First Round of Tests Done

Based on conversations with my OB/GYN and my own research, our miscarriage was not a fluke. It wasn't "one of those things, "it didn't "just happen" and it wasn't "just not meant to be." As I have learned over the last few weeks, almost all so-called "random" miscarriages happen before 9 weeks and almost all involve chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus. Neither was the case for us.

Fortunately, I have a forward-thinking doctor who is willing to order tests rather than wait for me to have more than two consecutive losses (as the current obstetric guidelines suggest) before trying to determine why. Considering Truman's extremely easy birth, we can't risk another pregnancy without more knowledge. We still think incompetent cervix is what caused Truman's early birth, but it's possible that it could have been something else. Additionally, my doctor was also looking out for my mental health. Miscarriage is hard enough for any woman, but compound that with the timing of this one and my history regarding Truman, she said couldn't let me try another pregnancy without attempting to make it more certain of a positive outcome.

At this point, we have no idea what happened, so we started with the most statistically likely scenario. On Monday, I gave 15 vials of blood for a thrombophilia panel and other assorted medical tests like lupus. A thrombophilia panel tests for various clotting disorders, which is the most common cause of post-fetal heartbeat miscarriages. Such clotting disorders are somewhat common, but affect different women and even different pregnancies within the same woman differently. Many of them only affect women while they are pregnant. After talking to many other women who suffered miscarriages at a similar timeframe as I did, they all seemed to have the same thing in common -- some sort of blood clotting problem. The tests take 2-3 weeks to get results.

At some point, I just want to feel my own baby's kicks. Even though I have a wonderful, beautiful three-year-old, I still have never felt my unborn child move, held my own newborn, or felt joy at giving birth. It's a pretty simple thing to ask for, don't you think?