Questions - follow up appt after d&c

L-SBB · #1 October 24th, 2008, 05:00 PM

Hi all - not *quite* ready to join this board yet, but was hoping some of the ladies here might be able to help with my questions:

I recently suffered a pregnancy loss at 9w2d, and my follow-up appt with my OB is next week - in addition to making sure i don't have any complications from my d&c (which i don't appear to) I think we're going to get the pathology results as well as some insight into my bloodwork results. Due to a series of "issues" with the lab my OB office used, the bloodwork I took at 7wks was lost, and they didn't have enough time to get the bloodwork results they took at 9wks prior to the d&c itself...so oddly, despite having 5 separate blood works-ups done between 5wks (when i went to ER for dehydration due to m/s) and 9wks (ending in the d&c) I have yet to see ANY results from any of the bloodwork.

Can anyone share what I can expect to happen at this type of follow-up appt? Do pathology results typically show any cause for the m/c or are they generally inconclusive? Any thoughts on specific questions I should pose to my OB on the pre-m/c bloodwork results?

Sorry for the all the questions - first pregnancy, first miscarriage and I feel like I'm completely clueless about what I should be asking about! While I don't want to assume that I'll have another m/c when we TTC early next year, I am recently turned 36 and worried that I may need to be more aggressive about getting tested for potential problems (with me) rather than wait...

L.

Christine-MA · #2 October 24th, 2008, 05:13 PM

First off, I am so sorry for your loss. DH and I lost our first at the end of August, and this is our first cycle of TTC again.

While I can't answer your bloodwork questions (all I was told about my bw was that after my inital appointment that it was "normal)...I will tell you all that happened at my follow up was that he checked to make sure my cervix was closed and back to normal, and that my uterus had gone back to normal size too. I believe my follow up was 2 weeks or so after my D&C. (my D&C was at 10 weeks 2 days)

L-SBB · #3 October 24th, 2008, 07:46 PM

Thanks for the response Christine - so sorry about your loss as well...best of luck to you as you TTC again

It's really tough right now for me to think about TTC again (the loss was only 2 weeks ago)...but I started lurking here on this board a couple of days ago, and I'm finding some inspiration from everyone here who has been able to brave it again...my OB wants me to wait until after 3 cycles to try again - we're thinking about starting again in Jan even if that's only after 1-2 cycles, but we'll see...

If you don't mind sharing, how long did it take for your first cycle to return after the d&c? My OB said it can take as long as 6 weeks after the d&c, but I'm hoping to be on the shorter end of the range (3-4 weeks).

L.

kellyanne · #4 October 24th, 2008, 09:54 PM

L - I'm sorry for your loss. I'm Kelly and I think I can help with some of your questions. I have had 3 m/c, 2 were early (chemical) losses, and one at 10 weeks with a D&C. (As you can see from my siggy, I also have a 2yr old...no complications in that pg) In my case, the patholgy report from my D&C loss did provide us with a "cause" for the loss. My baby was triploid...meaning he had 69 chromosomes per cell (instead of 46). Triploidy is always fatal...some babies do make it to birth, but not much further. I also found out that it is a "non-reoccuring" event....meaning I'm not more likely to have another triploid baby than anyone else. What type of bloodwork have you had done? If you have been tested for clotting disorders, etc....then you could find out something from that too. Most docs won't offer up testing for all of that until you've had several miscarriages. Mine all came back normal.

With all of that said, it is also rather common to not come up with any cause for the miscarriage.

Also, don't feel guilty at all for starting to think about trying again. I have been a member of this board for a long time, and it is a very normal response. Right after my D&C, I felt like it would be a long time before I'd be ready, but I ended up waiting 1 cycle.

Good luck with your appointment and feel free to hang out here while you are waiting to TTC...we are just a big supportive family and we aren't picky about whether you are "technically" TTC (good thing because I'm pg and still haven't left).

KDD · #5 October 25th, 2008, 01:06 PM

L - I'm sorry for your loss

My loss was at 9w6d although I didn't have a D&C all of my bloodwork came back normal (i.e no causes were identified). Even though it would most likely ease our minds, most often the cause is never identified (or testing isn't done until the 3rd loss). I was devastated after the loss (my first pregnancy as well), but was ready to try after 1 cycle. I'm 35 and didn't want to wait too long to try again.

Whenever you decide to TTC again, you are always welcome on this board.

kristajoyce · #6 October 25th, 2008, 01:53 PM

My first loss was at 17 weeks. They ran a lot of tests, but were unable to find a problem with the baby. I am waiting to miscarry now at 9 weeks and they will run tests again. I will let you know if they find anything, but I am doubtful. My doctor is going to refer me to a high risk doctor now and they will run a lot of tests. They have already run tests on my DH and they showed that he doesn't have good sperm which may be part of our problem. My doctor ran blood tests on me after my first miscarriage to check for thyroid problems, blood sugar problems and something else that I will have to look up. They were also able to check to see if I was ovulating normally. All my test came back in the normal range.

I will try to remember what test they do when I go to the new doctor, but I am not sure how soon I will get in.

I had a D&C after my first m/c. It took 42 days before I had my period and 3 cycles to get back to "normal." My doctor said we could start trying after one cycle. We got pregnant on the 4th cycle I believe. This time my doctor is recommending that we wait 3-6 months, so we may decide that we are done. This year has been so rough on us and if we wait that long and actually get pregnant, then my daughter will be 7 years older than the baby. We really want our kids close in age, so we are planning on fostering and adopting.

I hang around on this group though because I know I am upset now, but my husband really wants another baby and it is so hard not to get excited about the possibilities when he is just so darn cute and irresistable.

I don't know if this helped at all, but let me know if you have any questions.

Pound · #7 October 25th, 2008, 06:04 PM

sorry for your loss. with my last m/c, i had a d&c. they didn't run tests to find out what was wrong, all they did was verify that the products of conception were there (that it wasn't ectopic). i don't think most dr's test genetically til your 3rd loss. i got my af 32 days after my d&c, and got my bfp on our 3rd cycle of ttc (after waiting 1 cycle first). even if you aren't ttc right now, the ladies are awesome, and being here really helped me get through my m/c when i felt like i couldn't even talk to my dh about it.