[savvy002]

I posted on here a few weeks ago regarding my obgyn who was negative about my pregnancy chances due to anti philo antibodies (borderline).

Well I had a chemical miscarriage where the egg implanted but wasn't able to hold. Does this mean I have the syndrome. Chemical miscarriages do not have to do with the syndrome does it.

Thanks

Savvy

 

[LolaLola]

Dear Savvy,
I don't know enough about this to answer your question. Just wanted you to know how sorry I am. Are they going to repeat the blood tests?
x Lola

 

[cath]

HI Savvy,

I am very sorry about your miscarriage.

The cause of a chemical miscarriage (which basically means your pregnancy test was positive, but they'd not yet seen a heart beat on ultrasound) is very often chromosomal, but not exclusively. It can also be APS.

There is growing evidence that as well as causing clots in the placenta, APS causes immunological problems in the very early stages of pregnancy, resulting in implantation failure. Traditionally APS was seen as causing late pregnancy loss, and some docotrs seem to have misinterpreted this as ONLY late losses being from APS. That is not true. It can also cause early losses, and probably also subinfertility (where it takes a long time to concieve).

So, was your miscarriage caused by APS? That is very difficult to say. Statistically one miscarriage doesn't say much. The chances that your second pregnancy will result in a normal baby are very good. On the other hand, if you can get your obstetrician to prescribe you asprin and heparin for your second pregnancy, it may be worth it. Technically the guidelines don't reccomend treatment until after 3 miscarriages in a row, but this is pretty emotionally trying, and a kind obstetrician will be sympathetic if you want to try anticoagulants earlier.

I have SLE and APS. I've had 6 miscarriages - 3 without treatment (before diagnosis), and 3 with. One of those was a partial mole (69 chromasomes), so not APS, and the other 2 I was on asprin and heparin from the first day of a positive test. Since even that hasn't worked for me, I now inject heparin from the day of ovulation every month, and take asprin every day. This regime is outside of the protocol, so probably not the way for you to go just yet. It isn't fun injecting 'for nothing', and long term heparin can cause osteoporosis.

Although not a comforting idea, miscarriage amongs the general population is very common. At least 15% of all conceptions miscarry, and with early testing the rate is sprobably more like 50% (ie it happens a lot that the egg fertilises and starts to make HCG but never implants and the woman bleeds at the expected time. So unless she's done a super sensitive early pregnancy test she won't even realise she was pregnant briefly).

The good news is that you still have a very good chance of a sucessful pregnancy in the future. Give yourself time to grieve for this loss, and when you feel ready, try again.

Gentle hugs,

X C X

 

[savvy002]

Thanks

Thank you for the comforting words. When I hear about 6 pregnancies it scares me cause I am already 36. Do I have time to do this? Is heperain safe for the baby? I'm so discouraged and devestated. This is really painful for me cause I wanted a baby all my life (since I was kid)

Thanks,

Savvy

 

[savvy002]

One more thing

I was only two weeks pregnant. So maybe it was chromosonal?

Savvy

 

[cath]

Hi Savvy,

I know it is very hard. And I'm not a good example - others have had better success. BTW I'm 36 too, and even after 6 losses, my obstetrician says it will work one time, that if we've the courage to keep trying we will have a live baby. I really am a statistical aberation. The chances of success with treated APS are 70%, and if APS is not an issue, then the chances are about 85% that your next pregnancy will be normal.

How are you couinting the weeks? Week one is the week of your period before you concieve, so by the time you miss a period and get a positive test, you are 4 weeks pregnant. If you'd known you were pregnant for 2 weeks, you were 6 weeks pregnant at the time of the miscarriage.

The only way to know for sure if a miscarriage is chromosomal is to have the tissue analysed. Unfortunately very early on it is pretty difficult to 'catch' the foetus - they are just so little. I've tried and failed 2 times to do this, and I'm a midwife so should be able to tell the difference between a blood clot and a foetus. You could ask your Ob if she wants you to try this if you even have another miscarriage. It might let you know something. I know how important 'why' can be....

Hugs,

X C X

 

[savvy002]

Thank you

Kath,

Thank you for the kind words. I just posted a new thread where my OBGYN told me I only had a 20% chance of a live birth.

Thank God your post was waiting for me when I got home.

You are my angel today. I was totally depressed then saw your post with a satistic I like better.

Also My anti Phosphilipid antibody is only boderline 1-15 normal and i am 15
My IGG is 16 and my IGM is 18. No Cardiolipin positive. So shouldn't my doc be more positive like yours?

I am really sorry for your losses. I've only been through this once and exhausted. I think I will keep my head up high now


Thanks sweety

Savvy

 

[savvy002]

Ooops

Kath,

To answer your question. I was only 14 or 15 days pregnant and miscarried. So very early pregnancy

Savvy

 

[Maia]

To give you another perspective, I have lupus and positive anticardiolipin antibodies (tested positive twice months apart at about 25 and 50 so definite positive and a moderately high positive). My high risk ob-gyn saw the 25 and was not concerned AT ALL, then saw the 50 and decided it was only appropriate to take a low dose aspirin until late in the 3rd trimester of my pregnancy.

I think he was not too concerned in my case, especially since I had not had a major clotting event in my history (& technically without a major clotting event you don't have APS). I also had no known history of miscarriage although I do wonder if I miscarried once (I was out of town at a business conference and was a full week late when it came and it was a bit different/worse...). I never bothered to test so I won't know if I was just late or something else.

Anyways, about a year after that I got pregnant and carried successfully to term and had a very healthy 8 pound baby girl It does seem to me like your doctor is being quite too negative about it all, unless there is something we don't know about. It's too early to know if you have APS, and you may want to get a different doctor's opinion before trying again to see if you should try taking baby aspirin or something more.