Could I Be Having a Miscarriage?

[FencedinFamily]

Hi, I'm new here but am hoping some of you can offer me words of wisdom. I'm planning an unassisted pregnancy and childbirth, but every other site I've check says to "check with your OB" ... and that's not something I want to do right now. :-)

I am 6w5d pregnant with my fourth child but think I may be having a miscarriage. Here are my symptoms...

I'd been having some brownish spotting about once or twice a day for the last week (not unlike what I experienced in my last two pregnancies, which went to term). Then yesterday evening, I had bright red blood that lasted about 1-2 hours. It then stopped, though I had just a little more of pinkish-red this morning.

During & after the bleeding yesterday evening, I had some cramping that seemed to come in waves like contractions. Those too stopped, and I only had a little bit of aching earlier this afternoon.

For the last 5-6 days, I had felt very nauseous ... but that has gone away almost completely today.

I'd had some very obvious breast changes already, but today the firmness of my breasts and size of nipples has gone back to normal.

So my question for all you wise ladies - do you think a miscarriage is impending? I'm feeling uncertain because the bleeding has stopped. I did have another miscarriage in 2003 - that time, when the bleeding started, it didn't stop.

Do you know of any other way to know for certain if the pregnancy is ending (i.e. if the baby has died/stopped growing) other than going for an ultrasound?

Thank you so much for any input.

Cindy

[MeepyCat]

I don't think you can get reliable diagnosis of anything over the internet. Miscarriage is certainly not the only thing that causes bleeding in pregnancy. I know of no way to be certain about what's going on that doesn't involve an ultrasound. Waiting is an option, but is you're dealing with subchorionic hemorrhage or something like it, there are risks to waiting.

[zapzipzee]

I had an early miscarriage.  For me, the pregnancy tests never got any darker, they stayed faint for 4 days.  It started with some cramping, then the spotting started, and within a few hours turned into heavy bleeding.  Much heavier and clottier than a normal period.  I also experienced cramping like I did before I switched to cloth pads.  Bad enough that I needed to take some ibuprofen for relief.  I took another pregnancy test before I took it, and it was negative.  I took my temp the following morning (we charted to TTC) and it had dropped.  

The following month we conceived this baby.  I had the same spotting and cramping and thought for sure I was having another, but it stopped, and I'm 30 weeks pregnant.

Have you considered taking a pregnancy test?  Were you charting?  If you have a baseline, taking your temp in the morning would tell you.... 

Good luck!

[MeepyCat]

Taking a pregnancy test can't hurt, but it might also not tell you much. I continued to get positive hpts for about two weeks after my miscarriage.

[littlest birds]

I don't think you have reason to believe a miscarriage is likely at this point.  A couple of hours of bleeding is minimal and can often occur in successful pregnancies.

I had heavy bleeding with large clots quite early in my twin pregnancy.  Many women have had scary bleeding that did not lead to a loss, and symptoms can vary at that point.  The next few days will probably make things more clear for you.

[FencedinFamily]

Thank you for your responses. Still no more significant bleeding, no return of any symptoms either. I wasn't charting my temperature, but I may try a pregnancy test later. Who knows...I never experienced anything like this in my other pregnancies.

[Voondrop]

I had something similar happen to me w/ my third at 9 weeks. I did go into the hospital & they said it was a placental lake, resulting in miscarriage about 50% of the time. We were spared that time. They wanted to keep me overnight in case but we declined & went home to wait it out. There was still a heartbeat at the follow up appt. for us. W/out an ultrasound it's just a waiting game.