The Physical Recovery Post Miscarriage
What I didn’t expect after a miscarriage
I am very conscious that every woman has their own miscarriage experience and a list of symptoms that may or may not be similar. Some women may have a very quick clean passing, some have a D&C and others may have a few more complications. I unfortunately went through the complicated kind.
All I can do here is share with you what I experienced and hope that perhaps it can prepare (or help) any women going through the same thing.
All I was told when I left the hospital was that “ it would pass naturally”. That’s it. There was no follow up with a gynaecologist, no “ expect this, expect that”. Just a “ check in with your GP in a few days“.
……about that.
Statistically speaking they say some miscarriages pass in a few hours and some in a few days. Mine took about 10 days and the first few days were insanley painful. I spoke to one woman and she equated it to actually “ giving birth”. Now depending on how far along you are, probably dictates how quickly you pass it and how painful it may or may not be.
But below is what I wish I knew leaving the hospital:
Buy yourself some PADS because you might leak blood and there is no stopping it. I unfortunately found out the hard way and tried to run from my bed to bathroom but didn’t make it and bled all over my floor. I was so horrified and embarrassed that I just sat in the blood crying because I had no idea what just happened nor was I sure it was “normal”. I thought it would pass when I peed…..incorrect.
Don’t wear tampons, they can cause infection. ( who would have thought ).
Be prepared to see blood every time you pee and even when you shower. Most of the time it will have clots ( remember you have to pass fetal tissue so don’t be alarmed when you see it). If however you are soaking more than 2 pads per hour, check yourself into an urgent care to make sure everything is ok.
Depending on how far along you are you might pee out a sac with a baby inside, about the size of a large bean. I did and I can still see my baby floating in the toilet to this day.
Cramping/Pelvic Pain - It’s going to be painful and uncomfortable so invest in a heat pack and use it when you feel them coming on. If we are taking about a “common” miscarriage expect it to last about 2 weeks. I however, experienced it for 3 months (more on that later).
Your first period back (usually after about 6-8 weeks) can be extremely painful and heavy. I’ve never had painful or heavy periods before and this was excruciating. I ended up in the ER because I wasn’t sure what was going on. Turns out it was my period on steroids.
You’re going to feel exhausted. Not only are you trying to deal with it emotionally but your body is going through a big physical change. Your hormones just plummeted so give yourself time to rest. I took a week off work and slept for a lot of it.
Make sure your doctor tests your HCG levels to ensure the baby has passed completely.
If you don’t have a gynaecologist or your doctor doesn’t think you need one after a miscarriage, forget that and find one. My doctor told me I didn’t need one even though I was complaining about sever pelvic pain for weeks. After a month I demanded one and an ultrasound.
Like I said above, my miscarriage wasn’t so clean. I spent the better part of 2.5 months with doctors, gynaecologists, physiotherapist and taking multiple ultrasounds because my pelvic pain was out of control. Turn out they found 2 very small paraovarian cysts ( beside the ovary, not on) - a result of my miscarriage. Not common, but can happen.
( most cysts don’t cause pain and mine were less than 2cm so I was told it wasn’t that).
Some days the pain would run down my thigh and into my leg and cause so much discomfort I couldn’t feel it anymore. Other days it would ache so badly in my lower back that no amount of Tylenol would help. I was in constant agony 24/7. I broke down every other day because no one could figure out what was wrong. I had every test done under the sun and we were stumped.
Finally my gynocollogist told me we should think about exploratory surgery to see what was going on. Quite honestly I really didn’t want to have to resort to that but I was at a point that where u couldn’t function, so I said yes.
But then I had a thought.
I’m a women’s holistic health specialist so why not use what I know and teach my clients and try it on myself. Now most of the women I work with have IBS, Endometriosis and ovarian cysts, so the challenging part was not knowing what I had.
Did I develop endometromas? Did I develop scar tissue? Was I just feeling the cysts more than I should have? Did I have PID? Should I just get pregnant again and see if that works? These questions floated me everyday.
Not knowing, I figured why not treat myself for everything and take the tonics I prescribe and start the diet I know works for all of the above. As much as I wish I could tell you what it is, I would never exploit my practice as everybody is different and every program is customized. #shamlessplug
What I realized after was that not all miscarriages are created equal as some bodies may take longer to heal than others. 3 months may seem like a long time but I think in reality, it really isn’t.
To this day my body is still trying to adjust. The pain ( thankfully) has gone down quite a bit. Do I feel jabs here and there, yep- but it’s ok because I think in time I will heal completely.
Rely on specialists, don’t be afraid to ask questions, reach out to other women and get in tune with your body.
**If you’re reading this. I’m really sorry you are (or know someone) who is going through this.**