[mrzmeg]

With my ds I bled pretty heavily for five weeks.

With this baby, I only bled heavily for the first two days, then it subsided to just a pinkish mucous. I had it made! It continued at that rate then pretty much stopped by three weeks; I stopped using pads.

Last week I suddenly started bleeding heavily. I also had menstrual-like cramps, so I figured my luck had run out and this was my period coming back already. Argh. But, the bleeding only lasted two days (my normal period is 5). It went back to the mucous. I also passed a couple of small grey tissue-looking things. Today, one week after "my period", I'm bleeding heavily again.

Any idea what is going on? Should I be worried?

TIA!

 

[homemademomma]

passing greyish lumps sounds like you might have had retained placental or membrane fragments. as long as you are not bleeding more than what would fill a pad an hour, and as long as your temp and pulse are normal, it should be okay. the worry with retained placental fragments would be either a) the uterus cannot clamp down enough to adequately stop the bleeding or b) the fragments cause an infection.

im not sure though- hopefully pam or mwherbs will chime in. maybe you should call your mw just in case. can you feel your uterus? it should be right above your pibuc bone by now. is it firm or squishy?

 

[mrzmeg]

Placenta is what I'm worried about too.

I called my midwifery group and got the one who is my least trusted. She said it sounded like a menstrual period and just to take some ibuprofen and not worry about it.

I've gone through three pads in an hour, which is quite a bit heavier than any period I've ever had. I can't find my uterus, which I think means it's pretty low...it was looking good when I was checked up at 1 week pp. The thing is that we moved at 2 weeks pp and are currently in a different state than my MWs and are also insurance-less until our new one starts next month. Argh.

I'll try to find a thermometer.

 

[captain crunchy]

I have absolutely no experience with this so take it for what it's worth...

I wouldn't mess with your body... if you think something is not right, it probably isn't.

That is not to say I would be rushing to the emergency room if you feel okay overall... I would just get it checked out if I were you...for your own health and piece of mind...

Good luck and take care...

 

[homemademomma]

if you are filling 3 pads an hour, that is waaaay too much if it continues. take your pulse, if it is high, and/or if your temp is up, i would be seen.

 

[mrzmeg]

It looks like it's slowed down.

Thanks for the responses! I'll keep an eye on it...

 

[ctdoula]

Melanie, how is your milk supply? Retained placental fragments can mess w/it.

 

[mrzmeg]

It actually seems more than ample, though my breasts don't feel as full as they did a week ago...I figure that's because of them adjusting to the demand, though that happened much later with ds.

The bleeding's increased again, though it's not as heavy as earlier.

 

[SimplyMama]

I had a similar problem last birth, and the midwives kept reassuring me I was OK. I think it was a combo of retaining a few bits...(I passed a clot the size of a lemon, and was horrified!) and also trying to do too much. Seriously, the day after the birth we had friends who invited themselves over to have a BBQ, and I did all of the cooking.

When I slowed down, the bleeding tapered off a bit...but when I tried to be super-mama, it started right back up.

I had about 4+ weeks of bright red bleeding with a few days of the more typical pinky mucus here and there. I was really concerned about infection, so I took my temps a few times a day. I also nursed a lot, and spent time laying on my tummy over a pillow with my bum in the air. My MW said this would help everything clamp down, but perhaps she just wanted me off of my feet! :LOL

The pushing stage of that labor was very hard...DS was posterior & they had me on my back with my legs hyperflexed (nothing else was working) and there was a little cord traction after the placenta detatched. Not quite what I had envisioned for my birthing center VBAC, but there you go. Our homebirth will hopefully go a little smoother. I wondered if that might also have contributed to the amount of bleeding I had. Also, it being baby #3, maybe my uterus was a little slower to clamp?

I read that it might be an indicator of an earlier return of my fertility, but FWIW, I didn't have another cycle until 29mos PP.

Hope that you're feeling much better, and perhaps taking some kind of iron. After all of that bleeding, I found I needed to suppliment for a month or two.