Um... I think I may have passed the umbilical cord?

Tensei · 06-03-2007, 05:04 PM

*sigh* JUST when I thought it was over...

My bleeding had FINALLY stopped for 30 hours. I thought I was in the clear. Well, just a few minutes ago, I went to the bathroom and the spotting was back. Very, very light, but still there.

***TMI AHEAD***

On the next wipe, left on the tissue was a stringy looking thing, fleshy colored, about 2" long. A first, I thought it was a stringy clot, but it's not! It has a pattern on it and looks kind of like a string, but it's really, really tough.

I wrapped it in some TP and saved it in a baggie... I just don't know what to think. If I absolutely had to guess, I would guess that this is the umbilical cord. Either end looks "broken", but the rest looks like it was meant to be that way.

Has anyone ever experienced this before???

*sigh* Looks like I'll have to call the doctor YET AGAIN.

HopefulCyster · 06-03-2007, 05:09 PM

Yikes hun, that is creepy! Seems like the should have gotten that out with the D&C.... ***HUGS*** sorry!

Tensei · 06-03-2007, 05:15 PM

A D&C is a blind procedure, and they found a lot more in there than they were expecting to. Since they didn't know how much more to expect to take out, I can understand why a little bit was left behind.

They did an ultrasound (that's when they found the retained placenta) but I'm not sure that they would be able to see such a tiny cord so early. Could they?

Gaaaahhh I feel like this will never end.

Keleigh · 06-03-2007, 06:13 PM

Good heavens, Bekki! You have really been through the wringer with this m/c. Maybe you ought to ask for hysteroscopy, where they go in with saline and a camera. It seems like there's been so stinkin' much and I'd want to know there wasn't anything left or any damage. I really hope things get better with you soon.

Tensei · 06-03-2007, 06:18 PM

Thanks, Keleigh.

Whoa what's a hysteroscopy? If I need it, then I'll do it. I just really, really, really need this to be over with.

Tensei · 06-03-2007, 09:36 PM

Well I'm pretty certain that the retained placenta in question has passed.

***TMI AHEAD***

I was outside cleaning off the grill when I felt a gush, and then it felt like something dropped right into my undies. I waddled to the bathroom as quickly as possible and the aforementioned "something" plopped into the potty. Ooohhh man, was it gross. It ws about the shape and size of my thumb (knuckle to tip), liver colored with some whitish fatty looking stuff on the sides.

I have NEVER seen anything like that before. I wonder if whatever I thought I passed that night I had the cramping was just a clot? I'm certain that this was the placenta.

I'm still going to call the doctor tomorrow and at very least, demand an ultrasound. I want to be absolutely certain that there is NOTHING left in there.

I'll try to look on the bright side - My body sure does want to hang on. Maybe I don't have to worry so much about IC? We'll see...

Thanks for the help, ladies!

cheereeo · 06-03-2007, 10:33 PM

Bekki, I'm so sorry you have to go through all this. This has been such a long process for you. I'll find out tomorrow for sure but a friend of mine at work has a coworker who had a stillborn at 20 weeks and she went through the long wait and when she went in to have the RE check her tubes just before they start IVF again, they found something like blood vessels left in her uterus--very bizarre--the RE told her he has only seen this like three times. I'll find out tomorrow what exactly it was--I'm pretty sure the RE said Blood Vessels. I never heard of this, but it may be something you may want to inquire about. Hang in there, Bekki.

Tensei · 06-03-2007, 10:51 PM

Thanks, Brenda. That could be it, too.

I am relieved that I passed that bit of placenta, though. It was significantly bigger than what the doctor said was left behind, so I'm glad it's gone.

Life is an adventure!

Keleigh · 06-03-2007, 11:31 PM

Goodness gracious! I really really REALLY hope you're done this time!

A hysteroscopy is where they inject saline into your uterus and go up there with a camera and look around. It's a little uncomfortable during the procedure - some cramping - but with all you've been though, it might give you a little peace of mind. I had one a couple of years ago to check my uterus (when they discovered the one reproductive thing on my body that seems to be ok!) and found that it was a little tilted, but no big deal. My RE plans to do one again after my next AF to make sure there's nothing left in there. He doesn't do sonos after a m/c.

I'm relieved that he's going to do it since I never did pass any tissue or big clots. I keep trying to figure out what happened... best I can figure is I DID eat my young! (Yes, it's sick, but when something bad happens, the only way I can get through it is to laugh.)

Here's what the handout my RE gave me says:

Office hysterosocopy is a procedure which involves directly looking at the inside of the uterus using a special instrument called a hysteroscope. The hysteroscope has a small telescopic lens which is placed through your cervix into your uterus. Saline is injected into your uterus to distend the uterine wall to allow visualization of your uterine cavity. The hysteroscope is attached to a camera and can be viewed on a video monitor.

Hope this helps!

lovepotato · 06-04-2007, 01:13 AM

Oh Bekki! I hope this was the end of it! I thought the same way too, about my body holding on. Eric was so bad off, with his birth defects, that they told me he should have been m/ced. The one thing I didn't worry about with Gideon was IC and low progesterone.
Call you doctor, and demand some testing. You should be done with this now.
You're in my thoughts every day.

khenders · 06-04-2007, 03:11 AM

Becky, wow, i know you will be glad for this to be all clear. When i had my m/c with 20wk twins they did a d and c, but i still had chunks of tissue passing for days. I developed fevers at night and starting feeling malaise. I went back to the hospital where i had the m/c and they told me it was just low grade temp. A few days later, I ended up going to the ER to another hospital where the actually looked at me and did an ultrasoud which showed retained tissue and they sent me by ambulance back to the hospital that i had the m/c for yet another d and c because they could not go behind someone else's work. The hospital that i had the m/c at was a teaching hospital filled with residents.
So please request an ultrasound if they dont voluntarily do it.

Tensei · 06-04-2007, 08:55 AM

Thanks so much, ladies!

Keleigh, that doesn't sound bad at all. I'll ask the doctor to either do that or an internal ultrasound - I've had so many of those, they don't scare me at all. LOL

I'm pretty sure that it's over. The bledding has slowed down DRAMATICALLY to where it's hardly anything at all. It's usually worse at night (from laying down so long) and when I woke up this morning, it was just a little dot on the TP.

Thank you so much for your support, ladies. You all keep me from freaking out - I don't know how I'd get through this with all the encouragement and information you have to offer.