Pregnancy after miscarriage

[KirstyD]

Hi everyone, new to this site. I had my LMP on 22nd April and became pregnant with my second baby after being off the pill for a year. On the 1st of June (5 w 5 d pregnant) I began to bleed with severe pain and after 3 trips to the hospital over the next 3 days for scans, examinations and blood tests, the hospital told me that my blood count had decreased dramatically which meant the 'pregnancy was not viable'. And that was it. I haven't had any follow up or been given any advice so have been looking on the internet (miscarriage association etc) for help. I just wondered if anyone had been through it and if so had any advice. Do you start ovulating again straightaway? Or do your cycles take time to get back to 'normal'? Physically I felt back to 'normal' again quite quickly (e.g. not pregnant anymore ) and bled for about a week after but I have found it emotionally really difficult and as I am 40 now I don't want to hang about and miss my chance. Thanks for reading. K x

[Greenbean]

Hi Kirsty. Really sorry to hear about your miscarriage. I miscarried at Xmas this year and after bleeding heavily for a week I also felt physically normal. The midwife told me that you need to wait for your next period before you start trying again, both to give your body a rest and also so that you can accurately measure when your due date is. Personally I wasn't ready to start trying for another three or four months but everyone is different and some women feel that getting pregnant straight away is the best way to move forward. My first period was a little late but only a week or so. But apparently you are also more fertile at this time. I hope that this helps a little and you start feeling better soon.

[Hidden]

Hi Kirsty, sorry for your loss. I had a miscarriage at 5 weeks on 18th may, my gp told me that as it was so early there wouldn't be anything to see on a scan and that anything that was there would pass naturally. He also told me to treat it like a normal period and if we felt ready to try again straight away, I've also heard you are more fertile after a m/c too. Hope this helps & good luck xx

[DuoFertilitygirl]

Hi Kirsty am sorry you lost your baby . I am 42 and had been trying for a baby for over 4 years when I for pregnant in February but I had a miscarriage at 11 weeks.

I was really upset because we have waited such a long time, we have a 9 year old daughter but I haven't given up.

[wsbn]

hi kristy.sorry for ur loss.last year in june i had miscarriage at 5 weeks and next month in july i was pregnant again but again i had miscarriage at 10 weeks .i started brown discarge.my GP refer me for emergency scan and sonographer told me i have a sac but there is no baby inside.it was natural miscarriage.then i decided that i will give a gap for atleast 6 months then i will try.after 6 months i was pregnant and i had miscarriage again at 5 weeks.according to my opinion donot wait too long,just try and pray pray pray....i had miscarriage in ist week of june and this time i will not wait.

[KirstyD]

Thank you everyone for your replies, you've all been really helpful x

[rmh2012]

Hi K,

I am very sorry for your loss.

At the age of 40, I miscarried at 12 weeks. It was a 'missed miscarriage', which meant that there were no symptoms of loss until tiny spotting appeared at 16 weeks. The doctor who I dealt with provided me with compassionate and practical advice.

Ovulation begins 2 weeks after the miscarriage, so it's possible to fall pregnant again straight away. The specialist advised that while falling pregnant immediately is possible, he found it advisable to wait a few months to allow emotional and physical recovery. He suggested that many women who've miscarried (even at my age) go on to have a normal, healthy pregnancy. He did say that if I did have two or three repeat miscarriages, that I should consider my emotional health before deciding to continue trying - he definitely wasn't suggesting to stop trying, just to be sure that trying was not at the cost of my emotional health.

I personally found it extremely difficult to move through the loss, and also found that my husband (despite being lovely and supportive) didn't quite understand how much the loss affected me. I think having to articulate what I was feeling to my husband was both confronting and healing for me, and allowed him to understand it from my perspective.

There are lots of resources available if you know where to find them. My local NHS trust has a service which deals with pregnancy and family planning matters, and so have reading material which they posted to me (and counselling available if required). Your GP should be able to point you in the right direction, but if you aren't comfortable having that discussion with your GP, my local service accepted self referrals. There's also a book called A Silent Love by Adrienne Ryan, which is a collection of short stories about different experiences of miscarriage and neonatal loss - definitely worth a read.

So, while you are good to start trying again straight away, you should perhaps give yourself a small window where you are just kind to yourself and allow yourself to grieve for your loss.

In my case, I fell pregnant three months later (2nd month that we tried), and am now approaching the 20 week scan, with everything on track at this point. I found it difficult to relax and enjoy the early part of the pregnancy, but am relaxing now as movement is becoming more obvious.

I do wish you all the best. R x