Miscarriage at 9 weeks - waiting it out vs. D&C

[Anonymous]

Went in yesterday at 10 weeks but baby had no heartbeat and was measuring only 9 weeks. Doc says to come back in a week to confirm but it seems almost certain that I've had a MC. Doc has said its totally my option about whether to wait it out or have a D&C. I'm really not that upset about the MC because I have one healthy kid and got pregnant almost immediately both times, though I'm obviously disappointed. My inclination is to wait it out rather than have the D&C because I am concerned about possible scarring. But I am getting the sense that most people choose the D&C.

So, has anyone waited it out? If so, how long did it take to pass and how painful/messy was it? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

1st - I am sorry to hear about your MC. It appears that you have already come to terms with it - but hugs anyway.

To respond to your question, I was in a similar situation and decided to wait it out. In retrospect, I wish I did not. For me, I had limited spotting for 3 weeks. Then, I started having bleeding over night and woke up to an incredible amount of blood (ruined mattress) . I was right on the boarder of amount of blood soaking a pad and size of clots and by the time I spoke with a nurse things had slowed down so I did not go into the hospital. I wound up not passing everything naturally and having to have a D&C anyway 4 weeks after the M/C was initially diagnosed.

Note - I have had 3 healthy pregnancies since the D&C.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry for your loss. I miscarried around that same time with my first pregnancy, also right around the holidays. I decided to go ahead with a D&C, which we did two days later. I wish I would have waited a week or so, but am still glad I did the D&C. I needed to get back to work and I didn't want to start miscarrying on my own while at the office. Going the D&C route gave me a little more control over a situation where I felt that I otherwise had none.

Best wishes to you.

[Anonymous]

With my first MC the embryo stopped growing at 6 weeks. I didn't find out until I had an ultrasound at 11 weeks... who knows how much longer i would have walked around not knowing if i didn't have the u/s.
I chose the pills that time.
Second and third I did D&C and it was so much better, recovery was faster...

so sorry for your loss.

[Anonymous]

I m/c at 6 weeks, spontaneously, but ended up in the ER anyway with severe cramping and pain and a lot of blood. Since I hadn't yet had an u/s, they wanted to make sure it wasn't ectopic. Anyway, if it happened to me again, I'd do the D/C.

I'm very sorry and hoping you get through it okay and wish you luck in having another healthy pregnancy.

[Anonymous]

OP here - thanks for the responses so far, very helpful. This is all making me lean towards getting the D&C. I hate the idea of really messy and painful process especially since I'm working right now and it would be unrpedictable. The doc said it should be just like a heavy period but it sounds like it is often more than that.

DCUM is such a good resource (when you can avoid the snark!). Thanks, ladies.

[Anonymous]

I waited and it took about 4 weeks before it happened. I had some warning before the blood, so I always had a pad. The bleeding was about as heavy as a "heavy" period, but it lasted several days. The pain (intense cramping) was bad for about 4 hours. I had no complications.

Looking back, I would have had the D&C or the pill after waiting about a week to see if it happened naturally. I hated waiting for over month before my body expelled. It delayed me being able to recover and start trying again and it was just an odd feeling knowing what was in my uterus. If it happens to me again (I am on week 7), I would wait a week or so and if I don't naturally miscarry and then seek treatment.

[Anonymous]

I too am sorry for your loss, but give you credit for a great attitude. I have had three MCs. Two very fast and I pass everything within a few days, but still needed to stay home from work with the pain, etc. The third one took over a month to resolve and in retrospective I wish I had had an D&C -- quicker and on to recovery faster. Hope this all helps.

[Anonymous]

I'm very sorry for your loss, OP. I had a D&C at 10 weeks (the baby measured 8 weeks at the time.) It worked out very well for me. I had some heavy bleeding beforehand. After the D&C I had no pain and light spotting for a week. I was worried about being groggy from the sedation, but I was only minimally not as sharp the same day (alert within 20 minutes), and I had no other effects.

[Anonymous]

First - I am so sorry for your situation. Unfortunately I have had three miscarriages - one natural, and 2 D&Cs. The pregnancies that resulted in D&Cs were much further along (12 weeks) and the doctor did not give me the option of waiting it out. FWIW, I much preferred the D&Cs to the "natural" option. I think I was able to start the grief, recovery and healing process much sooner than with the one where I didn't have the D&C.

[Anonymous]

i;m so very sorry for your loss. for me, D&C was better since i could, as 12:31 said start to grieve and recover sooner. again, my heart aches for you.

[Anonymous]

OP I am very sorry for your loss. The same thing happened to me a month ago, and I posted with a similar question on the Expectant Moms forum. Here is that thread:
http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/139541.page#1223462

I decided to do the pills for very specific reasons It worked out fine for me because my pain was minimal (you'll see that several posters experienced a lot of pain - it appears I was lucky in that respect) and my job allowed me to work at home so I didn't have to deal with the bleeding in the office or during a commute. In other circumstances I might have opted for the d&c.

Best wishes OP. I found a lot of the responses from posters stating they went on to have a healthy pregnancy and baby very reassuring.

[Anonymous]

OP again - thanks again for all the helpful responses, especially 23:45 who pointed me to that other thread. My doctor did not mention Cytotec but I will ask about it before I decide for sure on the D&C. They wanted me to wait a week to confirm no heartbeat again. Perhaps because I was 10 weeks and measuring 9, so the baby's growth was not that far behind schedule? Not entirely sure. I have a D&C scheduled for Tuesday of next week, the day after my follow up to confirm no heartbeat. I like the idea of letting it pass on its own but will not wait forever to do that because I just want to move on and try again to get pregnant.

Again, thanks everyone for the kind words and the good information. It makes me feel better to know how many people have gone through this and gone on to have healthy pregnancies. FWIW to any others TTC reading this thread, I can also list about 6 friends who have had MCs and gone on to have healthy pregnancies. I think that and the fact that my first pregnancy was totally normal are keeping me from being too upset about this. I really think it is just par for the course when trying to have a baby, though I do understand how devastating it can be, especially if you have multiple MCs or have one in your first pregnancy.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it's good to hear stories of people getting pregnant after miscarriages. I had one (also no heartbeat was heard at 9 weeks), then went through D&C (the pathologist concluded that the fetus had no chromosomal abnormalities), but haven't been able to get pregnant evern since (2 years and counting). Loosing hope at this point.

[Anonymous]

I have has 3 M/c and had D&C all three times (10-12 weeks). I strongly suggest it for the reasons other stated, plus the fact that you can at least try to have the tissue tested to see if there was a chromosonal abnormnality. They found one in all three cases (different ones), and it really helped me to have found out what happened.