what the hell happened to me today?

[nikity]

i'm six weeks pregnant. early this afternoon, i started experiencing stabbing pains in my groin area and thereabouts. nothing like a cramp. they faded to a dull pain, basically through the whole area down there, then came back again as stabbing pain periodically over the next hour or so. i couldn't sit down.

five minutes after this started, i found that i was bleeding. not spotting -- more like a heavy period.

so i thought for sure that i had miscarried. i called my midwife, who had me go to the hospital.

i went, they took blood/urine, checked me with an u/s...and everything is ok right now. they found a heartbeat, hormone levels are good, etc. they said that it was a 'threatened miscarriage' and sent me on my way with a 50% chance that things will still be ok by the end of the first trimester.

my question is...why all the bleeding? where was it coming from? my cervix was closed. and what was the pain? i can't find any reasonable theories online that combine stabbing pains with bleeding and the ER docs had absolutely no idea.

and my other question is...how to get through the next six to eight weeks with 50% hope? especially not knowing what caused this. after totally thinking that we had lost the baby, it was such a relief to see that heartbeat...then such a weird feeling to be told we may or may not lose it. i'll be seeing my midwife next week, so maybe she'll know more than those people.

has anyone had a similar experience?

[MaerynPearl]

I have seen some women on here talk of having the same or similar happen (they had the correct term for what it was, I cant remember) and they went on to have perfectly healthy babies. i will go look for what they said it was for them... but first I wanted to



cuz this is a very hard time!

but seeing a heartbeat is such a good sign! usually by the time bleeding starts in a miscarriage you will not be able to find a heartbeat anymore. Also, doing the U/S did rule out ectopic pregnancy (they would have surely noticed it was in the wrong spot if that were an issue) so that is also helpful for calming at least some fears.

for you and ill be back as soon as I find what they said it was for them.

[nikity]

really? that's just really nice to hear. (that you've seen some other women with the same thing...healthy pregnancies)

thank you so much for looking into it. it would be amazing to put a name to this after having such a vague response at the hospital.

[Tofu the Geek]

This EXACT thing happened to me when I was pregnant with DD 4 years ago. And they labelled it "threatened miscarriage" as well. I bled for a total of 15 hours and I also had that stabbing pain that actually made me cry it hurt so bad. They didn't tell me "50% chance" or anything of the sort. After finding the baby (could not hear heartbeat or see it with a regular ultrasound, they had to do an internal ultrasound) they tested my BhCG levels, then did the test again two days later and my level went from 22,000 to 33,000 so they told me looked like things were good. And they were, DD is just over 3 now.

On the ultrasound they said they saw fluid in the cervix which was likely the blood but they still couldn't explain why the blood would be there.

ETA: my stabbing pains were actually a couple days before I started bleeding, but the pains were not explainable and right when I stated bleeding I *knew* it had something to do with those pains that had me rolled into a ball crying

[MaerynPearl]

The explanation that I was talking about is a subchorionic hematoma which can end up causing some pretty heavy bleeding but still go on to have a healthy baby.

reading about it, it is possibly related to something I HAVE been through, premature placental abruption. It is very scary (I was about 17 weeks when it happened with my son, lots of pain and bleeding) but with mine all I had to do was take it easy the rest of the pregnancy. Was not on bedrest (well, was for a few weeks) but I was put on restricted activity... no shoveling snow, lifting weights, anything of that sort that would get my blood flowing and possibly cause it to bleed some more or tear more. But that was the abruption not a subchorionic hematoma (and, btw, that particular son will be 7 next week and is the top of his class, smartest little bugger... so obviously no ill effects there)

[CorasMama]

I bled like a stuck pig for the majority of my pregnancy with the 12 year old mentioned in my signature. Like, a LOT.

I had some cramping and spotting at the same point in this pregnancy as you. Though, honestly, your pain sounds a whole lot more like round ligament pain. And that's a good thing, because round ligament pain, while frustrating, annoying, and sometimes really painful, is totally normal.

Your cervix is closed, but that just means it's not expelling the pregnancy. Blood can still get through. That's okay. In fact, it's good that your cervix is closed.

If I were you, I'd relax, take it easy, not worry, but use this as an excuse to rest as much as possible (you're about to get really tired, if you're not already, so this won't be difficult), and don't lift anything heavier than a standard sized hardback book. This is a good opportunity for your partner to get all involved, actually. Most partners feel fairly detached at this point in pregnancy, so it could be a good thing for your relationship! Today, the dishes, tomorrow, the diapers!

[vulnerable]

That happened to me during my last pregnancy. I was gushing blood, went to the ER, said it was a "threatened miscarriage". They said I popped blood vessels and that was the pain and which caused all the bleeding. I was in the process of moving so lifting/cleaning was causing it. I was 12 weeks and went on to have a healthy baby.

[noobmom]

I had stabbing pains around that time, but without the bleeding. It was a terrible pain, though, and woke me up from a deep sleep.

[nikity]

you guys are all amazing. its incredibly reassuring to read that people have gone through the same thing. thank you.

vulnerable, they told me i had done nothing to cause it. but i did a really hard yoga workout a few hours before and i've been wondering if i DID disrupt something. guess i'll really never know.

tofu-- yep, it was an internal ultrasound. i guess the ONLY cool thing about this was being able to see the heartbeat. everything was so abstract until then!

maeryn, i actually found that subchorianic thing online last night and was wondering if that's what you were talking about. hopefully the midwife will be able to shed some light this week?

cora's mama, i just read your advice to my husband