Miscarriage - D&C or Naturally? Trying to Decide

I would suggest that you do have a D&C. Now granted I had mine about 30 yrs ago so I really don't remember much about the bleeding after but I'd be more concern about the fetus left in place could cause fertility issues. I got pregnant 3 more times after my D&C the first was etopic, the second also a miscarriage but with the third I now have a beautiful 27 yr old daughter.

The best of luck to you.

I had a miscarriage at 8 weeks, and opted to do the D&C. I didn't trust my body to do it on it's own, and I just needed emotionally to be able to move on. It was quick, I just had another son in June, and had no complications. I would say go for it, just to move on!

First, let me say I am so sorry for your loss. I had almost the same situation, and it was heartbreaking for me, so I wish you an easy recovery, both physically and emotionally.

My doc told me at the time that I could wait, but I would possibly still need a D&C if my body didn't completely miscarry the baby. I decided to go ahead and do the D&C, and I was pregnant again 4 months later with no complications. With a couple miscarriages in a row, your doc may want to run some tests to see if something is off causing these miscarriages. I was like you, I just wanted to have it over. The anesthesia wasn't too bad, but weird to think it would all be over when I woke up.

I took about three days off work, but there are women who go back to work the next day. As I recall, I had some cramping and bleeding for couple weeks after, but nothing too painful. This is a tough decision, but you'll know what's best for you.

I'm so sorry for your losses. I had a miscarriage last year (which was very similar to yours, baby lost at 8 wks, but didn't know it until 12). I chose to have a D&C because I wanted to be able to see an end. I had bled all weekend and that was enough suffering. I was worried as well about the procedure, but they didn't put me under. They give you meds that made me tired (I fell asleep) and quite out of it. It was great because I didn't remember a thing, but as soon as they woke me up I was back to normal. I had no pain after and only bled for about a week (similar to a period, not heavy). It was physically like nothing happened. I felt that once I got that step out of the way, I could move on to healing emotionally. I believe scarring is possible, but I have endometriosis and they weren't concerned about a decrease of fertility even with that. I would also suggest to ask about genetic testing if you have a D&C. Our insurance paid 100% of it and we were able to find out our babies sex and why we miscarried. It provided great healing.
I know whatever decision you make will be the best for you. Will be praying for you during this difficult time.

K.: I had a miscarriage like yours, 11 weeks at 8 week size. I elected to have a D&C because I was so emotional at the time, I couldn't stand the idea of having the fetus inside me. I was already bleeding so in retrospect, I don't think it would have been long to miscarry. I do somewhat wish I did not have the D&C, because it did not feel natural and I had a reaction to the general anethestic and my lung almost collapsed, making recovery difficult that way (lung related though, not gynecological). What I like about having the procedure was that they did place the remains in a special place (or so I was told) because it was a catholic hospital. That comforted me somehow. Also, I recovered very quickly an my husband and I conceived three weeks later! (Total surprise). I am sorry for what you are going through, it is difficult. You sound very strong and clear headed. Best wishes.

Very sorry. I had the exact same thing a few years ago. I opted for a D&C. I was not put under general anesthesia but I was given enough "drugs" that I was unaware (which I wanted)of what was going on and it was not in any pain. The doc sent me home with pain meds. My husband and I made the decision after 24 hours of weighing all of the options. For me, I thought it was the safest and most comforting option given the circumstances. Good luck.

I am so sorry for your loss. I have had two misscarriages. The first miscarriage I was told to go home and wait it out as the doctor said this would help me realize what has happened and this would help me deal with it emoitionally. I was sent home and was in very terrible pain with cramping and bleeding for about 4 weeks and I had to have a D&C at this time. I wish I would have known this was a possibility as I would have done the D&C right away. The pain was very manageable and bleeding was mininimal with the D&C. I had another misscarriage about a year later and I had the D&C immediately. The pain physically was not too bad. The emoitional pain was a little harder to get thru. I have since had 3 healthy childen. I know this is a very hard time for you and I wish you the best.

I am very sorry. I am in the same situation. I am currently having a miscarriage at weeks. My doctor offered me a third option. He gave me medicine to help my body miscarry naturally and pain medicine. I am going to do on Friday. I too was worried about a D&C. He said the bleeding should lightening and end shortly after the medicine works.

I hope this helps you.

I say get the D&C. I had 2 miscarriages before my son was born, the first one I had a D&C, the second I didn't and wish I had. It can take a while to pass through and you can't try to start having another until they can tell it is all out of your system. I had to go once a week for blood tests to determine when we could start trying again and it took over a month. There is no scar because it doesn't entail cutting, and you are in and out pretty quickly. I think I had to rest the rest of the day and take it a little easy for a few but I recovered pretty quickly. I think mentally , as well, it helps to be able to move on.

K.,

The farther along you are, the harder it is. After a blighted ovum miscarriage, my doctor said I could wait it out naturally or if I started bleeding, I could immediately go in for a D & C. Normally, I am a "natural is best" kind of girl, but I had this feeling I should get the D&C, so I did. It was easy and I slept through the whole thing. I was a little sore after, but no big deal at all. I was pregnant again in 2 months and have had 2 healthy children since my D&C.

Best wishes during this difficult time,
S.

So sorry to hear about your loss. I vote for the D&C... I had one at 12 weeks when we too lost the heartbeat. It's always hard to lose a baby and I can only imagine how much more horrible it would be to have to go thru that process for a month/more. Good luck with your decision.

Everyone has already said what I am going to say... But I was JUST like you. I also stopped feeling signs, and even asked the nurse to give me another pregnancy test because I thought something wasn't right. Like you, we discovered at our 12 wk apt there was no heartbeat. My doctor recommended the D/C and we didn't question it. That was Friday... I had the procedure on Monday, over the Dr's skipped lunch break. I was in and out. The anestesologist (spelling?) recommended I be but asleep so I would not hear anything and I agreed. This would not have been necessary. I was in there around 7:30 am (for all the check in stuff) and home by noon or something. I felt no pain before, during or after. I do not recall any majo bleeding or for that matter, any at all.. but I suspect I needed a pad for a day or two. I later concieved with Twins.

Take care and hug.

K., I am so sorry for your loss(es). The same thing happened to me. I had an ultrasound at 12 weeks and there was no heartbeat. They thought the baby had died at about 11 weeks. They warned me that if I chose to wait it out, it could take over a month and that it would be very much like labor, taking 12-24 hours. I just couldn't imagine not being able to move past what was happening and be living in limbo for all that time, waiting. The thought of miscarrying at home or possibly at work terrified me. And I just didn't know what it would do to me emotionally to go through "labor", but have no baby.

I opted for the D&C and am glad I did. It was a really quick procedure. I was put under, but was home within a few hours. The bleeding was minimal, maybe a couple days. And really no pain. I had it done on a Friday and went back to work on Monday. I had some severe cramping on Monday or Tuesday, but I think that's because I stopped taking my pain meds because I had felt fine. That passed within an hour and was fine afterward. It was the right choice for me. The hardest part of it was emotional, but you'll be dealing with those emotions no matter what you choose. Good luck with your decision and know that it will be the right one.

(By the way, I have a beautiful 2 year old son now and am due with baby #2 in December.)

I have not read the rest of the responses yet but I thought I'd tell you about my history.

Our first miscarriage was a missed miscarriage like yours. I was actually 12 weeks by the time I lost the baby but according to the ultrasound the baby had died at 6 weeks. I have hard cramping and it was painful. After calling the hospital twice (because this was happening at midnight) the nurse finally told me to get into a tub of hot water. That helped me with the pain tremendously. I would keep getting out and sit on the toilet when I would feel tissue coming. We had found out at 10 weeks what was happening and the doctor tried to get me to do a D&C but I refused. I read up on them and decided that God made our bodies perfect. If this baby was really gone, he would take care of it. And my body did what it needed to do.

With our 2nd and 3rd miscarriages (they were at 5 adn 6 weeks) I bled out pretty much like a period. Very little cramping.

With our 4th miscarriage (happened in May of this year), we went in for our 10 1/2 week appointment and found out the baby had died at 9 1/2 weeks. We miscarried at 11 weeks exactly. Again, being this far along, it was painful. Cramping was quite bad again. But I did the water thing and it helped a lot. We took the baby and burried him. He was so tiny, only about 3 inches long. I bled for about 1 1/2 weeks after and then again 2 weeks later had a small bleeding episode. After that, my period has been back to normal.

Keep in mind that if you let your body go naturally you are in essence, giving birth. Your body is going through labor. That's why you have so much pain when you miscarry. You are still delivering your baby.

I had the same feelings as you about doing a d&c. I was terrified of being scarred and not being able to conceive again. So, I gave my body the chance to do it first. This way, I figured if God wanted to give us a miracle too, I wasn't taking it out of my body. You hear those stories about docs who say there is no baby and then want to do a D&C (mom refuses) and ends up with a baby. I know that is rare but I was praying it would happen to me. (It didn't....)

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Obviously everyone is different, but I was pregnant with my third when I experienced limited spotting at ten weeks. Ultrasound showed that there were twins - no heartbeat. Developed to around 6 nd 8 weeks, respectively. I opted for the D&C as I did not like the idea of waiting for it to happen. For me, the pregnancy was over, no chance of recovery and my body just hadn't figured it out yet. The procedure was quick and painless. After getting home, I slept for about 5 hours but otherwise felt good. Actually cleaned the house like a madwoman the following day. No cramping, pain or other symptoms. Bleeding lasted about ten days if I recall. Got pregnant again four months later and had a normal pregnancy. For me the D&C was the right decision. I would not have dealt well with the wait.

I am so sorry to hear about your loss. It is never easy no matter when it happens and then on top of that to have to make the decision of how to get the baby out is a hard one. I miscarried twins at 17 weeks that were measuring 14wks. My doctor told me the decision was mine as well. He did say that since my body hadn't rejected the babies yet, that they would probably have to give me drugs to get the contractions started if I chose to wait it out. He also said that if I chose the D&C I wouldn't be able to see the babies, due to the nature of the proceedure. I decided that I wasn't sure if I could handle seeing the babies, especially if it happened while I was at home by myself. Because of that I chose to do a D&C. It was a very quick proceedure and I got to go home right away. I did bleed for awhile after, but nothing major, just a week or two, like an extended period. I had a little cramping, but have had worse with my periods.

Just some more information on how we dealt with the loss...
I insisted on having the babies tested to see if they could determine any sort of genetic reason that it happened. The results came back as inconclusive, but they were able to tell me that they were identical girls. Also, the nurse was able to get hand prints and foot prints of the girls. We named the babies and had their remains cremated and had a small ceremony.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions.

I'm sorry to hear about your loss. I had a miscarriage at 12 weeks (baby measured 9 weeks) and I decided to get the d&c. I have no regrets with that decision and have since had a healthy baby who is now 5 months old. I didn't bleed for a long time afterward, I guess I would consider it kinda the amount of a period maybe a little longer. I made that decision because I didn't want to have to wait and then possibly be in a lot of pain, and then still maybe have to go through the d&c even after waiting. If you have more specific questions for me about it, feel free to ask. I am open to talk more about it if you need to.

I had a m/c & opted for the natural way. I actually did not experience anything. I prepared myself for the worst but nothing happened. I did not bleed, cramp or anything. Numbers went down fine so no D&C was needed. Good luck & so sorry for your loss!

I know you've had a lot of advice, so I'll try to make this short -- first of all I'm very sorry that you have to go through this, I know when I had mine it was a very stressful time for my husband and I. I miscarried at about 7 weeks but didn't find out until right before 12 (pretty much the same as you) and I went in to have the D&C. One thing you should know is the chances of your body recognizing that the baby died are diminishing (I'm sorry if this is blunt), they call it a "missed miscarriage" if your body continues as if you are pregnant -- after 12 weeks it becomes more medically necessary to have the D&C. I think it also helped me to know that it was over and we could begin to heal. I know this is a hard decision, you'll be in our thoughts.

K.,

I am so sorry for your loss, I have been there and I know it is not an easy process.

I was scheduled for a D&C, but things ended up happening on their own (in a way). I began bleeding really heavy and had to go into the hospital (sorry for the details, but I couldn't even stand up from the toilet without filling a maxi pad - which they say if you fill one in an hour to worry, so I was concerned). They said things were happening on their own, however they still needed to do a D&C to make sure everything was out. After the D&C I don't remember much pain, just bleeding like a normal period. They put me under to do the process and I woke up after and really didn't feel much pain, nothing different than light cramping like a period.

I would say just to go in for the D&C to get things over with and that way you are not sitting around waiting. I think it makes it easier to handle.

Also, I got pregnant about 4 months after my ordeal and my daughter is going to be 2yrs old in October!!!

I am so sorry. I was right where you are four years ago, and I remember how hard it was. I was 12 weeks (I thought) when I found out the baby had died at 9 weeks. We waited a week, then I had the D&C, and honestly, it was a relief to have the tissues removed so that I could start processing the loss emotionally. The D&C was easy--woke up after with some cramps that day, which Advil and a heating pad helped--but I was mostly just so sad.... I had dreams for months afterwards about the baby who didn't live. I had a little bit of slight period-type bleeding for maybe a week, lighter each day. For me, the D&C turned out the best option because the doctor was able to test the tissues and determine the cause for the miscarriage. He was not going to (it was my first miscarriage and apparently they don't normally test until there are multiple miscarriages), but I INSISTED, and they found out I had been carrying a girl (as I thought) and that she had a random chromosomal problem. Knowing that was HUGELY comforting to me. If I had waited for the miscarriage, I never would have been able to "catch" or test the tissues.

Since then, I have had two healthy pregnancies and children, so scarring was not an issue for me.

Whatever you decide, good luck and take care of yourself!

Hi K.,

I know you've gotten a lot of responses and I'm sorry if I repeat. I miscarried about 4 years ago when I was 12 weeks and then baby's size was 10 weeks. My doctor told me that if I miscarried naturally I would feel the baby come out. That to me, plus the thought of it "falling into the toilet", was horrendous. I had a D&C without a second thought and I'm glad I did. It's heartbreaking no matter which way you choose, but the D&C made it faster to start the grieving process. Just know that after a D&C, most hospitals don't give you much recovery time in the hospital. I had 45 minutes only - and this is a very reputable hospital. There will be a lot of bleeding and possibly throwing up a few times from the anesthetic, but neither way is easy, and there will be a lot of bleeding either way. The D&C gives you closure sooner though.
Good luck, and you're in my prayers.

Having been in your situation I opted for a D & C. The reason I choose that option is because I could not emotionally deal with the though that I was still pregnant and showing. Having people come up to me and ask when it was due was my breaking point. I also went on Birth Control for a year to enable myself to emotionally and physically get well. The bleeding will continue for approx the same time as you would get it after a live birth, no way around it. My bleeding wasn't quite as heavy as a regular period but definately there.

My heart goes out to you.. have faith

C.

Hi K.-

So sorry to hear about your miscarriage. I also had a miscarriage and I had a D&C. I did not bleed much after-maybe light to medium bleeding for a day or so. It was not painful and the whole procedure only took about 15 minutes or so. I would recommend the D&C, it was relieving to be able to move on sooner than later. i am now 20 weeks pregnant, so it didn't seem to affect my ability to conceive again.

Hope all goes well for you from here.
Good luck and hang in there!
Jen B

My story is the same as most of these here. I won't go into details but had the D&C and have since had 2 healthy babies. I have no regrets about having had the D&C. I don't recall having much more pain than a bad period and the bleeding didn't last more than a few days.

So sorry to hear of your loss. God bless.

I had 3 miscarriages, all at 8 weeks, 2 naturally and 1 with a D and C-- I bled about the same amount of time with all 3, the worst thing about the D&C was getting the IV started, the best was not waiting for the bleeding to start.... The D&C was with my last miscarriage and my marriage blew up right after that, so I can't comment on getting pregnant soon after

I'm so sorry for your loss (both of them). I can understand the concerns about D&C, but I would think that waiting for it to happen naturally would cause a lot of extra emotional stress. I think that the sooner it occurs the sooner you can start healing physically and emotionally.

K.

I am sorry to hear that you are going through this and have to make this decision. I had 6 miscarriages before successfully having a baby girl on the 7th try. With the first couple of miscarriages, which were very early trimester, I don't remember being given an option. The doctor performed D&Cs each time because there was concern on his part that not everything would pass naturally and worried about the possibility of infection.

One time I was given a choice and didn't want to wait ... I didn't want to go through it at home. I didn't think I could handle the added emotional stress.

It's a hard decision to make. Just think of what would be the best thing for you to do for you.

Take Care

I am so sorry to hear about your loss. I started bleeding at 12 weeks when I went in they found no heart beat and the baby measured 9 weeks. I opted for a D & C. I can't say it was a good or bad decision. The procedure was over in no time and was pain free with next to no bleeding. My doctor was great she gave me as much time as i needed before the d&C to say my good byes. I chose a D & C cause I wasn't sure how I would feel if I had to be at home and out came what should have been my baby. Would i freak out? Would I have a hard time taking it to the hospital for tests? Then the thought of I might have to have a d & C anyways if everything doesn't come out just made me decide to go ahead with it right away. I had no complications and was later able to have a beautiful little boy. I would recomend asking for an ultrasound picture and keeping your hospital bracelet cause in the future you may want something to remember you baby by and also for closure. My prayers are with you.

I miscarried suddenly at 11 1/2 weeks. I woke up in the middle of the night, laid awake for a few minutes, then felt the same *ping* I felt when my water broke before I delivered my first, and there was a small gush. Went to the bathroom, knew what was up, and got up and called my doc wearing a pad. For the next hour, nothing much happened; doc said it was implant bleeding; I knew otherwise. After that, the miscarriage progressed rapidly. We had a bathroom in our bedroom, maybe 15 feet from the bed. For the next 12 hours, I couldn't make it from the bed to the toilet without dripping all over; we laid down towels. It was very messy, and passing clots was stressful, both because it felt weird and I knew that one of those had been my baby. After 12 hours, I ate a little soup broth, but the bleeding was not slowing down. I think all the blood I had went to my belly to digest, and I started feeling very awful. I called the one person I knew who had miscarried, she said that did NOT sound normal, so we headed to the ER. I had very, very low blood pressure and my miscarriage still had not ended. They recommended a d & c. I was so tired, I agreed; I did not want it to go that way, but I had a little boy at home and did not want to keep feeling this way. The d and c was done very quickly, under a half hour. The surgeon was awesome and very, very caring. By the time they let me go home (I started miscarrying at 1 am; I got home from the hospital about 11 pm), I already felt much, much better. I don't remember how long the bleeding lasted--I seem to think that it probably was very insignificant--like a couple days? and lighter than a period. Oh--my miscarriage caused NO pain. The nurses in the ER were actually rather amazed--they asked how much pain I was in, 1-10, and I said zero. The hardest part of recovery for me was getting enough fluids--the phlebotomy lab, three days post-d/c, still could not get a decent vein for a blood draw. I am a teacher, and could not lift books to high shelves to get ready for school--really frustrating. For me, that was the right decision. I wanted it to happen on its own, but I aws really reassured to know it was truly over.

My best friend, however, found out she was going to miscarry and waited it out. It took almost two weeks, but when she miscarried, it happened in about 2 hours while she was in the bathroom. It was painful but not excruciating, and moreso emotionally than physically.

(I hope this is not too tacky...but something that I think about 3 years post miscarriage...is I flushed my baby down the toilet. I kind of wish I could have had "her" given to me by a doc or something? I don't' even know if that's an option.I have friends who miscarried and brought the baby in to the doc--they won't call it a miscarriage until they know the baby is gone or no longer has a heartbeat.)

Good luck with your decision; I'm so sorry for your loss.

I've had both, and with every fiber of my being, I say get the D&C.

Very sorry for your loss. I know where you are as I went through the samething. Had my first OB appointment at 8 weeks and OB doc said everything seemed great. At 10 weeks I bleed after sexual intercourse. Scared the heck out on my fiance and myself- especially since I have two other children and this had never happened with my other pregnancies. So we went to the ER (christmas eve!) and to make a long story short- the fetal pole hadn't developed. I had a placenta and a bag but no baby. I just wanted to go home- we were heart broken. I didn't naturally miscarry during the next two weeks and it was horrible waiting for it to happen. My OB doc scheduled me for a D & E (pretty sure it's the samething as a D&C). I had cramping afterward because they had put pictocin in my IV to get the uterus to start to shrink and I had cramping after I went home. It's wasn't the procedure that was so bad- I was given some kind of drug to make me sleepy but not put me to sleep. I didn't go to sleep either, I talked to the nurses and doc during the procedure. My nurse was very supportive in having the procedure done, I remember her saying "to make sure that everything gets out and the uterus can get healthy again quicker. And then you can look at getting pregnant again." I had a normal period three weeks after the procedure and guess what- against my doctors advice- got pregnant again with that cycle! No kidding. I was 36 at the time. My son is healthy and a beautiful 22 month old who is in his "terrible twos". The unknown can be scary- but also since I am a medical professional- I also trusted those taking care of me completely. I hope my response helps you in someway. No one can really help you feel better about what has happened to you, not even your partner- but time will help too. Oh, also- I think the after effects of the procedure can have alot to do with your doctor being "good" at performing the procedure. As I had a prior procedure to terminate a pregnancy (had to due to a medication I was on) a year before this miscarriage with a different doctor and had NO cramping or IV pictocin.

I have been where you are and I say D & C. I actually went into labor (11 weeks) so it was an "easier" decision for me (I was already at the hospital)although they did give me the choice after they stopped the labor. I didn't want to have to see it or have it happen in public. My SIL fully miscarried while using the bathroom and it was very upsetting for her. As a BTDT, I say with 100% conviction, D & C. BTW, this is the first post I have ever responded to.

My sincere condolences on your loss. Blessings.

D.
Proud new mommy of Olivia, home from China 7/09

I'm sorry, I don't have an answer for you. I was just deeply touched and saddened by your request. It sucks when you have so much saddness and the rest of the world just goes on as normal. You sound like a very strong woman. God bless you, you're in my prayers. Heaven holds your two precious angels! :)

I've had one natural miscarriage and one by D&C. My first was a "blighted ovum" that was discovered at about 9 weeks. I opted to wait and did wait for over two months. I had off and on light bleeding (and really bad acne!) and it still did not complete on its own so I decided to have the D&C. I was given something for pain but was fully awake during the procedure which was really OK and I was in and out of the clinic in one morning. I had very little bleeding after.

The second time, I saw the heartbeat at about 9 weeks (but it was the size of 6.5 weeks which should have been a warning but no one told me that at the time) and within a week I miscarried. This time I bled somewhat more heavily and it was over in a few days. No more bleeding and I felt very good over all.

You can wait as long as you chose (according to my doctor) to decide to have a D&C as long as you watch for any unusual symptoms. I got very tired (literally) of the symptoms so did it, but was very glad I didn't have to the second time.

I just had a D&C procedure about 1 month ago. I couldn't wait for the miscarriage to happen naturally so after 3 weeks of waiting I finally convinced my doctor to do the D&C. I had light spotting for about a week after the D&C. I did have a couple days of heavier bleeding mixed in but I am not sure what that was about. I decided to go this route as I couldn't handle the wait and see approach emotionally. As for the cramping I had mild cramping for a couple of days, they give you medicine to cramp to prevent bleeding. With the D&C there is a month that the doctor asks you to abstain from any vaginal penetration but for me it was just easier to have that part of the miscarriage over and done with.

K.-
About 3 weeks after my first c-section (5 years ago) I started bleeding a lot and started feeling really sick and bloated. My doc had me go in for a D & C. It was an outpatient procedure. Everything went smoothly and I actually pretty much quit bleeding. For me it was nothing more than a pantiliner for a few days. Evidently the lining just needed to be scraped to get all the clot buildup out of there from the c-section. Everything went fine, I recovered just great and I had a baby last summer (by scheduled c-section) with no problems.
Hope this helps relax your fears a little!
J.