Blighted Ovum

[JohnsPrincess]

I don't even know where to begin...but I know I need some support. I went in today for my first OB appt. I should be 11 weeks today...however, I don't know when I ovulated, so I guess I could be as little as 8 weeks. Anyways, I the whole time I've been pregnant I've just felt something was...off. We tried for 4.5 years and this was our first, but still...I just felt that something wasn't right.

So they did the ultrasound, thank god. They'd said they may not be able to if the room wasn't open. I knew right away. There was the sac, but it was empty. Just one big black hole. The doctor looked and looked and it was really just awful. He finally stopped and said that he had bad news...but I already knew. He said he's 98% sure that there is no longer a baby. However, to be 100% I have another appt on Monday to double check. If there is still no baby, I have a D&C scheduled for the next day.

I'm totally heartbroken. My mom said that my little sister was a blighted ovum...she went in and there was nothing and went back the next week and there she was. But I just...I don't think that's going to be the case here.

Doctor said that I "may" miscarry on my own between then and now, but that physically I'm doing fine and my body still thinks that there is a baby in there, so more than likely I won't.

 

[shinona]

I have no words of advice/wisdom so *hugs*.

 

[fantastica]

so sorry hun, my 2nd angel was a blighted ovum, can still remember just how painful it was to hear those words. So sorry you're going through this, there isn't much that can be said, but try and be easy on yourself, let yourself be sad/angry etc. Time really is a great healer, you just need to allow yourself to grieve.

Sorry I don't know what to say, but I do understand how much it hurts, here if you need anything xx

 

[hollyrose]

i'm so sorry for your loss.
my 1st miscarriage was a blighted ovum. very similar story to yours. i had 2 scans a week apart after my original diagnosis just to make sure. i started bleeding heavily before my d n c but still needed to have it as my body was trying to hang on to the pregnancy. it was a big shock and i think i cried for about 3 weeks!
my heart goes out to you.

 

[BlackBerry25]

My first pregnancy ended with a blighted ovum as well It was a horrible horrible time but I pulled through, and I know you will do the same I was pregnant again 2 cycles after and have a healthy and happy 2 year old now.

Will be thinking about you xx

 

[corrie anne]

I had one in 2005. I was told that BO make up for 50% of all miscarriages and that 1 in 3 pregnancies end with one. Well, it might have been ironic but it was my third pregnancy.
I knew something was wrong, i had no symptoms at all other than a + test. I had a cramp that sent me to the e.r(which i overly exaggerated to get an u/s) i was 6w3d and i had my bloods taken and they were something like 1792 in that range. The u/s showed nothing. Only a gestational sac. I went back in a couple of days later and the sac had shrunk. my levels went down and then went back up which i thought maybe a lost a twin or something. But that just was not the case. I made sure that the pregnancy was no good before i made the choice to have a DNC. I was crushed, i felt that i was pregnant but a baby was never there so i felt that i did not even loss a baby. What i was told was that there has been some "theory" that the yolk sac never develops to make the baby grow. So the baby never gets big enough to see. I dont know if that is true but it makes me feel better to know that there was a baby and that it was a loss. My mother in law just kept saying"well, could your mind just thought you were pregnant and your body just went with it" I will never forget how that made me feel.
I got pregnant about 3 months after that. I think it would have taken longer if i waited for a natural miscarriage and i wanted to try right away.
I am sorry for your loss. It is a loss.

 

[JohnsPrincess]

Thank you guys. My mom is coming up on Friday and will stay for about a week. She used to be an OB nurse so I know she'll make sure the doc checks the sac really well. But, nothing is nothing. I did read that with a tilted uterus it can make it harder to see, but since I really don't know my dates (I guess I could be anywhere from 9.5 or so to 11) I don't know when it would be totally obvious. *sigh*

 

[KateC]

Hi there,

I had a blighted ovum, too. I completely understand what you mean when you talk about that horrible black hole in your womb. The ultrasound was particularly traumatic for me because the tech wasn't allowed to tell me anything, and I was there all by myself, and the doctor wouldn't meet with me afterwords, and I had to go back to work and sit at my desk all day waiting for them to call me and tell me what I suspected but didn't understand... that there never was any baby.

Ugh. Sorry, didn't mean to turn this into my story, just trying to send my empathy and say that I understand how hard this is.

Good luck with your D&C, honey. It's really not that bad a procedure. Just a few days off your feet afterwords. The hard part is what you're dealing with right now. Take all the time you need to cry. I'm glad your mom is going to be there for you.

I don't know if this helps at all, but I felt a lot better once I could say, "I'm not pregnant" than when I was pregnant but empty. It's a process to get there, and I hope that the D&C helps bring you that closure sooner rather than later.

I know that's a weird wish, because really, we all just wish that we didn't have to go through any of it.

 

[JohnsPrincess]

Kate, I don't know how you dealt with having to wait for that news!

I think, in an odd way, I feel better knowing that there Was a baby...but that my body absorbed it back in. So...the baby is still with me. If I miscarry naturally before then, there shouldn't be much but blood...not that that would be any fun. But the baby will always be with me...so that's sort of comforting.

I've done some reading, which I really shouldn't do. I read that if you have a tilted uterus (which I do) that it can be very hard to see the baby until at LEASE week 11. That many people with a tilted uterus have been told they have a blighted ovum only to come back for the repeats and find the baby. I should have been 11 weeks yesterday, but it's very possible that I was only 10, or even 9.5. I feel that the sac will still be empty, but it's actually MORE scary to think that there "could" still be a baby, they just can't see it. *sigh*

 

[twinmummy06]

my second pregnancy also ended in a BO at 8 weeks. i was already bleeding, which ultimately led to a scan and the horrible news. i felt off the whole time, just that awful gut feeling something wasnt right. i too knew it when i saw the screen in the scan room, was 100% sure of my dates.

johnprincess, if you are up to the waiting game, i would decline the d and c and possibly ask for a followup scan in a week or two to definately rule out baby not being visable. i know it would be on my mind if i didnt get that confirmation IYKWIM?

 

[britt1986]

I am so sorry for you loss hun.

My first pregnancy was a blighted ovum. I miscarried on my own at 6 weeks. It was hard.

to you!

 

[KateC]

I think, in an odd way, I feel better knowing that there Was a baby...but that my body absorbed it back in. So...the baby is still with me. If I miscarry naturally before then, there shouldn't be much but blood...not that that would be any fun. But the baby will always be with me...so that's sort of comforting.

I've done some reading, which I really shouldn't do. I read that if you have a tilted uterus (which I do) that it can be very hard to see the baby until at LEASE week 11. That many people with a tilted uterus have been told they have a blighted ovum only to come back for the repeats and find the baby. I should have been 11 weeks yesterday, but it's very possible that I was only 10, or even 9.5. I feel that the sac will still be empty, but it's actually MORE scary to think that there "could" still be a baby, they just can't see it. *sigh*

That is a very nice way to think about it. I'm glad you wrote it.

As for the tilted uterus, did they find a gestational sack? They can measure the gestational sack and estimate an age of the pregnancy from that. It might help you to decide. If they find a sack that's 11-weeks along, then their diagnosis is more likely to be correct. But if they find a sack that's only 6 weeks along, or if they find no sack at all, then it is more confusing.

You can always choose to wait. They call waiting "expectant management," and it is very difficult, emotionally, because it keeps you in limbo for a while, but if you want to wait, then by all means, do! They can keep testing your HCG levels over the coming weeks to help make the diagnosis more accurate.

I'm so sorry you're stuck here. It's such a hard and confusing place to be.