First of all I am SO sorry for your loss. Considering it was four days ago you probably still are hurting very badly emotionally. Let me know if you want to talk. About your question, in my opinion it is very important to watch the HCG levels. I am not sure how much you know about the levels but heres the basics: HCG is the pregnancy hormone in your body and when you get pregnant they are supposed to double every 2 days or so. In a full term pregnancy they reach a very high number. After a miscarriage, it takes about 4-6 weeks for the levls to return to a non-pregnant status. The reason doctors order you to get your blood drawn so often is to make sure you are not retaining any fetal cells/tissue. If your levels go up or get stuck at any point your doctor needs to be aware of this. A non pregnant womans levels should be somewhere between 5 and 0. And they dont go up unless you get pregnant again.
Hope I was helpful. :)

I never followed by numbers down. My doctor wasn't worried but I had a D and C so maybe that's why. I am so sorry for your loss!!!

hmm thank you that's good to know. I might go back but it's hard.. i know i dotn need to tell anyone on here that though. We all know

they just want to make sure they are dropping, my doctor was going to check my levels till they reached 0, but my last draw this week was 10, and he decided that was good enough to stop checking.
i was wanting to make sure they dropped because a) didnt want there to be left over tissue or anything and b) once they reach 0 you are able to ovulate and start having cycles again. its important to me to finally be able to have all the products of this pregnancy out of my body so i can move on..and i consider the hcg still left in me to be exactly that, a reminder of the pregnancy.
my d&c was a month ago yesterday, but i knew the pregnancy was not viable since 12/29.. so i've had a bit more time than you of dealing and grieving. don't get me wrong, i am and will always be heartbroken, but i think ive moved on to the angry phase, where i just want to get back to "normal"

First of all, I am very sorry for your loss. I had a chemical pregnancy back in May of 2008 and my doctor had me come in weekly to make sure my levels went down to zero. Although it was a very early miscarriage it took over a month for my level to reach 0. On the other hand, I just had a miscarriage in January at 11 weeks. I had a D&C and then a post op appt. a week later. They never checked my blood and I have no more appointments so my hsg levels are not being monitored. I don't really know why my doctor is not concerned about because from what I read on DS most people do follow it down to zero.

I never had my Hcg numbers followed but I also had a D&C. I agree with aimee. It is important to make sure there is nothing left, that you aren't retaining any tissue. That can cause a infection which wouldn't be good. I know it is hard but I also think it is a good idea to go back and get it tested! Thinking of you during this very difficult time!

I am sorry for your loss, I wish there were something I could say more than that.
I had a natural miscarriage at home, I had follow up ultra sound and bloods about 1 week and 4 weeks after the begining of the miscarriage.
There after I didn't have further testing, but my levels were very low before i miscarried, so I assume the Dr i saw didn't think it needed following up in my case.
Everyones case is different, and I suggest that even though it is shitty and uncomfortable and you'd really rather not go, that you do go.
Make sure you give your body what it needs so that you don't worry about it later on.
I send you huge warm hugs.
Jo X

I still go and have my levels checked once a week and I MC on Dec. 25. I know it's hard I still cry there and back. Hang in there. When your levels reach under 5 they stop checking. Plus the faster they drop the sooner you can try again. Good luck

thanx everyone!!! i love you all and i hope everyone is doing ok.

I think it's important for you to continue getting your levels checked. With my first m/c, they followed my levels back down to 3. That was determined to be a prepregnancy level. Two weeks later, I got a + home pregnancy test. A diff. nurse from the one that had been following my case thought I still had HCG left in my system and it might be a mistake. I knew it wasn't. She had me go in and check my HCG level with another blood draw. It was now back up to 38. So, I was pregnant immediately after my m/c. It is very possible. Not only is it important so that they confirm your body is doing what it should and not retaining tissue, but it also helps in confirming a new pregnancy, whether planned or unplanned.

I know it hurts to keep going back to get blood drawn as a reminder that you just lost the life inside of you. I hated going. There were always women there who just found out they were pregnant. The reason I knew this was because it was a military hospital and they give every newly pregnant woman a bag of goodies and send them to the lab to get OB labs done. So,I always saw them with the goodie bag and knew they were expecting and I wasn't. It sucked having to go to radiology to get u/s done to check if my pregnancy was viable because I'd always see pregnant women walking out of there looking at their u/s pictures. The constant reminders make it difficult, but it's important to get the healthcare that you need. Take care.

I am so sorry for your loss.

My situation was weird. I went in for my first u/s and they thought the baby was smaller then it should've been but said there was a heart beat. My OB called me two weeks later. I had already started bleeding before my next appointment, I hadn't had any blood work done. I lost my baby over the week at home nautrally. I had an u/s done after my M/C and more blood drawn. My HCg levels were already coming down by this point. My OB called for a f/u about a week after and she did a PAP and didn't even do a urine test or anything like that.

I haven't had an appointment since then, but since I got a visit from AF the other, I think I'm fine.

I just wanted you to know my story so you know that everybody's is different and might depend on your doctor.

hey lil you are kind of lucky that your doc wants to check them. I mentioned it to mine and her response was "well if you want" I was like "what?". I am praying mine go down asap because I want to move on and get prego again. But whatever works for you and feels comfortable for you. At the same time I def understand where you are coming from with that. What's the point if they are going down anyway. I hope you feel better and ttc real soon. Thinking you!!

Nicole

First thing I am sooo sorry for your loss!!

I did not have to have my levels checked however I had a D&C also. Since they removed everything they had less to worry about.

If the testing will prevent you from a D&C I would suggest going in for them. I sooo understand the pain of going however. When I went in for my first yearly exam after my loss I broke down in the Dr office and they had to medicate me to calm me down.

That drs office to this day makes me shake just thinking of it. But each time it gets better. Maybe just a little but better.

If you need to talk about any of the feeling you have we are all here for you. We know how hopeless it may seem, but we have all made it through and we are here for you now!!