Expert: Dr. Harriet Johnson - 9/4/2009

Question
I had a missed abortion at 9 weeks. We saw healthy heartbeats at 6 weeks and 8 weeks.  On the 9th week, they couldn't find a heartbeat but the baby measured exactly to the correct day(9weeks, 3 days). They sent me to radiology and they couldn't find a heartbeat either.  I had to have a D&C because my doc said my HCG level went up 50,000 3 days after the heartbeat wasn't found. Initially I had minimal bleeding after the D&C and it stopped one day after the D&C.  It is now 6 days later and I suddenly started bleeding again- bright red and then some dark (almost black) clots too.  This is alot more blood then I had even right after the D&C. I have had mild pain all week as well.  I have 2 questions, is the pain and bleeding normal?  I was confused b/c it stopped and then suddenly started again days later.  My other question is that I took ultram for one day in the 9th week (two 50mg tabs at once and then two 50mg tabs 5 hours later) for a migraine.  I also drank a half of glass of wine on my anniversary (which the Dr said 1/2 glass would be ok).I am worried I killed the baby because the heartbeats were strong at 6 and 8 weeks.  The Dr even told us we didn't need to wait until the 12the week to tell our families the good news of pregnancy becasue of the great ultrasounds we had.  Thanks so much for your help.

Answer
Hi CJ,

I'm sorry to hear about your miscarriage. The pain and bleeding is normal, your body is cleaning itself out. Dark blood is old blood. The red blood is from your uterus contracting, it is a good thing. The effects on unborn babies when taking ultram is unknown. I cannot say for sure if it killed the baby or not without tests. There are many reasons for miscarriage. Unfortunately even with great heartbeats, things can change very quickly.