Incomplete Miscarriage

[Mochagirl]

Hi ladies - I'm sure most of you have seen my postings elsewhere, but I had a natural miscarriage 9 days ago at 11 weeks (the fetus died several weeks before that). I had a follow-up ultrasound yesterday, and my doctor just called to give me the results - there's still some tissue left in my uterus. He's not a gyno, so he's calling one to consult on what our next steps are.

Anyone here have any experience with this? Will they let me wait a week or so to see if it passes naturally, or are they going to want to use medication or a d&c to get it out?

[DoulaMama]

Maybe do some research on natural miscarriages. As long as you are ok with waiting, and you have no temperature(indicating infection) than it's totally ok to wait. Our bodies know what to do. It's actually very early for everything to be gone for a natural m/c. It can take a couple of weeks for your body to expel everything. I do have some herbal suggestions to clear the rest out. They are things used to induce labour naturally, so they create cx's and help get the rest out. I would do everything I could before a d&c as I've heard from many women that it scarred their insides and created problems with conceiving again. I know many have had no issue with this but from the past 4 years of being close to pregnant women, I hear about problems more often than one would think. If it's a medical concern and you need to have a d&c then that is a totally different scenario. Let me know if you want that info, Hun. I'm so sorry that you have to deal with this:( xoxo

[Foxy]

I'm so very sorry for your loss, Mocha :( I agree with DM. As long as you don't have a temp you should be fine if you want to wait it out. A natural mc can take a while and 9 days isn't very long. xx

[deaks66]

So sorry for your loss mocha, such a sad time for you. Hope you are being looked after.

[Mochagirl]

Thanks, ladies. I'm hoping they'll let me wait. I passed a very small pea-sized clot today so I hope that's a good sign that things are still progressing.

DM - I would appreciate that herbal info.

[DoulaMama]

These herbs are taken in tincture form- I'm hoping you could find something like this over there. I know that many naturally minded midwives have these herbs on hand..I carry them myself when I go to births as they work very well. First- You need to find Shephards Purse tincture. This is a herb to control bleeding just in case the other herb makes you bleed too much. The herbs for completing a m/c are Blue and Black Cohosh. 20 drops each, every hour. You could take them slower than that if you'd like. Do not exceed 5 doses. This info was taken directly from my herbal book- the same one I took the other info from. I think the RRLT is great as well, because it can cause tightening in the uterus and can help expel as well. Another thing- anything that helps induce you- think nipple stimulation, walking, sex(I know...not what you want to do...but it can bring on a period early and help start labour so we know it works- just use a condom)will help get any retained tissue out. xoxo

[Mochagirl]

Thanks, Julie :HH: Now run off and get that u/s so we can all celebrate with you!!!

[DoulaMama]

:bigsmile: I'm patiently waiting....

[Out of the Blue]

I was thinking about you a lot last night and today hoping you would get some good news. I'm hoping you can do this natrually w/the herbs Doula suggested. Sending lots and lots of :HH: and good thoughts your way.

[queen-of-harts]

Im soo sorry you are going through this :( another natural thing is when we go through something like this we want to curl up on the couch and barely move but if you are up to it try to go for a walk and the activity gets things moving,I went to Lowes home inprovement and shopped for home inprovement stuff while i was going through my mc and that really sped things up,just try not to do it alone in case you feel week.

[rainbowflower]

it depends on the size of the tissue that's left

I had a small amount left (under 1" I think) and they decided not to do anything further. Often it will be reabsorbed or pass out either on its own or with the next AF

any more than that and they might offer you medical management or an ERPC

[Mochagirl]

Thanks again, ladies.

queen-of-harts - there's no danger of me curling up on the couch with 3 boys under 6! I resumed my normal activity within hours of the miscarriage and regularly walk my kids to and from school, buy groceries, play with them, etc.

My doctor called back later this afternoon to say that after talking with an OBGYN consult it looks like the amount of tissue is quite minor I can probably just wait it out and it should pass on its own. Phew! The only snag in all of this is they want me to wait for a period and have another scan then to make sure everything's gone...I guess that means I can't TTC at my first post-m/c ovulation :sad: I was really hoping for a BFP by Christmas, but that's looking less and less likely now.

My midwife never suggested any follow-up appointments, and if I hadn't had them I would never have known about the remaining tissue and would have gone ahead and TTC right away. Would it be dangerous to track O and still do that, knowing what I know?

[Mochagirl]

A related question - I assume O won't come until all the tissue has passed and my HCG is back down to 0, right? So if I O does that mean my m/c is complete and it's safe to TTC?

[Mochagirl]

Just saw your response, rainbow - I think I fit into the former category since they seem to think it will pass naturally or reabsorb. Forgive me if I've already asked you this and just forget your response, but when did you get your first af after your m/c?

[rainbowflower]

you can still O before the reamining tissue passes... sometimes tissue that remains is the type that produces HCG, so that might cause the HCG to either drop slowly or to stay high.
if it's not that sort of tissue the HCG can drop and once it's down your normal hormones can resume and you can ovulate again

sorry that they've asked you to wait a month :(

even though I had some retained tissue we decided to TTC anyway. I did a fair bit of googling as to what would happen if I got a BFP before an AF despite retained tissue and I found that often it's just reabsorbed or will pass as lots of spotting, often it could be pushed out as the new pregnancy grows, but of course there's a small infection risk if it doesn't pass naturally/reabsorb. I wish in hindsight that we HAD waited for the first AF, the hormones disrupted my cycle too much so it was very stressful TTC that cycle, more than normal.

for me, I think the retained tissue broke down gradually (hence the constant spotting all cycle) but mostly it must have been reabsorbed as my next two AFs were very very light. I certainly didn't have any clots during my next AF.

[Mochagirl]

Thanks for your story, rainbow - I'll take that into consideration as I decide how to proceed.

[zanacal]

I'm sorry mocha x

[rainbowflower]

no problem, it does get easier - promise

[Out of the Blue]

I guess that means I can't TTC at my first post-m/c ovulation :sad: I was really hoping for a BFP by Christmas, but that's looking less and less likely now.

I'm sorry, Mocha! :SS: Maybe January will be your month, just like it was for your Mom...:fingers: All this waiting just sucks but I know it'll be worth it!

[queen-of-harts]

My doctor told me to just take a pregnancy test after the bleeding stopped and if it was negative then i had pased everything(i did not want to go back and see preggo ladies if i did not have to)

[Mochagirl]

Good tip, queen-of-harts - I'll test once the bleeding's done. I agree about having to be around pregnant women - my u/s appointment sucked because the room was full of happy pregnant women - I was supposed to be one of them - my 12 week u/s had originally been scheduled for the day before.

When did you start trying again after your m/c?

[My Fabulous Children]

I'm so sorry for your loss :( I hope you get your BFP very soon ..Good luck.

[queen-of-harts]

Good tip, queen-of-harts - I'll test once the bleeding's done. I agree about having to be around pregnant women - my u/s appointment sucked because the room was full of happy pregnant women - I was supposed to be one of them - my 12 week u/s had originally been scheduled for the day before.

When did you start trying again after your m/c?

I waited 3 cycles but I think when your ready is best so if you are ready after your first period i say go for it,i just needed a break bc i was having a hard time getting pregnant with my angel baby anyways so i was stressed.

[Mochagirl]

Thanks, queen-of-harts :HH:. I want to be pregnant yesterday so waiting 3 cycles is definitely not something I want to do. I'm 37 and time is not on my side (+ it took us 4 months to conceive last time and I'm worried it might take a while again), so we'll definitely start trying after my first period if not before. Here's hoping we all have healthy sticky beans in our dream gender soon!

[Mochagirl]

I had a good sign today - I took another HPT and the line only showed up after 5 minutes, and it's very faint - much fainter than 3 days ago. Of course, this was only with an IC. I'm sure if I used a FRER it would still be a glaring dark line, but I was happy to at least see some progress.

[Mochagirl]

I asked for more detail from my u/s report while at the doctor today, and he said the retained tissue is 2.4cm in diameter, so that's under 1" like yours was, rainbow - hopefully that means all will pass on its own. He also gave me a requisition for bloodwork to check my HCG levels, so that'll give me an idea where I'm at.

[rainbowflower]

that sounds fine then, you're right that it will probably pass on it's own but don't be surprised if your spotting continues if it gradually breaks down in there instead of coming out all in one

[squigglepink]

This thread is old but it is appropriate so thought id post here. I had a scan yesterday, because i still have a very light (pink) stain when i wipe, assuming still blood.. I miscarried on 26th October so its been ages. The tech found a tiny sac and said my lining is quite thick. The Doc phoned me later to discuss and mentioned the 5cm x 3cm which tech picked up which he said is more than likely a clot, which explains the bleeding. I had bloods done this morning to test hcg. I think they want to rule out new pregnancy, which is unlikely, and im going on Monday for results and next steps. Not sure if anyone else has experienced anything like this before? My home pregnancy tests are negative. I thought i had passed sac with baby but not sure how this all works :think:

[atomic sagebrush]

Yes, I had one swayer who had to have 3 D and C because they kept missing tissue. It's not terribly common but it can happen.

Keep taking your temperature to be sure you don't spike a fever. If you do, go to ER right away

[squigglepink]

Yes, I had one swayer who had to have 3 D and C because they kept missing tissue. It's not terribly common but it can happen.

Keep taking your temperature to be sure you don't spike a fever. If you do, go to ER right away

Shucks, i have two thermometers and i cant find even one!! Im not hot to the touch and dont feel shivery or skakey. Im more worried than anything else.. Is it normal to have retained tissue after a natural miscarriage? Im assuming it can be, considering some have had to go in for a D and C after a miscarriage..

[atomic sagebrush]

It's not normal, but it's not unheard of either. Yes, people do have to go in sometimes for D and C even after a natural miscarriage. You would probably be feeling unwell. (I always ahve the same darn prob with our thermometers, I can never find them when we need them. :/)

[squigglepink]

I just wanted to come back and post here, for the sake of anyone reading this further down the line. My scan revealed a tiny sac and some small tissue. My bloods testing hcg came back negative so this is from my old pregnancy. Doc has put me on Utovlan for two weeks to stop the bleeding! My period after that should get rid of what is left. Fingers crossed x

[atomic sagebrush]

Oh good squiggle. Please do keep us posted and again - if you get a temp...you know what to do.