My Story

[Autumnmuse]

Hi! I haven't posted on the forums before, but it was a great comfort to me to read all of what everyone else was going through. And the information about tilted uteruses really put a light bulb on for me.

I've had two live births and two miscarriages. Both miscarriages were conceived in December and lost in January. So when I found out in the beginning of January that I was pregnant again . . . I had a lot of fear that this would be my third miscarriage.

I knew that my uterus was tilted way back because in my previous pregnancies my OB remarked on it several times, including being unable to strip my membranes because she couldn't physically reach back far enough to do so. However, she never mentioned to me that it could affect early ultrasounds.

I went in for my first u/s of this pregnancy on January 15th. The week between the positive pregnancy test and the u/s was a harrowing one. In my previous miscarriages, we had u/s after u/s before eventually determining that there would never be a heartbeat, and the roller coaster ride of those weeks was foremost in my mind at the appointment. Since my last pregnancy, we've moved, so this was my first appt with a new OB office.

The nurse found my uterus, and found a small sac. Just a sac. Nothing inside it at all. Based on my last period which was Nov. 23, we should have been seeing a baby and a heartbeat. However, I ovulate irregularly and it was possible I had ovulated late, even very late. So I tried hard to be positive, and gave blood for an HCG level.

The next day the nurse called and said that my level was 28,000. Normal for the stage of a pregnancy where only a sac is seen, should be 500-6k she said. The fact that the level was so high told her that my body was most likely miscarrying, and just hadn't stopped producing the hormone yet. But she wanted to do the 48 hour repeat level just in case.

At this point, I was certain I had already lost the baby. Third time, after all. I knew the drill. She told me she could schedule another u/s in a week. I refused. I didn't want to go back in a week, have no change, then come back in another week all over again. I said, let's just wait two weeks, because that will be enough time to know for sure, one way or the other. Also, I skipped the second blood draw because I was sure it didn't matter; the baby was already gone.

I had already been feeling mild nausea prior to the first u/s, but that weekend it got really bad. I threw up for twelve hours straight one day. In my previous pregnancies, I developed hyperemesis gravidarum, which means you have morning sickness VERY badly, 24 hours a day, through the entire pregnancy. Luckily mine could be controlled by medication, so I began taking the pills at once. The doc only gave me a ten day prescription, because we all thought I wouldn't need more than that if I miscarried, and the drugs are pricey.

Well, over the next week and a half, the nausea didn't let up. In fact, I had to increase my dosage to manage it. I thought, this is strange. Shouldn't my body have already figured out it's a miscarriage? Why the constant nausea still? I did some searches online about HCG levels, and discovered that a high level didn't always mean a miscarriage. In fact, it wasn't even in the top three reasons. Suddenly a faint glimmer of hope. But I didn't want to get my hopes up and then dashed, so I researched more about miscarriages.

That's when I came across this site and the link between tilted uteruses and problems with the ultrasound. I was suddenly sure that I wasn't miscarrying after all! Well, okay, not certain. But I had real hope at last.

I called my OB office first thing Monday morning, Jan 28th, and told them I couldn't wait any longer, I wanted the u/s today!! I went in that afternoon, and a strange thing happened. The nurse, using a transvaginal ultrasound, not only couldn't find the sac, she couldn't find my uterus. She said it was tilted so far back that even with my fists under my hips to elevate, and her pressing so hard down into me that I gasped in pain, she couldn't get the wand low enough to make anything show up on the screen. So, she tried an abdominal scan. The first thing we saw was the sac, with a definite object inside. Then, a heartbeat!!

She brought in a different machine with better resolution, and still had a very hard time transvaginally getting anything to show up, but abdominally could see what she needed to.

The end result? This is NOT my third January miscarriage. I am now 7 weeks 5 days pregnant, and due September 11.

Whew! Thanks to this site, I understand what happened. I had to share with you my story.

[Danni-mk]

aww bless im glad it worked out well, i found out last monday that i was pregnant, i had a scan friday and they cudnt find a baby, only something that was about 8mm big, but she was sure it wasnt a baby or nething, so i had my hcg bloods and the had doubled, im having another scan this friday, and hoping to see a baby, but told i started bleeding but not heavy, i bled quite a bit im my 2 previous pregnancies, and ive also had a miscarriage in the past, im still gettin my nausea and sore breasts, im preying everything will be ok ,

im so glad u seen ya babys heartbeat, ive been through grief before as my first child was 11 weeks early and died twice in scbu, but hes 3 now and running around now and strong as ever, gud luck neways to you hun xxx

[summer70]

Congratulations!!!! That is wonderful!!!!

I am begining to wish that sonogram machines were never invented. I wonder how many D&Cs were performed due to this when the baby was actually ok.

[Kay]

You brought tears to my eyes with your story. Congratulations. I am just so happy for you and so glad you waited. So many women opt for the D&C at the first sign of trouble.

Personally, I wish ultrasounds were not routine during the first trimester. I think they cause too much heartache and too many unnecessary D&Cs. I'm glad you had a great outcome though!

[HoldingHope]

Congrats Autumn! This is wonderful news! You give women like me sooo much hope! Please keep us posted on your progress...

To God be the glory!

[Lovinmom]

Thank you so much for sharing your story. I am so happy for you! I have read that in some cases of a tilted uterus, a tranabdominal ultrasound may be helpful in locating the baby. Your case surely points that out. I with Kay regarding first trimester ultrsounds. It is a shame the torment women are often put through. It just shouldn't be that way.

I wish you well with the rest of your pregnancy!

Hugs of joy!

Lovinmom