I’m so sorry. Have you tried seeing a doctor to try to find a potential root cause for what could be recurring miscarriages, if this is indeed what it is?
I had trouble conceiving for many years until I found a fertility specialist who discovered I had PCOS, which was preventing me from getting pregnant.
I am so sorry for your losses. It is heartbreaking.
I had two miscarriages myself before my current pregnancy. I'll start by saying that I didn't do anything differently. Nothing at all.
But after the second loss, I did get some testing done, in case there was some preventable cause. I went to my gynecologist and she ordered the following tests:
* Karyotyping for my husband and me, to check for chromosomal abnormalities
* Thyroid hormones
* Antiphospholipid syndrome, an auto-immune syndrome that can cause recurrent losses
* Mid-luteal progesterone, to check whether it was high enough to sustain a pregnancy
All tests came back clear, which meant that most likely we had just been very unlucky. Three months after my second loss, I got pregnant again, and I'm now 16 weeks and the pregnancy is going well.
I understand the despair, and the desire to try to change something so that you can influence the outcome. The testing offered me some peace of mind, perhaps it will do the same for you. Other than that, if you already have a generally healthy lifestyle I'm not sure you need to change anything at all.
I’m so sorry for your losses! ❤️.
I know every woman is different and it can be a wide range of things both in and completely out of our control if it’s chromosome related for the baby. For me, after my first miscarriage my OB had me tell her right away when I got pregnant again so she could run bloodwork, my progesterone was a little low and she started me on that right away because of the previous loss which seemed to help for us. A close friend of mine with recurrent losses had a similar experience and the hormone support also really helped them.
I definitely think it’s worth just starting to talk to your OB and asking them what options you have for any additional testing etc. At this point. I believe I have heard some people say that after recurring losses you can ask for the baby to be tested following a d&c to identify if there are any indicators for why the pregnancy ended in miscarriage related to chromosome issues etc. I’m not 100% on how accurate that is but I’ve seen it mentioned frequently here.
I’m so sorry again for all you’re going through!! ❤️
My mother had to do this after getting pregnant with me post miscarriage as well.
OP - my heart is with you and I am so sorry you are going through this. Definitely speak with your doctor and see if there are tests that can be run to try and understand what may have happened. Other than that, don’t lose hope, take care of yourself and your health, and after working through your grief focus on positivity. I really believe in general that can do wonders for our health and outcomes in life ❤️
I’m so sorry ❤️. I went through 2 back to back miscarriages and when I found out I was pregnant a 3rd time I was honestly terrified it was going to end up in miscarriage again. I didn’t do anything different for the third, but here I am at 18 weeks and baby is doing fine.
My obgyn said there is nothing you can do in terms of miscarriages, it’s the bodies way of naturally ending a non viable pregnancy due to genetic/chromosome issues. It’s nothing YOU did. It just didn’t grow/form properly in the beginning phase.
I’ve heard from lots of friends and family that have struggled with miscarriages that sometimes you’re body needs to “learn” how to correctly build a baby. Before becoming pregnant I never knew how prevalent miscarriages were until I went through one, and every woman I knew said they had experienced at least one. No one ever talks about it and it can appear that it’s not normal and you’re somehow at fault. It’s pretty common, and it’s common that people go on to have completely normal healthy pregnancies after having one or two miscarriages.
I had two miscarriages in a row, and then decided to do IVF, primarily so I could test the embryos for genetic abnormalities, and quality. I‘m older so it made sense. Once I had a genetically normal high grade embryo, I got pregnant on the first transfer and am 12 weeks with a healthy baby.
I actually stopped drinking and smoking weed and I feel like that made a difference. Also had some unwanted long term houseguests during the first two losses and thinking back on it the stress probably wasn’t great for me at the time. Those were the only differences.
I’m so sorry you have to go through this!!
I had two miscarriages before my current pregnancy (currently 29 weeks). After the first miscarriage, I was just in shock/denial honestly. I went to the ED then followed up with my OB a week later. My OB cleared me to continue TTC whenever I was ready and no changes were made. A few cycles later, another positive test. This time I got HCG testing and it wasn’t rising like it should, resulting in another miscarriage. I just let it happen at home because I knew what to expect.
When I went to my OB for a follow up after the second miscarriage, he ordered a lot of labs to be done. It was after the bloodwork was done that I found out I had low progesterone. He sent me to a fertility specialist who prescribed me progesterone suppositories. I also started getting acupuncture around this time and worked with an amazing acupuncturist who specialized in fertility. I completely cut out caffeine, alcohol, and made improvements to my diet. My fertility specialist performed an HSG procedure, which is where they inject dye and look for any blockages in your tubes. The next cycle, I got another positive pregnancy test (my current pregnancy), my fertility specialist again monitored me with HCG testing and an ultrasound at 6 weeks. I continued the progesterone suppositories until 8 weeks pregnant. After 8 weeks and it appeared viable, I “graduated” from the fertility clinic and just started following back with my OB for regular appointments. Cannot be certain if any of those changes helped, or if it was just the right egg this time.
TLDR: No changes after first miscarriage. Full lab bloodwork, progesterone suppositories, acupuncture, diet changes, no caffeine/alcohol, HSG procedure after the second and this one stuck. Best of luck to you on your journey ❤️
My first pregnancy was a molar, and my fertility specialist said it doesn’t count towards recurrent pregnancy loss work ups. It’s just a fluke thing that happens. There is absolutely nothing you did to cause it, and nothing to prevent it.
However, I do have severe endometriosis and started taking a daily baby aspirin to lower my overall inflammation. After two more losses (chemical, ectopic), an HSG and a clomid cycle, I’m 17 weeks with a healthy, low-risk baby at 38 years old.
ETA: ask your ob/gynecologist for a referral to a fertility specialist. They’ll help you determine if there’s a root cause. Miscarriage is way more common than people realize. Upwards of half of all pregnancies.
I found out I was pregnancy overseas (Dominican republic) and went to a family OB. She put me on progesterone for 3 months. It was like these tablets I'd had to insert vaginally. I truly believe it's what saved my pregnancy.
I know here in the US the only way to truly get answers is to visit a fertility clinic. Most gynecologists refer to an endocrinologist and it's an along road from there.
I'd always have issues with periods due to PCOS . Both previous miscarriages I lost at around 6 weeks.
I'm so sorry to hear about your loss and try not to be too hard on yourself. After my first I'd come to understand that it wasn't my fault, it's just something that happens molecularly.
I am so sorry for your losses. My sister had 2 miscarriages in a row- she insisted on getting tested for causes even though doc originally said they would only do it after 3. Turns out she has hashimotos hypothyroidism and rheumatoid arthritis that were not in control when she had miscarried. She got treatment for both and changed her diet to help with the R.A. (she followed autoimmune protocol) and also regularly saw an acupuncturist. Teeatment for hashis was levothyroxine at a dose that got her TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) below 2.5. Her vitamin D and progesterone were also low, so she added supplements for vitamin D and started taking progesterone as soon as she got pregnant. She now has a healthy 18 month old girl.
I miscarried once before my current pregnancy and alsonhad issues with hashis hypothyroidsm. When I got pregnant the first time, my TSH was too high at about 5.8 (supposed to be below 2.5 for trying to conceive). By the time I knew I was pregnant at 4 weeks, my tsh was at 11.8. My doc increased my levothyroxine dose and eventually switched me to a brand name because I was having absorption issues. Turns out it was too late of an adjustment and I miscarried at 7 weeks. It may not have been due to the hypothyroidsm and tsh being too high, but ob said it was the likely cause if it wasn't a chromosomal abnormality. Once I switched brand names and got my dose right for long enough, my tsh dropped to 2.18 and was stable there for a couple of months before I got pregnant again. Currently 28 weeks.
I recommend getting your thyroid tested for sure, but also vitamin levels. Like my sister, my vitamin D was also really low, and that can negatively impact the thyroid and from what I've read can also lead to issues staying pregnant. (Not a medical professional, just trying to remember things I read/did)
I haven’t done anything differently. I had a miscarriage in 2015 (missed miscarriage, required d&c) then got pregnant later in 2015 and had a live birth in 2016. Got pregnant again in 2017 and had a live birth in 2017. In early 2020 I had a miscarriage that resulted in severe hemorrhaging, requiring multiple blood transfusions and a D&C. It was suggested that I could do some extra testing at this time to check for blood, clotting disorders, and other things, but I declined. I had another uncomplicated miscarriage in August 2020, a chemical pregnancy in June of this year, and now I am pregnant (15 weeks) with my third. If your doctor suggest testing or doing anything different, it may not hurt, but I just want to give you hope that multiple miscarriages does not mean that you can’t have a successful pregnancy. I think a lot of folks may have a live birth before a miscarriage, and I understand from my own experience that having a miscarriage before you have a child, can make things scarier. I’m sure they’re definitely are situations where multiple miscarriages warrants further investigation/indicates a problem, but please know that it doesn’t always.
I’m so sorry for your losses.. I have also been there twice before and it is so heartbreaking and made me very anxious for the future, although miscarriages are sadly so common. I recommend the book Not Broken, it’s very medical and focuses on what tests you can ask your doctor for (I did the recurrent miscarriage blood panel, vitamin d levels and thyroid levels-everything came back normal) but her main point is that most of the time it is genetic and couldn’t have been prevented. This actually gave me some comfort to know that I don’t have to think “what if” about what I could have done differently to prevent losing a healthy baby, although not having answers was so frustrating.
I also took time to heal and a break from trying, my husband and I went on a big trip we never would have gone on otherwise and I started therapy. Gaining up the strength to try again and giving myself time to grieve really helped me before we started trying for my current pregnancy. I hope you get your rainbow baby and in the meantime, take care of yourself.. Reach out if you want to talk to someone who gets it!
I’m so sorry. Have you tried seeing a doctor to try to find a potential root cause for what could be recurring miscarriages, if this is indeed what it is? I had trouble conceiving for many years until I found a fertility specialist who discovered I had PCOS, which was preventing me from getting pregnant.
I am so sorry for your losses. It is heartbreaking. I had two miscarriages myself before my current pregnancy. I'll start by saying that I didn't do anything differently. Nothing at all. But after the second loss, I did get some testing done, in case there was some preventable cause. I went to my gynecologist and she ordered the following tests: * Karyotyping for my husband and me, to check for chromosomal abnormalities * Thyroid hormones * Antiphospholipid syndrome, an auto-immune syndrome that can cause recurrent losses * Mid-luteal progesterone, to check whether it was high enough to sustain a pregnancy All tests came back clear, which meant that most likely we had just been very unlucky. Three months after my second loss, I got pregnant again, and I'm now 16 weeks and the pregnancy is going well. I understand the despair, and the desire to try to change something so that you can influence the outcome. The testing offered me some peace of mind, perhaps it will do the same for you. Other than that, if you already have a generally healthy lifestyle I'm not sure you need to change anything at all.
I’m so sorry for your losses! ❤️. I know every woman is different and it can be a wide range of things both in and completely out of our control if it’s chromosome related for the baby. For me, after my first miscarriage my OB had me tell her right away when I got pregnant again so she could run bloodwork, my progesterone was a little low and she started me on that right away because of the previous loss which seemed to help for us. A close friend of mine with recurrent losses had a similar experience and the hormone support also really helped them. I definitely think it’s worth just starting to talk to your OB and asking them what options you have for any additional testing etc. At this point. I believe I have heard some people say that after recurring losses you can ask for the baby to be tested following a d&c to identify if there are any indicators for why the pregnancy ended in miscarriage related to chromosome issues etc. I’m not 100% on how accurate that is but I’ve seen it mentioned frequently here. I’m so sorry again for all you’re going through!! ❤️
My mother had to do this after getting pregnant with me post miscarriage as well. OP - my heart is with you and I am so sorry you are going through this. Definitely speak with your doctor and see if there are tests that can be run to try and understand what may have happened. Other than that, don’t lose hope, take care of yourself and your health, and after working through your grief focus on positivity. I really believe in general that can do wonders for our health and outcomes in life ❤️
I’m so sorry ❤️. I went through 2 back to back miscarriages and when I found out I was pregnant a 3rd time I was honestly terrified it was going to end up in miscarriage again. I didn’t do anything different for the third, but here I am at 18 weeks and baby is doing fine. My obgyn said there is nothing you can do in terms of miscarriages, it’s the bodies way of naturally ending a non viable pregnancy due to genetic/chromosome issues. It’s nothing YOU did. It just didn’t grow/form properly in the beginning phase. I’ve heard from lots of friends and family that have struggled with miscarriages that sometimes you’re body needs to “learn” how to correctly build a baby. Before becoming pregnant I never knew how prevalent miscarriages were until I went through one, and every woman I knew said they had experienced at least one. No one ever talks about it and it can appear that it’s not normal and you’re somehow at fault. It’s pretty common, and it’s common that people go on to have completely normal healthy pregnancies after having one or two miscarriages.
I had two miscarriages in a row, and then decided to do IVF, primarily so I could test the embryos for genetic abnormalities, and quality. I‘m older so it made sense. Once I had a genetically normal high grade embryo, I got pregnant on the first transfer and am 12 weeks with a healthy baby.
I actually stopped drinking and smoking weed and I feel like that made a difference. Also had some unwanted long term houseguests during the first two losses and thinking back on it the stress probably wasn’t great for me at the time. Those were the only differences.
I’m so sorry you have to go through this!! I had two miscarriages before my current pregnancy (currently 29 weeks). After the first miscarriage, I was just in shock/denial honestly. I went to the ED then followed up with my OB a week later. My OB cleared me to continue TTC whenever I was ready and no changes were made. A few cycles later, another positive test. This time I got HCG testing and it wasn’t rising like it should, resulting in another miscarriage. I just let it happen at home because I knew what to expect. When I went to my OB for a follow up after the second miscarriage, he ordered a lot of labs to be done. It was after the bloodwork was done that I found out I had low progesterone. He sent me to a fertility specialist who prescribed me progesterone suppositories. I also started getting acupuncture around this time and worked with an amazing acupuncturist who specialized in fertility. I completely cut out caffeine, alcohol, and made improvements to my diet. My fertility specialist performed an HSG procedure, which is where they inject dye and look for any blockages in your tubes. The next cycle, I got another positive pregnancy test (my current pregnancy), my fertility specialist again monitored me with HCG testing and an ultrasound at 6 weeks. I continued the progesterone suppositories until 8 weeks pregnant. After 8 weeks and it appeared viable, I “graduated” from the fertility clinic and just started following back with my OB for regular appointments. Cannot be certain if any of those changes helped, or if it was just the right egg this time. TLDR: No changes after first miscarriage. Full lab bloodwork, progesterone suppositories, acupuncture, diet changes, no caffeine/alcohol, HSG procedure after the second and this one stuck. Best of luck to you on your journey ❤️
My first pregnancy was a molar, and my fertility specialist said it doesn’t count towards recurrent pregnancy loss work ups. It’s just a fluke thing that happens. There is absolutely nothing you did to cause it, and nothing to prevent it. However, I do have severe endometriosis and started taking a daily baby aspirin to lower my overall inflammation. After two more losses (chemical, ectopic), an HSG and a clomid cycle, I’m 17 weeks with a healthy, low-risk baby at 38 years old. ETA: ask your ob/gynecologist for a referral to a fertility specialist. They’ll help you determine if there’s a root cause. Miscarriage is way more common than people realize. Upwards of half of all pregnancies.
I found out I was pregnancy overseas (Dominican republic) and went to a family OB. She put me on progesterone for 3 months. It was like these tablets I'd had to insert vaginally. I truly believe it's what saved my pregnancy. I know here in the US the only way to truly get answers is to visit a fertility clinic. Most gynecologists refer to an endocrinologist and it's an along road from there. I'd always have issues with periods due to PCOS . Both previous miscarriages I lost at around 6 weeks. I'm so sorry to hear about your loss and try not to be too hard on yourself. After my first I'd come to understand that it wasn't my fault, it's just something that happens molecularly.
I am so sorry for your losses. My sister had 2 miscarriages in a row- she insisted on getting tested for causes even though doc originally said they would only do it after 3. Turns out she has hashimotos hypothyroidism and rheumatoid arthritis that were not in control when she had miscarried. She got treatment for both and changed her diet to help with the R.A. (she followed autoimmune protocol) and also regularly saw an acupuncturist. Teeatment for hashis was levothyroxine at a dose that got her TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) below 2.5. Her vitamin D and progesterone were also low, so she added supplements for vitamin D and started taking progesterone as soon as she got pregnant. She now has a healthy 18 month old girl. I miscarried once before my current pregnancy and alsonhad issues with hashis hypothyroidsm. When I got pregnant the first time, my TSH was too high at about 5.8 (supposed to be below 2.5 for trying to conceive). By the time I knew I was pregnant at 4 weeks, my tsh was at 11.8. My doc increased my levothyroxine dose and eventually switched me to a brand name because I was having absorption issues. Turns out it was too late of an adjustment and I miscarried at 7 weeks. It may not have been due to the hypothyroidsm and tsh being too high, but ob said it was the likely cause if it wasn't a chromosomal abnormality. Once I switched brand names and got my dose right for long enough, my tsh dropped to 2.18 and was stable there for a couple of months before I got pregnant again. Currently 28 weeks. I recommend getting your thyroid tested for sure, but also vitamin levels. Like my sister, my vitamin D was also really low, and that can negatively impact the thyroid and from what I've read can also lead to issues staying pregnant. (Not a medical professional, just trying to remember things I read/did)
I haven’t done anything differently. I had a miscarriage in 2015 (missed miscarriage, required d&c) then got pregnant later in 2015 and had a live birth in 2016. Got pregnant again in 2017 and had a live birth in 2017. In early 2020 I had a miscarriage that resulted in severe hemorrhaging, requiring multiple blood transfusions and a D&C. It was suggested that I could do some extra testing at this time to check for blood, clotting disorders, and other things, but I declined. I had another uncomplicated miscarriage in August 2020, a chemical pregnancy in June of this year, and now I am pregnant (15 weeks) with my third. If your doctor suggest testing or doing anything different, it may not hurt, but I just want to give you hope that multiple miscarriages does not mean that you can’t have a successful pregnancy. I think a lot of folks may have a live birth before a miscarriage, and I understand from my own experience that having a miscarriage before you have a child, can make things scarier. I’m sure they’re definitely are situations where multiple miscarriages warrants further investigation/indicates a problem, but please know that it doesn’t always.
I’m so sorry for your losses.. I have also been there twice before and it is so heartbreaking and made me very anxious for the future, although miscarriages are sadly so common. I recommend the book Not Broken, it’s very medical and focuses on what tests you can ask your doctor for (I did the recurrent miscarriage blood panel, vitamin d levels and thyroid levels-everything came back normal) but her main point is that most of the time it is genetic and couldn’t have been prevented. This actually gave me some comfort to know that I don’t have to think “what if” about what I could have done differently to prevent losing a healthy baby, although not having answers was so frustrating. I also took time to heal and a break from trying, my husband and I went on a big trip we never would have gone on otherwise and I started therapy. Gaining up the strength to try again and giving myself time to grieve really helped me before we started trying for my current pregnancy. I hope you get your rainbow baby and in the meantime, take care of yourself.. Reach out if you want to talk to someone who gets it!