Bleeding - Advice?

[bluestar]

I only found out I was pregnant last week and now at nearly 5 weeks, I have started bleeding. It started off as spotting a few days ago, then after a bowel movement, the blood was fresh, then it went brown again, all the time starting and stopping and today I am bleeding like a light period. Only other symptoms are a bit of tummy ache, but nothing bad, still have bigger boobs (not as sore though) and metallic taste and feel a bit sick. Last pregnancy I had no symptoms at all, but on day 1 of missed period, I felt sick. I have pretty much come to the conclusion that this pregnancy is over and obviously feel very disappointed, am due to see GP tomorrow anyway and understand that even a scan probably would not show anything at this stage anyway, does this sound like it's all over to those that have been through this. I can't believe that within a week I have been pregnant and now may not be.

morocco, that sounds really positive . I'm so pleased for you. Fingers crossed!

Haven't logged on for a couple of days so only just caught up with this thread and just wanted to add "big hugs" to you all.

Morocco, that's fantastic news. I hope everything goes well for the rest of the pregnancy. It's good to know that some good news can come out of the thread I started.

thank you bluestar

how are you feeling?

Morocco, that was a quick response or is it that BB has just finished? Feeling ok today, thanks for asking. The physical symptoms have gone now so at least there is no constant reminder if you know what I mean. Now just thinking of the future and trying again. I already have a wonderful DS so that helps and reminds me how lucky I am. Have a nice 'relaxing' week off.

all the best bluestar. Your posts have really helped me to cope with things this week so thank you so much.

bluestar, that's good news. i really hope my bleeding stops soon. at the moment everything is present tense, e.g. not "i have had a miscarriage" but "i am having a miscarriage" or "i am losing my baby". well, it is getting less anyway, so with luck it will only be a couple more days.

Morocco, great news! Bluestar - glad the bleeding has cleared up.
Bossykate, hope the bleeding clears up soon for you too. At least then you can address how you feel. I found it difficult to do this while it was all still so obviously happening.

Bossykate, hope the bleeding stops for you soon. I know I felt better when it did. My concerns are now that since I have had what is deemed to be a 'natural' miscarriage, I have had no scan to say that everything is ok to try again or that I have definitely miscarried. Don't get me wrong, I am not suddenly holding out hope that all is ok but at least with a scan, you know 100% that it has happened. Can I ask anyone that has been through this at such an early stage, whether you did in fact get a scan done or just accepted that is what happened and did you try again straight away?

Bluestar, I was 15 weeks, but baby was 8, so obviously had scans. Howver, you would know if there was a problem as you would most likely have infection or bleeding or both. I had these and only when they went did I feel normal and knew it was ok and gone. I would be tempted to wait for a period or signs of inf etc.. otherwise it may well me your fine. Check with Doc though if you have ANY concerns.xxxx

Bluestar, I didn't have a scan either time (in fact I didn't even go the doc the first time! - although I did report the first one when I went about the second one, if you see what I mean). After the first m/c, I waited for my next period before trying again. After the second, we started trying again straightaway (I felt a bit all at sea about my dates though!).
From reading various threads on mumsnet it seems that people have been given different advice about when to start trying again. My doctor said it was fine to start trying again straightaway - she also said that the most important thing was to feel ready.

hi bluestar, i have had a succession of tests to determine whether my hcg levels are falling as expected. if they don't decline as expected, i have been told that constitutes evidence that not all "products" have been expelled - then i would get a scan. otherwise, they will just do another pregnancy test to confirm no detectable levels of hcg. in terms of trying again, i have been advised to wait until after my next period to ensure accurate dating of the pregnancy.

so what i surmise from your situation is that if you have stopped bleeding, test negative for pregnancy, don't have a temperature or any other symptoms such as a discharge, from what i have been told at least, you shouldn't need a scan.

however, if you are unsure, don't hesitate to go back to the dr or hospital. if you are in london, i recommend the Emergency Gynae Unit at St Thomas' - it's a walk-in service and they have all the facilities there to deal with m/c in early pregnancy.

ps - i totally sympathise about wanting to be absolutely sure, i'm left thinking, so is that it then?

Thanks for your advice. My dr said test again 2 weeks after the bleeding stops so that will be next week. If it still shows positive, I will go back to the drs. I assume that as it was so early the hcg levels wouldn't be that high to begin with so should disappear pretty quickly. I am in two minds about trying straight away. I feel ready which is the main thing and I don't seem to have any physical symptoms but I guess I am a little bit worried about increasing my chances of this happening again if I don't wait. From what I have read, if everything is ok, the only reason to wait for next period is for dating purposes. I also read that if you have already had a 'live' birth and all was ok with that pregnancy, than there should be no reason that it should happen again. I guess I will wait until the fertile time comes and decide then. Hope everyone else is ok.

hi bluestar, how's it going? hope you are ok.

Hi Bossykate, yes I'm doing ok thanks. How are you? Did have a bit of a moment last weekend when my dh told me that a friend of his and his wife are expecting and will be due at the same time I would have been. However they have already been in A&E with heavy bleeding and she has to go back for a scan shortly so I am really hoping that everything will work out for them. She has been trying for a while and it will be her first. I never thought I would join a thread like this, especially after one absolutely fine pregnancy and baby, but now that I have you realise just how common it is. Are you planning on trying again soon or waiting a while if you don't mind me asking?

Hi bluestar and bossy kate. Glad to hear you're doing ok. I presume now, all the bleeding has stopped and you are feeling phsically better. It's so much a big part of getting over it isn't it. You sound like you are getting ready to try again and I really wish you lots of luck! I was only myself at this stage 6 weeks ago, on the verge of starting to try. I had to wait 3 months cos of bleeding probs but I think back to when the m/c first happened and can't beleive how far I've come now. There are lots of examples of women on here who go on to have healthy babies and i hope you get some inspiration! Its great to have Mumsnet, I'd have gone mad I think without it!! Best wishes xx

thanks, quackers

bluestar, in terms of trying again, i'm not really sure atm. we would not be trying straightaway in any event, since i agree with the advice we've been given that it would be better to wait until after another period so that any pregnancy could be acurately dated. very mixed feelings on this now. how about you?

Thanks also quackers. Glad everything is going ok with you. Bossykate, I thought that I would try again quite quickly, but since that time has probably been and gone, I'm glad that I have in fact waited. I feel very hormonal/PMT at the moment. I guess you talk yourself out of feeling upset, but as time passes, I find myself thinking that I would be 8 weeks now. Not a good way to continue. I also feel that if I did get pregnant quickly again, I would worry that if I miscarried again, that perhaps I should have waited. Hopefully my periods will go back to a regular cycle, I had very irregular cycles (some 57 days) at the end of last year and they had been regular for 3 months prior to conceiving and I really don't want to go back to the nightmare of irregular cycles again. Wish you well in the future Bossykate whenever you feel ready to try again.