First trimester, a million questions, worried.

[sweetface]

Hello. I wrote about this in the "birth loss" part of the forum. But I am not even sure of my own situation anymore and I don't want to appear obnoxious to anyone...
I am about a little over a month pregnant. I had two weeks of bleeding, brown blood at first, then a little lighter. I wasn't losing very much blood, but I think it was more than spotting. I had really horrible cramps that gave me so much pain I vomited and on the very same day I called the hospital and went in for a blood test. The nurse called me back and said "You are definitely pregnant.".
I kept on bleeding and had another blood test, then another. My numbers went up each time, the nurse said "Not as much as we'd like, but they went up.".
I am now scheduled for an ultra-sound on Friday. I was being a pretty good (slightly impatient) sport about this, but as every day goes by I grow increasingly worried. My husband and I have wanted a baby for six years and even though we kept trying, I wasn't getting pregnant. Now, this feels like magic and I am getting pretty sentimental.
I am wondering if really there are cases of women bleeding like I did who go on having a healthy baby. I would like to hear of people's experiences...
I have not even seen my doctor yet, she is too busy. The nurse can only answer some of my questions and says I can't do anything about my situation right now. Only wait and take it easy.
I feel annoyed and powerless.

[MaerynPearl]

I usually highly suggest NOT googling something, but in your case, subchorionic hemorrhage may be a good thing to look up.

It can cause bleeding, sometimes somewhat heavy... sometimes even with clots... but most of the time the pregnancy progresses with NO issues.

Its not common but its not all that rare either. I would have to say for every DDC I have seen since coming here I have seen at least one or two (or more!) women who have this happen.

It is not a miscarriage and in almost every case does not even mean a risk of miscarriage though many doctors misdiagnose it as such (it takes a trained doctor/tech/radiologist who actually knows about subchorionic hemorrhage to correctly identify it and not terrify the woman by telling her its a threatened miscarriage or confuse her with... well we dont know WHAT it is but baby is fine!)

[IdentityCrisisMama]

Hey, mama

I didn't want to read and not reply. I really have no answers for you other than some sympathy that even if it is "normal" it must still be SO stressful after 6 years of trying! I can say that I had some pretty bad cramps today at about 5 weeks that I read could be totally normal and I know some bleeding is also not a bad sign. I hope you get good news on Friday!

[laughymama]

I was 4 weeks along when I got a positive test during my first pregnancy. A week later I began spotting. It was brown "old" blood. It got a bit heavier but nothing more than spotting. At 6-7 weeks along I went to the doctor and they did an U/S and low and behold there was a heartbeat flickering. My levels were all good as well.

2 days later DH and I had sex and shortly after an orgasm I went to pee. I sat down on the toilet and felt/heard a gush of fluid. The toilet was full of bright red blood. I was convinced I was miscarrying. I did not continue bleeding and no cramping started up.

That was the end of any complications. I never spotted again or had mysterious bleeding.

Cain was a healthy 7 lb. baby and my pregnancy went smoothly for the last 33 weeks. He's now 2 and a delight.

I know this doesn't necessarily mean your situation is the same...but I couldn't not share. Praying for you and your baby, Mama.

[caseykn]

I'm so sorry you're going through this! I had one pregnancy where I had some bleeding/spotting early on and everything turned out fine. My current pregnancy I had a subchorionic hemmorhage and had a LOT of bleeding from weeks 11-15- huge gushes of blood and big clots. It was really scary but baby looked fine through it all. I'm 26 weeks now and it appears to have totally healed and baby and I are fine. I know that it's so hard not to worry, but do try. It's true that there's nothing you can do about it now. The best thing you can do for yourself and baby is to take it easy and try not to be stressed. WAY easier said than done, I know. Try to do something to take your mind off it today. I hope you get good news at your ultrasound tomorrow!

If nothing else, getting pregnant after 6 years of trying is a very hopeful! I did have a miscarriage once and got pregnant again on my very next cycle. I've heard of that happening to a lot of women and it seems that there's some evidence that you're more fertile after a m/c, as your body is already geared up to be pregnant. I'm hopeful that this baby will be fine, but in case it's not meant to be, stay hopeful that you'll get your baby soon!

[sweetface]

Thank you so much for sharing, ladies.
I am feeling less worried, reading up on subchorionic hemmorhages was a good suggestion. It just allowed me to think that maybe I'd be ok and I have calmed down.
It's pretty ridiculous to try and have a baby for six years, and we started this when I was only twenty-two! I felt that it should be easy to get pregnant in your early twenties when husband and wife are all over each other, but no...
At first I saw this as a mixed blessing... It was truly unexpected this time around. I saw it as a happy proof that he and I could actually make a baby together. And since I have heard that it might be easier to get pregnant after a miscarriage, I was gearing myself up for one.
But now that time goes by and that I am feeling excitement and yearning from every fiber in my body I have gained so much more sympathy for women who have to go through miscarriages. I understand certain aspects I would never have thought of before. I knew miscarriages were sad and traumatic, but now I realize that even the ones happening early on can be at least very depressing...
I am going to keep my hopes up until tomorrow, and then I'll probably have to keep my hopes up some more after that. Thanks for the support and the stories. I am feeling reassured. Even if this is not my time to be pregnant, I'll keep on trying as soon as I can.

[Catubodua]

best of luck with your appointment

if this does turn in to a miscarriage situation, don't just rely on trying and hoping any longer. make an appointment with an RE, a Reproductive Endocrinologist.

i made the mistake of listening to my regular Ob and just playing wait and see and i wasted a whole year because of it. the RE was wonderful and it was suddenly me being proactive vs feeling like i was crazy and my body was broken.

[sweetface]

I didn't have to wait for the results of my U/S to understand that something had gone wrong. For the entire procedure, the technician claimed she couldn't see any signs of pregnancy. I went home and got a phone call later from the same nurse I had been talking to after each of my blood tests. She told me to come in again to do another blood test. My numbers had gone down. The nurse told me I should expect to miscarry sometime this week...
It's definitely disappointing. My husband and I were pretty upset. What angers me the most, though, is that I never ONCE got to see or even talk to my doctor. I never ONCE got to speak with this nurse face to face. I never talked with the radiologist either. The only people I saw were the three different blood technicians and the lady at the U/S. I felt like this was too touchy of an issue to be handled strictly by people who have no training or authority to tell me what is happening in my body. I feel as though my doctor and the radiologist belong to an elite club that I could only interact with if I had reached the next level of my pregnancy.
I am also questioning what the nurse said regarding my miscarrying this week. I just got over two weeks of bleeding, I had a day when cramps were so difficult that I was folded over in pain, vomiting. This is the day when I called the hospital and spoke to this nurse for the first time. I told her right away "I think I am having a miscarriage" and she is the one who made me believe that I was "definitely pregnant" (her words). I feel as though I have already miscarried.
I know it's unfair to be angry at her. But maybe I need a scape goat in order to move on. I am definitely canceling my mid-september appointment with this doctor. I will look for better service elsewhere, if I can find it. This doctor is just too busy to see me and to answer any of my questions.
I wish the best of luck to women who are in the early weeks of pregnancy, experiencing cramps and such. I hope what I wrote is not making you worried about your own situation. I feel like I am a weird exception to the rules of miscarriage and pregnancy and your baby will be fine...

[Megan73]

I'm so sorry, both for your loss and the utterly insensitive way in which you were treated. Someone should have answered your questions face to face.
It's odd that your hcg would go up after the bleeding stopped but if the u/s showed no retained products then I'd agree with you that you've probably already miscarried.
A good way to make sure is to buy some cheap HPTs online and keep taking them until they turn negative if they haven't already.
Good luck, mama. I hope you can find a better doctor. If you're interested, maybe he or she can do some investigation and offer help so you can be pregnant again more quickly.

[~Adorkable~]

Huge hugs to you, please take care of yourself and your partner.

I really recommend what what was already said , to get yourself into a RE a Reproductive Endocrinologist, you will get better more informed help than the mass majority of doctors.
6 years at any age specially your age is way way to long for this to take, there may be a very easy issue to address.
Once you feel ready, go start with a new doc and get the appropriate testing.

Hugs

[St. Margaret]

I agree with everything-- find a GOOD doctor for next time, they are hard to find but it's soooo worth it. What you experienced is common, sadly. I was left to sit out in public sobbing during my miscarriage. Later, I realized I should have been angry that they couldn't find a room for me to sit in while I waited to be seen and for the u/s and for results. And other stuff, too...

See a specialist. And be gentle to yourself in the meantime. Chocolate and lots of movies.

[my kidlets and me]

I couldn't read this and not respond - I'm so sorry about your m/c. This happened to me late last year - a bfp, then a few days of bleeding, and then nothing. I went and had an u/s, because while I didn't want to get my hopes up that everything was OK, I needed to know in order to move on. Turns out the bleeding was a delayed period and there was no evidence of pregnancy visible in the u/s. Absolutely devastated me.

Please treat yourself kindly, and do seek some help. 6 years is long enough to do this on your own.