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When the spotting was okay...

post #1 of 130
10/9/06 at 1:29pm
Thread Starter 
heyla mamas!

So, I've seen mamas asking about spotting/bleeding during pregnancy a lot, and thought maybe a thread for reading at 2am when you're scared silly might help?

When I was pregnant with dd I bled pretty heavily around 6-8 weeks. Hard enough that the midwife said "miscarriage". But it wasn't...an u/s showed that dd was hanging on! I bled almost every month till the end of my second trimester, and spotted during my third. It was a total emotional roller coaster and despite further u/s no "good reason" for the bleeding was ever found (but it did make my pregnancy "higher risk").

Every source I looked at (except for ONE book that was a personal memoir type thing and I can't remember the title!) followed the doom and gloom "bleeding during pregnancy is the beginning of the end" theme. But now and then I run into mamas with a similar experience, and my doctor said she'd seen it a few times too. Women who bleed but don't lose the baby.

So...if you've had an experience like this, maybe post it here to encourage/support other mamas facing the same roller coaster? The feeling of dread every time you see pink toilet tissue? The conviction each time that "this time" is the end?

I'll admit to an immediate personal desire for "it turned out okay" stories. I'm pregnant again (after a mc last cycle) and I'm spotting. In my first pregnancy the spotting ended nine months later in a beautiful baby. Last month the spotting ended in a 7 week mc. I'm at five weeks now...please, even if this is another mc for me, please post any positive "bleeding wasn't the end" stories you may have! Just so other mamas out there know it really can happen and still turn out okay.

thanks all!
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post #2 of 130
10/9/06 at 2:04pm
With my dd I started bleeding shortly after I found out I was pg. I thought that I might be having a m/c and my mw gave me a tincture of false unicorn root to help the baby stick. At 8 weeks I was still bleeding off and on and then I started having really bad cramps on one side. It ranged from brown to pink to reddish. I went in for an u/s because we thought maybe it was eptopic, but saw that everything was okay, got to see the little beating heart and everything. I bled on and off through out the first and second trimester. I was obsessed with looking at the TP to see if it was pink. In the end I had a very healthy little girl..
post #3 of 130
10/9/06 at 2:43pm
Well, this is my sixth pregnancy. I've had 3 miscarriages. In 2 of the 3 miscarriages I had D&Cs and never spotted before that. The third time I had a natural miscarriage and had no spotting until the "real thing".

With my other 3 pregnancies I have had at LEAST some spotting. With my first DD, I had spotting at 7 weeks and then no more. With my second DD I also had spotting at 7-8 weeks and then no more. This time I had spotting at 7 weeks again. Then at 9 weeks I had a HUGE bleed of bright red blood and thought for certain I had lost the baby. It turned out to be a subchorionic bleed or hematoma.

First trimester spotting and even bleeding is VERY common and does not necessarily mean bad news.
post #4 of 130
10/9/06 at 3:14pm
I've had 3 pregnancies, no miscarriages, but bleeding/spotting in all 3.

The first one, I had spotting in the 1st tri, went to the emergency room, and was told I was having a miscarriage and to come back when the bleeding picked up. Worst doctor ever. So I went home, cried all weekend, and then went to my regular doctor when Monday came around and I hadn't lost the baby yet. He told me my baby was still okay.

Later, in the 2nd trimester of that same pregnancy, I had an unexplained incident of bright red bleeding. Cause was never determined, baby was fine. (He ended up being 10 lbs 10 oz!)

Second pregnancy, I had spotting in the first trimester, but everything was fine. She was 9 lbs 4 oz.

Third pregnancy isn't actually finished yet, but I've made it to 36.5 weeks, so I think this experience should count too. I had no spotting in the first trimester this time, but another incident of bright red bleeding in 2nd trimester. Again, no cause was determined, and it stopped on its own. And if all the kicks I'm getting are any indication, she's doing just fine.

Oh, I almost forgot: With my first two pregnancies, it was really common for me to see a little bit of spotting after sex. It didn't occur to me to worry about those, as I knew it was pretty normal, but I had a friend who got really scared after that happened to her, and it didn't even occur to me to ask if she'd recently had sex. It would have eased her mind. So. A little bit of spotting after sex or a vag. exam is very normal and almost never of concern.
post #5 of 130
10/9/06 at 3:47pm
I had spotting and then full on bleeding with my first and he is totally completely perfect, if i do say so myself.

i also have a very close friend who was bleeding and passing clots so she went in and her midwife said her cervix was open and she was most likely miscarrying. i think she was 12 weeks or so along. on the u/s her baby was still alive but her midwife told her she thought she was losing her. that night she passed some really big clots and was sure she had miscarried. her midwife had her come in a week later to check her hcg levels to make sure they were going down like they should, but... they were still going up because she was still pregnant! i don't know if she miscarried a twin or what but she now has a happy, healthy 2 year old girl.

it is so scary though. you and your little one are in my thoughts and prayers.
post #6 of 130
10/9/06 at 4:10pm
Wonderful thread and so timely. Thank you!
post #7 of 130
10/9/06 at 4:32pm
I had one day of heavy red bleeding (more than spotting) with ds. No cramps but I was dripping blood and filled a couple of small pantiliners. Ended as mysteriously as it started. My best friend had real period-type bleeding like her reg cycle for the first 4 months of her preg with a perfectly healthy baby girl.
post #8 of 130
10/9/06 at 8:45pm
I had brownish reddish bleeding off and on from 12-14 wks. I had a couple of u/s in the meantime, and he was always fine. They never knew the reason, but I'm now 38 weeks and so far, so good!
post #9 of 130
10/9/06 at 8:53pm
Thank you so much for this thread- my SIL is 7-8 weeks, had spotting, and then one heavy bleeding episode that terrified her & everyone else. Her dr also ordered an u/s, and it showed that baby & heartbeat were both fine, but no real reason for the bleeding, so she's still hanging on, but very worried. Her dr told her that they'd do another u/s tuesday, and if baby is still ok, he'll go from there.
She's so afraid, and waiting anxiously for tuesday.
I'm going to direct her here. Your stories are really helpful!
post #10 of 130
10/10/06 at 10:29pm
Thread Starter 
bumping us up a bit...I've seen some other mamas posting about this in individual threads...maybe they'll post here too!
post #11 of 130
10/10/06 at 10:58pm
I have had spotting early on in both my DD's pregnancy and this one (currently 25 weeks). I did not have an early u/s with DD but did with this one because I had a miscarriage at 7 weeks in my last pregnancy. I did not spot in the pregnancy I lost until "the event" started. I still check when I wipe, still and I haven't had any spotting since I was 7 weeks.
post #12 of 130
10/14/06 at 1:51pm
This thread just made me feel better. I just bled a little bit, but have gotten two BFPs. AF would be due tomorrow. I'm still kinda worried...
post #13 of 130
10/14/06 at 2:11pm
I posted my story here yesterday
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=538972
The stories here are encouraging.
post #14 of 130
10/15/06 at 1:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MichelleAnnette View Post
This thread just made me feel better. I just bled a little bit, but have gotten two BFPs. AF would be due tomorrow. I'm still kinda worried...
I know what you mean about worrying. I got serial HCGs in my pregnancies at this stage for that reason. I hated not knowing if I had a going thing, even though I knew that nothing was going to change the outcome at that point.
post #15 of 130
10/15/06 at 8:50pm
I had bleeding at 7 weeks. Not spotting either, bright red blood when I wiped. I thought for sure I was losing the pregnancy. It stopped the next day. My Dr said that sometimes a bit of blood from implantation can make it out later than expected. I am 34 weeks now and all is great. I never had any bleeding again.
post #16 of 130
10/22/06 at 5:18am
I spotted more with dd than with my previous mc. With my mc I spotted for only 6 days and had implantation cramps on the 6th day. Then I had no spotting until the 13th week when I spotted for a week and then mc'd.

With dd I spotted for 9 days and had the implantation cramps on the first day of spotting. Then I spotted at least 5-6 days in the second month (and one night it was BRIGHT red, but just a little bit when I wiped... it looked like it was going to be a lot more though), but it was mostly brown.

This time around (I just took a test Saturday morning...) I spotted brown for 7 days, didn't have any cramping and tested positive on the 7th day (sat). Now I'm on the 8th day of spotting and it's light red/pink, but still not much. I so wish I was one of the women who didn't bleed at all during pregnancy :

love and peace.
post #17 of 130
10/22/06 at 10:51am
Well, I'm 20 weeks along now. I spotted around 12 weeks for a weekend, and that's pretty late for the kind of "normal" first-trimester spotting that you hear about. Anyway, the twins are fine and growing and everything is going well so far, so I guess my spotting situation is turning out okay. I still check the TP every single time, though.

I had a very late miscarriage with my first, and so I still don't feel like I'm past the danger point. The spotting scared the heck out of me, and it was really hard to stay calm and listen when the midwife and OB told me it was no big deal. They kept saying they see this every day, and often there's no discernible cause, but it all turns out fine.

They were right, I guess.
post #18 of 130
10/22/06 at 10:59am
My midwife can cite dozens of instances when women spotted and/or even bled bright red at various stages of 1st and 2nd trimester only to go on to birth beautiful, healthy children. Many instances are never diagnosed and considered to be normal nonetheless.
post #19 of 130
10/22/06 at 11:04am
One of my best friends has four kids. She bleeds starting at about eight weeks until the beginning of the third trimester and then spots until the baby is born. And I mean every day. Enough to wet a panty liner thouroughly when it calms down, but "light to moderate flow" before that. Every day. For the first two babies, she was put on complete bed rest. After that, she figured it was just routine and went about her life.
post #20 of 130
10/22/06 at 8:39pm
I know a lady who had 8 children and 1 m/c. The only one she DIDN'T spot during the 1st trimester was the m/c. I thought that was very interesting...

love and peace.
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