Bleeding...But Told Not To Worry

MuffinMom14

So, when I had my first appointment, I bled brown for a few days afterward, and the doctor told me to expect that. That was February 27th. She mentioned some sort of "tag" on the side of my cervix that shouldn't be a problem, but she wanted to note it.

I haven't bled or had any issues since the initial few times after the appointment, and then Thursday night I got a lot of bleeding. Or, what I thought. When I originally talked to the receptionist to make my first appointment, I told her I had had some cramping and she said that was fine, but any blood, go to the ER. ANY blood. So, we went to the ER. This wasn't light brown like I had had a week earlier, it was what I thought was a lot.

I got to the ER and the questions they were asking me made me feel like I was there for no reason. 

Q: Any blood in the toilet?

A: No.

Q: How many pads are you going through?

A: None, it's just when I wiped.

Q: How bad are the cramps?

A: I don't know. I really didn't have any until I came here, and it's like a 2, but I've been having slight cramps the whole time.

So, the ER doc did bloodwork (came back fine) and an exam, and she also noted the little tag near my cervix. She said I shouldn't be worried, that it looks irritated, and that seems to be the cause, not the center of the cervix, or the baby.

They told me to only come back to the ER if I'm going through more than one pad an hour and I have cramps 10 times what period cramps are.

This is confusing. I thought any bleeding that is enough to need a pad would warrant concern. So, I took to the internet and only suceeded in frightening myself more--I guess if you bleed during the first trimester, you have a 50 percent chance of miscarrying? NO ONE told me that at the doctor's office, and everything I read prior says that bleeding the first trimester is common.

I don't know what to think. I wasn't concerned when both doctors told me no to be, but then I did research and I'm scared again (I know, I know). Is the fact that I'm bleeding from an irritating on the side of my cervix making this less of a concern and that's why they didn't mention it?

I stayed home from work on Friday and I'm terrified to do anything but lay in bed, even though I'm only getting a tiny bit of brown every third or fourth time I pee now. I know there are TONS of stories of people bleeding off and on during entire pregnancies on this board. 

I guess my main thing is, I don't know when to really worry here, and when not to, because the idea of bleeding so much that I need a pad an hour, or even a pad at all, seems not normal for pregnancy. Although maybe the ER just says that because there's nothing they can do to help you if you're going to miscarry anyway, and you'll only need medical attention if it's a lot of blood. 

femail

I have been spotting for a couple weeks. Nothing to warrant a pad. My OB said as long as it isn't a steady flow, not to worry. No mention that I was at risk of a m/c. I also have had one u/s and the baby looked great and it's got a strong heart beat. So at this point, I may have red or brown spotting from time to time, but I'm not going to overthink it.

I've also heard from many people that they spotted during their pregnancy, and went on to deliver a healthy baby.

MuffinMom14

femail said:

I have been spotting for a couple weeks. Nothing to warrant a pad. My OB said as long as it isn't a steady flow, not to worry. No mention that I was at risk of a m/c. I also have had one u/s and the baby looked great and it's got a strong heart beat. So at this point, I may have red or brown spotting from time to time, but I'm not going to overthink it. I've also heard from many people that they spotted during their pregnancy, and went on to deliver a healthy baby.

This is almost exactly my story--I had an u/s last week, they saw the heartbeat, and she saw no risks for me at all. 

I was really trying not to overthink it until I read that stupid thing on the internet. Why do I do these things?

GromMom

Fx for you! I've had enough supporting to warrant a pad, but I was also out of the house for about 8 hours and didn't want to have an accident if I couldn't change a panty liner. I'm hoping its just breakthrough bleeding but I was telling dh that this little girl is giving me grey hairs already (I don't know why I just have a feeling its a girl). I know I've even toys others not to google but I had to do some quick fact checking and you can even bleed as much as a light period in weeks 4, 8 and 12 and its considered normal, sometimes your hormones are not enough to suppress bleeding when your period would have been, in my case I'm in week 8. Hopefully all if us having spotting are going to have healthy babies!

aander6

20-30% of women bleed during your their first trimester. I am not sure why they told you go to go the ER if you are having any bleeding. What they told you at the ER is correct. Another thing you need to remember also is there is really nothing they can do if you are miscarrying. It is most likely because of genetic problem with the embryo. At this point if you don't have any painful cramping and you are only bleeding when you wipe you do not having anything to worry about. If that changes and you get worst you can go to the ER but there will really be nothing they can do.  

Like I said what you are experiencing does not sound like you are miscarrying. Just try to keep busy and not think about it and remember that your levels look good! Also step away from Dr. Google. I really hope you stop bleeding and FX for you that everything turns out fine. 

MuffinMom14

GromMom said:

Fx for you! I've had enough supporting to warrant a pad, but I was also out of the house for about 8 hours and didn't want to have an accident if I couldn't change a panty liner. I'm hoping its just breakthrough bleeding but I was telling dh that this little girl is giving me grey hairs already (I don't know why I just have a feeling its a girl). I know I've even toys others not to google but I had to do some quick fact checking and you can even bleed as much as a light period in weeks 4, 8 and 12 and its considered normal, sometimes your hormones are not enough to suppress bleeding when your period would have been, in my case I'm in week 8. Hopefully all if us having spotting are going to have healthy babies!

That's really interesting. I bled week 4 (and thought it was my period until I tested). Not again until my exam, when my OB told me to expect it. Then this week (week 8). I guess this would explain when there are women who don't know they are pregnant for several months--they had some light bleeding and thought it was a period.

I just know HOW MANY people on this board say they either have spotting now or did in past pregnancies and everything was fine. I know logically not to worry. It's just hard for me. I'm certainly a worrier.

tafaye

So sorry your going through this.  Personaly I have not had this, just some brown spotting.  But my sister bled through 2 of her 3 pregnancys and have 3 healthy kids!  Most days she went through a liner a day, but there were days she needed a pad.  

Just breathe and listen to the doc,and stay away from google.  Sending positive vibes your way!

GromMom

I know its hard not to worry, I had spotting with my lo and he's a happy and healthy 22 month old, but I've also had a MC, so I worry too. When I woke up this morning there was no major bleeding at night, just a little brown when I wiped so I'm going to try to stay positive :-) I could see how people might not know they were pregnant for 12 weeks if they had breakthrough bleeding, I also had mild period cramps yesterday too so if I had not tested for whatever reasons I'd have doubts about being pregnant, especially if it was myfirst pregnancy.

MuffinMom14

aander6 said:

20-30% of women bleed during your their first trimester. I am not sure why they told you go to go the ER if you are having any bleeding. What they told you at the ER is correct. Another thing you need to remember also is there is really nothing they can do if you are miscarrying. It is most likely because of genetic problem with the embryo. At this point if you don't have any painful cramping and you are only bleeding when you wipe you do not having anything to worry about. If that changes and you get worst you can go to the ER but there will really be nothing they can do.  

Like I said what you are experiencing does not sound like you are miscarrying. Just try to keep busy and not think about it and remember that your levels look good! Also step away from Dr. Google. I really hope you stop bleeding and FX for you that everything turns out fine. 

I don't know why they told me that, either, but it's the same person who told me Tylenol is not safe during pregnancy. WHY would I have listened to her?

I want to resume my normal life and go on with things (going for a run tomorrow). That tiny bit of fear left after reading these posts is telling me to do nothing but rest. I KNOW that is silly. Going for a run is not going to cause a miscarriage. A miscarriage would happen with or without a run if it's going to happen.

I'm going for my run tomorrow.

aander6

SPurp13 said:

I don't know why they told me that, either, but it's the same person who told me Tylenol is not safe during pregnancy. WHY would I have listened to her?

I want to resume my normal life and go on with things (going for a run tomorrow). That tiny bit of fear left after reading these posts is telling me to do nothing but rest. I KNOW that is silly. Going for a run is not going to cause a miscarriage. A miscarriage would happen with or without a run if it's going to happen.

I'm going for my run tomorrow.

I think it is a great idea if you go running. I don't know if you watch Sex In The City but it makes me think of when Charlotte wouldn't run because she was so worried when she was pregnant and then she felt like herself again once she got out there and did it. 

megsandjohn

I know how hard it is not to worry.
I have been bleeding since Sunday. Some days brown but some days red and it definitely seemed like more than spotting to me.

I had an ultrasound on Monday and everything looked great, with a strong heartbeat. So my midwife is asking me to try not to worry but it's so hard. It stopped for one day and then came back and my heart dropped. She is not sure of the cause as nothing was visible in the ultrasound. She is wondering if I have a weeping cervix.

I have been taking it easy but I still have two little ones to take care of so I just have to try to trust that everything will be ok and do what I have to do.

It is reassuring to know that some women just bleed during the first trimester and it is not a concern. So I'm just gonna go ahead and group us into that group

flyinmommy

It is hard to worry but stay off the Google. It does more harm than good. I have had a couple bouts of bleeding and the doctors said everything is good. It can be your uterus changing or the placenta attaching or growing or a million other things. There are so many of us that have had bleeding and it all turns out ok. Hang in there.

Klavanga74

Just another priory of a lot of bleeding around 7-8 weeks with my daughter, she is now happy and healthy! I agree with pp's...it's SO hard, but stay away from the Internet.

MLE_C2B

I had horrid heavy bleeding around8-9 wks with my first. It was a cervical bleed from the pressure. Dr said worst he's seen so no promises but milder ones are not usually a problem. I was soaking regular pads so it was a lot. I was terrified. It subsided and them brown leftovers but the rest of my pregnancy was smooth sailing. No BD ing though till pressure moved up and out.

victoria+james

My rule is if something feels wrong about it, just go in.

**heads up - loss story below**

I was 6 weeks 1 day when I started bleeding with my previous loss. I noticed some brown in my underwear and a little pink when I wiped. I called my doctor right away and they said not to worry unless there was more blood and I started cramping.

I sat on the toilet and (I kid you not) counted the seconds between drops of blood. Because it seemed to be a very slow but consistent flow of drops we went to the ER anyways. I had no cramping whatsoever but they confirmed that I was miscarrying.

According to the doctors there was not enough blood to be alarmed and since there were no cramps there was really no reason for me to go in.

You know your body, if you feel like something is wrong just go get checked out. Sadly it is true that at this point there isn't anything they can do. But it helps me to cope knowing I did everything I could.

Greenmood

Apparently I have an easily-irritated cervix. I have spotted brown (just when wiping) every time something has been in there since the day after I took my pregnancy test at about five weeks. The first two times I called, and was given the whole "call again if it's more than one pad an hour" chat. The next time I was far enough along that I got a Rhogam shot.

If you have a polyp on your cervix, this will likely continue to happen. I have become very zen about it. The baby is fine. We tried avoiding sex but then it happened after my transvaginal ultrasound and I realized that it honestly has nothing to do with the baby.

I tell you this hoping it will give you some peace. You have an explanation for your bleeding.

imagine7696030614

During my internal exam a few weeks ago they told me I had a cervical polyp (explained it was like a skin tag on my cervix) and that it would likely cause a lot of bleeding. When I got home from that exam sure enough i was spotting red blood. I called anyway even though they warned me that I would probably bleed because she did the pap and scraped the polyp (ew)...they just told me not to worry. The next day I started to cramp while exercising and bled a bit more so they sent me in for an u/s and everything looked great (think I was one day shy of turning 6 weeks) ....anyway, point is, I think everything is probably fine. The fact that you have that tag means you'll probably spot/bleed here and there. Good luck!

vrj0522

I started red blood spotting almost 2 weeks ago and it was super scary. It started after an u/s and while I knew baby was okay at that point, the fact that I was getting it daily scared me. I've had a mc before so I was freaking out a little bit. I called a couple of times and they finally got me in for another u/s this past Tuesday. I went in and hb was strong and there was no indication as to what could be causing the bleeding. I went back to running the next day and have been working out daily since then. I still get a little bit of spotting but it's definitely diminishing. I felt a lot better after I saw the baby again and I am just hopeful that things will work out. Like you, I didn't want to get out of bed or do much but after I saw the baby and realized it was fine, something clicked in me and I realized that a m/c cannot be caused by me moving around if my uterus and cervix are healthy. 

Like others have said, if you are going to mc, there really is nothing that can be done if otherwise everything is normal, but there is also a very good chance that even with spotting you can have a healthy baby so try to relax. Especially if you do have a tag that can makes it more likely that you will bleed. Sounds to me like baby is probably fine. FX!

Bbelle88

I think the ER in particular is only concerned with possible hemorrhaging ...the pregnancy isn't "viable" at this point so it's not like they can do anything to save the baby if you're bleeding. I think that's why they only tell you to come see them if you're going through a pad an hour, they're just worried about you hemorrhaging because like you said if you're miscarrying they can't do anything for you.

Brown blood is old blood and I've always been told is nothing to worry about. A small amount of red blood isn't a deal breaker either....especially if you have a known source like a subchorionic hematoma or a skin tag like in your case. And as far as cramps go, I have had bad gas/stomach cramps in all of my pregnancies in the 1st trimester. And honestly it's felt like labor pain it's been so bad, your body is just a hot mess, particularly in the 1st tri. And are you certain the blood was from the front when you wiped and not the back lol....I've been so constipated and irritated before I've bled in the back just a little when I wiped.

I'm rambling at this point. Hope that somehow helps. I'm sorry you had that experience, being pregnant can be very stressful!!! GL to you and fingers XX for no more bleeding!

MuffinMom14

I just wanted to update to say thank you to everyone. This thread has really helped put my mind at ease. I KNOW what the doctors said, but it just helps me to hear real-world stuff. NO ONE ever told me you can spot/bleed during pregnancy--you automatically think it's bad.

I'm still getting brown spotting about ever second or third time I go to the bathroom. But never red. I think everything's ok for now. I'm trying to just be calm about it.