Seeking Advice for Pregnancy After Loss

I had a miscarriage and had a healthy baby afterwards and i didnt have to do bloodwork everyother day. i started my 3d ultrasounds at 6 months and got them once a month

I am so sorry for your loss. I know how stressful this time is. How many blood draws are they talking about? I had a miscarriage in Nov. I am now pregnant again. Because my numbers were fine last time (on one blood draw) and they discovered the miscarriage when the ultrasound was done (I really had no ideas about my dates last time around so we did the ultrasound to try to figure it out), this time I wanted an immediate ultrasound. The doctor told me I would have to have blood work done and then have it repeated 48 hours later to see if the numbers go up, then she would order the ultrasound. After the first round of blood work she called and said she changed her mind, the numbers were great and go ahead and get the ultrasound. I'm not sure why the change, but it is normal to have the blood work done every 48 hours to see if it goes up with a history of a loss. Good luck to you.

First off, I am so sad for your loss. I've had several early miscarriages, with the latest being around 10 weeks. I cannot imagine how much of a shock it is when you think you've reached the "safe" zone of the second trimester. I'm a member of an online birth board for women who were due in August last year. One of our moms' daughter died in May. The mama started an organization called Faces of Loss, Faces of Hope. Here's a link to their website: http://www.facesofloss.com/. You might find some comfort there.

I'm guessing that bloodwork is to monitor HcG levels in the beginning? I've never heard of this, honestly. My OB does trans-vaginal ultrasounds at each appointment until the heartbeat can be heard. Too bad more docs aren't like that!

One thing I do know about pregnancy loss is that it sure makes it hard to just sit back and enjoy the next one. But that doesn't mean you can't make the most of it. BabyCenter.com has boards for mom with "Rainbow Babies," like you. Since I don't know when you're due, here's a link to the Rainbow Babies group search: http://community.babycenter.com/a/search/groups?conds=Rai...

Best wishes for a smooth, happy and successful pregnancy, Mama.

S. :+)

They are checking to make sure your hormones are increasing. Certainly it won' t be throughout the entire pregnancy. I had 3 miscarriages before I delivered my son.
I'm sorry for the loss of your baby--I know t is very hard.
BUT, it doesn't mean that history is going to repeat itself. Every pregnancy is a whole new ballgame. Good luck!

I have lost 4 babies. (5 1/2 weeks, 6 1/2 weeks, 9 weeks, and 11 weeks.) I have never had to come in for "extra" blood work......

I would call your doctor back and ask some questions. Find out what they will be checking the blood for. I imagine they will be looking to see if your numbers are going up. But they can't do anything about it if they can't.....So I would forgo the extra blood work if that is all they are checking for...... You can go in for an ultrasound ANY time...... If it's early though, they may have to do a trans-vaginal to get a picture.

It's hard after losing a baby. I prayed A LOT! Check out the book "Supernatural Childbirth". It's a little book filled with prayers and God's promises. It kept me sane during our last pregnancy!

J... I'm so sorry for your loss. I just want to tell you there is hope. I have a 6 year old son, then had a still birth at 22 weeks, My daughter Mya just turned 4 this Jan. 1st., then I had a miscarriage. Then we had Deigo who just turned too. and then I had another stillbirth this time at 25wks last Sept. That was enough pregnancies for me and I personally don't think I could handle any more stillbirths. My doctor never did early bloodwork for me she mostly just skipped the every 3wk ckups and went right to the 2 wk ckups when it was time.. Even that wasn't enough. I hope everything works ok, I know it's scary. I would cry everytime I went in with my daughter when they couldn't find the heartbeat right away. It was horrible but I do have 3 healthy children and I thank God for them everyday. I personally believe that it wasn't meant to be with the other 3 and that there was a reason that I don't understand. But I prayed about it and found peace within myself and understood that there was nothing I could have done to prevent it. It's scary and I wish you the best. God Bless :)

Hi J.,

Congratulations!

And I'm sorry for your previous loss.

To answer your question.... sort of.

I had a baby, then had 3 miscarriages, then divorced the bum so I have an only!!!!!!

I almost didn't want to answer because I'm not a 'success story', but I did want to share the blood tests that I took on the same schedule as you.

After my 2nd miscarriage when I got pregnant again my Dr had me come in every two days for a blood test to test my hCG levels to make sure they were increasing the way he wanted. I did have an ultrasound at 12 weeks (not sure if that was at an hCG level indicator or a 'weeks' indicator), but then I did miscarry at 16 weeks. MINE IS A SPECIAL CASE, PLEASE DON'T WORRY THAT THE SAME THING WILL HAPPEN TO YOU.

Good Luck!
B.

i would think getting blood drawn every other day is not healthy at all. see if you can go once a week instead

I am so sorry for your loss. It can be so terrifying to be pregnant again after loosing an unborn child. I agree that it sounds as though they want to stay on top of your hCG levels and their rate of doubling. Ask your doctor what's up though. Don't be afraid to advocate for yourself, ask questions, ask for clarification when you don't understand what is being said. Your doctor is there for that.

There are so, so many reasons that a fetus has developed problems. It's just amazing all the finely tuned actions that have to happen to make a healthy baby and there is no shortage of things that can go wrong. It's very encouraging for you that you have two (presumably?) healthy children at home. That makes me lean toward your loss being an unfortunate affect of nature and less likely to repeat again. It's highly doubtful anything you did played a part and it seems less likely that this is genetic. Sounds (with the very limited information I can gather from your post) like you have good odds for a healthy pregnancy.

Good luck to you, I am keeping a good thought for you and your family :)

The blood draw is very normal. They are checking to be sure your hcg doubles the way it is supposed to. This can help them determine very early if there is an issue, although even if they don't double or are low, it doesn't always mean something is wrong, just that there may be something wrong. I lost 2, both early but now have a 2 month old little boy. I had a complete blood panel done after my second loss and I have a clotting issue that was causing the losses, so by treating that my little guy ended up just fine. They will most likely do a vaginal ultrasound as soon as your numbers reach a point where they think they may see something, I had mine done at under 8 weeks, we didn't see much but we had a heartbeat. good luck.

I'm so sorry about your loss. I think that the extra testing is because your other pregnancy ended due to a birth defect. They want to catch it asap. Although knowledge is power, and knowledge can be a comfort, knowing can also be as bad or worse than not knowing. Ignorance is bliss.

What you are currently feeling is completely normal. I was a wreck for my pregnancy after my miscarriage. They don't know what the cause was. Just that from the beginning I had spotting and the heartbeat was faster than mine but not as fast as expected. I was afraid to do anything that might cause another miscarriage.

Truely, as my dr. said - don't go crazy and climb Mt. Everest, but other than that live your life because stressing and worrying aren't good for the baby either.

My miscarriage gave me the knowledge that I did want another child. Up til then I hadn't really thought about it. Now I knew. I did go on to have a healthy baby who just turned 4y. 2006 was a very long, stressful, yet happy year.
Good luck and hugs.
M.