Having a D & C

Hi M. -

I am so sorry for your loss. I had a miscarriage at 12 weeks with my first pregnancy. I chose to have a D&C instead of waiting to miscarry the baby. The pain after the D&C was just like bad period cramps. Just get lots of rest and take care of yourself. My doctor told me to wait to start trying after 2 regular periods. I had them miscarriage in November and got pregnant the next April and now I have a beautiful daughter. I do not think the pill had anything to do with the miscarriage. I was also on the pill for many years before. I think it is just natures way of saying that everything was not right with this baby. I wish you all the best.

Having a miscarriage is a hard thing, and it's normal to wonder what caused it. I hope the D&C goes well. I haven't experienced either, but the question about the pill made me think of some of the research I did when I was thinking about birth control before getting married.

I think it was my mom's chiropractor that said hormonal birth control does mess with the body's natural hormones even after discontinuing it. There are many "natural" people who are uncomfortable with hormonal contraception. It's been several years, so I don't remember all the details of my research - I don't have better evidence than that. (But it's easy enough to look up.) It actually ended up being quite an issue with my fiancee (husband), but in the end we decided to avoid the hormonal BC. We first used the rhythm method (with condoms during fertile time), but I now know that only worked because my periods were regular. After my daughter's birth, I read Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler, and I started using Fertility Awareness (using cervical fluid & basal temperature. The pure form of the method is theoretically more effective than anything else (meaning abstinence during the week or so that you're fertile), but it's hard to show that in studies because people don't always follow the pure method. (They use some barrier method during the fertile time; then it's as effective as the barrier method.)

Anyway, it's up to you. If you really are concerned about the pill, there are other options.

M.,

I feel your loss! I just had my third miscarriage in September. I was 10 weeks, but the baby had only grown to 8 weeks and then died. This time the baby did not pass on it's own, so I opted for the D&C, and it was far easier than going through the pain of a miscarriage. My afterpains were pretty bad though, so it's not a bad idea to convince the doctor to give you a prescription for pain when you leave the hospital. I felt much better (physically) within two days, with hardly any bleeding.

Just so you know, statistically 20% (1 in 5) of pregnancies end in miscarriage, so you're definitely not alone. The most difficult time for me was about 2 weeks after. Physically, you will be fine, but emotionally is another story. Expect a small amount of postpartum depression. After all, your hormones take time to adjust to normal. Allow yourself time to grieve for this baby. But know that God is in charge and will send a child to your family when the time is right. I was pregnant again just 2 months after my first miscarriage, and we now have a wonderful son. My dr. says it's only necessary to wait 1 cycle after the D&C to try again, but my previous doc said to wait 3 months.

The same thing happend to me. We had been trying for a year when I got pregnant then I miscarried. I opted for the D&C too, for the same reasons. I was devastated. We did have trouble getting pregnant again but I don't think it had anything to do with the D&C. We hade trouble before it too. But after 3 more years we did have a healthy boy who is now 2 and trying to push me out of this chair while I type. He wants me to do a puzzle with him. Anyway, I am real sorry for your loss. You just have to remember that you will have a baby in God's time, if it is his plan.

Hi M.,
I am sorry to hear that you are going through this. I know it is a very sad thing and you are totally normal wondering if anything you did caused or contributed to what happened. I know my doctor made it clear that nothing, birth control, etc, contributes to these miscarriages. I understand your choice to have the D and C. There are also risks to waiting for the baby to pass naturally and it can be a difficult thing emotionally to go through that at home. I also chose the procedure when I lost a baby last September about 9 weeks. My recovery was just a couple of days physically. I didn't need a lot of the pain medications or have excessive cramping. Just plan to take it easy for a few days. Best wishes to you.

Hi M.,
Yes, I've been in your situation...a little further along (14 weeks) but same complications, and although I did pass it on my own, I had to have a D&C. I was out of it for the remainder of that day, but moved back east 3 days later without any problems. I was a little weak and had a struggling immune system for a few months, but got pregnant 3 months later and as my son is nearly 18, I'd say all went well. I too was on the pill before we conceived. However, in the 18+ years since that miscarriage, I've learned that many (upwards of 75 or 80%?)of 1st pregnancies end in miscarriage, many before the mom know's she's conceived. Don't worry about it. You should do fine. Just don't let your hubby take you out to Carlos OBrien's that night after surgery as mine did! =-) I'm sorry for your loss and wish you all the best in the future.
K.

I just had a D & C last week for a "missed" miscarriage. I have had miscarriages before, but they resolved on their own so this was my first D & C. They recovery was much better than I anticipated. I came out of the anesthesia better than I ever have in previous procedures. After a day or so I felt pretty normal. I don't know how long it will be before we can try again - in the past it has been 3 months. I had an ectopic pregnancy in May and was pregnant again in September, so becoming pregnant again can happen quickly. If that is what you decide you want to do, I hope you have a healthy,full term pregnancy soon.

I wish I could say something comforting, but I understand that nothing anyone can say will help you feel better. Having been off 4 months it should have nothing to do with it. For most people it still wouldn't cause any issue. For me, my hormone levels are very sensitive to changes, I got pregnant 1 month after I quit breastfeeding for a year and miscarried at 6 weeks and went on birth control because we hadn't been planning for that. After a few months of BC I stopped and had planned to wait 3 months before TTC and got pregnant immediately only to MC at about 8 weeks. My doctor believes that my lining was not ready for the first due to not having a period for a year and the second my hormone levels may not have been right. I waited 3 cycles and tried again. We MC again in September at 7.5 weeks but that time was a blighted ovum (a sac forms but no baby develops) so it was a fluke of nature and completely unrelated. I've been lucky that my body took care of all of them on it's own (that's how we discovered the problems). I plan to try again in January but I will be on medications to try to stay pregnant. It took about a week and a half before I felt physically normal and at least a month before I felt emotionally stable but it still bothers me often. Wait until you are ready to try again, you'll know when it's time. Many people are ready right away and others need time to really heal. Take it easy and know that if God carried you to it he will carry you through it.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I had two miscarriages and no D & C. Both times I miscarried before I found out there was a problem. My miscarriages were just like extra bad periods. One of mine was at 12 weeks and my baby had died at 9 weeks. I didn't find that out until after my miscarriage. I'm currently pregnant now and I was on the pill for 3 1/2 years. I was also off the pill for over 3 years too. I had a miscarriage a year ago and I'm currently 15 weeks pregnant. I got pregnant three months after my miscarriage at 12 weeks and that baby was healthy. He's 16 now. I pray that all goes well with you. I've known lots of people who have had D & C's after miscarriages and they were able to conceive again soon.... Hugs to you!

Hello M.,

I´m sorry about your miscarriage. I´ve been there and I know how do you feel, but you are young and you´ll have a baby sooner than you think. I decided for a D & C for the same reason as you. I recovered pretty fast, in a couple of weeks I felt 100%. Good luck,

Sylvia

So sorry to hear about your loss. I can't speak of the D&C part, because I have not had to go through that. But I like so many other people had been on the pill for a long time before becoming pregnant without any problems. I believe it is most likely that something wasn't developing correctly and that is the body's natural way of handeling it. For some reason or another, it wasn't meant to be. Give yourself time to recover emotionally and physically. My friend went through this recently and had underestimated the time of emotional recovery (she had planned a daughter's birthday party very soon after and had to cancel at the last minute). I wish you all the best.

I am so sorry for your loss.
This is never an easy thing to go through.
It is always harder on the woman as the man does not have to deal with the emotional toll.

I have had 4 miscarriages and 2 of them had D&C's and 2 without.
The dr's wanted me to wait to get pregnant until my body had time to heal.
One miscarriage was 4 months from the next.
Then immediately got pregnant again and was able to have a live birth.
I then had another miscarriage 2 years later only to immediately got pregnant again and was able to have a live birth.
My last miscarriage was in 2000.

I believe God allows miscarriages to say to us that it was not time for this child to be born (maybe wrong time in life) or that something was wrong with the child.

I hated to think I needed help in a natural process.
I am glad I did have them when I did.

As one of the miscarriages I went through was lasting at least 3 months before I realized I needed help.

Sometimes it is better to get the help as your body is not always able to take care of it naturally.

The physical recovery was fast and as others have said is like menstrual cramps.
The mental recovery takes longer... it helps to talk about it with others that have gone through it.
Do not hold those feelings in as it only makes the mental recovery take longer.
I am talking from experience!

Hope this helps.... holler if you want to talk.

As you can read from everyone else you are not alone although you may feel like it at this time. I am really sorry for you to have to go through this tight now.
My MC happend when I was farther along(18 week) there were complications with her so I look at it as a blessing. I had to wait a whole weekend before my procedure and that was hard but the procedure for me was like a lot of cramping. We tried again and 4 months later got pregnant with another girl and she is a very happy 17 months now. I hadn't been on the pill for years but nobody seems to think that the pill can cause these things to happen.
Take your time to recover mentally and get back in the game when your ready.