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2 consecutive miscarriages

Hi girls,

Just wanted to see how common two mc in a row are.

It took us 6 month to fall pregnant first time round and I mc at approx 5/7 weeks naturally. It then took 3 months to get pregnant again and I had a mmc at 12 weeks, we found out baby had stopped growing at 9 1/2 weeks so I had an ERPC about 5 weeks ago.

we have started TTC again (in month 1) and started my OPK this evening as I am on day 10 but it was negative - not sure if my cycle will be about 35 as it has been or stick at 28 a it was last month.

I guess I want some advice if there is anything I should do different this time round. I have cut out alcohol again, still taking my folic acid, hubby is about to start his zinc tablets again, what else can we do to prevent it happening again?

I have read somewhere taking aspirin can help but not sure I like the idea of that.

Any advice is welcome as I really want to be pregnant again, I miss not feeling and being pregnant so much
xxxxx

Replies

  • Hi, i've come back from the hospital today and had it confirmed that i've lost my baby again. I mmc'd in apr, fell pg after 1 af and i've found that the baby didn't progress much past 6 wks. We don't know exact dates, she could have said but I didn't really listen. Anyway, what she did say is that 2 consecutive mc's are more common than people think (NOT what I was told after 1st mc), but she said 3 mc's are very uncommon. She said that one of the docs at the hospital runs a clinic for recurrant mc's and he decided to invite women who had had 2 consecutively and it was overrun and they couldn't keep up. When it was changed to 3 consecutive mc's they had no more than 2-3 women at each clinic.

    I think the best thing is to just try and be as calm as possible, (says me!), I haven't even started to think about ttc again, got to get through the op first and then i'll sort out my feelings. Good luck to you, it's just crap having to go through this twice. I'm sure next time will be '3rd time lucky' xx
  • sorry to hear you are going through this as well kwn and I know what you mean, try to stay calm and the rest will happen - it is so much easier said than done.
    I am slowly coming to terms that my baby is not there anymore so really feel for you, it does get easier even though it is so hard it has happened to us twice. I am praying for third time lucky as like you I thought it was very rare to happen twice in a row

    Thank you for posting so soon and I hope you feel better soon and the op goes well for you, if you want to chat just message me xxx
  • Hi, I too am going through my second mmc at the moment, well we have one final scan next Monday, but there really hasn't been that much development in the last 2 weeks, so we're not holding out much hope to be honest. Our last mmc was in March, we fell pregnant in the January, but after a private scan at 9 weeks, were told we were only about 4-5w, after numerous scans after, we were told it was a mmc and I had an ERPC. After 4 AFs we fell again, but the same seems to be happening. Our dates don't tie up, we were scanned this morning, but there has been minimal development since last week. They are not writing us off completely, due to hospital protocol, but I have been pencilled in for another op next Wed (have another scan on the Mon first). I too was told it would be rare for it to happen again. Yeah right! We spoke to a midwife counsellor today, who said the odds are we have a better chance next time apparently.... so maybe it will be 3rd time lucky. Like kwn, don't think we will be trying again for some time tho. We have to grieve first for 2 lost little bubbas in the space of 4 months. Life is cruel!! Zxx
  • Firstly, I must say how sorry I am to hear your news. My 'post' may not help you right now, but I hope it provides some of you, if not all of you, with light at the end of the tunnel, or at least something to investigate.

    I am 18 weeks pregnant with my 2nd child, having suffered two miscarriages (one at 12 weeks and the other at 10.5 weeks) after the birth of my 1st. As I had not had 3 recurrent miscarriages in a row, I was not entitled to be properly investigated by the hospital, so took it upon myself to do what I could. I strongly felt that something was wrong with me as opposed to it being 'bad luck'. We had absolutely no problems carrying my first, albeit I was younger (36), and we were v. lucky conceiving first time (which we've subsequently managed to do).

    During both of the pregnancies I lost I suffered from seriously bad mouth ulcers. Not just the odd one, but crops of them under my tongue. On one occasion I had 7 huge ones and the 2nd time 20 small ones. I have suffered from mouth ulcers all of my life when run-down, but never as bad as this. I began to wonder if there was a link with my miscarriages.

    In January of this year after my 2nd miscarriage I was referred by a girlfriend of mine to see her Nutrional Therapist. She asked me to complete a 'Food Diary' for a few days and complete a very intense medical questionnaire that covered past and present illnesses and symptons. She did not carry out any blood or urine tests as was v. kindly helping me save money (we were struggling with income at the time). Plus, she told me to get the hospital to run some tests (for free) - all the obligatory ones, which all came back positive. And she concluded that through analysing my medical questionnaire there was a pattern of deficiencies such as zinc, magnesium and some key vitamins. All of which are essential for fetal development and growth.

    However, the hospital did not cover tests for IRON and FERRITIN which my Nutrional Therapist desperately wanted me to do (NB: I'm upper-casing these as they are the crux of this post). So off I went and requested tests for Iron and Ferritin from my GP.

    My Iron tested fine (NB: alot of women are anaemic without even realising) , but my FERRITIN (the storage of Iron) was very low. On a scale of 12 being low, my level read 13. When I asked my GP what I needed to do to improve this as it sounded v. low, she said: "Nothing. As long as you're eating healthy food and lots of green veg. you should be fine." My Nutrional Therapist (NT) - on the otherhand - thought this could be highly significant and possibly the reason for my miscarriages. So she promptly added 'Gentle Iron' to the list of supplements I needed to take and said wait at least 3 months before trying again as this is how long it would take to increase my levels.

    Well, my energy levels went through the roof! I felt like an 18 year old again. I had obviously been deficient in quite a few things. Most mums confuse this with the tiredness of having a child, or being pregnant, but quite often we're all lacking in some really key minerals and vitamins so it's definitely worth finding out.

    We took the NT's advice and in addition to taking the supplements (and yes, I gave my husband zinc and magnesium too as both are excellent for sperm production and fertility) I gave up caffeine, sugar and only drunk a few units of alcohol at the weekend (as wanted some life), plus followed the new'ish diet I had been given, for 3 months. And then after the NT follow-up meeting and my next period we tried again.

    I fell pregnant instantly (although not realising it as the first pregnancy test I did said negative so only found out a few weeks later). Emotions ran high as they were a mix of excitement and anxiety.

    Anyway...moving on (apologies for going on, but this is all relevant)... At the 12 week scan I had the same sonographer as I'd seen last summer when I miscarried the first time around 12 weeks. I explained my anxiety, but felt relatively confident that things were ok as I was still experiencing lots of nausea, breast ache, tiredness, frequent urination and had had quite a bit of morning sickness, but of course until I heard the heartbeat and saw the ultrasound I could not be sure.

    Everything was fine. I talked to the sonographer about seeing a NT and my low ferritin level and she mentioned that she'd had 5 miscarriages and that after the 3rd consecutive one she had been referred to St. Mary's hospital where the first thing they investigated was her ferritin level!!!! She went on to add that this was one of the biggest contributing factors to miscarriage... This was reassuring news to me as I felt I had done something about it - thanks to my NT. But no thanks to either the hospital or GP. It began to make me think... Why did GPs and/or hospitals not immediately suggest you were tested for iron and ferritin post 1st miscarriage if this was such a common problem???

    The other thing to point out is that I didn't experience any 'crops' of mouth ulcers during my 1st trimester, and still haven't, and when I looked in to this, and spoke to another GP about it back in Feb. there on the NHS website one of the causes is..."LOW FERRITIN"!!!

    The jigsaw puzzle was becoming complete. The next person then to confirm that my low ferritin level was almost undoubtedly the cause of my miscarriages was one of the mid-wives I saw at my 16 week check-up, and then again my local nurse. I couldn't believe it... So many medical professionals knew about it, yet there was nothing being done: no support and no information.

    SO, I hope you now see why I am sharing this knowledge with you all, and I really hope you act upon it. Of course, a low ferritin or low iron reading may not necessarily be the reason for everyone's miscarriage, but it's definitely something to get investigated immediately and something, if need be, to rule out. Ask your GP now for a blood test for both.

    Can I also suggest that you consider seeing a Nutrional Therapist as they are trained medical professionals - alot whom focus on fertility issues - and who may suggest testing you for other potential deficiencies that could also be the route of your problem: such as zinc, magnesium etc.

    May I ask one more thing for you to consider: please spread the word as it could help prevent an awful lot of women (and men) going through the same heart-ache, grief and pain as you experienced. It is also my intention to write to one/all of the medical professional bodies addressing miscarriages in the hope that further education can help.

    I wish all of you the very, very best. Don't give up. Go and do something about it the minute you have finished grieving. It's not only physcically rewarding, but mentally rewarding to.

    With love. JaneyT xxxxx
  • Hi ladies,

    I too have had 2 mc and neither time could reach 7 weeks. I've never been able to understand it (and don't think I ever will to be honest) but apparently they're quite common (which is no help whatsoever, I know).

    I can't lie, it was one of the most heartbreaking times of my life, I just couldn't understand what the hell I had done wrong for it to happen not once, but twice!

    I got the usual comments of 'it happens for a reason' 'at least you can get pregnant' etc etc which did nothing but anger me :evil: I went through so many different stages of emotions, some times I was distraught, or angry, completely depressed, sad, furious sometimes they came at different times, other times I felt them all at the same time - it was the worst time of my life. I'm not sure why, but I found the 2nd mc 1000 times harder to deal wiht (if you ever do) thatn the first, it was almost as though I had to go through the 1st mc all over again.

    After each mc, I was desperate to get pregnant again, however after the 1st mc I wouldn't let hubby near me so I obviously wasn't as ready as I thought. After the 2nd mc I did find comfort with hubby through making love rather than TTC if that makes sense, and as it was only 10 days after my mc I never in a million years thought I would get pg at this point, especcially as it had taken me 4 weeks to ov after the first mc. However lo and behold, I did become pg after that once and am now 23+3. I'm not telling you this to rub your nos ein it, but to try and give you a bit of hope - that after 2 mc you can on to have heathy pregnancies. I did have a scare at 11+5 and I thought it was all over, but thankfully bubs was able to hold on and everyday it reminds me that all is well.

    I hope I haven't upset anyone with my post, it really wasn't my intention - I just wanted to try and say that there is a light at the end of the very dark tunnel.

    I wish you all the luck in the world.

    Lots love

    xxx
  • I also had 2 consecutive mcs but it was 3rd time lucky for me, so don't be too disheartened. DD is now 17 weeks old, so it does happen I promise. ((Big hugs) xx
  • thank you rainbow and red dress. I too am hoping that it will be third time lucky!

    I also felt that the 2nd was harder to deal with and I am stil going through raw emotions with it all now, some days I am fine and other days it just hits me and I feel like I am back to square one. I really thought it could not happen twice in a row, I just hope that one day we will have a happy, healthy baby to hold!

    thank you for your replies, it means a lot to know I am not alone in this
    xxxxx
  • jc6563, I used to feel like this, that I was feeling Ok and then all of a sudden it would hit like a bus and I was back to square one again - however, it did start to get longer between each one.

    I had major difficulties when I was coming up to my due date, and I was pg by this point! I was really suprsied at how upset I became, as I have nievley thought that if I were to be pg again at my EDD then I'd be OK - I wasn't. I struggled massivly but was able to get through it.

    I'm sure it will happen for you sweetie, feel free to email me anytime if you ever want to talk.

    xxx
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