Please help me have faith/decide what to do.

[Aworryingtrend]

I am 8 weeks pregnant after TTC for a year and a half. Last week I started bleeding- not much, but there was some red blood. Last Thursday I had an early pregnancy scan which miraculously showed everything was ok, however they dated me at 7+5 when I would have expected to be over 8 weeks. I mentionned this but the sonographer/midwife didn't seem concerned.

However the spotting has continued so it has been 6 days of spotting now. I don't have any pain per se although I do get an occasional jabbing feeling lower down in my tummy on one side- almost as if someone was poking me there. It's not painful exactly but I can feel it IYSWIM. Also, my pregnancy symptoms seem to have completely disappeared- 2 weeks ago I could only eat white bread, felt nauseous all the time and had an over-powering sense of smell. Now I don't have any of these symptoms.

I just don't know what to do. I take comfort from the fact that the bleeding is only light, and no 'cramping', but why have my symtoms gone? We are tempted to book in for a private scan but then I am worried if I had MC that they wouldn't really be equipped to deal with it? Presumably I would still have to contact my midwife for them to deal with it?

I just don't know what to do. I am not sleeping as I am so scared about losing this baby and the feeling of being in limbo and not knowing whats happening is driving me insane.

Any advice much appreciated.

I know it's much easier said than done, but do try not to worry. The scan showed all was well, and you have no cramps or anything, so baby is probably fine. The mild pain is probably just stretching or a digestive thing very common in pregnancy (like constipation or trapped wind). But, yes, of course you are going to worry if you don't have an explantion for the bleeding (though it is very common and there are lots of possible reasons for it and most don't mean anything's wrong).

If you are that worried than maybe do book for a private scan if it would set your mind at rest - it's a horrible experience for you to be so worried you can't sleep, so I think anything that helps set your mind at rest is worth doing.

Oh bless you, I had a horrible first trimester of worry and ended up having 4 scans by 13 weeks! (2 NHS, 2 private) Personally I never had bleeding, but I've seen loads of threads on here about people who have had terrible, quite heavy bleeding and no symptoms and baby's been fine. For me, going to a private scan was always the right option - I needed to know and the relief was always completely priceless.

I'm now 20 weeks and starting to calm down a bit - my morning sickness was quite late to kick in (giving lots of time to be terrified about no symptoms) but then was appalling right up til 18 weeks, and actually, thinking about it I do remember it going for about a day at 8ish weeks, and rather than being relieved I was completely panicked! This whole pregnancy lark is a complete mystery most of the time, but you must have faith. I never thought I'd be able to get pregnant at all and so really struggled to trust my body either, but my faith is definitely beginning to grow - body turns out to be quite the little miracle worker! x

Could your midwife not refer you back to the EPAU for another scan if you are still bleeding? This would seem quite reasonable to me. Mention that you are still bleeding and still having pains. If you have already been seen at the EPAU, phone them up yourself and see if you can get an appointment without a referral.

If you do have to go down the private scan route, I've had bad news twice at private early pregnancy scans. Both times the staff were incredibly professional at dealing with the situation. The first time it was a weekday and they called my doctor and made me an appointment for the same day and talked me through what would probably happen next.
The second time it was in the middle of Easter weekend last year and on a Saturday there was not much they could do, but they were extremely professional and sympathetic and they wrote a written report of their findings that I could just hand in to the EPAU on the Tuesday morning. Anywhere that is providing early reassurance scans will definitely be used to having to give out bad news on a fairly regular basis.
The second time I didn't even bother with contacting my midwife. I phoned up the EPAU myself and said that I had a non-viable pregnancy diagnosed by a private scan and could I please come into the hospital without having a pointless MW appointment first. They asked some details from the scan report and then saw me later the same day.

Whatever you decide to do I have my fingers crossed that everything is still OK and the spotting turns out to be nothing to worry about. Good Luck!

Thank you all for your replies. I have spoken to the midwife yesterday and the day before and they have said that although I'm still spotting, they won't scan me again unless the bleeding gets a lot worse or I start getting cramps. I presume by cramps they mean like period pain? Or could the jabbing on one side be described as cramps?

I suppose my concern with a private scan is that even if I go and its all ok, if I then started spotting again, I would then want another scan, IYSWIM. And of course its just not practical to have weekly scans. There must come a point when I just have to start having some faith, surely. I just don't know how. My 12 week scan isn't until 16th April, when I will actually be 13.5 weeks, because of Easter.

Or is there another way (without scans) they can check the viability of the pregnancy? Eg would my GP do a blood test, do you think?

Thank you for your advice.

You poor thing!

Nothing wrong with weekly scans in my view if it gives you reassurance!

A blood test at this stage is not that helpful, it can be helpful right at the beginning to check HCG is doubling but ny your stage the increases will be much less dramatic.

the fact you have seen a heartbeat is very very good, I know nothing can stop the worrying though, its pretty hellish.

Thanks Farfalla. We have bit the bullet and booked a private scan for Friday 23rd March, yay! By then I should be 10 weeks so hoping that I will see baby wriggling around. Keep everything crossed for me!

That pain on one side, I've had a "pain" (it doesn't hurt, maybe it is more like a poke) on one side since the start, I was told, and have since googled, that it is likely to be a cyst, apparently it's very common for a cyst to form at the bottom of a fallopian tube and that it usually goes away further down the pregnancy. Sometimes I barely notice it, sometimes it seems more irritated.