For those of you who have had fetal tissue testing, how did it come about? Obviously it's time sensitive as it would happen when you are miscarrying. How did they collect the tissue sample? Was it similar to a d&c? Any info you could share would be so helpful. Just trying to prepare myself with what might be happening.
-
I'm sorry to hear you might be going through this.
My first miscarriage happened at home and was fairly early, so I was told it was probably a fluke and I had not testing.
My second loss was a stillborn. I wanted to bury my baby and didn't want her body to be put through an autopsy, so I agree to any testing short of that. I'm not sure exactly what they tested of her (or even IF they ran all the tests...my doctor at the time wasn't the best at communicating), but no flags came back.
My latest loss, my baby was in distress when I went in for the NT scan. It was done at a genetics and IVF lab, so they offered a CVS on the spot to verify that our baby had trisomy (which the scan suggested).
I'm not sure if a CVS is an available option if the baby has already passed (and they're only useful during a certain window of time) but the geneticist highly suggested it because it's the most accurate way to test. He said if you test post-delivery, there's a chance you could be testing cells from the mother's uterus and get results for a healthy female (the mother) even if the baby is not healthy or female.
I'm not sure if any of that will help you or not. I'm so sorry.
-
I had testing done on my second loss (in a row), following a D+C. Results were normal, FWIW. I think testing is often only recommended in cases of recurrent loss or later in pregnancy, if desired. So sorry you're going through this!
-
I'm sorry for your loss
I had 2 missed miscarriages. The first was a D&C but they didn't recommend the testing since it was my first.
The second a few months later they recommended a D&C mainly so that they could collect the tissue and test.I am a really big advocate for testing if you can because in my case it found a serious cause for my miscarriages and now I do IVF with PGD because of it. Had I not tested our fetal tissue, who knows how many more miscarriages I would have had. Or I might have just given up and not known that PGD was an option for us. I have my 2 year old son because of it.
Of course do what is right for you and your family and know that we'll be here for any questions or venting.
-
Thanks ladies. This is loss number 3, but not is a row, I had a successful pregnancy after two losses. I'm 10 weeks along and bleeding, sitting in emerg waiting to be seen. Just trying to get an idea of what my options might be for testing and how it's done. I had a missed miscarriage with the second loss, and a d&c, I'm wondering if testing will be possible as it already seems to be happening on its own.
-
@Mrsk: Even if you've had a healthy pregnancy in between, a third loss is still a third loss and you can still push for repeat pregnancy loss testing if you want to.
I don't think spotting would preclude you from having a D&C or testing if you want it. (I hope you don't have to make that decision though) You can still have a D&C to complete a miscarriage even if you've already started spotting. And at 10 weeks, you're probably likely to know if you've already passed that baby.
-
@MaryM: it's definetly more than spotting, it's quite a big of bleeding, but I haven't passed any tissue yet. I'm going to push for testing. Fortunately the obgyn on call at the emerg today is the one I saw for my other losses, so I'm hoping she will go for it.
-
I had a D&C for twins at 9 weeks. They collected tissue but because they had passed, they couldn't get results with no living cells. Just be aware even if they collect it they might not be able to get results.
-
I have no idea if this would even be a possibility, but if you're worried about chromosomal abnormalities, I wonder if a NIPT could still be done (like materniT21 or similar tests).
I'm not sure how long after loss fetal DNA remains in your blood, but it might be worth asking.
-
@Mrsk: I'm so sorry you are going through this! I think with a D&C you can get testing done. I would also push for the repeat loss testing if this turns out to be another loss.
-
I had a natural miscarriage in which no tissue was tested and a D&C, in which they tested the tissue after they removed it. It sounds like you are expecting a loss to occur and are anticipating a natural loss. It might be worth calling your doctor to figure out your options to the extent that testing is important to you. The ability to do testing after a second loss was definitely a factor in my decision to move forward with a D&C. I was warned that the results may be inconclusive but in my case we were able to figure out that the cause of the loss was some fluke chromosomal issue that did not present any sort of risk in future pregnancies, which was helpful for some piece of mind.
-
I'm sorry you are prepping for this possibility.
The easiest way to collect the tissue for testing is D&C of course. It is possible to do it naturally, but much harder and probably something you don't want to do as it involves collecting what you pass yourself.
I learned from my RE that there are two ways to do the testing nowadays. An older method where they culture the cells to test, which requires living cells and a newer method that actually does not require live cells. I can't find the email from him with these details so I think he told me over the phone, but it may be something to ask... about what method the lab that does the testing uses.
The other thing is that the hospital that does the D&C has the job of sorting through the tissue to ensure that they isolate the gestational sac appropriately from other tissue and isn't lazy about it.
In my case, I don't think they found the sac, and the lab used the older method of testing, so I got no results.
-
UPDATE: thanks ladies for all the info and support. FORTUNATLEY, it's not something I need to worry about. Heart beat and wiggling around baby on the ultra sound. Bleeding has stopped. It's crazy, I don't even bleed that much in the course of an entire period. But so far things look ok. I'll be calling the midwives tomorrow to hopefully get another more in depth ultra sound done (the one in the emerg room wasn't very high tech). Get betas done, Altho I'm wondering if at this point, 10 weeks, they would still be doubling every 48 hours or would that slow down?
-
@Mrsk: That's a great update! what a relief.
My RE said that after you can measure the fetus size and heartbeat, the betas dont really mean much anymore cause they dont continue to follow the doubling rule. He stopped doing betas after the 6th week and focused more on fetus size. -
@Mrsk: Great news! Was that your first ultrasound this pregnancy? Keep growing little one!
-
@Mrsk: glad to hear this update! Keep us posted!
-
@FliegepilzHut: thanks. It was out third. We had one at 7 weeks and then one 4 days ago, where everything was fine. Hopefully it was just weird bleeding. I'm going to ask the midwives for another one soon to confirm that the bleeding was nothing to worry about.
-
@Mrsk: Certainly sounds as if all is well! Maybe the more detailed ultrasound will give you an answer.
Reply
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
17 comments