First of all, let me start off by saying that this is going to be very LONG, and that if you are squeamish, please don’t look at the pictures. There is lots of blood and there is tissue, possibly from a miscarriage or a Decidual Cast. I apologize for the pictures being so graphic but I lost a lot of blood and quite frankly had it all over me. My hubby was at work when this happened so I was taking pictures to show him because he was worried and needed to know what was going on. So again, if you are squeamish at all, please avoid the pictures because they are very graphic.

So on May 29th I had my first miscarriage. I had it naturally at home. I knew it was coming because my doctor warned me that it would be. I lost triplets. Since then, I have been going for blood tests every other week to check my hCG levels because they have been going down incredibly slowly. Finally, this month, on October 10th I went in for what I thought would be my last hCG level check. The nurse called me back the next day to let me know that my level was 4.3 which is considered “normal” or “zero” technically, since it was 5 or under. However, last month in September, I started my period and it lasted NINETEEN (yes, 19) days. So, my period that started in September, actually ended on October 13th. So a few days passed, and then on October 25th, I started my next period (my period for October). Or so I thought? Now I am not sure if this was my period or the start of a miscarriage or what the heck is going on.

Just a few nights ago, on Thursday, I was sitting outside with my daughter while she was playing and I started feeling crampy. I just chalked it up to period cramps and ended up taking 4 Advil. Usually that helps me pretty quickly, but it didn’t this time. So when we came inside, I took 2 extra strength Tylenol. Time passed and none of it was helping. Not even a little bit. The cramps kept getting worse and worse. Finally I decided that I needed to get in a hot bath (I did the exact same thing when I miscarried) and I ended up having to take a Hydrocodone because NOTHING else was helping. After about 15 minutes or so the Hydrocodone started helping and I was FINALLY able to get some relief. By this time I felt completely and utterly exhausted from the pain. The pain while all of this was going on (before I took the Hydrocodone) felt *EXACTLY* like the miscarriage that I had 5 months prior. I mean exactly. I was bleeding this time also, but not as much as I did with my miscarriage. Eventually, when I got out of the bath, the bleeding had pretty much stopped. I pee’d after I got out of the bath and when I wiped there was some blood and a lot of “watery” looking clear mucous mixed with blood (sorry for TMI), which is also what I had after I miscarried 5 months ago.

So, fast forward to the next day. I wake up and my stomach is really, really sore (obviously because of all of the “contracting” that my uterus was doing) and also crampy, but a different kind of crampy than it was the night before. Again, my stomach felt this exact same way after I miscarried last time. So I get up out of bed and go take Advil and Tylenol and go sit on the couch with a heating pad on my stomach. I’m there for a while and then eventually get up to pee. When I stand up I feel a big gush of blood and as I take a step to start walking towards the bathroom, I can feel something down there that wants to fall out of me. I do everything I can to keep it in as I am walking towards the bathroom and I pull my pants down to sit on the toilet and blood starts going everywhere. So I reach my hand underneath to catch whatever it is that is going to fall out and I catch it and I have absolutely no idea what this thing is. Obviously it’s tissue of some kind, but what, I don’t know. As all of this is going on I am 100% positive that I am having another miscarriage, but with my last period being 19 days long, my last hCG test done on October 10th and my levels being 4.3, I am just SO confused. I started searching online and I came across someone talking about a Decidual Cast. I had NEVER IN MY LIFE heard of this before. Had absolutely zero clue what it was. And the more and more I read about it, the more I wondered if that is in fact what I passed, and maybe I didn’t even have another miscarriage after all??

So I am going to post the (VERY GRAPHIC) pictures of what I passed and see what everyone’s opinions are. Was this another (new) miscarriage? Was it leftover tissue from my last miscarriage 5 months ago? I’ve read stories of people passing tissue 4 or 5 months after they’ve miscarried. But then again how could my levels have been 4.3 if this retained tissue had been left behind all this time? Or was this a Decidual Cast?

I go in tomorrow for another hCG test just to see what my numbers are, and if they are still down, lower, the same or higher. I would really like another ultrasound just to make SURE that there is nothing else that has been left behind but I don’t know that I would be able to have one done tomorrow. The appointment with my actual OB is not until November 6th.

Here are the pictures. I apologize in advance for them being so graphic. I was in a hurry to take them and was basically a nervous wreck so I didn’t even care that I hadn’t washed my hands yet. Also I have saved this piece of tissue and am going to take it in tomorrow to the lab to have it tested. I also did this with my miscarriage and took in the placenta to be tested when I passed it to rule out molar pregnancy (my doctor was concerned about that), so I thought that it would be good to do with this as well.

It definitely has a very distinct shape. It is shaped exactly like a strawberry and almost has a brain like texture to it (completely disgusting! I know..). Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry that this post was SO long!