Recurrent M/C

Hey Everyone,
I had my first m/c in dec 05 at 10 weeks.My Gynec did not investigate further to find why it had happened.I conceived again in April,06 and everything seemed to be gng normal when at 21 week,i went in for my u/s and was told the baby's heart had stopped.I underwent a normal delivery and delivered a beautiful baby girl.We sent the cord & placenta for testing and found it had Trisomy 16.Both my husband & myself have got our karyotyping done and our waiting for the results.
Has anyone carried to full term after having one trisomy 16 baby???Will I ever be able to carry a normal full term baby???I am devasted,I still am under the shock,though the docs are assuring,I fear I will never be able to have kids.
Please help.

[deanne11]

I've never been in your situation but my heart is breaking for you right now.  I've had 3 miscarriages in 7 mos, going in for a d&e tomorrow.  

I'm so sorry for your loss and truly understand the heartbreak you are feeling.  I fortunately had a beautiful, healthy baby girl 2 yrs ago and if she is my one and only blessing from my dear Lord I'll cherish her and Thank God for being so good.

Please know that GOD is with you and HE is a good and loving GOD.  He has a perfect will and perfect timing for you, to make you a mother.  

It's not believing that GOD can, it's knowing that HE WILL.  Keep that close to your heart.

[nanis]

I am so sorry my heart goes out to you & your family,nanis

[jd1419]

I personally have not had the trisomy--but a frined of mine did--she delivered a baby boy in the hospital and then went on a year later to get pg and have a healthy little girl who will be four in novmeber. (though she also had this one early 6 weeks) but it is possible to have a healthy baby afterwards.  May your docotr's be able to make sure there are no other problems.  Good luck on the future pg's.

[Lishell]

Triv I am so sorry for your loss.  What a terrible way to loose a baby.  You've made me thankful for my miscarriage at 11 wks (D&C was much less painless, emotionally and physically).  Please keep the faith. My Sis-in-law had 3 miscarriages before she had her wonderful 3 children.  The good news is you can get pregnant and although miscarriages are hard, if you keep trying you will end up with a healthy baby. I know it doesn't make it less heartbreaking. Good luck to you.

[MelzieWelzie]

I'm so sorry for your losses.  I am currently going through my 2nd m/c in a row--after seeing a heartbeat on 2 consecutive u/s.  This time they are sending the tissue for lab analysis.  I've been told by my Dr. and have read that chromosomal abnormalities are the cause of more than 60% of m/c's.  And, although they are very unfortunate and emotionally painful, it's nature's cruel way of eliminating what is not right.  Even though I know I'm going to be paranoid as heck, I'm planning to try again.  In my case, my eggs are old (42 years) and it's just a numbers game to find one that is healthy.  I have a 2 yr old ds that I delivered when I was 40 so I'm holding on to hope that it will happen again.

It's such a personal choice between you and your dh whether you decide to try again, but if you should decide to try, I'm sending positive energy your way that you have a healthy normal pregnancy/baby next time.

I also know that there's always the option of IVF since they will impregnate you with the healthiest fertilized eggs.

[SNORCHY]

I am so sorry that you going through another m/c. I had a d&c a week ago due to a blighted ovum and my Dr is sending in the tissue too. I am 43, have no kids and am nervous about trying again. I too think my eggs may not quite be what they used to be! Have you been to a RE? Have you had any testing?

[cjoc]

Hi there.  I am so sorry.  I went through a VERY similar experience one month ago with my first pregnancy.  I have been looking for somebody on this site that has gone through something similar.  Maybe we were going through it at the same time?  I am possibly a little further through the grieving period and can give you some hope.  We conceived end of March/beginning of April.  I was 20 weeks...feeling the baby kick, wearing maternity clothes, finally feeling like I was really pregnant.  During the ultrasound, the sonographer noticed the baby's cerebrum/cerebellum/eyes didn't develop at all, and most of the major organs had huge holes - the baby obviously had no chance at survival and was just making reflex movements.  The disturbing ultrasound images go through my mind all the time.  I had a dilation/evacuation 4 days later.  It was such a difficult 4 days, and I can imagine that you had it no easier AT ALL going through an actual delivery.  My heart is with you.

Our baby's genetic testing came back-Robertsonian translocation between 13/14 = trisomy 14.  Trisomy 14 babies do not survive.  I haven't done any research on Trisomy 16.  Did they say specifically what kind of chromosomal rearrangement the baby had?  With ours, it was a robert. translocation, which could be inherited or could be random. WE'd have to have testing done on ourselves to find out for sure. If one of us is a carrier for this problem, than we are more likely to have a child with the disorder, BUT I think the recurrence rate is still extremely low - like 1 or 2%.  It is so extremely rare for a trisomy 14 baby not to miscarry right at first that they don't have much data on it.  It is definitely always on my mind, whether or not we may have to go through this traumatic experience again in the future.  We are not having genetic testing done on ourselves unless we have another pregnancy with a similar outcome.  It was $3000 to do the testing on the baby, so I figure it would be the same for each of us.  If it happens again, we'll absolutely get tested.  But for now, we are just going to roll with the punches and try for another baby.  I have read a lot about chromosomal rearrangements, and it seems that they are most likely a random occurence and will not ever happen again.  If you look at it this way, our bodies are very good at carrying babies - even babies that are extremely sick.  So there is hope for us to be able to carry pregnancies in the future.  You may want to ask about the trisomy 16.  The genetic counselor may be able to tell you whether or not it was a random rearrangment.  That would ease your mind.

I am interested to hear more about your experience, when you expect to get your period after this, how long your doctor told you to wait to try for another baby, whether or not you are emotionally able to even think about having another baby anytime soon, what kind of extra testing, if any, would you do differently with your next one, did you have any strange symptoms with your pregnancy that led you to believe that something was abnormal?  

It is such an emotionally draining traumatic experience to go through, I can't imagine having to go through it again.  It is the only time in my adult life where I've NEEDED support from my husband/family/friends to even get through the day.  The first 2 weeks were unbearable, then it got better for the following 2 weeks.  Then I received normal ultrsound pictures from a "friend" on email, and I think that just opened up the wound a little more.  This week I am feeling good.  I am just so thankful that my husband and I and our parents and siblings are healthy.  This is easier to go through than the death of one of our family members, and I keep telling myself that when I get down.  I'm on my 7th week post-op with no signs of a period.  My doctor said to wait through 2 periods, then try again.  So at first I naively thought that it'd be 2-3 months.  BUt now I think it'll be more like 4-6 months.  I had a bad feeling throughout this whole pregnancy that something wasn't right.  I spotted from weeks 6-17 about 2-3 days per week.  Right around the time of implantation, my body felt like it had food poisoning.(I hadn't eaten anything that would cause it)  And I had just had a positive pregnancy test that same day, later in the day I had HORRIBLE food poisoning symptoms, and a neck ache that was so bad I almost went to the ER thinking I had meningitis or something.  I feel pretty confident that my body was trying to reject the pregnancy from the very first week.  I am not a person that is ever sick or ever has neck aches like that.  I knew there was no way I could be a pregnant girl for 9 months if this is what pregnancy felt like.  I couldn't move for 2 days, which is not normal for me.  Those symptoms subsided in a couple days.  But I think we know our bodies, and when something's not normal, they give us signs.

I will end this novel now.  But from the bottom of my heart, I hope you are able to get through this a stronger person.  Just know that you are not alone and that I am thinking about you.

[cjoc]

One more thing....my mother-in-law had 2 miscarriages, then went on to have 3 healthy pregnancies (one with twins) resulting in 4 boys.  SO there is hope!

[MelzieWelzie]

I'm sorry for your loss too.  I haven't been to an RE or had any testing done.  Have you?  Is this your 1st m/c?  Unfortunately, the risk of m/c due to chromosomal abnormalities is greater at our age.  But I also know that a normal pg is still possible.  My dr. said with confidence that I will eventually have a healthy, normal pg/baby.  What I definitely have going in my favor is a healthy 2 yr old and fertility.  Sounds like fertility is not an issue for you either.  M/c sucks!!! (sorry I had to get that out!)  It's emotionally and physically painful, but once we have that wonderful bundle of joy that lights up our lives, I think it will be a distant memory.

[SNORCHY]

Wow...that's really a coincidence!!!! Did she give you much info on the process, etc?

[MelzieWelzie]

I hadn't heard about this u/s that can see your eggs and how many there are and what condition they're in.  Definitely, sounds worth investigating though since it's not invasive.  Keep me posted what you find out and where this is offered.

[SNORCHY]

Where do you live?

[MelzieWelzie]

I live in Boulder, CO--not far from Denver.  How about you?

[SNORCHY]

I live in LA...just thought that if I found out where they do this type of u/s, I could let you know where you could get it done in your area!

[MelzieWelzie]

Life is so strange!  I took my 2 year old to the park this afternoon and met a women who had just come from a Dr. who performs this u/s that analyzes our eggs.  We'll have to keep each other updated. Thanks so much for the info!

[SNORCHY]

I'm pretty sure I had a m/c in Feb too although I didn't even know I was preg then. So yes...looks like I can get preg, but then something goes wrong. I think we are going to see a RE because I don't want to get preg again if my eggs are no longer good. I know that at our age, the chance of chromosonal issues are higher. I heard about an u/s that can see your eggs and how many there are and what condition they're in. Have you heard of this? And I agree...m/c SUCK!!!

[triv]

Hi,
Thanks for ur support.I can understand when u say If we ever would be 9 month pregnant girls ever...I hope we do soon!!!!My docs have asked me to undergo a series of blood work along with our karyotyping.We are waiting for our results to come and only then will be able to decide whether some treatment is reqd or not.If everything turns out normal,we our told to wait for 2 periods and than give it a try again,but like u,even we feel we should be waiting for another 4-5 months.Physically though i might have healed but i guess i need more time emotionally,right now my emotions are on a roller coaster ride:)
I already got my first period within a month,so i guess thats normal.
I can imagine what u must have undergone as well....nobody except for the person who has felt the baby move inside,felt pregnant and than lost the baby,would understand our feelings.I am grateful to be discussing with you.
Me too have heard many cases like us who have had 2-3 m/c and than gone to have normal healthy babies.So only thing left for us is HOPE.
Will post you my results once they are back.
Till then,Be postive n Optimistic......Things will turn out good for us the next time.

[momoffive1]

I'am so sorry for your lose.But I'am at the end of my rope I belive I'am haveing my 6th m/c the only thing I have ever heard is blighted ovum.I should be about (the other day)7w4days and the sac was only 6weeks1day and couldn't see a fetus but I'an not skinny by any means the doc had ordered a vaginal u/s witch was not done and she was not happy.I'am very sick and my breast are very sore.I'am 41 and had my first m/c at age 21 and then didn't try to get pregnant for 18 years and now I had a m/c in 02 and had a son in o3 and another m/c I belive in 04 two more and then took colmid and had twins in 05 and now I.ve had two more m/c in 06.I;am not sure I want to try again but I always thought I could have one more.thanks for listening...

[navaehlei]

one of my best friends had an early miscarriage and then gave birth to a still born baby girl at 5 months. After that she had a heathy baby girl and just gave birth to a healthy baby boy. I myself just had my second miscarriage and was so devastated, if it wasn't for my friend i think i would be really confused but i know that we can have healthy babies no doubt!!!! time heals everything love. !!!!