the physical side of a M/C *warning may be TMI*

*Warning this may be disturbing for some*

I have been wondering where to post this. This week I had a natural MC at 10 weeks which I was expecting after an negative US result a few days before, but realised I had no idea what a MC would entail for me physically. What should I expect, how should I handle it etc etc. how long would it go on for, should I take painkiller drugs etc.?

Are there posts on what people have physically experienced? I know there are many on the emotional experience of a MC but I can't find anything on what actually happens.

I can't imagine talking about it with my friends IRL as it would hurt them too much, they have never had one and I feel it is a bit of a hush hush experience still in open society, but perhaps with those of you that have gone through it and would be willing to share the experience?

I passed a lot of material, intack sacs and heaps of what I can imagine was my thick uterine lining and quite a bit of blood. I don't actually know exactly what the sacs were and would like to know. I was also amazed at how my cervix just opened up and let loose. My cramping wasn't too bad, like a bad period and I took some period pain tablets. About 36 hours later after heavy AF type bleeding I again passed what looked like another sac (deep red) and some more bright red lining. Should I expect this to continue for days/weeks to come? I continue to bleed normally sometimes heavy and then sometimes lightly for a few hours.

My FS has recommended I organise for an US in the next week to check all has come away but I am worried about returning to work before that happens in case there is more to come.

Dusty - my m/c's all depended on how far along on was in the pregnancy - the one that i got furthest in (we believe i was around the 9 week mark), it was different to what you'd described.

i started out with a day of very very heavy bleeding. the night before, DH and I had been shopping and i'd had some really bad aches like a heavy period pain. the Saturday morning, i went shopping with my mum for a mother of the bride outfit. i was bleeding so heavily i was soaking through the heaviest pads PLUS super tampons (i didn't realise i was pregnant) within 45 minutes. it was a quite uncomfy - it was really heavy bleeding, and i was rather weak and shaky from it. that night at my bridal shower i solidiered on, but continued to flood every 45 mins to an hour, so it was an early night

next day was horrific. it's what i can only explain as like i was laboring. i was getting severe cramping regularly until i passed the large sac. i had bled heavily all through the day while cramping, flooding all the time (i didnt' leave my bedroom as i was bleeding so badly that i knew if i went anywhere else i would have an accident) quite clotty - i passed the fetal sac in the late afternoon and immediately felt relief. the pain stopped (i had to take panadeine), the bleeding eased dramatically - and it was pretty much over at that. i still spotted for about a week, but no pain, just like late AF spotting.

you will find you are going to have some spotting for a while. i think the scan to make sure the loss has been complete will help a lot (i never had that but i think it would have been better if i had). it will allow you to know what more to expect if there is any retained remnants.

FWIW - i think some of what you're passing is obviously lining, some is possible parts of the placenta that had started to form, some of it would be clotting as your body tries to repair your uterine wall from where the placenta has pulled away

i'm hoping the physical pain and signs are over soon for you so that you can move forward to dealing with the emotional impacts of your loss. it's never easy

thinking of you hun

BG

With my second mc they didn't take everything out at the D&C so 5 days later I miscarried at home.. At the time I had no idea what was happening.. I had the most horrible tummy cramps that had me floored. then I started passing lots and lots of blood and clots.. We rang the hospital because at this time we still thought the D&C had been performed properly and worried something was wrong after that..

5 hours many cramps lots of bleeding later I passed a huge amount of "stuff" It was fleshy looking..

So sorry for the TMI.. it settled right down after that and I had an US which showed my uterus to me empty (thats a hard US to have I tell you)

my bleeding and cramps were virtually gone by this stage. They wanted to admit me but I had my 2 little boys at home who I needed to be with so I went home on bed rest. I was pale and very tired for about 2 days then I felt 'ok'

Anyways not sure of thats what you are after but thats my experience with what I would class as a natural miscarriage (even though I had the D&C)

Aww Dusty, I am so sorry... It really isn't nice.

I am not sure if you wanted others experiences here, but I think it is a good idea for those who may be waiting for a natural loss.
I remember when I lost my bub a couple of years ago it was a lot like you described. The initial sign was what I think may have been my waters breaking (I was only 8 and a bit weeks) with brown blood. It wasn't til the next day the red bleeding started with what I assume was the sac. (TMI!!) A few days after I remember checking my cervix and could feel something there. When it finally came lose I realised it was part of the placenta, it was grainy and bluish purple in colour.

I can't say I cramped a whole lot, and bleed for about 10 days.

I really feel the physical is no where near as bad as the emotional!!

Thank you for sharing Dusty :hug:

Tanya

my 13 week m/c was like a really heavy period with lots of material including lining & a lot of blood - like I was changing a super tampon & a super pad every hour or so - went on for about 8 days which is 4 days longer than a normal period for me.

all of my MC (all very early, so i don't know if i can really compare, sorry) have been like very heavy AF, with lots of clumps and lots of blood, thick lining. Although my last i bled for 6 weeks, they think this was due to retained 'product' so required a D&C

Look after your self hun

I'd been spotting for close to a week... I'd had hcg levels checked and ultrasounds done.
When I did finally miscarry, I knew it was going to happen about 40 minutes before it did. It happened just as we arrived back home. I managed to make it in the door and got to the toilet.
The pain wasn't huge... TBH I was expecting more. There was copious amounts of blood and clots. I remember passing the sac and what I assume was the beginning of the placenta. I continued to pass clots ranging in size from 5c piece size to 2x 50c piece sized for 3 days... after that the clotting stopped and the bleeding turned into light spotting and eventually stopped. The whole process took less than a week.

Hi Dusty,

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. My heart goes out to you and your family and my thoughts are with you during this difficult time.

I don't know if my story is of any help to you, but when I lost my little boy, my placenta didn't come away like it should have, so I had to have it removed in surgery. I had very heavy bleeding a week later with huge blood clots coming away. I was actually in a fabric shop looking for a nice blue sparkly fabric to put around Joshua's 'plactic' container ( I will be burrying his ashes on his due date in Feb )and then all of a sudden I felt like something was coming down and I had to run to the nearest shop with a toilet and then I almost passed out from the blood loss and massive clots. I was very scared to move anywhere for a few days afterwards, in case it happened again, so I didn't venture out again until the bleeding stopped completely. I was really freaked out as I've never experienced such heavy bleeing and clotting ever. After this incident in the shop, I bled for another week ( not very heavy ) and then within 4 weeks in total after I had Joshua, the bleeding stopped.

Take care of yourself, big hugs.

Beata xxx

hugs................'

mine was similar to BG- pain pain pain but once i passed the sack i was better ( physically not emotionally)

take care

So sorry to read of your loss.

My 1st was spotting to start, then cramping, and then bleeding lightly for a few hours, bad cramping and then after about 12 hours passed some big clots, and continued bleeding like a period for 4 - 5 days.

2nd was D & C - missed m/c.

I am so sorry that you have to go through this hun.
My 1st m/c was at 9 weeks and I was later told it was prob a blighted ovum.
I had bleeding like a period then more cramping then I remember sitting on the loo and the sac coming out and I held it and sobbed my heart out cause I realised that it really was all over. I had the next day off work and went back on the following Monday i think.
I continued to bleed for a couple of days then stopped and had a normal AF the next month.

I'm sorry for your loss. My losses were all around the 5/6 week mark.

#1 was a week or two (over ten years ago so I've forgotten) of constant brown sludge. No pain.
#2 was a few days of light occasional spotting followed by 3 days of light bleeding (less than a normal period). Some small clots. I got dehydrated & had to be on a drip for a little while. No pain.
#3 was pretty much the same as #2 but no dehydration & had a little bit of back pain.

Dusty, I have nothing to share, but I did want to pop in and say how very, very sorry I am for your loss. When I saw the title of this thread my heart broke for you. :hug: I am just so sorry.

Thank you all for sharing. I hope it wasn't too painful for you to write it down. I have found it incredibly carthatic to share with you and read your experiences.

It sounds like there are many similarities and also some differences with how it happens.

It is strange that while I have been trying for so long I really didn't (and still don't really) understand what happens when a woman falls pregnant and what all the sacs are that start to grow. I need to do a bit more homework!

My FS suggested I have a M/C naturally rather than a D&C but he didn't provide any advice on what to do when it happened or what to expect. Just that it was what he recommended and as someone who has had a high degree of medical intervention with conception I also thought this was better choice for me. However, as women are we supposed to just 'know' what to do and how to respond in this situation. It could have been incredibly traumatic for me (and it is for many or most of us) if I hadn't known it was going to happen, or if I hadn't really dug down deep inside and already said goodbye to our little mite. Personally it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life - that is life changing one- and I am mystified as to why my doctor wasn't more forthcoming with information before and after. But maybe after all the medical treatments I have had I expect to be 'fully informed' but that is still not common practice.

TBH when we spoke with our GP back at week 6 she did mention M/C but I skipped over this discussion as I didn't want to acknowledge the possibility of it happening. Perhaps I should have listened more.

On an emotional side, my sister gently reminded me that I had joined the club of women worldwide who have experienced a M/C in their life (she being one of them). This is so not a club IMO and something that noone wants to join damn it! However, it is a real part of many people's lives and something that is just not really spoken of. I guess until now I was one of those that didn't talk or try to think about it.

With my m/c i like some of you had the cramping and all (i would now say it was worse than both of my labours I have had) and I spent literally hours just sitting on the toilet with DP rubbing my back and with each 'contraction' i would have more clots and stuff come out. I was actually booked to have my D&C the morning after all this bleeding as the m/c had been picked up that day. I thought that I may have been able to not have the D&C but when i had the u/s just before the proceedure they told me that most of it was still in there still!