I don't know if this is a miscarriage

[beautyberry]

This is my first pregnancy, and my husband and I have been so excited to have our first child. We've been together 10 years and talked about it since the beginning. I got a positive test a week ago, and felt all the symptoms. I worked Monday and Tuesday, and set up all the appointments and bloodwork. Tuesday night I noticed faint brown spotting, then it turned to dark red blood, and now is bright red. The doctors tell me not to come in unless I am filling a pad an hour, which I am not. But every few hours I am at this point. After I noticed the blood, I had bad cramps for about half the day, then they disappeared. I am keeping my appointment for tomorrow morning (the one I made before the bleeding and cramping occurred), and today drew Hcg levels, but won't know the results until tomorrow. I am a mess though. I took yesterday and today off of work, as I work a super physical job climbing trees, and I can't do it right now. I find myself fluctuating between feeling numb, feeling like it will all work out somehow, and deep sadness that is hard to shake. I don't feel like trying to be normal in public. I almost wore my pajamas to the lab today. Not knowing if this is for sure a MC is just the worst. I have been reading the forums here, and it sounds like some women do have lots of bleeding and still manage to have a healthy child. But it isn't looking good to me. I appreciate that you're all here taking time to build this community. It has helped a lot these past few days. I also wonder if my very physical job caused this? I lift heavy things and work long hours, not to mention the harness that squishes my belly while I climb. Did my work cause this? The doctors all say that my physical job should be fine for now, since I was used to it before pregnancy.

Im sorry your going through this.

Ive had a few miscarriages and ive also bled in a successful pregnancy (at 7wks and at 14) when i say bled, i never seen so much blood. There was no way with all that blood that the pregnancy would continue.... but it did and he is nearing 5 (and woke me up at half 5 this morning) so it does happen.

What i will ask if if you have passed anything? Any clots at all?
And when you stopped cramping, did the bleeding slow down?
Definitely go for you app today.

Good luck

Update:
Thanks DirtyGirty35. Only one small clot smaller than a dime. The bleeding in fact picked up a bit more after the cramps stopped. No more bleeding after last night, so about 2 days straight of bleeding and a half day of cramps (still, less bleeding than a normal period for me).

Today's Appt.:
In case this helps someone else, I'll describe my results today. Went to see the nurse practitioner today, and my hcg level was 4. I was told this was not a promising sign, and that I have more than likely lost a very early pregnancy. I have gone through a lot of the grieving already the last two days, but am still feeling ragged and cry with no apparent external cause on and off. This professional had no empathy, in fact, did not seem to even try. Just told me the news with a straight face. I do wish today was not Valentine's Day.

Talking About MC?:
I have to wonder why more people don't talk about mc when it happens. One thing that struck me today was when the nurse practitioner said that a healthy pregnancy is a miraculous series of perfect events all happening at the right time, I think of it kind of like a symphony where everyone has to come in at exactly the right time and volume to make the music flow. She said it is surprising that so many women get pregnant with healthy pregnancies all the time, given the requirements to make it all work. So if mc is so common, why don't people talk about it? I am now considering telling my folks, they didn't even know we were trying, but we are having them over this weekend, and were planning to tell them the exciting news. Now, I feel I should call my mom to prep them with the sad news, so they can know how to act when they get here. I think having family support might be better, even though the thought of telling them brings tears to my eyes.

My heart goes out to anyone who has or is experiencing a loss.

I guess I meant to ask - did anyone else experiencing mc tell their parents? Close friends? Employer? Did it help?