Waiting to miscarry a blighted ovum

Hi all,

Just looking for somewhere to share my feelings, I suppose. I got my BFP back in February and after the first lot of routine bloods, was asked to go back for a couple more because the hcg was a little low. Tests showed that the levels were doubling so everyone thought all was okay. Then I went for a dating scan and the empty sac was measuring 1.5 weeks behind LMP (closer to 1 week behind O date). Still, this was measuring about 5 weeks so possible that all might be okay, as my hcg levels were doubling well. Two weeks later went for a follow-up scan and was told the sac is still empty and it is a blighted ovum. I could see it was empty. I didn't think to ask how much it had grown etc, if that is important. There also appeared to be a bleed around the sac, possible indicating things had already started to deteriorate.

My GP has said to wait two weeks to see if my body miscarries naturally. It's been eight days. I still have pregnancy symptoms, and no indication of miscarriage - spotting or cramping etc. The wait to see what happens, coupled with the mild nausea and tiredness and tender boobs, are driving me crazy. I just want my body to realise that there is no baby in there, and let it pass. But I am scared - what will it be like? How long do I wait? The thought of a D&C also frightens me. It's obviously lose-lose, but I had hoped it would all happen naturally and I could let my body take care of it. Now I don;t know if I have the strength to wait for as long as it will take.

Does anyone have any similar experiences they can share?

lee i am sorry you are going through this. i had exactly the same thing back in july last year.

it took just over 2 weeks from finding out about my blighted ovum before it finally came out. during that time my pg symptoms were still around but gradually went away. i started mc a few days after they completely disappeared.

in my case it started with some cramping which woke me up at 3am. i thought i needed the toilet but it went away. throughout the day the pains became more frequent until about 4pm when they became more intense. it got to a point were i was constantly cramping and rolling around on the floor, couch and bed trying to find relief. then at 1:30am it was like a pressure on my cervix and i rushed to the bathroom and pushed like i had to poo (sorry) and finally pushed the sac out. it was slightly larger than a tampon. after i passed the sac, most ofthe pains went away and i bled for over 11 days with mild cramping.

my second mc was just bleeding with very little cramping. so it just depends.

i know not everyone goes through the same thing but i hope my story helps you.

Fisrtly, I'm so sorry to hear you're going through this, big :hug: to you.

I've had two miscarriages, one at 5 weeks and the other at 9 weeks. My first miscarriage at 5 weeks, there was very little pain involved and I bled for just under two weeks. With my second miscarriage, I had mild cramping, very similar to period pain on the day that it happened, but it was not severe at any time.

I can't help with any advice on how long it might take, as I wasn't aware that my pregnancies weren't viable until I actually miscarried, but what I can tell you is that I seem to think that the amount of pain you have if you miscarry is similar to the amount of pain you experience with cramping etc as part of your normal cycle if that makes sense? I don't suffer from much in the way of period cramps at all, hence why I believe that I didn't suffer with much pain when I miscarried, that's just my thoughts on it anyway.

I hope this whole ordeal is over for you really soon, I can only begin to imagine how terrible it must be for you.

Thank you Wrangalove and Jaycee. It's very comforting to "speak" to people who have been through this too. I don't think I know anyone IRL that has had a miscarriage - though truthfully, I probably do and it's just that nobody talks about it. :(

I have little period pain normally, and periods have been lighter than usual over the last year or so. I had initially expected it to be like AF but as the weeks go by, I worry that it will be more serious than that. I guess only time will tell.

Thank you again. I can't tell you how good it feels to connect about this. I didn't realise I was feeling so alone.

Hugs Lee - I only recently miscarried. I found out at a scan at 10weeks and 3 days that bubs heart had stopped. That was on the Saturday. On the Sunday I started to lose the cervical plug and had a small bleed. I spotted on the monday, no pain and the same on Tuesday, Early hours of Wed morning, contractions started, every few mins, by 9am wed morning, I was losing a great deal of blood, so went to hospital, by the time I got there I was hemorrhaging. I wanted to miscarry naturally, as i have a higher risk of injury from D & C's, so they kept me in on a drip and prepped ready for surgery if urgent. I still had constant contractions. I passed the baby at 7.30am on the Thurs morning, still in the sac, it was larger than I expected. The bleeding then slowed to a manageable level. I am still spotting now an I passed the baby two weeks ago.
I hope all goes well, thinking of you.

Thank you for sharing ButterflyForever. I'm sorry for your loss. :hug:

I am so sorry you are in this situation, Lee :hug:

I had a miscarriage in 2008. It was confirmed around 5 1/2 weeks, we waited 4 weeks for my body to naturally do its thing because I was terrified of a D&C. It never did. I ended up needing a D&C. I still had symptoms for about 3-4 days after the D&C, which is just simply cruel :(

FWIW the D&C was not at all how I expected it to be. Im sorry you have to make this decision at all :comfort:

I sorry for your loss lee and butterfly xox

So sorry you're going through this.
I know it is hard to believe firstly that it can happen and secondly that you have every symptom of pregnancy, yet no baby in there. It's a cruel thing. One positive- they do say it is very rare to have it occur twice.

I had a d&c on 30 January for a blighted ovum. I chose the d&c as I carried 2 weeks post diagnosis with no natural miscarriage. D&c was pain free and over quickly.