Easter weekend officially marked 6 weeks of pregnancy, so while a few friends knew it was still a bit early to tell the world… especially family. And, just to prove that point, I got an interesting (and scary) look into why you should always wait to tell!
Warning, there will be TMI in this post and may not be for the casual reader. But, for those of you who are in my shoes I hope this can help you in some way!
Many people have shared their stories of pregnancy with me over the years, and many of those women have also shared the reality that you CAN bleed during pregnancy and often do. If you haven’t had children yet there is a good chance you did not know this either; surprise! Not only can you bleed, but you can bleed in many different colors and textures, each one possibly explaining what is happening to an extent… or not at all. Fun, huh? For example, brown spotting is considered common and is usually old blood working its way out whereas bright red fresh blood and intense cramping is not good and can often (but not always) signify a miscarriage! And there are many variations in between. Guess how we know all of that that now?
April 3 - 6 - Happy BLOODY Easter:
Exactly 6 weeks and having dinner at my mother’s house Saturday night. After dinner I went to use the bathroom, wipe… and see brown. Not a spot like I have seen before, but A LOT of brown. Wipe again, more. Wipe one last time, more. While supposedly considered common, I wasn’t convinced and freaked out a little. Ok, we gotta go! I mouth the word “BLEEDING” to DH and excuse us somewhat impolitely, later making a random excuse saying I wasn’t feeling well. As soon as we turn the corner, I call the emergency number I have for my clinic and get transferred to the doctor on call immediately. He says that since it is brown and even though there is a lot, there is no need to come in. But, if it continues, go for an early viability scan on Monday to be sure. If it turns red or if I begin cramping, go to emergency. He also asked my blood type, O-, and mentions that I need a shot for that. I knew this already but he thinks I should get it now and not later just in case. Go home, bed rest, legs up and fingers crossed.
Easter Sunday, everything was perfect! Until I went to go to bed that is; bright red and super dark clotted blood shows up! Wonderful! No cramping though, so that’s good at least. I went and told DH that we would be going for that ultrasound first thing Monday morning. I also said that if I start cramping in the middle of the night we have to go to ER. He agreed and I went to bed, and cried. I swore I wouldn't get attached so early, but I couldn't help it.
I woke up on Monday morning to find that I was back to light spotting again. Go to the hospital? Wait for my original appointment on Wednesday? Screw it… let’s go and get this over with! I ended up with the same doctor I had spoken to over the weekend which was oddly comforting. Dr. H and I discussed the new developments and then he pulled the image up on screen and saw the gestational sac immediately. First question… there is only 1, right? Yes! Not the time, I know, but I was terrified of having twins. Next… is it ok? He took a few measurements, looked around the walls of my uterus, and then found the most amazing thing in the world… a heartbeat. We listened to it and everything felt right with the world again. 108bpm, perfect! As for why I was bleeding, nothing really stood out. He saw a bit more blood and warned me that it will need to pass as well, but that was it. He prescribed me RhoGAM for my O- blood type issue and off we went. Later on, they called with my beta results and said it was well over 20, 000 now and just where it should be so all was well.
So, just as I think we are out of the woods and everything is fine… that same night I start bleeding again; even more red blood and lots of thick clots! Honestly, it was like a whole can of cranberry jelly was coming out and it was gross (I warned you about the TMI)! And this time, there was cramping. Not intense cramping, but… cramping.
April 7 – Bed Rest:
Tuesday morning I spoke to a nurse and while she didn’t think there was cause for concern in terms of the baby just yet, she said I might have some kind of internal bleed and tells me the only way to stop it is to go on bed rest and wait to hear back from my doctor. After spending the day with my feet up watching TV, no more than spotting Tuesday night! Fingers crossed!
The following day, Dr. D officially puts me on bedrest for a week due to a “threatened miscarriage or abortion”, which sounds more terrifying than it actually is and is used as a general term whenever there is bleeding involved apparently. I continue to spot but no more than that.
We went in for a second viability scan on April 9th and it showed that despite Monday’s bleeding, baby was doing just fine. And now that the pool of blood had cleared they were able to see what caused all of this in the first place! A Subchorionic Hematoma (SCH). So while there are many speculations as to why they happen, there is nothing you can do to avoid getting one. My body would either reabsorb it or it would bleed out and go away. They also told me that bleeding is more common in IVF patients but they do not know why. Good to know.
So, we were still at risk for a miscarriage, but the doctor we saw that morning reassured us that it was a very low chance. Not only was the SCH far away from the baby but she pointed out that once you see the heartbeat, which we see clearly and it is strong, your chances of miscarriage are dramatically reduced. I looked online and, not that I trust everything I read, it said that the chance of this causing a miscarriage was 1-3%.
Back to my bed rest as a precaution!
