Doctor thinks it was a miscarriage... I'm not sure

[calbrs01]

I missed two periods (Feb & Mar 08) but assumed it was related to the stress of a recent job change in January. At the end of April, I took a home pregnancy test just to be sure I wasn't pregnant. They both came out negative. A few days later, I started my period (which was normal). I had decided to go back on the Pill. Shortly thereafter, I began having cramps in the lower left side of my pelvis. They were more intense than normal cramps but short lived (5 minutes at a time). This went on for 3 weeks until I started my next period at the end of May. When I was changing one of the tampons, I noticed a mass of tissue that was about 3-4 inches long and thin. It was mostly a whitish/gray in color with some darker red one side. The closest thing I can compare it to was the texture of chicken skin. I continued to have a normal period (with no excessive bleeding or cramping). Also, the intense cramping stopped. My doctor said if it was tissue it had to have been a miscarriage. She did not run any test or mention anything unusual during my pelvic exam. As I had a negative pregnancy test before the period I had in April and was on the pill (and did not have sex) during the time until my period in May, I can not see how that is possible. Is there anything else that it could have been or that I should be concerned about?  

Thank you.

[Keith Downing, MD]

Hello,

It may have been a pregnancy too early to detect with a HPT.  Or, it may have been an organized clot that simply looked like tissue.  One will never know for certain without a tissue diagnosis or reliable test for the hormone of pregnancy (hCG).

Best regards,

Dr. Downing