Yes, I am absolutely terrified of the ‘M’ word. It did not help that my mum and mother-in-law cautioned me not to carry heavy things or stretch too much, especially in the first trimester. Why the first trimester? It is said to be the most unstable period during pregnancy. My mum went further as to tell me that my grandma used to say that if you suffered a miscarriage with your first child, it would be difficult for you to have successful pregnancies subsequently. It made me pretty terrified that I wondered how I would do housework without having to bend or carry a pail of water around the house. The first few nights were pretty bad, I would wake up in the middle of the night to go to the loo to check if I was spotting. All because I had very slight cramps. Sometimes I would breathe a sigh of relief when my slight tummy aches were due to wind in the stomach. It was only after my eighth week of pregnancy that I learnt to relax. Will talk more about how I learnt to cope with the fear in the next entry, but for now, here’s some information on miscarriages.

I’ve come across mummies asking in the forums what is a chemical pregnancy and ectopic pregnancy, as well as the symptoms of a miscarriage.

Chemical Pregnancy
A very early miscarriage. Usually happens before the egg has a chance to implant itself in the uterus and develop further. It’s like a “oh hey, you’re pregnant (confirmed by the faint second line on the pregnancy test kit)” and then the next moment you period is here. Quite the cruel joke.

Ectopic Pregnancy
Instead of embedding itself in the uterus, with an ectopic pregnancy, the egg develops in the fallopian tube. It is very dangerous as your fallopian tube is not meant to enlarge to carry a baby. Sad to say, but such pregnancies will end up being terminated.

Cramps coupled with bleeding are the usual symptoms of a miscarriage. While many will say that a miscarriage is caused by the mother not taking care of herself, it is true only to a certain extent. Believe it or not, but miscarriages are quite common as it is the body’s natural way of terminating a non-viable pregnancy. A miscarriage can happen as soon as the body senses that there’s something wrong in the development of the egg/baby; it could be something wrong in the cell division or other factors.

Miscarriages are unlikely to happen after the first trimester, although there are cases where the baby’s heart just stops beating at whatever point in a pregnancy. Then there’s another thing called “Still born” where the baby dies at the point of delivery.

I’m not trying to scare anyone who’s pregnant or hoping to conceive, but these are facts. There’s a lot more to know and you can google to find out. While the ‘M’ word is terrifying, I believe that the key to a healthy and viable pregnancy is to stay positive and have faith that your baby is a fighter.