# If you had a natural missed miscarriage...



## nony (Nov 10, 2006)

Did you get an ultrasound to make sure everything had passed or did you just accept/believe/think that everything had and did nothing further? How did you weigh your choice and how far along were you/how old was the baby?

I am trying to decide whether to get an ultrasound or not. I had a completely natural, virtually pain-free miscarriage. (I was at 15 weeks, looked like baby was about 9 weeks) Saw the completely intact embryonic sac with baby inside, but did not see the placenta or anything I could call that. I want to avoid any complications, but am not so excited about getting an ultrasound. Weighing my options - any feedback would be helpful and appreciated.

thanks so much.


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## cappuccinosmom (Dec 28, 2003)

My natural miscarriage was at 13 weeks. I didn't have an u/s after the miscarriage, because I had obviously passed the baby, placenta, etc. Midwife saw it. Since my bleeding was normal and slowed down at a reasonable rate, we didn't see any need for a followup.

I would have gone in if I developed a fever, or if the bleeding continued heavily for longer than normal, or if I continued having severe pain (as opposed to mild cramps) for more than a day or two.


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## Megan73 (May 16, 2007)

I'm sorry for your loss.








My first miscarriage was a natural - but not missed - MC at 9w4d. I didn't bother getting an u/s because I saw the gestational sac, the bleeding stopped quickly and HPTs turned negative quickly. My MW never suggested that I needed an u/s and I didn't feel it was needed because I felt physically better within days (and got pregnant with my son quickly).
I did have u/s after my second - a missed MC at about 11w, we learned at 8w4d that the embryo had stopped developing at 6w2d - because I'd waited so long for it to happen, with failed rounds of misoprostol, and the actual event happened naturally but was really traumatic. I just needed to know it was truly over.


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## sarahmck (Feb 11, 2005)

This is a bit OT, but I'm trying to find out about how pregnancy symptoms behave in the period between embryonic death and miscarriage. I'm at 12 weeks and my embryo apparently died around 8. I still feel pregnant. I am nauseated, hungry, fat in the evening and thin in the morning, tired, etc. It seems like very few people wait for nature to take its course and I'm having trouble discovering if this is normal. My midwife had a missed abortion that she waited until 28 weeks for and then finally had a D&C. She said her symptoms went away. Did yours?

Because of my continued symptoms, I can't help nursing little fantasies that the ultrasound was mistaken. It would be helpful to hear that other people's symptoms also continued. And I will be having a confirmation ultrasound anyway, just to be sure before I try harsh herbs.

Thanks, and sorry to go off-topic on your thread.


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## pookahjade (Feb 1, 2007)

Nony: First off so sorry for your loss







and healing vibes to you. To answer your question: My first m/c wasn't missed but it was natural. I didn't have a u/s afterwards but I did have repeat blood draws to make sure my hcg dropped back to 0. This time around baby looks to be 12 weeks by u/s but I should be 14 weeks. I don't plan to have a u/s when it is done but probably will do the blood tests. This is assuming that I don't have any crazy bleeding or fever or anything.

Sarahmck: I still feel pregnant too. Only now I feel pregnant and like I'm about to start my period. And I hear you on the wishing the ultrasound was wrong, I have to keep telling myself to stop with the wishing and get on with the healing. Also if I may ask what herbs are you considering to help with the m/c process? (you can PM me so we stop hijacking Nony's thread.)


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## enigo (Mar 11, 2009)

With all three of my mc, my symptoms stopped around the time the baby died. That was my first tip off.







All 3 I waited to pass naturally.


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## LittleBattleAxe (May 21, 2010)

Very sorry for your loss, and hope you are doing well with the healing process.

My last pregnancy loss was really upsetting to me -- I retained fetal tissue and bled off and on for a few weeks, and ultimately needed a D and C. If you are sure you've passed everything and have no additional bleeding, then chances are good that your body took care of it already. My big clue was the bleeding that never fully stopped (very light but lasted for a few days, tapered off, started again).


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## columbusmomma (Oct 31, 2006)

I've had 2 d&c's and 1 natural m/c. With my last d&c my symptoms faded but never completely went away before having the procedure done. I am currently having a natural m/c now. I saw the placenta and sac and am still bleeding and expelling small "pieces". Still cramping. My symptoms with this pregnancy were never "strong" from the beginning(compared to my 2 viable babes)and were almost gone before I had my first u/s at almost 8 weeks and found out only a gestational sac was present. The m/c began around 10 weeks. I will go back for a follow up u/s but am sure everything will be ok, based on what's going on with my body now Will go back next week, which will be 2 weeks after the m/c started..







to everyone going through a m/c


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## mollycce (Jul 7, 2005)

I'm not totally sure when my baby died, but he was born at 14w5d at home. He looked pretty on target for that gestation so I think he'd only died a couple of days before. My placenta didn't come out until SIX days later (I thought it had come out shortly after the baby was born--there were a lot of blood clots and they looked placenta-ish, but weren't). I did not have an ultrasound. About a week after the placenta, I took a pregnancy test and it was faintly positive and then a week after that it was negative. So, if you have no other worrisome signs of infection or anything, I, personally, would probably go with the HPT method and if they become negative, you're done. BTW, I was totally unprepared for the emotional impact of seeing the negative test. I mean, DUH, I *wanted* it to be negative, because I didn't want anything else to be retained in there causing me trouble, but seeing it was this stark reality of I'm NOT PREGNANT ANYMORE and it was horrible









I'm so sorry about your baby.


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## nony (Nov 10, 2006)

Thanks so much for your replies and I am so sorry for your losses, too.








My MW indicated that it would be normal to bleed lightly for up to two weeks, but the heavy bleeding ended very shortly (within 10 - 15 minutes) of the baby coming out and I've had light bleeding with a few small clots since (third day now). I feel fine. No fever. No cramping. Still bleeding lightly, but it's not stopping and starting up again.

One mom has recommended acupuncture for helping release any remaining tissue - has anyone heard of or pursued this?

sarahmck: I had very strong nausea from 8-ish to 11-ish weeks and my baby died about 9 weeks. I was losing symptoms about the time i entered the 2nd tri, so felt fine about that. I was starting to wonder why I wasn't gaining weight like I had for my daughter and since this was a second pregnancy, I could supposedly have started feeling "flutters" several weeks ago, which I couldn't help notice were absent. I never suspected I'd miscarry though, and kept hope until the morning I passed the baby.

enigo: Did everything pass at the same time or did you also experience a lapse between the baby passing and then the placenta or other tissue?

mollycce: The HPT is as 'accurate' as a blood draw at the hospital? I oddly still have one HPT left that I didn't need.

Thanks again for all your responses and kind words. So sorry for your losses.


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## mollycce (Jul 7, 2005)

They were accurate enough for my purposes--I had those cheapy test strips that measure an HCG level of like 20 (maybe 15), so I felt like they were sensitive enough (I actually read in a gyn textbook that for post-_abortion_ HCG checks to not use a test that detects any level below 50...). I was pretty determined to NEVER go back to the hospital for anything, though! (I went in to the ER concerned about blood loss about 5 hours post-miscarriage and was not treated helpfully, not to mention that they didn't notice the aforementioned placenta-issue and told me it had come out!)

I would wait two weeks and then take the HPT. From what you are describing about the process, I seriously doubt it would be positive by then--it sounds like your body is handling everything very well! Then, if you ovulate a week or so after that, you will definitely know without a doubt that everything is "clean."


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## Teetina (Jan 18, 2010)

I didn't have an ultrasound after my natural miscarriage at about 13 weeks. I saw the baby pass and had plenty of bleeding and clumps pass. About three hours later the placenta finally came out and within 10-15 minutes the cramps and bleeding had subsided. In the following days I only had a bit of spotting and the occasional mild cramp.

My midwife offered me an ultrasound if I wanted it but said that unless I was still bleeding or cramping that it was likely complete. I monitored my temperatures after just to make sure I wasn't getting a fever that might indicate infection.

As for sarahmck's question... I didn't notice any difference in my pregnancy symptoms in the weeks leading up to my miscarriage. The baby looked to have died about 3 weeks earlier.


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## fierrbugg (Jul 24, 2006)

My first mc was around 6 weeks. All my dr. @ the time did was give me a pelvic exam note that I was actively bleeding and decided that nothing else needed to be done.


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