2nd Time Unlucky

So it's happened again.. another 'mis'.  We found out we were pregnant several weeks ago.  I'd done a test 29 days after my last period on the 4th December and it had come up negative.  I'd then done tests on the 8th, 9th and 12th of December and they all returned very faint positive results.  I was booked in to have my first appointment and ultrasound with Dr Holden on Monday 22nd December, but I was also concerned that there was no increase in the boldness of the lines over the course of those days, so I had bloodwork done twice the following week.  My levels were increasing as expected by that stage and I was hopeful going to meet with Dr Holden on the 22nd. Going by a 'normal' cycle, which I know mine are not anyway, I should have been around 7 weeks. I knew that I wasn't going to be 7 weeks because of the results of the initial tests.  I knew that I must have ovulated very late in my cycle.  Dr Holden said that I was very early, about 4 weeks, and to have another ultrasound two weeks later.

It was a long two week wait, which crossed over Xmas and NYE.  A few days before Christmas I'd felt like my symptoms had weakened, and that I didn't feel as pregnant because I wasn't as nauseous or hungry.  We arrived at the 51st location of Columbia Medical for the sonogram on Monday 5th January.  I told the sonographer that I had previously had a miscarriage and to tell me if things didn't look right, as the last time the sonographer had kept telling me to speak with my Dr rather than giving me a conclusive answer.  As soon as the screen came up I knew it didn't look right.  We were expecting a foetus and heartbeat by this point, and there was only a small blurry mass of tissue, with nothing inside.  I knew it was another blighted ovum.  I think I had been expecting it, not only because of my lack of symptoms but because we know so many people who have had miscarriages in a row.  It's very sad and upsetting, but as Mark keeps reminding me, we must think ourselves lucky and move on quickly.  It was very early days, and we have a beautiful little boy who reminds us how lucky we are every day, and that is something very special.

I had the MVA (Manual Vacuum Aspiration) procedure on the Friday of that week.  It was much more painful than I was expecting.  The five injections in my cervix were extremely intense, especially the last two, after which I thought I was about to faint!  I felt fine and normal once it was over, and took the rest of the day off from work.  I barely had any bleeding following the procedure until the following week, when I started getting spotting and then heavy bleeding on the Thursday.  We went away to Mexico that Saturday, and unfortunately I was bleeding heavily and expelling large clots for the first half of the holiday, which wasn't conducive to a bikini break!  Thankfully, it subsided towards the end of the week.  Two and a half weeks after the procedure, the bleeding is only just tailing off, which is frustrating, but I know it's the process my body has to go through to ensure that it's ready to go through a cycle in 4-5 weeks and for us to be able to try again after that.

N.B. I found this paper on MVA, which goes into the detail of the injections etc. that I had during the MVA http://www.ipas.org/~/media/Files/Ipas%20Publications/MVAPAIN2E09.ashx