possible placental abruption at 21 weeks

BrandonsLass

Hello,

I have some questions and figured this would be the place to ask! On Tuesday night at bout 10:30PM, I went to to the bathroom and immediately the toilet filled with red blood. I then noticed it was on my panties too. It must have just happened. This is my 3rd pregnancy and I have NEVER had bleeding of any sort. I am 21 weeks. I immediately called my doctor who said to watch it for an hour or two and if it stopped I didn't have to go to L&D, but if it didn't stop, I needed to head in. I was not having any pain or cramping at all. I had not had sex in 3 days. In fact I had been pretty lazy around the house for the last 2 days and felt pretty relaxed and rested.

Anyway, the bleeding slowed significantly in the next hour and a half and was more brown in color. Since I could feel baby Jonah moving around and I still wasn't having any pain, I decided to stay home and see my doc in the morning. BY morning I was mostly just spotting. Still brownish in color. I went to the doc and he did both a vag exam and an ultrasound.

My vag exam was fine. Closed, high cervix... but my ultrasound showed a small "tear" on the edge of my placenta. Now, he called it both a tear and he called it a subchorionic hemorrhage. I am confused because I though the subchorionic hemorrhages happened earlier. I have had several ultrasounds and this has never showed up. Now, if it is a tear, does that mean placental abruption? He didn't seem very concerned at all. He said it would probably heal itself .

I love my doctor, but every now and then I feel like he isn't very thorough. I am just worried that I should be taking precaustions and he didn't tell me to. Anyone have any experience with this? Thank you so much.

Jacquie_Palma

From what I remember about my sister, who had placental abruption at 33weeks, was that it was extremely painful and it was non stop bleeding to the point where she and the baby almost died.  I'm not doctor though, so it may have been different because she was further along.  If it was placental abruption though, I would think that your doctor would be extremely concerned.

mrst1014

I had this early in my pregnancy, both the SCH, and the partial tear. I bled for the fist 16-18 weeks of my pregnancy. Thank goodness it hasen't come back, and it did heal itself. I'm still on bedrest, and am considered high risk cause they can't rule out it happening again. Just take it really easy, no heavy lifting or anything.

alibabbbs

I had something quite similar happen Friday, and I've been hospitalized ever since. Not only that, but I will be placed on pretty strict bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy. We've also had to meet with a neonatologist and decide the age at which we want to resuscitate. I can't believe how laissez-faire your doctor is!

My case is a little more complicated because I take Lovenox, but from what I've heard and read, no matter what, you are very likely to bleed again, and the second, third, etc. bleeds are probably going to be much heavier, possibly needing a transfusion or causing the baby to be distressed, etc. I still can't believe your doctor's reaction!!!

BrandonsLass

Thank you for the information everyone. I am so torn on what to do. It seems like it can either be nothing or it can be incredibly dangerous! I am so confused. Thanks again for the info. I very much appreciate it. I hope you all continue to have sae and healthy pregnancies and babies!

ijack

It can go either way. You can fully abrupt which is painful, TONS of bleeding and can be very dangerous for your baby or you can partially abrupt. I had continuous abruptions during my pregnancy (17w, 24w and then that one continued until I delivered) and the bleeding ended up causing PTL and I delivered early. The best thing you can do is to take it easy. You can't fix an abruption but you can try to keep it from getting worse.

GL!