# Am I doing the right thing having a D&C for retained products?



## hellishelen

Firstly sorry for the long message but I need to get this all out ....

Feeling so drained and sad again today - just wanting everything to be over once and for all.

I started bleeding 4.5 weeks ago and had what I thought was a natural miscarriage 3 weeks ago today (when I was 8.5 weeks pregnant) - which although not a shock, was a complete shock - I know that doesn't make sense but hopefully those of you that have been there will understand what I mean.

However I did a pregnancy test on Monday and it was still strongly positive, as was the next one I took on Friday. As much as I didn't want to get my hopes up - I did - I thought maybe I would be one of those true life stories you read in the magazines at the doctors - "thought I'd had a miscarriage but actually I was still pregnant"!! Stupid really but I couldn't help it. 

Went for a scan today and the inevitable happened - I have retained products. I feel even more drained now and stupid for thinking I could still be pregnant. I have exhausted myself emotionally going through a rollercoaster of feelings.

The doctor wanted me to wait another 10 days and have a further scan and then if there was something there book in for an ERPOC (which would then take a further 2-3 weeks to book in). So would be approx a further 5 weeks.

I couldn't wait that long as just want it to be over but on the flip side I don't want the ops if possible. 

I have therefore booked in for an ERPOC in 2.5 weeks to get it over with. Am I doing the right thing?

Just wondered if any of you could share your experience of a natural passing of retained products and how long they took to pass or whether you also choose to go for a ERPOC/D&C?

Am so confused as to what to do for the best.


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## CaliGirl35

I didn't want to R&R....
:hugs:So sorry for your loss.... I know how hard it is. I had a MMC in November. And I do know what yo mean by although its not a shock, but it completely is...

I did not have the same experience as you so I can't give you my story to help you for advise in that way.
I went in for my 11 week scan and found that the baby had no heartbeat and only measured 8 1/2 weeks.... This was on Tuesday before Thanksgiving... so I had a D&C scheduled for that Saturday as I didn't want to do it the day before Thanksgiving... I was in the hospital waiting for them to take me down to the OR when it all started on its own... I passed the baby while I was there, and knew without a doubt when that happened. It was awful. Then they took me down to the scanning room to make sure all was out, and it was, so they released me to go home and finish there.....all I wanted to do was go home to my own couch and cry and be sad in private. 

After I too started taking HPT's as I wanted to know when my body was back to zero hcg... it took two weeks to finally see a negative test... 

I don't know what a ERPOC is? But I do believe that if I was you I would feel the same way... I would schedule it, as I would want it over so I could move on as well.

GL hun, and again... soo sorry for your loss and all that you are still dealing with.. :hugs::hugs:


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## hellishelen

Thanks CaliGirl35

I can't begin to know how you must have felt going in for your dating scan and getting such sad news. I weirdly feel lucky that I started bleeding at 7.5 weeks and so didn't get so far along, it's just such an emotional nightmare. 

Just wanted to let you know that an ERPOC is an "Evacuation of retained products of conception" - maybe it's a British thing I don't know - such a lovely term though huh??!!

I hope if you are trying again you get lucky very soon. Big hugs.


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## lilbet

So sorry to hear your story. Mine is a little different - I had no bleeding at all, found out at an 8 week scan that there was no heartbeat and opted to go home and wait it out in the hope that I would mc naturally. Three weeks later and no sign of any bleeding so I decided to go for the erpc.

Those three weeks I was a nervous wreck, checking every hour if I'd started bleeding, stressing about the erpc because I really didn't want to go into hospital. But now that I've had it done (it was two weeks ago) it is such a relief. Waking up to know that it's all over and you can start moving on is a really positive feeling. I was out with the general anaesthetic for a couple of hours in total but the erpc itself only takes about 15 minutes. I had no pain afterwards and only minimal bleeding. They gave me painkillers to take home but I didn't need them.

I have had my upset moments since but I feel like the erpc kind of drew a line under things and now I can carry on with my life. God forbid if this ever happens to me again I would volunteer for the erpc straightaway rather than wait.

I so know what you mean about it not being a shock but still REALLY being a shock. I went for the scan in the first place because I had a sixth sense something was wrong and I fully expected to hear that the baby had died, but it still hit me like a steam train. The thought of trying again makes my blood run cold to be honest so I'm going to leave it a few months. But please don't be scared of the erpc, in my experience it really helped me.

Love and hugs to you xx


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## CaliGirl35

Thanks hellish
Yeah... what a shitty term!? I would say that you should go in and do it as retained products can cause an infection from what I understand. I am surprised that they are having you wait another 2 weeks for this?

Are you going to ttc again? If so, Did your Dr. say how long you should wait?


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## hellishelen

@CaliGirl35
They gave me antibiotics so should hopefully be OK. 

Definitely am going to try again as soon as possible. The doctor said I should wait 1 or 2 cycles first. That was another reason I was worried about the D&C as I have heard that because it strips all the lining of your womb it can cause issues when the next embryo embeds. I so wish everything had come out naturally.

@Lilbet
Thank you soooo much for your comment and your positive story. 

I think this is the real reason I want the erpoc so, as you said, I can _draw a line_ underneath everything. Sadly I think I had almost got to that point this week already when I thought it had all happened naturally but what with the positive tests and further scans and issues all these feelings have bubbled to the surface again.

It's just a worry that things might go wrong and make things worse. Am just seriously hoping that it happens naturally next week and my pregnancy test is negative before the op. Fingers crossed.


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## lilbet

one thing - a D&C and an ERPC are different. I think an ERPC might be a more recent development and it involves suctioning everything out, whereas a D&C means scraping out the womb (sorry these terms are so gross, I can't think of a better way of describing it though!). My consultant said that ERPCs have far fewer complications than D&Cs which is why they are more commonly used now.

They even offer ERPCs under local anaesthetic (only if you've had a baby before though, because then your cervix is naturally more dilated so it's an easier procedure) but frankly you'd have to be hard as nails to go for that option. Far better to sleep through the whole thing.


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## pinkflamingo

Hey hun,

I am so sorry for your loss.

Thought would share my story with you. After 14 months of ttc we got our BFP last Nov. We were so excited that we couldn't imagine waiting til 12 week scan to see our baby so booked a private one at 7.5 weeks. Scan showed baby had not grown past 5+6. Needless to say we were devastated. This was shortly before Christmas, and I was given the opp to go in for surgery before Christmas, but decided to wait for nature. I started bleeding about 4 weeks later and then passed baby about 2 weeks after that. My bleeding continued and when I had a scan they said they could still see images but could not tell me whether it was tissue or just blood clots. They said I could wait for my nect cycle and it may all come away, but enough was enough and I needed to start moving on, so had an ERPC.

The procedure was done under anaesthetic, so I was knocked out completely. I didn't want to know about it or have any recollection of the procedure. Once that was done my bleeding stopped the next day. I did get a letter from the hospital saying that they had tested all that had been removed, and there was no tissue so it was just blood clots.

I think there comes a time for everyone when you have given your body every chance to deal with things naturally, and it just can't do it all on its own. After nearly 8 weeks of waiting to pass baby naturally I was considering surgery just so that I could move on from this chapter in my life. Thankfully it happened soon after that, and I am so glad that it did. I had no pain whatsoever when baby passed, it was just a horrible feeling that made me feel sick as I knew what was happening. 

Hun you need to do what is right for you and what will make things easier for you to move on from. I do wish that I hadn't needed the surgery, but it is what I had to do for me.

If you want to chat or moan about it all, then please do feel free to drop me a line anytime

Hugs xx


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## amitootold

Thanks for these posts girls. I am going through my second natural m/c at the moment and its so bad this time, I keep worrying that I won't pass everything. My epu told me to test a week after the bleeding stops and if the test showed positive, to book a d&c. I've not heard of the eprc but I will ask about it. I won't be as worried now if it comes to it. I am the same, I want to draw a line under it and move on xx


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## pink80

Hi - sorry for your loss :hugs: - I know what you mean about it being a shock buy not completely, it was like I had a feeling the whole time yet when I went for my scan I felt like I had been hit by a train!!

My story is slightly different to yours in that it didn't happen naturally, but I wanted to let you know what happened to me because of the 'retained products of conception' (I hate that term too!!!!




pink80 said:


> Hi - I'm very sorry for your loss :hugs:
> 
> I too had the Medical Management but my experience is very different to yours - I'm not telling you this to scare you - I just want people to be informed, as I had no idea what to expect or what was 'normal' and what was not. (Graphic & Long Story)
> 
> We went for our 12 week scan on Friday 11th March, where we found out that our baby hadn't developed properly. We were sent to the EPU, where we were given the same three choices as you - I was so scared by the thought of a ERPC that I opted for the medical management. I took one pill orally that day (block the progestrone I believe) and was sent home. I started to bleed fairly lightly on the Saturday night, with very mild period cramps starting on the Sunday night. We went back to the hospital on the Monday (14th March) to get the next lot of treatment, which was 4 pessaries inserted vaginally, I was then sent home to miscarry at home. Within 2 hours of the medication being given I start to have quite bad pains, which I can only describe as 'contractions', and passing bigs clots and what felt like huge amounts of blood, to the point where I could not get off the toilet as I was passing too much. This lasted for about 5 hours, including the 'contractions'. My partner called the EPU during this time as we were concerned about the blood loss, but they told me that 'it can happen'. The bleeding slowed down after this, but I still bleed for a few days, until it went to brown spotting. I honestly felt that it must have all cleared as I passed so much. I felt really unwell afterwards, lightheaded/Dizzy/short of breath etc - my GP sent me for a blood test, which showed I was severly anemic and had to take iron tablets.
> 
> I had to go for a follow up scan 2 weeks later (29th March) to check I had passed everything. It turned out that I hadn't, and the lady who did the scan said there was still alot of tissue and clots. I was advised to go home and come back the following week for another scan. I continued to bleed although more brown than red for a few days, then suddenly I had a day where I was soaking pads again within minutes and I passed a number of clots. I went back for my next scan on the 7th April, the same lady did my scan as the previous week and she said that she couldn't see any difference from the week before and that there was still clots and tissue. We were sent to the EPU again, at which point they offered me another lot of pessaries or an EPRC. They said as there 'wasn't that much left' the pessaries should work fine this time. I agreed to this and they put them in then and there, then sent me home. It was much the same as the first time - I had the pains and I passed blood and clots. I continued to bleed for days afterwards but thought it would be clear now.
> 
> I was due to go back for a scan on the 22nd April, unfortunately things took a turn for the worse before then. On the 16th April in the early hours of the morning I started to bleed really heavily, to the point where I couldn't get of the toliet as it was pouring out of me. I started to feel really unwell so my partner called an ambulance and I was taken to A&E. I continued to bleed heavily for hours and I was passing huge clots and pieces of tissue. They decided to do an emergency EPRC, to clear my womb and stop the bleeding. I was told that the procedure went well and I was taken back to the ward, unfortunately I started to bleed again when I got there and the doctors had to stop bleeding up on the ward with swabs and medication to make my womb contract.
> 
> They finally managed to stop the bleeding, but I had to have 4 units of blood transfused as I had lost so much. I was discharged from hospital after a couple of days and I finally stopped bleeding last monday (25th April) which was 6 weeks after. I do feel much better now, and I finally feel like I can start to move forward now the bleeding had stopped, I just hope that I don't have to wait too long for my body to reset itself.
> 
> I'm sorry for the long post, and I hope I haven't upset anyone - like I said, I just think people need to know what can happen, albeit very unlikely.
> 
> :hugs: to all
> xxx

I hope I haven't upset anyone xxx


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## otaknam

It is all well and good to wait for a miscarriage to happen naturally, but it was the waiting that drove me nuts. I could feel that something was wrong (this was before the days of ultrasound). My bbs enlarged then deflated after a couple of weeks. I kept getting weaker and weaker: much more tired than with my other pregnancy. Finally, at almost 5 month, I could barely get out of bed. I began cramping. By the time I got to the doctor he said it was almost all over and that the conceptus had rotted out inside of me. I had a septic infection and anemia. I was given antibiotics and sent home. I felt incredibly better the next day with the infection out of me. My next OB/GYN doctor said the first doctor should have recognized a blighted ovum. 

My next pregnancy was wonderful and fulfilling!


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## Rumpskin

Hugs to you all x


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