DeannaGood news!
Yesterday, while having yet another cervical biopsy (yes, I’ve had cervical dysplasia since January, but it has not progressed very far and is nowhere near cancer yet) I told my OB/Gyn about the book. He has known about my miscarriage web site for a long time and often answers questions totally unrelated to my own health when I need information. He is very excited about the book and will read it for me! So I will have an MD on board! My own no less! I think it’s a great idea to have the other side of my own story right there. He’s a great doctor and has been voted best OB/Gyn in Austin for several years running. I’m thrilled! (Let’s all cross our fingers that when I ask him to write the preface he’ll also say yes!)
I was lucky to have a doctor who was proactive on testing when I needed it (although I could do without going in every two months right now, but he says, let’s be safe as cervical cancer can blossom so fast…sigh, okay.)
But after my first loss of Casey, despite vials of blood, scrapes of my cervix, and failed genetic testing on the baby, he couldn’t find anything wrong with me that would have caused a 20 week old baby to die in utero. I had to go into my next pregnancy without any answers. Blind faith.
After the Triple Screen (AFP) test was abnormal with Emily, however, we had to see a specialist. And once we did that Level II sonogram, things changed–I had a diagnosis!After she was born, I had the HSG test and more sonograms to map my misshapen uterus. During the surgery I had many incisions in my belly as well as scopes up through the cervix. I was lasered, cut, and scraped, trying to make my body more amenable to pregnancy. My miscarriage risk was reduced significantly, and hopefully the chance of late term losses were eliminated all together.
Some women get the run around, especially after an early first loss which is assumed to be genetic. No testing at all. Others test on and on and on, finally resorting to sending blood to some of the major clinics specializing in recurrent loss.
How did it happen for you? Did you get any testing done? If not, was it upsetting? If so, did it help you?
I did not have any testing. I was told I had to wait until three consecutive losses before that would be done (sigh). Thankfully I only had one early loss. I had asked about progesterone supplements, I wanted to have something done. I didn’t know much about them and wanted information but the nurse practitioner told me that they wouldn’t do any good. I felt like she treated me like an idiot who wouldn’t understand. So humiliating.
Even getting an appointment with the dr. isn’t typically done until 10 weeks. She was “doing me a favor” by getting me in at 6 weeks because she saw me as this hysterical emotional annoyance. Thanks a lot. I just wanted to be treated with compassion.
My first loss was chalked up to bad luck…these things happen. After my second loss I asked about testing and was provided some basic testing via bloodwork. My results came back all normal. I was surprised by my dissappointment. I wanted something to be wrong so that it could be fixed. I, too, had to rely on blind faith.
I was put on progesterone supplements and baby aspirin as a precautionary.
During my later pregnancies my OB was wonderful. His wife had 4 miscarriages and he told me he’d never deny me an ultrasound and I got to come in for them weekly until I was more confident. I love that man!
My husband and I had been trying for 3 1/2 years. During that time we found out that I had severe endometriosis that couldn’t be removed. I had to go on a nice 9 month treatment of Lupron. After Lupron and finally getting a cycle I got pregnant. We so thought that our miracle was here. At 8 weeks we lost our baby to heaven. It about killed us. The only real reason is that my body just wasn’t ready yet after Lupron. We can only hope that next time my body will be doing just fine and we will get to keep our baby for Earth and not Heaven.
With my first loss no testing was done. I got the regular “it happens” “no known cause” “1 in 4 ends this way” speech. But after my second loss, I did receive testing due to my age (turned 43 the day before the loss was confirmed). So we went through all the testing for me, and for the poc. There was nothing wrong with me apparently, but the baby had a trisomy 16. I understand that it is the most common reason for genetic m/c. The genetic specialist still labeled it as bad luck and urged us to keep trying. He said he still put my chances at 1 in 4. Well, I never even got pg again, but they still say there’s nothing wrong. So all the testing did was give us an answer for the second m/c, not the first. Nor did it give us a reason why I never got pg again. (Maybe that’s just old age.) We also did find out that our second was a boy. Did it help us? Not really, and my husband is too scared to try again.
First loss was ignored by my ob. I have moved around and have had a different ob for every single baby. My second loss, the ob demanded (actually called the insurance company) the testing. There was no guarantee we’d qualify for testing as I didn’t have the miscarriages in a row. The doctor who did the d&e ordered the testing (different ob than mine). We literally fit in the “poor” category, and I was quite afraid that insurance would not cover the testing. Eventually, I called the company myself and found out we qualified as recurrent, and could breathe more easily. The testing did one thing for me, at 16 weeks, after the d&e it was impossible to tell the sex. The test came back with no known disorders (and pathology showed a perfect baby). The test did show the baby was a boy. Knowing this meant the world to me. Not knowing why was so very hard. It’s not so hard now that I have a baby born after that made it. My 3rd loss was so early, no testing was done on tissue. I chalk it up to a thin lining or hormone issues as I had that d&e after 17 weeks.
I begged for testing of “the tissue” from my D&C (how I despise that description) and they did it, but the results came back as being placental tissue that was sent in error (normal female karotype). I still think it may have just been a healthy baby girl, but they assume that can’t be possible so they say it is my own tissue instead.
I am so glad to hear that you have found an ob-gyn like yours in Austin. My husband and I just went through a miscarriage … I found out there was no heartbeat at 8 1/2 weeks when I went in for a regular appointment… and am searching for a new ob-gyn.
If you don’t mind, could you please send me your doc’s contact info to my email?
And thanks for writing this book – I can’t wait to read it!
Warmly,
Kristi
I’ve had 2 early losses and am very upset at the lack of compassion that my OB’s office has shown. The nurse practitioner said, when I called after the second one, “I don’t think you’re pregnant.” To which I responded, “Clearly…”
Anyone know a sensitive and capable doctor in SF?
I didn’t even realize I lost a first pregnancy until my OB sat down and talked to me about my second loss. I started what I thought was my period 5 days early…it stopped but I still had cramps and bloating. 5 days later, I took a home pregnancy test…it was so faint, I thought I was seeing what I wanted to see…hours later, what I thought was my period came for real that time. My OB believes that it was an undiagnosed chemical pregnancy. After my 2nd miscarriage at 10 weeks, which I thought was my 1st, she ordered some genetic testing (she’s also my mom’s GYN, so she had both of our charts to look at family health history). She suspected I had the MTHFR genetic mutation which causes folic acid to not get metabolized correctly, causing blood to clot when its not supposed to.
I love my OB/GYN…she’s an amazing doctor. At my follow-up visit after my D&C, she spent almost a 1/2 hour with me, going over everything…that possible 1st pregnancy, she had my mom sign a release so we could go over her file too. Without her, we would have blindly gone into a next pregnancy not knowing about the mutation, maybe causing another miscarriage. I’m taking high doses of folic acid and a baby aspirin during this pregnancy.