Brave Mumma to be Kirsty, now pregnant with her rainbow baby shares her pregnancy journey. Read on to hear more about her story. Content warning: Blog post mentions miscarriage.
8 weeks pregnant
Baby is the size of a: Olive
Our first pregnancy and miscarriage: My husband and I are both healthy 30year olds who began trying for a baby in August 2020. We were lucky enough to fall pregnant relatively quickly (even though it felt like forever at the time) in January 2021. I spoke to a friend of mine who recommend a midwife who I contacted, and we arrange out first appointment when I was approximately 7weeks. Our midwife asked if I knew my dates or if we required a dating scan and because we were trying, and I had super regular cycles we opted to not have a dating scan. My husband and I met with our midwife when I was approximately 7weeks pregnant, our first appointment went great, we all got long and I felt excited and supported. The next weeks went past, I had some mild nausea and tiredness but nothing extreme and we were looking forward to our 12-week scan.
At 11w2d (Friday) I had some bleeding, I messaged my midwife immediately and she said she would arrange an urgent scan for me on Monday and to keep her updated. My bleeding became heavier over the weekend, and I started having strong cramps. The ultrasound place contacted me on Monday morning and arranged a scan for Monday afternoon. At the scan the ultrasound technician didn’t say much however she said that she could see a collapsing gestational sac and a foetal pole measuring approx. 5w3d with no heartbeat. She said she would provide a verbal handover to our midwife, and we would hear from her. My husband and I returned home, and I awaited a call from my midwife – which never came. On Monday evening I miscarried naturally at home.
Another week went by, and my midwife finally returned my call the following Tuesday (8days after my ultrasound). I didn’t answer her phone call as I was too angry, but I text her and said I was extremely disappointed in her lack of follow up, guidance and care over the past week and that my GP would be continuing my care. My husband and I meet with my GP, and she arranged a number of follow up blood tests to ensure my HCG levels returned to normal, offered some counselling and explained what would happen next.
My husband and I both work in healthcare so we were fortunate enough to know what is ‘normal’ when having a miscarriage, when to seek further hospital intervention etc however no one should be expected to go through a miscarriage without any guidance and follow up is essential to ensure the miscarriage is complete and there is no risk of retained tissue and infection. I feel my midwife completely let us down.
I had two ‘normal’ cycles post miscarriage and my husband, and I decided to ‘stop not trying’ as opposed to begin trying and fell pregnant the first month. Obviously, we were happy but also very anxious. I have a close friend who is currently pregnant who recommended an OB after knowing our experience last time and so far, our experience has been great. I am currently 8weeks,2days. feeling very sick but very happy. I had some early spotting, so our OB arranged to see me before our first official appointment at 6w4d were we saw our tiny baby and a healthy heartbeat. We had an official dating scan yesterday and everything is looking great. We are yet to have our ‘first’ official appointment with our OB yet, but I anticipate that will be next week!
If after reading this you’d be happy to share your own experience of pregnancy, please email me at megan@forgetmenotjournals.com to send you one of the pages (or you can send a photo of your own pregnancy journal)
