Showing posts with label 2nd trimester miscarriage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2nd trimester miscarriage. Show all posts
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Summary
It may be helpful to include a summary of our story at the top of our blog.
Losing 3 babies was so sad for my husband & I.
And yet, thanks to treatment and supportive doctors, we were lucky enough to overcome our history & deliver 2 healthy, beautiful full-term babies after diagnosis.
Some doctors don't believe Factor V Leiden (FVL), or other clotting issues, warrant treatment in pregnancy unless the mother has a current or previous clot (usually DVT or PE). I'm not a doctor, but I am grateful that my OB & the 1st MFM specialist were in the camp of "we've seen this work". I know FVL is a common gene. I know it doesn't cause problems for most people who have it. But, it caused problems for me and other FVL women who share the heartache of multiple pregnancy loss.
Other than low birth weight, our 1st 2 pregnancies and babies were healthy. BUT, the next 4 pregnancies resulted in only one living child. 3 of those 4 babies died-- two of which were 2nd trimester losses. That's not just bad luck. That's a maternal factor. That's a problem that needs correcting.
My OB ruled out bacterial infections and fibroids (I have one, but it is fundal, not where implantation occurs). He drew blood to check hormone levels and clotting factors. That's how it was discovered that I am heterozygous FVL.
For the next pregnancy, I took a low dose aspirin until I was within about a month of delivery. I also gave myself a daily shot of anti-coagulants (also a low, prophylactic dose). It worked & our beautiful miracle baby was born at 39 weeks. We could not believe our luck! We were so thrilled that the treatment worked that we had the confidence to try for one more baby. For another 9 months, I did my daily shots and prayed that she too would grow. Again, the blood thinners worked & we held another little miracle in our arms.
While no treatment is guaranteed, I strongly believe that treatment with blood thinners gave us the best possible chance for a baby to keep. May God bless you to find answers and hope on your journey as well.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Ways to honor an angel
Christmastime can be bittersweet after a loss. Here are a few ideas of how to honor an angel:
Make or buy a small stocking for your baby & write a letter to tuck inside telling your baby how much you miss them &/or ways their presence in your life has made you better.
Make or buy a small ornament for your baby. It could simply be an angel ornament that reminds you of your baby or a personalized one. Here's one I made last year:
Do some kind of service in honor of your baby. Carol at a nursing home, buy warm hats & gloves for a homeless shelter to distribute, or donate baby blankets to a hospital to give patients with Medicaid coverage who deliver around Christmas.
Give yourself the gift of patience... it's emotionally exhausting to grieve. Let yourself skip a party you're not up for and forgive yourself if you don't get everything done on your list. Don't skip every event- sometimes you might surprise yourself how much you enjoy the distraction, but acknowledge that it's ok to take a slower pace given what you've been through.
If you know someone who's had a loss, they may appreciate a simple acknowledgement or gift in honor of the baby. I had a friend who's baby died before delivery. When we travelled that Thanksgiving to the coast, I wrote his name in the sand & took a picture to give to her in a holiday card. She still keeps that picture in her kitchen to look at everyday. My sister wrote a children's story for my kids describing our angels & how they are part of our family. A friend who makes jewelry made me a mother's bracelet with beads representing all the birthstones of my children including those we lost. Those gifts are precious becuase of the thought and love that went into them.
Make or buy a small stocking for your baby & write a letter to tuck inside telling your baby how much you miss them &/or ways their presence in your life has made you better.
Make or buy a small ornament for your baby. It could simply be an angel ornament that reminds you of your baby or a personalized one. Here's one I made last year:
Do some kind of service in honor of your baby. Carol at a nursing home, buy warm hats & gloves for a homeless shelter to distribute, or donate baby blankets to a hospital to give patients with Medicaid coverage who deliver around Christmas.
Give yourself the gift of patience... it's emotionally exhausting to grieve. Let yourself skip a party you're not up for and forgive yourself if you don't get everything done on your list. Don't skip every event- sometimes you might surprise yourself how much you enjoy the distraction, but acknowledge that it's ok to take a slower pace given what you've been through.
If you know someone who's had a loss, they may appreciate a simple acknowledgement or gift in honor of the baby. I had a friend who's baby died before delivery. When we travelled that Thanksgiving to the coast, I wrote his name in the sand & took a picture to give to her in a holiday card. She still keeps that picture in her kitchen to look at everyday. My sister wrote a children's story for my kids describing our angels & how they are part of our family. A friend who makes jewelry made me a mother's bracelet with beads representing all the birthstones of my children including those we lost. Those gifts are precious becuase of the thought and love that went into them.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Mother of Hope
We had our 1st baby while my husband & I were in law school. I think most of our classmates thought we were irresponsible or crazy (or both!) to have a child while still impoverished students. We had been married 3 years. We were thrilled to welcome a healthy little boy! And he WAS little...5lb.7oz. He got a special mention at my graduation the next spring. Three years later, we had a little girl. We loved being parents.
After 2 healthy pregnancies & uncomplicated deliveries, we felt confident enough to see a CPM (homebirth midwife) for our 3rd pregnancy. Unfortunately, I started bleeding when I was 9 or 10 weeks. (I have irregular cycles, so due date isn't usually established until the baby is measured in the 1st ultrasound.) I went in for an ultrasound which revealed that the baby had stopped growing a few weeks earlier. But, miscarriages are common and although we grieved the loss, we didn't think that anything was amiss. My body had already proven it could carry healthy babies to term. And about a year later, it proved it for the 3rd time. We loved our homebirth experience & loved that our little family was growing.
Last year, we suffered our 2nd miscarriage. That was much tougher than the 1st loss. At a routine appointment in the 2nd trimester, we discovered that the heart was no longer beating. We chose to wait for my body release the pregnancy naturally. Five days after the appointment, I started bleeding. My water broke & I hurried to the bathroom & caught the baby. We named him James because we liked the lullaby "Sweet Baby James". We had him creamated. We followed up with an OB, but no testing for causes was recommended & we didn't push for any.
About a year after we delivered James, we decided to try again & hope for the best. Things seemed fine. I had a little spotting and went in for an ultrasound. We saw a heartbeat inside our wiggly baby & felt reassured. But, a couple weeks later I started bleeding again- heavier this time. The midwife listened with a doppler & found a nice strong 170 heartbeat. Early the next morning my water broke. The placenta came out before the baby, so we think there was placental abruption. I was 14 weeks. She measured 5inches long. We named her Hope. Our OB did a lot of testing after that. They found a 7cm fibroid near my fundus & lots of ovarian cysts. But, the OB & the Perinatologist are confident that the Factor V Leiden which they found I am heterogyous for is the primary reason I've had late miscarriages.
We'd like to have another baby, but with our history, we are pretty anxious about it. I wanted to start this blog to share my story, learn about other women's experiences, & to develop a resource for those looking for answers about FVL & pregnancy. My main objective is to lend support and offer information to others, so please share your story in the comments.
After 2 healthy pregnancies & uncomplicated deliveries, we felt confident enough to see a CPM (homebirth midwife) for our 3rd pregnancy. Unfortunately, I started bleeding when I was 9 or 10 weeks. (I have irregular cycles, so due date isn't usually established until the baby is measured in the 1st ultrasound.) I went in for an ultrasound which revealed that the baby had stopped growing a few weeks earlier. But, miscarriages are common and although we grieved the loss, we didn't think that anything was amiss. My body had already proven it could carry healthy babies to term. And about a year later, it proved it for the 3rd time. We loved our homebirth experience & loved that our little family was growing.
Last year, we suffered our 2nd miscarriage. That was much tougher than the 1st loss. At a routine appointment in the 2nd trimester, we discovered that the heart was no longer beating. We chose to wait for my body release the pregnancy naturally. Five days after the appointment, I started bleeding. My water broke & I hurried to the bathroom & caught the baby. We named him James because we liked the lullaby "Sweet Baby James". We had him creamated. We followed up with an OB, but no testing for causes was recommended & we didn't push for any.
About a year after we delivered James, we decided to try again & hope for the best. Things seemed fine. I had a little spotting and went in for an ultrasound. We saw a heartbeat inside our wiggly baby & felt reassured. But, a couple weeks later I started bleeding again- heavier this time. The midwife listened with a doppler & found a nice strong 170 heartbeat. Early the next morning my water broke. The placenta came out before the baby, so we think there was placental abruption. I was 14 weeks. She measured 5inches long. We named her Hope. Our OB did a lot of testing after that. They found a 7cm fibroid near my fundus & lots of ovarian cysts. But, the OB & the Perinatologist are confident that the Factor V Leiden which they found I am heterogyous for is the primary reason I've had late miscarriages.
We'd like to have another baby, but with our history, we are pretty anxious about it. I wanted to start this blog to share my story, learn about other women's experiences, & to develop a resource for those looking for answers about FVL & pregnancy. My main objective is to lend support and offer information to others, so please share your story in the comments.
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