QuestionSarah, I need your help.... My daughter is 26 yrs old and had 2 m/c this year. The first 5/08 at 10w6d. The last was 2/27/09 very early in pregnancy. Now she is pregnant again, not sure how far long. We have known for atleast 6 weeks. We went on 5/1/09 for ultrasound looked like possible blighted ovum, can't be sure because she has a tilted uterus so we are scheduled to go back today. I've been praying for a miracle! She never had a period after she m/c. on 2/27/09. She has no signs of m/c at this time. I have read that she might not m/c until 12 weeks, If this true she will start within the next couple of weeks. Please say a prayer that tech was wrong.. I've looked at other u/s pictures of pregnancy and they didn't look any different then my daughters. GOD Bless You and thanks for any information that you can offer....
AnswerHello Linda
My fingers are crossed & I really do hope everything is ok.
A blighted ovum is when the embryo fails to develop properly or not at all. The sac can look smaller than the dates & may look misshapen. Usually the body detects the loss of pregnancy & starts the miscarriage process, normally starting with cramps which is followed by bleeding....it's basically a form of labour as the cervix dilates & the uterus contracts.
Sometimes the body doesn't recognise that the baby has failed to thrive and the loss is discovered at the 12wk scan, this is called a 'missed miscarriage' & is possibly what you are referring to. In these circumstances a D&C is recommended.
It's difficult to estimate a due date if you have no LMP date to start from. Because of the average time from conception (assuming that you have a regular 28 day cycle) and the fact that you have known for 6wks then your daughter would be around 7wks pregnant. It's still early on in the pregnancy so it's difficult to make a prognosis, but around this time it may be possible to detect a heartbeat. Without any LMP date to go by though, I expect all they will do is monitor your daughter to check the embryos development.......I'm afraid it's very much a waiting game.
A tilted uterus means the uterus has flipped backwards so rather than the uterus leaning forward onto the top of the bladder, it lies backwards against the rectum. This may make it harder for the sonographer to see anything clearly, which means that they do have to wait until everything has grown a little bigger to see what's going on.
If it's not good news & your daughter has indeed miscarried, do take up the option of a D&C. I'm not sure how it works where you are but in the UK miscarriages are investigated after a 3rd, so a D&C allows the tissue to be sent for analysis. I know it's not a pleasant procedure, but it will help find answers.
I really hope all is ok, please do let me know how you get on.
Kindest Regards
Sarah
