In this episode of the Miscarriage Stories with Arden Cartrette podcast, Arden engages in a heartfelt conversation with Linsey, who has faced recurrent pregnancy loss. Linsey’s journey began at the age of 26, with three losses occurring within a year of trying to conceive. Each of her losses stems from different reasons.
Listen to this episode on Spotify, or Apple Podcast.
Three unique losses #
The first time around, Linsey gets pregnant right away. But soon it turns out there are some chromosomal abnormalities and stagnation of fetal growth. The specific disease is fatal, meaning that her baby is likely to either die before birth or within the first year of life. After considering all scenarios, Linsey and her partner make the difficult decision to terminate the pregnancy for medical reasons (TFMR).
Once her doctor gives the green light, Linsey tries conceiving again. She gets pregnant in the first go, but her pregnancy ends in a miscarriage at 6 weeks. Despite her being 6 weeks pregnant, her doctor calles it a chemical pregnancy.
When Linsey gets pregnant for a third time, she has a miscarriage. She first waits for the miscarriage to start naturally but eventually takes abortion pills to remove the fetal tissue from her womb. Because this is not completely successful, she ends up needing surgery as well.
Getting pregnant too easily #
Facing different causes for each loss, Linsey’s doctors suggests that perhaps she is getting pregnant too easily. That is to say: she gets pregnant, no matter whether the sperm, egg and are healthy. Therefore, they deside to opt for IVF. At the time of recording, Linsey is 8 weeks pregnant with her fourth baby.
Tip for those experiencing recurrent pregnancy loss #
This episode about recurrent pregnancy loss concludes with a valuable tip from the host: for those who have experienced pregnancy loss, focus on the differences in your current pregnancy rather than dwelling on similarities.
“At least you know you can get pregnant” #
A noteworthy aspect of Linsey’s story is her perspective on well-meaning comments like “You are so young, don’t worry” or “At least you know you can get pregnant.” From Linsey’s view, she’d rather not get pregnant each time, only to end up having a miscarriage. Instead, she’d rather have one healthy pregnancy. For other women, this might be the opposite: they might wish to at least know that they can get pregnant. This shows again how complicated fertility experiences are and that each experience is unique. There is not one simple notion that is always right to say to a woman experiencing infertility or a loss.
