Period 12 days PP? Or not possible...

[DifferentD35]

I'm 12 days PP and up until yesterday my bleeding had tailed off (has been brown, not red for days and days now). Woke up 20 mins ago to find lots of bright red blood and a clot. Smells like period blood but I guess that doesn't mean it definitely is.

I'm ebf but had to formula feed for 6 days.

Do I need to get this new bright red blood checked out? It's unlikely to be a menstrual period isn't it?

Generally it would be around 6 weeks, not 12 days.

How big is the clot? Have you done more than usual today?

If it’s bigger than a 50p and/or you’ve been fairly stationary, I’d really like you to get checked over.

@BuntyCollocks I didn't do a huge amount but did walk a fair bit. The clot was probably about the size of a 10p. Maybe a tiny bit bigger. I haven't had a clot in a few days now so it surprised me and I wasn't sure if it was normal, as the blood has been brown for days and has suddenly gone red again...

That sounds within the range of usual to me.

I've known a lot of Women to bleed bright red after the first bit of proper exercise pp.

I can remember warning my Neice to prepare for ir, she'd stopped bleeding, when she was going for her first real walk.

Thanks @Birdsgottafly - that's reassuring.

I think you should call your midwife and tell her you have passed a clot. You should also take it very easy for the next week.

My lochia would definitely tail off, start a fresh, tail off again and then start again. For seven weeks. I didn’t have a period for 19 months.

I bled for about 3 weeks pp and it stopped and started again a couple of times so perhaps that’s what’s happening?

No idea but will check with midwife. They all seemed to think it should stop within 14 days...

14 days?? Most people I know were over a month.

I bled for 6 weeks after giving birth and was told that was normal.

You should definitely give your Midwife a call.

I’m currently working on the text for my local CCG’s maternity website and the guidance is that you should seek medical advice is the bleeding slows / stops and then you get new fresh bleeding or clots. Could be a period (highly unlikely at 2 weeks as far as I know, most guidance says that ovulation can start two weeks pp but I wouldn’t rule it out) but always best to be safe as fresh bleeding can indicate an infection.

This happened to me when DD was about 9 days old. I'd taken her out in the pram and done some shopping but been walking quite a bit and came home and lots of fresh red blood. Turns out I'd overdone it a bit by going out so soon. It settled down when I rested.

Keep an eye and perhaps speak to hv if it continues.

I'm really crampy as well. It's quite painful. Just feels like a period. Hope it's nothing to worry about...

It probably isn’t anything worrying, but I would still get checked out - do you feel feverish at all? Any other symptoms?

I would just be cautious and double check. My twins were both in nicu at that stage and I was so focussed on them I didn’t look after myself properly and ended up being extremely unwell - the bottom half of my body was so swollen I couldn’t straighten my knees, ended up with cellulitis.

Get checked if you're worried. I bled for 6 weeks each time.

@SinkGirl I'm so sleep deprived that I can't actually tell if I have other symptoms. I have heart palpitations every so often and a bit of a headache as well as lots of cramps, but the former two I also get when I'm tired sometimes. So I'm not really sure.

I think bleeding for longer than two weeks is very normal, nothing to worry about on its own but it’s the stopping / almost stopping and then getting fresh blood and clots that’s the red flag. Does this increased red bleeding / clots happen when breastfeeding? If so that’s considered normal as breastfeeding makes your womb contract.

I bled for 6 weeks after my first and 10 weeks after my second who was an emergency c/section. They couldn’t find any explanation for it and it would tail off then start again. I would let your midwife know though and keep an eye on it. Congrats on the new baby 😊

@SinkGirl again I couldn't tell you as he's cluster feeding. I literally fed him every 30 mins last night. He's only less than 6lbs so can't take much and drinks little and often bless him.

It's all guesswork isn't it. I'll see how I go over the weekend...

If he’s cluster feeding then that may explain it. In your shoes, I’d see how you go this weekend, get medical advice if you start bleeding heavily or passing large clots or you develop other signs of an infection like a fever. Otherwise I’d call your midwife on Monday.

Thanks @SinkGirl - that's really helpful and sounds like a good plan!

Pain and fresh bleeding should be checked out. Any time you pass something you think doesn't look right, take a quick picture at least you can show someone at your next check (same goes for babies nappies etc!)

@PoliticalBiscuit I'm absolutely kicking myself as I absolutely passed a massive clot that must have been a bit of placenta a couple of days after DS was born. I thought that was normal though, and it was about 10 days ago so didn't think anything of it... why didn't I take a photo of it?!?

You shouldn’t have any placenta left to pass - if you did have a lump of placenta, the risk of infection is high. I’m not sure about blood clots in the early days though, I honestly can’t remember if I had any.

It's gone back to brown again after a sudden gush of red. I give up trying to guess what's going on. Anxiety central!