Recurrent Miscarriage:  Lorna and Paul

Most expectant couples are over the moon in anticipation of their bundle of joy, but for Lorna and Paul Lapsley, the situation was bittersweet.  The Scottish-born couple, now parents to five-month old Kaitlyn, barely spoke to each other about Lorna's growing baby bump.  Having had two miscarriages, the early stages of the pregnancy were fraught with doubt and anxiety.

"The first time we told everybody, the second time we told one or two people and when Kaitlyn came along we didn't tell anybody", says Paul.  "We were waiting with bated breath", Lorna adds.  "We were too scared to talk about it in case it was jinxed".

When Lorna and Paul began dating in their early 20s, they never imagined having a family would be so difficult.  Lorna suffered her first miscarriage in March 2007, roughly nine weeks into her pregnancy.  After the jubilation of falling pregnant a second time, she lost that baby after just six weeks, on Christmas Day of the same year.  After a series of assessments, doctors were unable to give the Lapsleys an explanation.  Both were relatively healthy, fit people, so not having anything to fix or any answers was hard to understand.

A despondent Paul and Lorna, who admits she had all but given up her dream, turned to Intra-Uterine Insemination in a bid to fall pregnant for the third time.  On their second cycle Kaitlyn was conceived, but Lorna and Paul instantly feared the worst.  Desperate for their fortune to change, Lorna applied and was accepted to take part in the SPIN Study.  It involved injections of the blood-thinning drug heparin and a low dose daily aspirin, along with regular monitoring.   Despite risks associated with unproven research, the couple was willing to try anything.

However, the day before she was due to begin the intervention, Lorna began experiencing severe cramps and spot bleeding - the same symptoms she suffered with her miscarriages.  'I went into a blind panic' she says.  'But we went for the scan that afternoon and saw the heartbeat, and they told me they couldn't see a reason why it was happening'.

Lorna received her first injection the next day, and by the following morning the symptoms had disappeared.  'Whether it was the drugs kicking in or just Lorna feeling positive, we don't know, but we're both convinced that if we hadn't got involved then Kaitlyn wouldn't be here' Paul says.  Despite their struggle, the couple agrees the journey was all worth it, with Lorna's only regret being that she gave up hope.  'Even now, sometimes when I look at her, it's hard to believe she's ours' Lorna beams.  'She's our little darling'.

This story appeared in New Idea, May 9 2009 and has been reprinted with the permission of Pacific Magazines.

Photo by:  Fiona Tomlinson/courtesy of New Idea Magazine

For more information about the SPIN Study click here