Navigating Pregnancy After a Pregnancy Loss: A Personal Story

Question
I am 36 years old and on 29 Mar 2006, I was induced to deliver my daughter (18weeks) because there was no heartbeat.  The cord had wrapped around her neck 4 times.  I was unable to deliver the placenta, so had a D&C a few hours after the delivery.  I bled for 5 days after the d&C, then nothing for 5 days, then again bled for 5 days. The end of april I expected to get my period - felt PMS symptoms.  Nothing happened, so over that week after that I took 6 pregnancy tests.  The first three were negative, and the next three were positive. (all done on different days)  I know there is a possiblity to have HCG levels for a long time after a loss (I don't really consider it a miscarriage, and she was too young to be medically considered a stillborn).  I have had 2 previous m/c and three healthy children.  I have two blood clotting disorders (Leiden V, and MTHFR), with a history of 5 clots.  I was put on coumadin after the loss, but stopped taking it and went to Lovenox for fears of getting pregnant and being on coumadin.  My doctor did not do any HCG levels after my D&C - so I don't know if there were any left.  I did lactate about a week after the delivery.  Is there anyway to be sure if this is residual hormones?

Answer
The loss you had at 18 weeks is actually termed a "fetal demise" and had to be evacuated from your uterus to avoid blood dyscrasias  and sequestration of blood clooting factors if it was left in-utero. I would suggest that you get two blood tests for pregnancy (Beta HCG) 48 hours apart. If there is a doubling of the results in 48 hours, it indicates a new, viable pregnancy. If there is a halving if the results in 48 hours, it may merely be a residual of the fetal demise (which can remain for 10-12 weeks).