Miscarriage clinic

[Orla9298]

Hi all,

I have my appointment tomorrow morning at the recurrent miscarriage clinic. I know I’m lucky to have been referred after only two losses, and early ones at that.

I’m wondering what I should ask about or push for - other than whatever they will do as standard. My only female cousin on my mums side couldn’t maintain pregnancy due to low progesterone and my only female cousin on my dads side couldn’t conceive until multiple ivfs due to her having Turner syndrome. I have Hashimotos and take thyroxine.

Just wondering if anyone has any ideas! xx

[Hidden]

I am so sorry to hear of your losses- them being early does not make it less painful. It was still “what could’ve been”. The grief is still valid.

I had one last year very early and I am still devastated now over the loss.

In terms of testing- perhaps a hysteroscopy and laparoscopy might be a good way forward- to have a close and efficient look both inside and outside the uterus to see if there are any abnormalities that might be causing the losses that can be fixed 😊

My fertility doctor has recommended I take progesterone pessaries during the first three months of a pregnancy ( no IVF) I do have endometriosis. Perhaps your fertility/ mc consultant could recommend you take progesterone pessaries from positive pregnancy test- GPs don’t normally prescribe them routinely.

Worth having vitamin D looked at as that can cause miscarriages. I think some ladies have had tested positive for lupus- definitely worth looking into.

Hopefully the other ladies here can advise more tests.

Good luck for tomorrow hope if goes well xoxo

[Orla9298 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you, ahhh yes I did think of lupus which I forgot about! I am suspicious of my progesterone as during ivf I bled 4 days before OTD even taking 3 pessaries per day instead of 2. But two GPs at my surgery point blank refused To test it after my BFP.

I know, a loss is still a loss, my Mother in law and sister in law both keep saying it wasn’t really a pregnancy as “back in the day you would have just seen it as a late period as we didn’t have the sensitive tests” but testing positive for 10 days to me is pregnant. It really upsets me when they dismiss my pregnancies as not real.

Thank you for your reply xx

[Hidden in reply to Orla9298]

But the point is you did know. My mum has also said that - she is anti early pregnancy tests. I think they believe it’ll make it hurt less - but it doesn’t. I’m sure it’s done with good intentions 🤷🏼‍♀️

Hun I found out I was pregnant and the next day I started bleeding it seemed so cruel. Pregnant for a day 💔😭

I plan to plant a tree a tree or something on our due date- this was hubbys idea. I was feeling sad because I hoped by my due date I’d be pregnant again but that isn’t happening. Trying is on hold till my surgery next month. Looks like my endo might have returned 🙄

Definitely push for a laparoscopy & hysteroscopy- if for nothing else than to reassure you everything is normal 😘

I really hope your appointment goes well and you get answers for the losses. xoxo

[Lizzielizzielizzie in reply to Orla9298]

I totally disagree with your Mum here- both factually and emotionally. Both times that I have been pregnant I have known before I missed my period because I felt different- I felt pregnant! So even without a test I would have known it was a miscarriage not a late period.

For me it is helpful to think I lost a pregnancy each time rather than losing a baby- both my miscarriages were quite early (6 weeks and 7.5 weeks) and I personally didn’t feel like they were really “babies” yet... but that’s my own thoughts. You are entitled to feel however you feel about your losses. No matter what, it’s a big loss of hopes and dreams each time.

It sounds like it’s not helpful to talk to those family members about it. Thank goodness the medical profession seem to be taking you seriously though x

[Caroliono4]

Hi Orla I'm sorry to hear of your two miscarriages. The Miscarriage Association has a list of the standard tests that you should be offered, ranging from blood tests to internal scans etc. They will want to take your full medical history, family history and details of what stage of development the mcs occurred. Tommys website is also a very useful resource. If you do ever suffer a further miscarriage you should also be offered karyotyping to identify whether it was due to chromosomal damage. I do hope they will be able to provide some answers for you x x

[Orla9298 in reply to Caroliono4]

Thank you for your helpful reply. I was hoping they might do the karyotyping due to my cousins history of a genetic problem but I don’t know what karyotyping actually looks for xx

[Lizzielizzielizzie in reply to Orla9298]

Karotyping checks whether you and your husband have the correct number of chromosomes and that they haven’t got mixed up (a translocation). Definitely push for this... it’s rare but when you find it, it explains a lot! Also, if they did find anything they would explain it to you xx

[Orla9298 in reply to Lizzielizzielizzie]

My cousins condition means she is missing an x chromosome!

[Lizzielizzielizzie in reply to Orla9298]

Yes I know someone with this syndrome x

[Lizzielizzielizzie in reply to Lizzielizzielizzie]

Oh but to clarify, the karotyping the lady above suggests is on the remains of a miscarriage, so on the foetus. But you can have it done as blood tests on the parents too if you can persuade them to test you, and that’s what I’m talking about x

[Caroliono4 in reply to Orla9298]

When we had our mc they examined the pairs of chromosomes to look for abnormalities. Ours identified Trisomy 22 which is usually a random occurrence rather than inherited (most likely due to my age). After this they tested both myself and husband for a Robertsonian translocation to ascertain if we had an underlying problem with our chromosomes (we didn't). if an underlying chromosome problem is found then they should offer genetic counselling to advise the best measures to follow next time around.

[Lizzielizzielizzie in reply to Caroliono4]

Also if there’s an underlying genetic or chromosome problem you might find you’re eligible for different funding for ivf- that’s what happened to us even though we had already used the only free icsi round available to us in our ccg.

[Tugsgirl in reply to Lizzielizzielizzie]

I was very disappointed in my appointment with my miscarriage clinic. Other than all the standard tests, which I’d already had, they weren’t prepared to do anything else, no Kartotyping and no nk cell testing. I hope you have better luck with your appointment xx

[Orla9298 in reply to Tugsgirl]

I just had all the basic bloods today, and go back in 6 weeks to see a consultant to go over them. Not expecting anything special, but at least I can take all the results to my ivf clinic. Think I’m going to do the ERA and Nk test after we do the 3 collections, before we do any transfers xx

[TTCs]

Hi Orla9298, im sorry to hear of your miscarriages and have no advice but wanted ti wish u all the best for ur apt. Hope u get some answers xx

[Aleelilook]

Orla I’m so sorry for your loses. You mother in law and sister in law sound down right insensitive. I lost our baby at 8 weeks, and it broke mine and my husbands hearts. They’re most likely just wanting you to feel better, as it makes people feel uncomfortable, but like Lizzie said I’d probably give them a wide berth for a while!

On the progesterone note I don’t absorb it very well, I too had breakthrough bleeding during the first week of the 2ww during IVF and despite taking 4 cyclogest it was really low, so now I have the progesterone injections and a cyclogest. You can have this test done privately and it’s a cheap one! Perhaps ask them to refer you for that.

Good luck and hope you find some answers xxx