“We were told we’d miscarried and to try again.”

In April 2021 I excitedly told my husband I was pregnant. At six weeks I started bleeding, and two days later we were told we’d miscarried and to try again.

I was pregnant in September 2021 and thought everything was fine until I started spotting at 11 weeks. It was a Sunday, EPU was closed, and I couldn’t get through to anyone at the hospital. When the hospital got back to me later that day, they said it was probably nothing but booked me in for a scan that Thursday. Two days later we went for a private scan and were told that the baby was measuring six weeks and there was no heartbeat.

The hospital told us the same, but we had to wait two weeks to confirm if the pregnancy was ‘viable’. Those weeks were torture, but it was my husband’s birthday, so we went away – in the photos I looked happy, but I was heartbroken. At the next scan we were told we’d had a missed miscarriage. Due to Covid, I was told I needed medical management to end the pregnancy and that it would be like a heavy period. It wasn’t.

“My mum phoned to see how I was and immediately phoned my husband to say he needed to take me to hospital…”

I was having contractions, was in so much pain, and I’d never seen so much blood in my life. The pain subsided after 7 hours but I spent most of the next week in bed with what I thought was flu. My mum phoned to see how I was and immediately phoned my husband to say he needed to take me to hospital. An hour later three doctors were poking around to remove a blood clot that was stuck in the neck of my womb, and I was sent off with antibiotics. I had a huge bleed about a week later, the hospital scanned me and said to expect more bleeding, but it was nothing to worry about.

After two weeks, I was bleeding heavily again. I drove home for Christmas and soaked through my clothes later that night. The bleeding carried on for 7.5 weeks – I was completely broken by this point.

I went to my GP and asked for tests which she agreed to. Everything came back normal.
In May 2022, I was pregnant again. At six weeks, there was no heartbeat, and we were told two weeks later that we’d had another missed miscarriage. This time I refused medical management and was booked in for an MVA. I started to miscarry the day before and went to the hospital hoping I wouldn’t need the procedure – I did. I remember apologising to the nurse for leaking blood everywhere. After this I was referred to the recurrent miscarriage clinic.

I was pregnant in September 2022 but started bleeding from the moment I took the test. A scan at six weeks showed an empty pregnancy sack, with a missed miscarriage confirmed two weeks later. I had another MVA.
Private tests came back in January 2023 showing that everything was normal asides my AMH. That doctor said I needed IVF immediately, but I sought a second opinion, and we were told we didn’t need IVF. I spoke to my GP who referred me on the NHS anyway and she also agreed to give me a prescription for progesterone to take from the point of a positive pregnancy test instead of waiting until after our first scan.

“The first thing he said was “I don’t know why you’re here”. I wanted to cry.”

After 11 months, we finally got an appointment at the recurrent miscarriage clinic. The first thing he said was “I don’t know why you’re here”. I wanted to cry.

In June 2023 we saw a baby with a heartbeat – I had some hope. Sadly, it wasn’t meant to be. Baby likely died a day after that scan and had another MVA. That loss hit me particularly hard.

That Christmas, despite days of spotting, I did a pregnancy test and was shocked when it was positive. We saw a heartbeat at 7 weeks, but baby died later that day. I had another MVA.

I went to Coventry to have private tests with Tommy’s just prior to starting IVF. They came back as normal asides my natural killer cells. I was told to go onto high dose steroids from a positive pregnancy test. Unfortunately, after a brutal IVF round, we had nothing to transfer and as they were only able to get two eggs from me, we were ruled out of future rounds as I wasn’t seen as viable.

“I won’t believe it is real until baby is here, but we’re hoping we get to meet this little one.

We kept trying and in September 2024, I was pregnant for the seventh time. I started taking progesterone and steroids straight away. The hospital gave me bi-weekly scans up until 16 weeks, and all being well our miracle baby should be born in May 2025. I won’t believe it is real until baby is here, but we’re hoping we get to meet this little one.

Written by Kirsty Paget