5 consecutive miscarriages

[Jules_P]

Hi ladies -

I was SO close to the beginning of my 2nd trimester when I found out on 21 May that I had a missed miscarriage at 11.5 weeks. Bub had died at 8 weeks 3 days. This was my 5th consecutive pregnancy loss if you include 2 chemicals. I am finally out of shock and starting to grieve.

I am 40 years old and do not have any children, and I am heartbroken that I will likely never have my own child. My husband wants to give up as he cannot bear to see me go through this again, and to a certain extent I agree. However, after progressing further than I ever have before, the thought of us having our own little family is hard to give up...

I am wondering if anyone has gone to the recurrent miscarriage clinic at Royal Women's in Melbourne. I would like to see if they can identify the problem. I know I have very low levels of lupus antibodies so I was on aspirin with this last pregnancy but it obviously did not help. We've yet to get the pathology report back on bub (I had to have a D&C so they were able to take some tissue for testing) so for all I know there may have been a genetic problem.

If they are able to find a treatable problem then maybe my husband and I will give it another shot. As it is now, trying again seems like we would just be setting ourselves up for failure and more pain.

If anyone can suggest any resources for me, or even can share a success story of a healthy baby after multiple losses, that would be great.

Thank you!

[Heaven]

Jules, I do not have any advice for you but just wanted to give you a No one should have to go through what you have been through, you are a very brave woman.

[slyder]

Jules, you're certainly having a very rough trot with this. Once you have the pathology/genetic results back from the tissue sample, I suggest you do seek assistance as there may be some straight forward intervention/s which can resolve this problem.

Although you are 40, both you and your husband are clearly very fertile and this is a positive. Recurrent miscarriage is not something I am very knowledgable about, but I am mainly posting to encourage you to seek professional assistance and advice to maximise your chances of getting your much wanted baby. Good luck.

[bettyboop]

i am so sorry for your losses , i am sitting here crying for you , it is not easyso i am sending you a great big hug. praying for you.

[Footsteps]

iam so sorry to read your story its familiar story in my family ....but there is light at the end of the tunnel. my sister had 10 m/c and she found out it was a weak cervix and i think problems with antibodies she got pregnant again she got treament - dont know what and had a stitch. she lost a twin and had bleeding throughout but on the 14th august 07 she gave birth to a healthy baby boy niall. just so you know it CAN happen and WILL.
Take care and gl.

rach xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[satya]

I'm sorry for your loss. It's an incredibly hard thing to go through when you know your clock is ticking faster. I have had 3 early losses and years of infertility when I was younger. With the losses being so early (around 5 weeks) no one could give me an answer as to why it was happening. I was told that due to my age (41 at the time of the last loss) and history my only hope was IVF. Then I fell pregnant again. This one stuck. I now have around 4 weeks to go until I'm due to give birth and I've just turned 42.

Seeing you are both obviously still fertile it could be a matter of just waiting until you get a sticky one, or it could be you need a little help. I know a guy who's wife has a horrendous m/c history and they got help though Monash (not sure but I think it would have been their recurrent m/c clinic) and their daughter was born just a couple of months ago, so yes it is possible to succeed even after many losses.

Your partner is likely to have times where he will not want to TTC and others where he will be more keen on it, it's part of a cycle that many people who have fertility challenges go through.

I wish you all the best in your quest to become a mother.

[snowie]

I'm so sorry you are going through this
I'm going through something similar myself - and have no answers at the moment.

[Hollybolly]

Jules,

I don't have a lot of experience or knowledge on recurrent miscarriages.. but it may be worth your while to google Dr Gavin Sacks with IVF Australia, and make an appointment to see him (and if you can't get to NSW... he can organise to discuss things with you via a Dr down there, and will email & phone consult you)

He will do an absolute STACK of bloods, etc & is truly a miracle worker in finding issues like what you've mentioned ( Lupus antibodies - where you've been taking the aspirin) and then in treating them.

I know you haven't needed IVF to fall pg... he is a fertility specialist, but deals with recurrent miscarriages as well.

He is just a wonderful man.. many of us here on BB have found him an absolute Godsend

Good Luck hun... and never give up - this is just a little detour on the journey

xxx

[MeredithD]

Jules - I am so sorry about the loss of your precious babies. The pain you are suffering is just so immense and sadly nothing much can make it better other than time. I can truly understand your heartbreak having been through a similar journey. I have lost 4 babies in 3 pregancies and each loss still lives with me every day. I had all the tests after my second loss with no explanation. My FS (I have needed AC) put me onto clexane with the next pg and I now have a gorgeous 18mth old. I am not sure if the clexane was the answer but I wouldn't go througha pg without it
I am currently TTC #2 after losing twins at 9wks in april. testing revealed one baby had trisomy 15 and although we still don't know why the other twin died, at least there is some answer. I have repeated all the reccurent m/c tests - all normal but worth repeating to be sure.
When did you last have testing done?
With regards to RWH clinic, I think it would be worthwhile seeing them at least for another opinion.
I tried to get in but because my losses were broken up with a live birth, i don't qualify - WTF!!
I do, however, have a private FS who is experienced with m/c so I do feel well "cared for".
Other than clexane, my Dr did suggest trying low dose prednisolone so this may be something for you to consider?
Re your DH, mine is the same - just hates seeing me go through the mental and physical pain of loss. Time does help and that longing for a baby really doesn't go away.
Wishing you all the best of luck and hoping you can get some answers soon. There IS a baby out there waiting for you!

[nicki_mara]

Jules,

I am so very sorry to hear about all your losses and I think I understand the pain you have gone through. I have had 7 consecutive miscarriages, all in the 1st trimester. The furthest I got was in my 5th and 7th pregnancy where we lost the baby at around 11 and a half weeks. Heartbreaking! After my 5th miscarriage my OB referred me to the Recurrent Miscarriage Clinic at the RWH. I saw Shaun Brennecke and he was very compassionate and thorough. When I first went to the clinic I had heaps of tests done and they discovered that I have a medium positive reading for ANA (Anti-nuclear antibodies). The treatment prescribed was to start taking 100mg aspirin daily before conception and throughout the pregnancy. I did this with the 6th pregnancy but it never looked good. For the 7th I took the aspirin but I also injected myself daily with heparin (another blood thinner). While we got further than the 6th we still lost the baby. I have to mention that I was also taking traditional Chinese herbs with these pregnancies.

My hubby and I were starting to lose hope but decided to give it one more try, with the aspirin and heparin but without the herbs. I am now 15.2 weeks pregnant. Everything is looking good so far (touch wood) and I am being monitored very closely. I went to the clinic for the first 12 weeks and have since moved over to my private OB. Even though it took us 3 goes with the clinic it has been worth it and we are hopeful that in the next 5-6 months we will finally have our first child.

Sorry I have rattled on but I wanted to share our story with you. If you can, I think it would be worth giving the clinic a go, they run tests normal OBs don?t. If you have any questions or want a chat please PM me.

Take care,

Nicki

[BellyBelly]

Hi Jules, sorry to hear of your heartbreaking story

There are two great TCM practitioners in the BellyBelly Centre who have lots of experience with unexplained fertility and threatened miscarriage. Have you thought about natural therapies to assist you? It can be very powerful. You can read their profiles here: Justin and Sharmaine. They are both very kind and gentle people. I wish you all the luck in the world hon. *hugs*

[Jules_P]

Thank you to everyone who has responded to my original post. This has been one of the most heartbreaking and difficult experiences in my entire life. I don't think I realised how much I want a baby of our own until I got so far with my last pregnancy.

I have found it tremendously helpful to communicate with other women who know from experience what I am going through. I really don't think other people can understand how devastating it can be...

I have booked in to the recurrent miscarriage clinic at RWH and my appointment is on the 26th of June. It cannot get here soon enough. I have yet to call my OB's office for the results of the pathology tests done on the baby as it's just been too difficult, but I think I will call this week. I am praying they are able to identify something that can be fixed, and that my husband will agree to try again.

I am hopeful after reading some of your stories as well! Again thank you so much - I will let you know what happens!!