miscarriage at 44

[kelly65]

I got pregnant unintentionally at age 44.  We had a completely normal chromosome report with our cvs test at 10 1/2 weeks (little girl).  My 12 week ultrasound was completely normal.  I began to have some spotting at 16 weeks and the ultrasound showed no heartbeat.  My baby had probably stopped growing at 13 weeks.  I had a dilitation and evacuation last week.  Even though we weren't trying to get pregnant, we were completely in love with this child and my mind is just full of questions about what could have gone wrong.  Should I have been put on progesterone or anything else to help my body support the pregnancy due to my age?  I don't know if we have the nerve to try another pregnancy.  We already have 2 healthy children.  If we did try would it be better if I changed to a doctor who specializes in high risk to receive more medical options?  How soon can you begin to try again?

[Cheng14]

I am 27 years old, i use pill for 3 years and now i stopped taking it because me and my husband decided to have another child, and now i think im pregnant because i alreayd delayed my menstruation for one week. but my breast tender and i feel nausea. is it normal or symptoms of being pregnant?

[Savanha]

Thanks for the reply Ruby. So you got 13 days as well. Did you use OPK's or temp to find out your Ov timeframe? I used opk/ poas method & am still confused by some of the info that I've read on board. I'm temping this month to see if I can see the difference. ;o) Thanks again.

--Savanha

[Celine1975]

Hi, I'm so sorry about your lost...  I too had a m/s at 15 weeks...4 years ago.  I was told to wait at least 2 months after D&C to try to conceve again...  It's a big shock to your system, so you should wait a bit.  
If you really want to try again, take your BBT (Basal Body Temp) every morning to locate when you ovulate (it's not always at 14 days...), you might learn alot about your boby that way and may notice you have low progesterone (if you see that your temp does not stay high after ovulation, that it looks more like a roller coaster)...  I asked my doctor for 4 years to have that hormone check and he always refused.  Well, to my surprise, I found out I was pregnant again.  I'm 8w2d.  Some spotting took me to the ER with some U/S and blood test and repeated a week later and yet, my doctor still refuse to check my pregesterone.  Well, I found another doctor and the first thing they asked me was "have we check your progesterone level?"  Well, I'm low and now on supplement (400mg every night vaginaly).  I have another U/S this Friday and will have more answers to all my concerns (I have a blood clot in the uterus, my cervix is a bit opened and my HCG level is not doubleing like it should every 48hrs).

But Kelly65, be patient, give your body some time to heal after the awefull D&C...wait at least 2 months, then try again and talk to your doctor about ALL your concerns and, oh, take folic acid supplement.  It may say on the bottle take only one per day, but test shows that you have better chance (of conceiving a heatly baby) if you take between 4 and 5 mg per day before getting pregnant...  So I'm on 5 pills per day (as per my new doctor's request) + multie-Vitamins every morning and 400mg of progesterone every night before bed.

Good Luck and keep the Faith.  I'll be thinking of you at night since I know what you're feeling right about now...Took me 4 years to get over my lost...

To all you other ladies and to Kelly65, my Prayers are with ALL of you's!

Hug
Celine :)

[rubyinparadise]

Hi Savanha,

I actually went back and checked my doc's notes so I could be sure. She had me on the Progest cream at 1/2 tsp, 2x per day, from ovulation til my period. I tend to ovulate later but have a bit longer cycle. So roughly, day 18 thru day 30 I'd be on the cream.

[ita17]

correction........ MOST of the time Dr's have no clue why we mc................

[ita17]

I am so sorry for your loss;-/  I would think that you can start trying again as soon as YOU are up to it.  The only real reason (assuming your healthy;) to wait is for emotional reasons.  Our bodies are amazing, & heal very quickly.

As far as not knowing WHY you missed carried, sadly you may never know.  To be honest w/you, I really think that the medical professionals have NO clue why we mc.  They really don't. because IF they did, it wouldn't be happening so much.
I think what you are thinking, it sounds to me that it very well could have been a progesterone issue.  During that transitional stage w/production of progesterone, I think things can go wrong quite easily, & all it takes is a sudden drop of progesterone levels to begin a mc.
There is a small chance that it was chromosomal, but since you had all the appropriate testing done during & post pregnancy, then I would be very surprised that this was the cause.
Take some much needed time for yourself to recover, both physically & emotionally;)

I too have suffered 3 mc's 7-11 weeks, I know how hard this is;(

[adgal]

I am so very sorry for your loss.  I too have suffered miscarriage and I know how hard it is.  I know you had CVS and the testing came back normal. The thing to remember with CVS and amnio is that they only test for the major chromosonal issues. Typically trisonomy 13, 18 and 21 (at least that's how it is here in Canada).  There is a good chance there was a chromosonal issue that was less common.  Sadly, our risk over 40 is somewhat higher. Many times there is never a diagnosis for what went wrong. I believe that a low progesterone issue would have resulted in a loss much earlier then 13 - 14 weeks.

2 of my losses resulted in D&C's and they were able to test the tissue.  I also underwent extensive testing and my husband had some tests run as well.  They have never been able to give me a reason and I think in some ways that made it harder to accept.

All that being said,  this does not mean it will happen again.  I am 40 (soon to be 41) and am now 25 weeks pregnant with a healthy baby boy.  You always need to remember that it was nothing you did our didn't do, sometimes these things just happen.    After a D&C, most Dr's recommend waiting at least 1 full cycle, some will recommend 2.  You can change Dr's but typically with a loss under 20 weeks, there is nothing that can be done to stop it.  A high risk Dr. can't do much at that point, and usually are more useful after the 20 week mark.  

You can ask for testing, however most Dr.s don't recommend it unless there has been multiple losses, so you may find a bit of resistance there.  

Again,. I am so very sorry for what you have been through and whatever you decide, I wish you all the best.  Please take care.

[Savanha]

Kelly,

I am so sorry about your loss. I think I have a short LP & am using Topical Progestrone as well.

[Savanha]

Ruby...

How many days did you use the Progest Cream? I'm using it after Ovulation, but am not getting many days on it. My last cycle, I got a +OPK on CD15, but didn't start using the cream until CD18 to make sure I ovulated. I'm still not sure if I was using it correctly. At any rate, I only got 10 days use, because my cycle started on CD28 (which made my cycle a 27 dayer). Which days did you use the cream?

[rubyinparadise]

I'm so sorry for what you are going through. It doesn't take long to fall in love with the baby growing inside you, whether or not you were trying for one. It is really hard to say what could have been the cause of your m/c. I will never know exactly what caused mine either. I miscarried at 10 weeks and I suspect that my low-functioning endocrine system was a factor-- low progesterone in particular. (I had my levels tested subsequently and I would highly recommend this to any woman wanting to conceive over 35 or with a history of PCOS or other reproductive system issues.)

I was on a small dose of progesterone cream until about 12 weeks with my current pregnancy. Again, I don't know if it helped, but I'm about 18 weeks now with a strong heartbeat. The placenta starts to take over somewhere around 8-10 weeks, and is usually fully in control around 12-15 weeks. (You'll read slight variations if you look around online.) To my mind, there is a zone there where the placenta hasn't fully taken over, but the corpus luteum has died off. During that timeframe, your own body still needs to be producing enough progesterone to keep the pregnancy going. That's why I think it's better to be safe than sorry and do ask for progesterone supplements. I would have put myself on the cream (available at health food stores) if my doctor hadn't suggested it this time around. Incidentally, it wasn't even my midwife that suggested the cream, but a naturopath I was working with after my m/c. So I was actually on the cream for about a month before I conceived again. We were trying to correct my hormonal issues proactively.

Again, both my m/c and yours may have had absolutely nothing to do with hormones, but could have been related to chromosomal issues instead. Supposedly that is the most common cause of early m/c, which is why your doctor mentioned it as a possible cause.

Just know that you're in the company of many women who have been there-- and went on to have healthy babies in their 40s. I agree with the advice to seek out an RE, but my personal bias is to work with one who encourages you to explore the holistic methods of boosting your fertility *first*. I went totally natural because we couldn't afford the IUI/IVF options and because the drugs scared me. I conceived again 2 1/2 months after my m/c-- so nutrition and exercise play a HUGE role IMHO, and don't necessarily take longer. :)

I wish you all the best.

[natalie910]

First let me tell you how sorry I am for your loss. I went through a mc similar to yours. I did not have any testing done though but everything was going fine with my pg. I had a total of 3 u/s (a little spotting early on) but everything was progressing fine. I had my regular check up at 12 weeks and heard the heartbeat right away but when I went to my 16 week appt. the heartbeat couldn't be found. My baby stopped growing right before the 13 week mark. I had to deliver the baby for some reason, which was the worst experience of my life. My dr said there must have been some type of chromosomal abnormality but there were no clear answers given to us. I was told I could ttc again in 2 months. It has been 6 months of trying and I haven't had any luck yet. I still get very emotional when I think about my loss. So I have an idea of what you may be feeling.
It may be best to see an RE/specialist and it depends on the dr as to when you can start trying again. There are may women on this forum that have had healthy babies well into their 40's. I wish you luck and if you ever need to vent, feel free. Take some time to heal from this traumatic event. Sorry for the long post, it just brings back so many memories I hear stories like yours/ours.