to get a real "labor" like experience. It's definitely rough and can be a lot worse than a "bad" period, but you should be fine to do this at home.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A lot of doulas and midwives will work for free with a pregnancy loss, even a miscarriage. If there was a homebirth midwife you were thinking of using, call her and tell her what's going on and ask for her help.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hang in there. I'm so sorry.</p>
<p><br>
~Rose</p>

 

[Bena]

<p>I miscarried a 11 week baby at 15 weeks pregancy, and it really wasn't that bad. </p>
<p>Yes, you were pregnant longer, but don't forget that developped stopped a few weeks ago.  Also, at this point, most of the tissue has started to decompose and get reabsorbed (sorry to be graphic, but it's true )</p>
<p>The one thing I want to share, however, because I was completely caught off gard by it, is that I did have my "water break".  I felt a pressure, than a "pop" and liquid gushed out.  I was at the store with DH and DD, and just ran to the washroom.  There was very little blood, just water.  My water never broke when I gave birth to DD, so I don't know what it's like, but I imagine that's what happened.</p>
<p><br>
I don't know how common that is, I had never heard about it (my midwife had prepared me for bleeding and passing tissue, but never mentionned water breaking).  That's the only part I wish I had known about.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Now, just so you know, also, you may likely still need a d&c after.  This was my case, and the Dr. who treated me told me that 50% of late (after week 8) of miscarriages needed a D&C because they were incomplete.</p>
<p>To be honest, however, the d&c was a breeze.  I had been really scared of it, and in the end, it was a huge relief because the cramping and bleeding stopped almost immediatly after (I <em>did</em> still have a lot of tisue and was begining an infection).</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hang in there.  We'll be thinking of you.  Please find comfort in knowing that you are not alone<span><img alt="hug2.gif" id="user_yui_3_4_1_2_1334106648026_185" src="http://files.mothering.com/images/smilies/hug2.gif"></span></p>

 

[aprilshower]

<p>Thank you Rose and Bena.  I'm so sorry that you guys have had losses too </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I really appreciate the encouragement, Rose, that I'll be able to do this okay at home.  And the idea re asking for help from my hb mw is great.  Maybe she would have herbal ideas to get my m/c going and completed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bena - Re past 8w/late m/c - does that refer to the baby or the pregnancy?  I'm really hoping for baby, as the idea of being incomplete and requiring D&C sounds really bad.  With my last m/c, it took me one month to complete on my own, I think possibly due to the previously undx clotting disorder that has killed my babies   I had major clotting on u/s with my last m/c, which was seen as kind of unusual.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Thanks so much!</p>

 

[stegenrae]

<p>((Laura)) I'm so sorry for your loss. I remember you from the Feb? March? HH&C thread.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Have you looked at the <a href="http://www.mothering.com/community/t/187976/exactly-what-to-expect-with-a-m-c-please-tell-your-stories-what-do-you-see/0_50">"what to expect during a m/c..."</a> thread? </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I induced with cytotec at home (at 13w with a 13w sac/placenta and <8w embryo). It was definitely a labor, but not fearsome. In my <a href="http://www.mothering.com/community/t/187976/exactly-what-to-expect-with-a-m-c-please-tell-your-stories-what-do-you-see/400_50#post_16819199">story</a> (it's really long; sorry) shared in the above thread, I link to the WHO guidelines for using cytotec/misoprostol for inducing labor in missed m/c (in 3rd world countries without access to D&Cs...it makes for more complete contractions and more likely to pass everything, thus not needing a D&C). An added "benefit" of cytotec is that it is actually used as a treatment for PP hemorrhage by WHO affiliates, so your concern with bleeding is much less. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sending you lots of love and light.</p>

 

[aprilshower]

<p>Thanks so much, Rae!    I think I was in the Jan/Feb HH&C threads plus the Oct ddc.  I conceived early Feb.  I'm just hoping this is the end of the losses for me, since I now know I have MTHFR homozygous C677T and will take Lovenox when I conceive again...  Hoping there is nothing else.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What you say does make a case for Cytotec.  I worry re potential uterine rupture.  I just don't need anything else going wrong, iykwim.  But at the same time, I much prefer Cytotec over D&C.  I will read your story.  Thanks again   And best wishes to you </p>

 

[stegenrae]

<p>The risk of uterine rupture is almost exclusively (I'm sure there are freak exceptions) isolated to full-term pregnancies where the uterus is about as big as it can possibly get and still contract. It isn't a concern before the 3rd trimester at all, from my research. </p>

 

[aprilshower]

<p>Thanks, Rae - I really appreciate all of your well-researched info   I saw my mw today and had an u/s with her.  My sac has grown but the baby is no longer visible   I asked her re Cytotec, and she doesn't want me to use it because of my sac being so big and my previous bleeding at birth.  My sac is still high and doesn't seem like I will miscarry soon.  She says that I'm not at risk of infection, because of the sac still being high.  So I guess I'm going to wait it out.  I'm 11 weeks, and theoretically should m/c by 14 weeks.  It is horribly sad to still be pregnant and waiting plus also scared for my next baby.  I had none of that last time, and I did so much better emotionally with that loss. </p>

 

[stegenrae]

<p>If you get antsy, I wanted to share that I bled profusely with both of my births, too. I actually bled *very little* with my m/c (so little that I was worried)--I think because it had been so long, yk? I also found that cotton root bark tincture along with black/blue cohosh (mine was a mixture) was helpful. I bought some shepherd's purse to have on hand in case I did start to bleed more than I felt was safe, too. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I'm so sorry. I hope things pass quickly and as physically easily as they can. ((hugs))</p>

 

[M Anna]

<p>I'm sorry for this most recent loss. The second loss is very different from the first I've found. ((hugs))</p>

 

[aprilshower]

<p>Thank you Rae and Anna -</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sorry, Anna, that you've also had 2 losses.  I hope that we both get our one last baby very soon.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Thanks Rae for the herbal ideas.</p>
<p> </p>

 

[aprilshower]

<p>Just an update here...  After 2 days of heavy blood loss along with near loss of consciousness - plus being very weak, dizzy, and terrified - I had a D&C at 13 weeks.  Thru lots of crying, my super sweet midwife convinced me that a D&C was the only way to keep me safe.  I had been fighting the D&C and finally surrendered to trusting in my mw and her mw-like OB surgeon.  My sweet mw stayed with me in the hospital for hours - on her own time - to keep me safe and to care for me.  Love her so much.  It is great to no longer be bleeding to death, but I feel sad like I had a birth with no baby   Now I'm waiting to ovulate to ttc and praying for a take home baby this time.  After 30 vials of bloodwork, my hematologist says that my losses are 100% due to my MTHFR homozygous C677T mutation and will put me on Lovenox with a BFP.  He claims that I will 100% have a take home baby.  Still extremely terrifying. </p>

 

[Bena]

<p>I just read your update.  It so nice that you had such a caring midwife! </p>
<p>Wishing you peace!!!<br>
 </p>

 

[aprilshower]

<p>Thank you, Bena   My mw is truly wonderful.  She is always available to support me, and I really could not survive without her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I should also update to add that I've also been diagnosed with recurrent immunologic pregancy loss.  My immunologist is trying to get insurance coverage for monthly IVIG.  If not, I'll take prednisone, as it also prevents immune response to baby.  I've also heard that high dosing of wobenzyme (10 tabs, 3x/day away from food) prevents immune response to baby - so I'm already doing that.</p>