Late postpartum hemorrhaging

penelopemaria · January 2014

Anyone else in this unfortunate position with me?

Last night (1 week pp) I stood out of bed and felt a huge clot. I looked and it covered my pad which was soaked. I changed my pad and the new one was soaked within a minute. I told DH to call 911 and by the time they arrived my bathroom looked like a murder scene and my BP was less than 90/55.

I get to the hospital and the clots and gushing continue for hours. I soak hospital pad after hospital pad. They give me piticon and two other shots in my butt to try and slow down the bleeding. Then I had an ultrasound which showed there may be a small amount of tissue. My OB opted not to do a D&C as apparently the risks of perforation are high after giving birth.

I'm out of the hospital now (20 hours later) and the bleeding is mild and *knock on wood* no more clots so it looks like the meds worked. There's still a chance the small piece of tissue is there so this could happen again which terrifies me... I think I'll stop being worried every time I stand up once I hit 6 weeks pp.

Thanks for letting me vent - and if you went through this too BIG hugs to you.

watercolor5 · January 2014

Yikes, that's so scary! Glad you got help right away, and I hope the rest of your recovery is easy and uneventful!

thebobloblaw · January 2014

Eek! That sounds terrifying! Glad you got help right away!

Caitlinh27 · January 2014

Yikes! Hope it doesn't happen again!

AwaitingAAmiracle · January 2014

That is horrible. Glad you got help and are alright.

mkhim · January 2014

Can late pp hemorrhaging go away on its own? At 8 days pp, I soaked a pad in less than 10mins but then it started slowing down, so I didn't do anything about it. Then 2 days later, the same thing happened, but it was Christmas and I was at my parents' house with Trinity, so I forgot about it. Then 4 days later, at 2wks pp, I was getting ready to get out of bed (didn't stand up yet) and felt something huge coming out. Went to the bathroom and there were two egg-sized clots. I called the on-call number but no one called me back. I thought that since it was a Sunday, I'd get a call Monday. Nothing. I didn't get anymore clots and the bleeding went down. Since then, the bleeding has continued to decrease and at about 3.5wks pp, it's low enough to just use a pantiliner now. I think I'm in the clear.
So, OP, I think I can somewhat relate. Seeing those clots was a scary thing! I'm glad you're ok now.

penelopemaria · January 2014

mkhim said:

Can late pp hemorrhaging go away on its own? At 8 days pp, I soaked a pad in less than 10mins but then it started slowing down, so I didn't do anything about it. Then 2 days later, the same thing happened, but it was Christmas and I was at my parents' house with Trinity, so I forgot about it. Then 4 days later, at 2wks pp, I was getting ready to get out of bed (didn't stand up yet) and felt something huge coming out. Went to the bathroom and there were two egg-sized clots. I called the on-call number but no one called me back. I thought that since it was a Sunday, I'd get a call Monday. Nothing. I didn't get anymore clots and the bleeding went down. Since then, the bleeding has continued to decrease and at about 3.5wks pp, it's low enough to just use a pantiliner now. I think I'm in the clear. So, OP, I think I can somewhat relate. Seeing those clots was a scary thing! I'm glad you're ok now.

It's so scary. If I were you I would at least get an U/S to confirm nothing is left behind.

MGalles · January 2014

Glad you are okay! Thank goodness your DH was home with you.

mkhim · January 2014

I'm the kind of person who will avoid going to the Dr. unless I know I absolutely need to go. So for now, I think I'll just wait until my pp appt and let my ob know and see what he decides to do from there. If anything similar happens again, I will definitely go straight to the ER this time though.

swirl25 · January 2014

Super scary -- so sorry you went through that! Hoping all is well now and it won't happen again.

mightymousy · January 2014

Oh wow! Glad you're ok!

Ark2013 · January 2014

Wow. Glad your H was there.

When my oldest was 5 days old I went to the ER because (TMI) there was something hanging out of me (looked like a vein). I freaked out. And tugged on it and it hurt so I went in. I ended up needing a D and C because there was a large piece of placenta still attached. I also had a really bad infection. My nurse was saying it was strange that it wasn't caught before then because the OB is supposed to check the placenta after it is delivered. He should have noticed a piece missing considering the size of what they removed from me. I changed Dr's for my other deliveries.

penelopemaria · January 2014

Ark2013 said:

Wow. Glad your H was there. When my oldest was 5 days old I went to the ER because (TMI) there was something hanging out of me (looked like a vein). I freaked out. And tugged on it and it hurt so I went in. I ended up needing a D and C because there was a large piece of placenta still attached. I also had a really bad infection. My nurse was saying it was strange that it wasn't caught before then because the OB is supposed to check the placenta after it is delivered. He should have noticed a piece missing considering the size of what they removed from me. I changed Dr's for my other deliveries.

Ugh that's so scary. Did you have any signs of infection? I would have changed doctors too!

zou bisou · January 2014

I'm really glad you're ok!

BoothBaby · January 2014

Oh my gosh, I am so glad that you are ok!

penelopemaria · January 2014

Tanisha417 said:

This same thing happened to me at 7 days pp. I wish I had been at home at the time instead of at my DD first pedi appt. I went to the ER after causing a murder scene in the peds bathroom. I got an US and an IV with pitocin. The on call OB explained that it was most likely that my cervix closed up enough to allow a clot to block it and the blood pooled in my uterus until enough pressure built up to clear the blockage and Niagara falls insued. The OB also said he sees it happen about 3-4 times a month with PP women. It definitely freaked me out especially considering the low platelet/HELLP syndrome issues I had.

Ugh how awful! This is why I'm scared to leave the house now. At least you were at a doctors office! Did you have light PP bleeding after labour? Mine was very light - at 7 days pp it was almost gone, so the explanation you got from the OB might explain my situation. Anyway I'm glad you're ok and sorry you went through that. It's so traumatic!

clhathaway · January 2014

Mine was right after in the hospital, but it is scary. Tmi on day 2 pp I passed a clot probably bigger then my child's head and a nurse told me to get over it. She left the room and I passed out in the bathroom. Kuddos to her for being a twat.
I'm glad you made it to the hospital. I couldn't imagine going thru that at home. Scary stuff. Fx you're in the clear now!

northport6 · January 2014

So sorry you got such a scare!

readyornot12345 · January 2014

So scary!!! Glad your ok

yty0205 · January 2014

Yikes. Glad you are OK. I had a bleeding scare the other night where I soaked a pad quickly but then it stopped, so I assume it was just that I overdid it that day and had heavier lochia than normal. I hope you don't have to go through all that again. Hugs to you!

Ark2013 · January 2014

penelopemaria said:

Ark2013 said:

Wow. Glad your H was there.

When my oldest was 5 days old I went to the ER because (TMI) there was something hanging out of me (looked like a vein). I freaked out. And tugged on it and it hurt so I went in. I ended up needing a D and C because there was a large piece of placenta still attached. I also had a really bad infection. My nurse was saying it was strange that it wasn't caught before then because the OB is supposed to check the placenta after it is delivered. He should have noticed a piece missing considering the size of what they removed from me. I changed Dr's for my other deliveries.

Ugh that's so scary. Did you have any signs of infection? I would have changed doctors too!

I had a low grade fever and my stomach was pretty bloated. I didn't notice the bloating until after the D and C and noticed how much smaller I looked. I felt off and weak the whole time too. I didn't know how I wasn't supposed to feel after having a baby so I didn't realize anything was wrong until after.

The Dr in have now is amazing and made a point of showing me that the placenta was intact after it was delivered because he knows how nervous I was about it happening again. My H said he remembers my first Dr pulling the cord to get the placenta out. I'm assuming that is why it didn't completely detach. New Dr waits for it to detach on its own.

natleilynn · January 2014

Something similar has happened to me once a week. Apparently it's just something that is one of my body's ridiculous quirks because it happened to me after I had a D&C, too. The doctors have told me that my body doesn't relax normally so every once in awhile, my body finally relaxes and I end up with a ton of blood/clots.

A few days after I got home from the hospital, I was nursing LO around 3am, felt a gush (kind of like my water breaking), went to the bathroom and blood/clots just started pouring out. I yelled for DH, called a doctor, but it all stopped after about an hour. For the next week I had really light blood in my pad. A week later, I had just stepped into the shower and a blood clot (TMI) the size of a baseball fell out. Called the doctor again, but since there was no extra blood, just a blood clot, they said to just monitor it. A couple days ago, the blood gushing happened again, this time during the day. Again, called the doctor and was told to just monitor it. It's terrifying, but every doctor I've seen has said the same thing - my body just doesn't relax the way normal people do. It's like I keep all the stress built up for a week and then once a week my body relaxes enough to let the blood come through. I'm just hoping that it's almost over!

penelopemaria · January 2014

To the OP, did they give you antibiotics? Cause a retained piece of placenta if not removed is a serious infection risk. It also can keep you from having a milk supply if you are breastfeeding.

Yes 4x a day for a week. I was also on preventative iv antibiotics after delivery due to my 4th degree tear.

hfitz · January 2014

Scary! I'm glad you're okay!

penelopemaria · January 2014

AmyG* said:

penelopemaria said:

To the OP, did they give you antibiotics? Cause a retained piece of placenta if not removed is a serious infection risk. It also can keep you from having a milk supply if you are breastfeeding.
Yes 4x a day for a week. I was also on preventative iv antibiotics after delivery due to my 4th degree tear.

Antibiotics if you are breastfeeding, start a probiotic to avoid thrush.
Is your milk supply ok? some women have a very low supply if they have retained placenta fragments.

I think so. My breasts were leaking profusely while in the hospital because I wasn't able to pump. When I spend 20 minutes pumping I can get 5-6 ounces (combined between both breasts)

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