QuestionI'm 27, have one 3 year old. The first day of my lmp was 9/13/04. My 1st pregnancy was successful, I had no complications and deliverd a 9lb 7.6oz son July '01. My 2nd pregnancy ended in miscarriage on 4/16/04, at my 12wk appointment no heart beat was found, a vaginal ultra sound showed an empty gestational sac, I then had a D&C. I had no signs of miscarriage, no bleeding or cramping.
I waited 2 cycles before trying again and found out I was pregnant again 10/13/04. I began spotting 10/18 my HCG levels were checked 10/19 & 10/21, I don't know the exact levels but my doctor said it did rise by a little more than 1/3 he said it was lower than expected and suspected I wasn't as far along as they thought. Due to my first miscarriage an ultrasound was done 10/27 to ease my worries. The ultra sound showed everything was fine, heart rate was 111 it showed I was 5wks 6 days. Some blood was showing on the ultrasound and was told it was normal & that I may continue to spot, which I did. My spottin was only when I wiped, never enough to show on a pad. On 10/30 I woke up with diarrhea & cramps and was told to take an anti-diarrhea medication the cramping may have been because of the diarrhea. About 13 hours later heavy bleeding began, not enough to cover a pad in 2 hours time. I went to the ER, had a pelvic exam & was told my cervix was normal. I had an ultra sound which showed no heart beat and that things had shifted downward, a miscarriage was occuring. The bleeding had increased. I opted to have a D&C instead of letting it pass.
My questions: Should I have let it pass on it's own, is it better for my body to do this, better for additional pregnancies? Can a D&C be harmful?
How can an ultrasound show things are fine & 3 days later it isn't? I was told that the 6wk ultra sound was to comfort me, ease my worries that things are going fine. If I become pregnant again what other things can comfort me since the ultra sound won't work for me next time after this experience?
What sort of things can I ask my doctor to check into to prevent another miscarriage or to see why this happened?
I have a lot of confidence in my doctor but would like to go to my appointment well equipped with questions and knowledge about why this could have happened & anything that can be done to help in preventing myself from going through this again.
Thank you
AnswerMiscarriages occur in 15-20% of every pregnancy. There is nothing you can do to cause a miscarriage and there is nothing you can do to prevent a miscarriage. Even though it appeared as if all was well three days prior to your miscarriage, there was no way to predict that you were going to miscarry. There is also no way to know if you will miscarry in your next pregnancy, or not. If you are not bleeding too much, you can wait and let nature take its course. You can take some pills that will contract the uterus and the uterus will expell all the products of conception on its own over the next few weeks. However, it is easier and quicker to have the D&C and immediately evacuate the uterine contents. YOu will feel better, quicker. A D&C will not cause you any problems in the future. A sonogram can only reassure you that all is well AT THE TIME OF THE SONOGRAM. A sonogram does not have any predictive value. I would suggest that you have the D&C.
