Having Hope in the Midst of a Miscarriage Scare

We struggled with infertility for a year before becoming pregnant with my first born, Noah. So, when we got pregnant on the 1st try with baby #2, we were ecstatic! It was day 28 in my cycle (my period was due the following day), and I had a hunch something was a little “off” with my body, so I took a pregnancy test after my husband left for work that morning. It was POSITIVE! I took two actually…just to be on the safe side! I kept it a secret the entire day until the hubby got home from work. I dressed Noah in a “Big Bro” t-shirt that we went out and bought that day and surprised the hubby when he walked in the door. We were so excited that we called both our parents that evening to share the news with them! Our dream of giving Noah a sibling was going to come true!

The next morning I woke up to use the bathroom and saw blood. I immediately feared the worse, and called my OB for an appointment. They said that it was too early for an appointment (I was only 4 weeks along at this time), and that I would have to “wait and see” how things progressed in the coming days. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot anyone could do, and we would have to wait and see if I was miscarrying, or if the blood I saw was possibly just “spotting” from implantation. I saw blood once more that day and took yet another pregnancy test…still positive. Fortunately, the bleeding stopped later that day and never returned.

Fast forward 2 weeks later, and we went in for our 1st OB appointment at 6 weeks. My OB and I discussed my bleeding, and because I was having some off and on cramping on one side, we decided to do an ultrasound “just to be on the safe side” (mainly to rule out an ectopic pregnancy). We went into the ultrasound excited, thinking we would finally get to see our little bean today! After what seemed like forever, my OB started to look concerned. She couldn’t find the heartbeat, and was only able to see a little sac. She explained that their in-office ultrasound equipment was not the highest quality available, so she immediately sent us down to the hospital for a more in depth ultrasound.

I think I cried the entire way to the hospital. An hour or so later, we made it to the hospital and started the ultrasound. Our tech explained to us that she could see a gestational sac, but there was still no detectable heartbeat. We were crushed. My OB called to follow-up later that afternoon and explained that it could just be too early to see the heartbeat, and that perhaps my cycle dates were off and I wasn’t as far along as I thought. She also explained that she could not confidently say that my pregnancy was viable at this point. We agreed to come in for another ultrasound in one week, and then go from there.

I spent that next week doing lots and lots of Googling. I read a few positive stories from others, but mostly just found stories with sad endings. I was one big stress ball that entire week. First, the blood (which I never had with my first pregnancy), and second, two ultrasounds with no heartbeat to be found. In my head, I KNEW my dates were not wrong. I tracked my cycles very meticulously. I admit, I was not very hopeful for a positive outcome at the time.

The day we had been waiting for finally arrived. I was 7 w + 1 d when we went in for our follow-up appointment. After a few minutes on the ultrasound table, we FINALLY saw what we had been waiting for…a little flicker on the screen…it was our baby’s heartbeat! And it was beating at a healthy rate of 146 bpm! What.a.relief!

I’m happy to say that little heartbeat is now our sweet daughter, London (who is now 15 months old)!

Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be the last scare of my pregnancy with this sweet baby (more on my experience with preeclampsia later); however, I can confidently say that I would do it all over again in a heart beat. I appreciate every minute with her, as I thought at one time, we might not ever get to meet her. Not many friends of ours know about those early weeks of my pregnancy with London, but it’s been on my heart to share with you all. I wanted to share our experience with anyone else who may be going through a similar situation and just needs a little bit of hope. I’m here to tell you that even though things may look grim, there is always hope. Stay strong, mama!

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. {Romans 12:12}

xo,

Sumer