Miscarriage after ectopic pregnancy

Other Pregnancy and Baby Loss
1

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping someone might have some advice for me.

I had my lovely baby girl in august 2009, after conceiving straight away.

I then had an ectopic pregnancy in November/December 2010, again after conceiving straight away. I was treated with methotrexate, but my left tube then went on to rupture so I ended up having surgery on 5 December.

We waited til May this year to try again on the advice of the doctors and were really pleased when I conceived straight away. I began to have some spotting at 5 weeks and then went on to miscarry at 6 weeks. I did have a scan but there was nothing there to see.

So we waited for a full cycle and then luckily I again went on to conceive straight away at the end of July.

I was really upset then when I had some spotting at 6 weeks. We went straight for an early scan and they saw a yolk sac and heart beat - and also what they thought was another yolk sac! But it was quite a lot smaller than the other one so told me to come back in 10 days for another scan.

When I went back they couldn’t find a heart beat and the second baby had failed to develop… But my body didn’t seem to be miscarrying naturally so I had an ERPC at the beginning of this month at about 8 weeks.

So now with three failed pregnancies… And after losing four babies I’m really beginning to wonder if I will ever carry another baby to term. Though conceiving doesn’t seem to be a problem as I have conceived first time very time.

Has anyone else had experience of multiple miscarriages between pregnancies?

Are there any tests I could ask my doctor for?

The hospital said I didn’t qualify for the recurrent miscarriage clinic as I have to have three miscarriages for that and the ectopic doesn’t count. Should we just be brave and hope the next one will work?

And are there any things I can do to help? I have a healthy diet, I’m taking a prenatal vitamin supplement, i don’t smoke, and since I fell pregnant in July I haven’t drunk any alcohol. I’m also trying to keep the caffeine levels down. Will all this help?

Sorry for the long message, but I’m hoping someone might have some advice as I can’t seem to find much elsewhere.

Thanks. X

2

Hi there

Firstly, let me say how very sorry I am for your losses. I am no stranger to miscarriage myself and have also had an ectopic pregnancy and I know how devastating losing babies was for me both before and after my ectopic pregnancy. I don’t imagine it’s any easier for you.

Unfortunately, with miscarriage there are no simple answers at this stage because it’s such a very common condition :cry: statistically, as many as one in three 1:3 pregnancies are lost in the first trimester (first 12 weeks) ending in miscarriage. That’s why they don’t investigate immediately. What’s more, even if the do investigate, and I had the lot, blood tests, immune disorder checks, genetic tests, hysteroscopy but nothing could be found and that’s the case for the majority of us who are assessed for multiple miscarriage. What I do know is, that even after many miscarriages you can still have a healthy pregnancy. I have a 12 year old to prove that - who was my 10th pregnancy the other 9 being lost to miscarriage so there’s every chance that your next pregnancy, statistically will be OK - hard to believe I know, when you have three losses to look back on but there’s every chance it’ll be OK this time around.

You are doing the right thing not drinking alcohol, you might also want to work even harder on the caffeine as it’s a known antagonist, also avoid NSAID medicines those are the over the counter anti-inflammatory medicines just stick with paracetamol if you can for any kind of pain relief. Make sure you are taking a folic acid supplement, doing a bit of gentle exercise a couple of times a week a brisk walk, a gentle swim is all that’s needed and try and walk an extra distance every day - e.g if you catch the bus get off one stop early and walk the rest of the way in to work or home and eat a nice diet of lovely balanced food with the odd treat in there so you can feel you are spoiling yourself - a chocolatey drink or a dollop of cream on a wicked pud is fine. And you know what, if you know you aren’t pregnant and you want a glass of wine, just do go for it, you have to live your life between the tough stuff.

There is nothing else anyone can do at the moment - I only wish there was - I hope that you feel you can just wait it out a little longer and then try again.

The other thing I’d say is, plan something nice, a weekend away with hubby - with little one being cared for by a grandparent perhaps or a night out with a nice meal and a bottle of wine - you need to recover from all this loss and it takes time

I hope things improve for you soon just remember, be gentle with yourself

3

Thank you so much for your reply.

It’s really nice to hear from someone who has been in the same boat, as no matter how well meaning friends are I don’t think people really understand unless they’ve been there themselves.

I saw my GP today and they are going to re-check my thyroid levels as they are really low, and also do a full blood count and chlamydia blood test, just to rule out the routine stuff.

I will also try with the caffeine, as that’s a really easy thing I can do. I am down to two cups of tea a day, but I will try and do decaff I think. And I think my toddler gives me plenty of exercise, so i’m not too worried about that. But I might try and find something I can do one evening, just for me.

Thank you again.x

4

It sounds like you have a lifestyle all in control :smiley: keep in touch, we are here for you whenever you need us