help mc scare at 6 weeks

[Katherine]

Help! I'm 6 wks into my 3rd Pg. I had two mc before my two children so I'm well aware of all the things that go wrong. I've been really confident so far and I've felt so rotten and even have milk! but this morning I've had some bleeding. Only a tiny bit but it was red.

I'm not asking for advice. I know it can mean anything. Loads of you will tell me you had bleeding and it was OK, others will have bad news. In my expereince for me it has always been bad news. I just felt I had to share this with someone. Having had two problem free pg I hoped I was beyond all this now but obviously not.

I've not even spoken to my MW yet so I don't know if its worth ringing now. Its too early for a heartbeat on a scan isn't it (I'll be 7wks on Friday). If I am going to loose this baby then I will cope but its the not knowing either way which really gets me down. Just wish there was something I could do.

Katherine, I've got no personal experience of this, just wanted to let you know that I'm thinking of you, and hope everything turns out OK. I suppose you should try and rest, but with 2 children, that may well be all but impossible. I thought you could have a scan as early as 6 weeks, but not sure - if you want reassurance, why not call NHS direct, and see what they advise?
Sorry not to be much help.

Hi Katherine,
There's not much I can do to help except say, try not to worry too much. I haven't ever had a mc but I have just discovered I am pregnant (got a nearly 3 year old son) and I had forgotten how lonely these early weeks are. You know you are but you don't look it, not many (if any) people know and it's too early for scans etc. And at this stage you just never know what will happen do you? It is a very uncertain time and scary!
I think you should ring your midwife, just so that you can feel reassured. She might have some hints on what you can do - maybe lie with your feet up or something?
Sorry, not much help but thinking of you - hang in there!
Maybe the midwife/doctor/nurse mumsnetters can help? Mears??!!??

Thanks both of you for your kind thoughts. I've been to the loo about 20 times since my intial discovery. At first there was nothing more but now there is a bit more. Still nothing heavy but that means nothing with me. My fixed mc started with a light, brownish dc at 10 weeks. The scan was inconclusive and I had to wait a week for another. this time they said the sack was 5 wks but no baby and I had a D&C. I bwcame pg again next cycle and bled heavily at 5 wks. Dr insisted it was just my period late but more brown DC at 7 wks. In the end I changed Drs and was sent for a vaginal scan. The MW was horrible and said of course I'd lost the baby as if I was wasting her time. I don't want to go back there.

The MWs are our local unit are lovely. I just tried to phone my GP but they are closed for training today(!!) and I was put through to NHS Direct. They didn't know the number for the local unit so I'll just have to wait I suppose.

I'm a bit relucatant anyway and I'm sure at this stage it will be"inconclusive" so won't really tell me anything and I don't know how I'd manage it with 2 toddlers on my own anyway. I think I'll just have to wait and try to get hold of a MW tomorrow. I'll probably spend the afternoon dashing to loo convinced I can feel something. My confidence in this pg has been shattered now whatever happens but I have to say I'm sure the outlook will be bleak. How am I going to handle a D&C with 2 kids? DH has just started a new job so he can't take time off work and he's going to be really gutted too.

Thanks both of you for your kind thoughts. I've been to the loo about 20 times since my intial discovery. At first there was nothing more but now there is a bit more. Still nothing heavy but that means nothing with me. My fixed mc started with a light, brownish dc at 10 weeks. The scan was inconclusive and I had to wait a week for another. this time they said the sack was 5 wks but no baby and I had a D&C. I bwcame pg again next cycle and bled heavily at 5 wks. Dr insisted it was just my period late but more brown DC at 7 wks. In the end I changed Drs and was sent for a vaginal scan. The MW was horrible and said of course I'd lost the baby as if I was wasting her time. I don't want to go back there.

The MWs are our local unit are lovely. I just tried to phone my GP but they are closed for training today(!!) and I was put through to NHS Direct. They didn't know the number for the local unit so I'll just have to wait I suppose.

I'm a bit relucatant anyway and I'm sure at this stage it will be"inconclusive" so won't really tell me anything and I don't know how I'd manage it with 2 toddlers on my own anyway. I think I'll just have to wait and try to get hold of a MW tomorrow. I'll probably spend the afternoon dashing to loo convinced I can feel something. My confidence in this pg has been shattered now whatever happens but I have to say I'm sure the outlook will be bleak. How am I going to handle a D&C with 2 kids? DH has just started a new job so he can't take time off work and he's going to be really gutted too.

sorry not sure why that went on twice. Also typing is deteriorating (!). Think I should just go and sit in the corner (feeling very sorry for myself now).

Katherine, I had a scan at 6 weeks and 6 days approx gestation. They picked up a heartbeat which was reassuring, but I am sorry to say I went on to miscarry anyway.

Just telling you this so you can see that you can have a scan this early, but obviously its not always good news. I hadn't even signed up with the midwife by my 6 week stage, I just rang the hospital directly and they were happy to fit me into the Early Pregnancy Unit.

Its a positive sign that you feel so rotten anyway. Hope everything goes well and that you get good news, let us know x E

I just wanted to second Enid's message. I've had multiple miscarriages and now know that if I ring the unit direct they will always try and fit you in - often immediately. Also if you haven't already look at the recent thread called somethng like 'bleeding at 11 weeks' - Ames had some problems getting referrred by her GP but going to the hospital direct sorted it out.

I know how awful the waiting and not knowing can be - if I were you I'd call in any favours you possibly can for someone to look after your two children and get down to the hospital asap.
Fingers crossed...

katherine - Am so, so sorry that you are are having to go through this.

Just to say I'm thinking of you (have been through similiar) and I know how horrible it is.

god bless.

Just got the number for my local maternity unit and phoned. MW was very friendly but not much use. "Its very early days, too early to tell, just rest and wait and see if it settles down". Sad to see things haven't moved on since my mcs 5 yrs ago. she said if it settles down then I'll be fine but that was after I'd just explained I had hardly any bleeding with my 2 mc and it was only a scan which confirmed the worst and led to the D&C. It is so frustrating. I will try my own GP tomorrow and speak to a MW there. Hopefully they will be a bit more helpful. In the meantime.... back to the loo I suppose

Sorry to keep going on but I feel so isolated stuck here. DH finally phoned - just to say he'd be home late so I hung up on him. Now he'll be cross with me too. Feel a bit crampy but then I always did. Less nausea but then I've been eating chocolate all afternoon which always helped. Tight knot in my stomach but maybe thats emotional. More red spots on the tissue with a few brown bits too. I know this is really bad news. I just wish I knew for definite one way or the other. Knowing I've lost the baby will be terrible but I'll feel better than I do now.

Felt I had to explain to the children why I'm so tearful. They knew about the baby so I told them it was poorly and might go away like their rabbit. DD (2.5) said it needed to go to hospital to make it better and DS (4) keeps kissing my tummy. Feel like a failure. I know its not my fault and I know its nothing I've done but how can I end up in this position again? I feel trapped and there is nothing I can do but wait. According to the medical profession I'm not pg enough to count yet so I'm on my own with it all.

Dear Katherine, thinking of you. I had a scan at 6 weeks with ds1, as they thought he was ectopic. Everything was fine and there was a heartbeat. So its not too early.

I know you've had them before, but bleeding doesn't always mean m/c. As I said, ds1 was OK. I had one m/c with hardly any blood, and a second m/c with lots of blood. This turned out to be twins, of which one, Ds2, survived. So don't give up hope Katherine.

Katherine, your dd is right, ring tomorrow morning and demand a scan. What if you carry on bleeding and assume a miscarriage but your baby is still there? How will your midwife know? How will you know if you are still pg or need a d&c?

Ring them in the morning.

Thinking of you love Ex

I agree with Enid - It seems so unfair that you have come up against such an unhelpful attitude - admittedly the unit 'knew' me as after 3 miscarriages they expected me to be a nervous wreck - but they always fitted me in 'on demand' during my last ( successful) pregnancy as I had several points when I felt something was 'wrong'.
And like Enid I also had a scan for one of the other pregnancies very early on ( around 6/7 weeks)which showed a heartbeat.
You're very likley to get a different person if you ring again tomorrow so do give it a try. I so feel for you.

Katherine, I am so sorry to hear what you're going through, and feeling so alone, I do hope it's just a false alarm and that everything is OK after all. Good luck.

Katherine - once again I am shocked at the service some women still receive. Ask your midwife to arrange a scan for you tomorrow. At our hospital you would have been booked into the early pregnancy unit for a scan that day or the next. I know it will not reassure you but often, despite a lot of bleeding early on, the pregnancy can still continue without further problems.
You won't feel reassured until you have a scan. Good luck for tomorrow.

Dear Katherine, I feel so sad and frustrated for you. I had bleeding at 6 weeks with my 1st pg, I was devastated. I phoned my gp in tears and the receptionist was a horrid old cow who just saod, well, it's very early, isn't it? To me it wasn't - a 6th of the way through seemed a reasonable amount! anyway, I got dh to phone and they gave him the number of the local epu and I had a scan that afternoon - oh and I had a problem-free rest of pregnancy, although I didn't stop worrying for a minute.

I can't imagine how much more difficult this must be with 2 other children. I really feel for you. I would, if you can muster up the energy, get more pushy. I don't know what area you live in, and if they all have them, but I would try & track down the epu and wait it out. Like mears said, it's the only think that'll reassure you. As for dh, he won't be angry as soon as he knows, so don't worry about that.

Why are so many 'health professionals' so callous when it comes to miscarriage and worries about bleeding in pregnancy. I just remember them discussing viable pregnancy with me & I was thinking, no, this is my baby we're talking about. I guess I fel;t very sensitive, but then who doesn't.

All my best wishes.

Your 2 children sound so lovely.

Talking about unhelpful attitudes, I had been bleeding, had a scan (lovely midwives at hospital) which showed a heartbeat. Bleeding grew progressively worse until I was in a lot of pain. Saw a locum gp at my usual practice who prodded me, then prescribed a strong painkiller. I said 'But would that be safe to use in pregnancy?' And he said 'Well, I think we can safely assume that isnt the case, can't we?'.

Horrible man.

Katherine - really feeling for you - I went through the same at 6 wks. I also experienced unhelpful attitudes - when I was bleeding and had a scan at 6 wks the dr told me that it was not really a baby just a cluster of cells - not really what I wanted to hear.
Hope everything turns out OK for you

Shoudl have added - the 'cluster of cells' is now nearly 3!!!

Hi everyone. Thankyou all for your kind thoughts. I've not long since dragged myself out of bed and I just couldn't fac anything today. Good news is no more bleeding (or rather spotting as it wasn't much). Bad news is I feel a bit less sick. Have shut myself away complelety today and don't want to see anyone. Kids are being great watching telly and just coming in for cuddles.

I'm trying to pluck up the courage to phone MW again this afternoon and maybe ask for a scan on Friday as I'll be 7 wks then. We live in the middle of the peak district and so pretty isolated. Nearest proper hospital is 40 mins drive away so I can't just drop in. Local midwife unit is great but facilities not top notch.

Have to admit that I'm feeling hopeful but don't want to give myself false hopes. I clung on to hope for so long with my MCs and it just made the whole thing more painful.

BTW DH was great ladt night. Arrived armed with masses of chocolate before he even knew what was wrong. He keeps telling me to be positive though and I know its because he doesn't want to face the worst either.

I'm crossing my fingers, toes, everything possible and just trying to get through the day. I feel once I get to 7 weeks I can make more demands and then hopefully get some answers. Thanks again, it means so much.

and biologically inaccurate. It IS a baby at 6 weeks - the cluster of cells stage is much earlier.

Hi everyone. Thankyou all for your kind thoughts. I've not long since dragged myself out of bed and I just couldn't fac anything today. Good news is no more bleeding (or rather spotting as it wasn't much). Bad news is I feel a bit less sick. Have shut myself away complelety today and don't want to see anyone. Kids are being great watching telly and just coming in for cuddles.

I'm trying to pluck up the courage to phone MW again this afternoon and maybe ask for a scan on Friday as I'll be 7 wks then. We live in the middle of the peak district and so pretty isolated. Nearest proper hospital is 40 mins drive away so I can't just drop in. Local midwife unit is great but facilities not top notch.

Have to admit that I'm feeling hopeful but don't want to give myself false hopes. I clung on to hope for so long with my MCs and it just made the whole thing more painful.

BTW DH was great ladt night. Arrived armed with masses of chocolate before he even knew what was wrong. He keeps telling me to be positive though and I know its because he doesn't want to face the worst either.

I'm crossing my fingers, toes, everything possible and just trying to get through the day. I feel once I get to 7 weeks I can make more demands and then hopefully get some answers. Thanks again, it means so much.

Ok finally got around to phoning MW only to be asked to phone back at 3.45pm. Grrrrr.

Feeling a bit better with myself and have finally got myself dressed. Think I will take the children for a walk now as its a lovely day and they've been so good.

Actually I have noticed that I've been needing to pee all day (not the normal needing to go a lot but constantly feeling like I'm about to wet myself just for a tiny wee). This might just be stress but the hopeful (!) part of me is wondering if it could be an infection and if this is where the blood came from. It was only when I wiped after all.

Anyway hopefully more news later.