Brave Ladies, Please Tell Me About Your Miscarriage

So sorry for your loss. I have had 3 miscarriages, the first one was absolutely devastating. I found out I was pregnant at age 40, we had been trying for a year or so and we were overjoyed. It was Christmas, so of course we told everyone. What better present than a new baby for Christmas! I went in for my first appointment at 8 weeks, right after the holidays. No heartbeat. It was completely unexpected – I had read no threads like this, had no idea how common it was. I opted for the D&C, it was emotionally painful, but not terribly physically painful. Genetic testing on the remains revealed a triploidy – two sperm, one egg. The doctor said the miscarriage was unrelated to my age.

I got pregnant again almost immediately and lost that one nearly as quickly. I had another miscarriage about a year later, also very very early. Both natural miscarriages were very uncomfortable, I would have opted for D&Cs if possible. It was not possible to test the remains in either case, so both losses are a sad mystery. I grieved, especially for the third one, but not nearly with the depths of grief of the first.

After another year, at age 42, my husband and I came to terms that a baby wasn’t going to happen for us. We bought a great house in a crappy school district and set about designing the amazing home office of our dreams. And then surprise, a positive pregnancy test in April. When I went for an early doctor visit, my hormone levels weren’t rising appropriately (should double in 48 hours) and I was advised that the pregnancy would likely not continue. But…we saw a heartbeat at 6 weeks. Had genetic testing at 11 weeks – great results. Every doctor’s check-up was stressful, but Ethan was born healthy and perfect. The home office is still not complete, but we have to move to a better school district anyway.

I do still think of that first little one. My due date was August, that baby (a boy) would be 4.

Keep us posted,** Spice Weasel**. We’re pulling for you.

I’m so sorry, again. May this be as easy as possible on you, physically and emotionally.

I heartily second MandaJo’s comments. Either option is medically sound and the end result is the same. Don’t beat yourself up about making the “right” choice.

I am lucky that I’m generally pretty stable emotionally, but for a couple of months after the miscarriage I was a mess. Sudden bouts of crying were common. I’d even wake up in the middle of the night just to cry. I also developed an irrational hatred of pregnant women. I wanted them to know my suffering, which is horrible but it was my true reaction at the time. I say this so you won’t think that your impulsive, irrational thoughts are all due to underlying mental health issues. Miscarriage causes irrationality in the most stable of women. It’s part of the grieving and healing process.

My own experience was that I had to go through labor & delivery because I was too far along and the doctor said it was safer that way. I would have much preferred to be out cold. The process took about two days, much of which was with serious physical pain, much more than I had with my two live births. For me, I think it made the emotional trauma much worse. Obviously YMMV.

Thanks.

I am not depressed today so I take that as a victory! I am however crying nonstop and drowning in grief. I managed to call the pharmacy to get my medications arranged so that we have them tonight, so that I don’t have to worry about getting them after the procedure. The other things on my ‘‘to do list’’ not so much. I still have to go over the procedure preparation stuff they sent me home with in pre-op registration. I’m not sure why I thought we could make this anything close to a normal week. That seems very naive in retrospect.

I’ve been spending my time listening to sad songs on YouTube. Oh, look, here’s one now. (Honestly that song is so sad I don’t even know if I can subject my husband to it.) For the record, most songs about miscarriage are either super religious or terrible musically. This one’s so good that I actually think I discovered a new artist I like.

Spice, I am so very sorry for your loss. I’ve been tiptoeing around this thread because I knew it would make me cry, and it has.

I know how much you wanted this baby and I’m just heartbroken for you and your family. I hope that the rest of this will go easy for you and that you have a lot of in-person support. I already know you have a TON of virtual support here at the Dope.

My thoughts are with you, hoping to ease your pain.

When I saw the original thread was closed, I was afraid this was the reason. I’m so sorry.

Also, I’m impressed you are handling this well enough to make a “X things you didn’t know about having a miscarriage” article.

My wife had 4 miscarriages and yes, I also felt the loss each time.

The worse was when she was at 6 months and she had to do a normal delivery. It was sad because she was on the maternity ward for this but they put a picture of a dark flower on our door to make sure staff knew the difference. I’ll never forget that flower.

She had the baby and we got to say our goodbye. We named him and have his tiny footprints up on our wall. Later after an autopsy where the corner was unable to find a cause of death, we had the remains cremated and held a funeral. The ashes are sprinkled in with his ancestors and we have a marker at the site. I know they will take care of him until we can all be together in heaven.

One thing, after this the next time my wife got pregnant she had to go in every week for blood tests and they kept a close eye on several issues which later lead to a successful baby boy who is 12 now.

I think what bugs me is how on tv they make having a baby look so easy when in truth this happens more than we like to think. Maybe this sets us up for unrealistic expectations?

I realize my approval is as important as a bird’s shit, but I’m glad you will. My mother was offered a D&C-like procedure at one point but, because it had previously been offered under circumstances that would have meant me not being here (did I ever say that ObGyn was an ass?), she refused. It took years for things to clear up by themselves, which is why I’m so much older than my brothers. A D&C means that once you’re emotionally ready to try again (if ever), you don’t have to worry about whether it is physically feasible.

I’m really sorry for you…but my prayers are with you! Though i haven’t had any sort of experience, as a mom i can feel the pain you are going through right now and while making this post. May your family recover soon.

The night before the D&C was a fucking nightmare. I started to bleed more heavily late that night and I freaked out and texted the doctor around midnight. I don’t know why deciding between the D&C and a natural miscarriage was such torment for me, it just was. I told Dom it was driving me crazy and I didn’t trust my own judgment and he said, ''It’s okay. If you feel like you can’t handle it, just trust me and the doctor. You texted the doctor, she will probably respond tomorrow morning. Unless she recommends otherwise we will go ahead and do the procedure tomorrow." This helped me to release some of the anxiety, knowing I didn’t have to depend on my own stupid brain to get me through this.

I spent most of the night crying and texting my Mom, I got maybe two hours of sleep. Didn’t want to get up and go, didn’t want to do much of anything but lie in the darkness forever. By the time we got to the hospital I was a fucking wreck.

Then, somehow, it all started to turn around. I owe everything that day to the outstanding kindness and care I received from every single staff member at that hospital. The nurses in particular were so kind, almost every single one of them told us they were so sorry for what we were going through. Many of them said they had been through it themselves and assured me that I would get through it. But even the OR team was wonderful, I was really relaxed until they moved me to OR, then I started to get really nervous (because surgery), my OBGYN could sense my anxiety and told me to just breathe deeply and rest assured they were going to take really good care of me. And they did.

As soon as I woke up in the first recovery room I started crying. The nurse assured me that this was normal for what I was going through and there was nothing wrong with me. I told her it was the worst day of my life, and she promised me it would get better. We talked about different things, life and art, and before they sent me into recovery 2 I overheard her telling the staff there that I was having a really hard time. At that point I had pretty severe nausea and the nurse in Recovery 2 (where I could have privacy and be with Dom) made it her mission to get me to start feeling better before I left. It took a little longer than planned, but she didn’t let me out that door until I was no longer feeling nauseated.

My husband was also super duper amazing. He never left my side, just kept holding my hand and rubbing and my feet and kissing my head and telling me everything was going to be okay. I told him I didn’t understand how he could make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world on the worst day of my life. I am in awe of that man. When Sr. Weasel went to get the car the nurse asked me how long we’d been married. I told her 8 years and she said she thought we were newlyweds. We thanked her personally and she said it was her honor to help such lovely people going through such a difficult time.

Anyway, I left the hospital yesterday feeling a sense of peace and hope I never thought I would be able to find. It really changed my view of this whole experience. I’m still trying to process it all, I just know that I was bursting with gratitude for pretty much the entire rest of the day.

Today the anesthetic has worn off so I am more clear-headed. The pain is minimal enough that I don’t need pain meds at this time. I’m not even really bleeding. My only real complaint is a sore back from all the weird ways I was laying and sitting yesterday. There is still sadness in me. But for the first time, there is more than sadness. There is also gratitude, and hope, and love, and something like faith that we will get through this.

Hey Spice, that’s really good to hear. Take good care of yourself.

Oh Spice Weasel, I’m so glad to hear that. I’m so glad that you have your amazing husband with you. We’re all cheering for you.

I’m so sorry. Please take good care of yourself. I’m glad you have such a supportive husband.

So glad that you have such an amazing husband, and so glad you were cared for by such kind people. I hope all the soreness fades quickly and that you feel whole and strong again soonest.

I’ve been lurking this thread, and I just wanted to say thank you for the update. Near and far, you have a strong support system.

You and your husband take care of yourselves.

Oh sweetie, I just caught up with this, and I’m crying for you. I’m so glad the hospital staff were great, though. I had a very, very similar experience, (right down to the dark humor*), but I opted for the misoprostol, and honestly I think it would have been better to have the D&C. Be prepared for your depression to be an utter bitch as the emotional toll combines with the hormone swing - it sounds like you have good support on that, so I think you will weather it.

Also, in case you’re not up for reading the linked story - TL;DR is I got knocked up again within a few months and I have this incredibly awesome kid who would not have existed without that miscarriage, so although I grieved terribly at the time, I really feel OK about it now.

*the misoprostol came in pills that had to be inserted vaginally, but it’s primarily an ulcer drug. So the bottle had a label that said, “Take with food,” and a drawing of a big ol’ club sandwich. So I wound up giggling as I imagined having to jam a sandwich up my nethers in addition to all the other crap I was going through.

I really appreciate you sharing your story, because I do find some measure of comfort from it. The day I found out the baby died I was sure I never wanted to try again, but today I crawled back to my fertility tracker, recorded the miscarriage, and thought about what’s next.

This was definitely a ‘‘baby’’ to me, but I honestly can’t fathom how anyone could compare a loss like this to the loss of a living child. I did not know anything about my child, not even its sex, and one thought that has haunted me is if the depth of grief is so profound for someone who you don’t even know, imagine the absolute agony of losing a child you do know. I’ve been really struggling with the revelation that parenting is such a courageous choice because ultimately you have no ability to always 100% guarantee that your child is safe. This is terrifying!

That said, I’m beginning to believe there is a way beyond this. I am starting to feel hopeful about another pregnancy with a happier ending. I’m not anywhere near ‘‘over’’ this but today was the first day where I could imagine a time that I might be.

Although there was a lot you didn’t know about your child, you knew all of your hopes and dreams for him or her. You knew all of the wonderful potentials. You, in a way, lost both a son and a daughter. And you don’t have as many solid things to hold on to.

So, while I’m not going to compare one loss to another, or the way one person feels versus the way another would feel, I wouldn’t downplay your loss. So much grief is about the loss of the future we envision.