Subchorionic hematoma at 10 weeks. Looking for advice/experience!

[EllieJade95]

Hi everyone,

I am 10 weeks pregnant today & had a scan on the 20th July at my EPU as I had a random one off red bleed. I was terrified as I had a miscarriage previously but I was told it was a very small subchorionic hematoma. After that, I had no further bleeding other than some light brown discharge for a day or so. She prescribed me progesterone pessaries given my previous miscarriage which I have been taking twice a day.

Fast forward to today, I had very bad stomach pain that came on all of a sudden and I came out in sweats, I went to the toilet (sorry TMI) but the pain still continued until I started to have a bleed again. It also made me sick. It was much more than my first bleed, but not a huge amount and has only continued when I go to the toilet (small amount) and this happened about an hour ago. I spoke to my EPU and she said that this is normal, as it can either bleed out or it absorbs and they’d really only be concerned if the pain and bleeding continued/got worse. In my logical head, this makes sense as if it triggered a miscarriage the pain & bleeding would have continued I would assume until it came out. The pain has now stopped, other than a slight cramp when I stand up.

I am trying to remain calm as she wasn’t concerned and the pain has stopped as quickly as it came on (I only had the pain for about 15 mins) but there’s still the anxious part of my head thinking “what if this is a miscarriage”.

I’m just wondering how normal this has been for others? I thought I had got lucky and may have just had that one of bleed, I’m hoping it was just bleeding out but I’m concerned and fearful it’s getting bigger. Would like to hear others experience!

She wasn’t concerned when you updated re above?

or wasn’t concerned after the scan?

Hi @EllieJade95

I've had these with all 3 of my pregnancies.

Sadly 2 ended in miscarriages. However I had it with me DD too. I bled every day between 6 and 20 weeks. Then it stopped. Sometimes bleeding was heavy (with clots) other days light spotting. I scanned every time there was a 'change' to the bleeding, so basically every time it was heavy or I had pain I got checked

I hope this helps. All the best and good luck

Are you continuing to bleed or be in pain

if no, trust what she’s said

if yes, wait a bit and if doesn’t stop - contact

@Beachside82 Wasn’t concerned after the update today, she said it’s normal to have the bleeding after because it’s coming out of the body. She said they’d be concerned if the pain continued and also if the bleeding got worse

@bob1985 Sorry to hear that 🥹 if you don’t mind me asking, was it confirmed the miscarriages were caused by the hematoma & was it large? She said mine is very small. When you had your miscarriages did you have continuous bleeding & pain? I have only bled once (today) since when I found out on the 20th and no clots but still can’t help but worry.

@Beachside82 So far I have only bled when I went to the toilet once since, but it was a lot less and I read online you’re more likely to bleed when you go to the toilet because of the gravity of if you’ve been laying down etc. No more pain other than my stomach feels slightly sensitive when I stand up but I was also sick so it could be that. She said to me it’s totally normal to bleed and that some people bleed and some it reabsorbs. It was very tiny to begin with too

We’ll keep re reading your last post and that should reassure you and all sounds like absolutely nothing to worry about when you describe it like that!

@EllieJade95 Sadly they couldn't confirm one way or another if they
caused the miscarriages. My consultant said its really under researched.

I had pain and continued bleeding with miscarriages and my successful pregnancy. What I would say is that the pain with my miscarriages seemed more intense, increasing in waves rather than being constant if that makes sense.

I know you'll be worried. I was a nervous wreck pregnant with my DD. What helped me was really focusing on how there is nothing at all I could do to influence the outcome and getting checked when I noticed heavier bleeding/changes in pain.

I had one picked up on my 11 weeks scan in my second pregnancy and they made no deal out of it at all, just said it should disappear next time I get scanned. Think it's fairly common and nothing to worry about.

@bob1985 Yes, I have seen quite a few things to say the link between SCH and miscarriage is unclear.

I’m trying to focus on the fact that I would expect if it had triggered a miscarriage I would still have the pain & perhaps the bleeding would be worse. Plus it was small. It just fills you with anxiety when you see so much fresh blood. She said they wouldn’t scan me until a week, as they won’t be able to see many changes but I think if it continues throughout the day and doesn’t stop then I will call them back. I have read a few posts of people saying they had lots of bleeding everyday and everything was still fine, I guess it depends on how big it is. Hoping it’s just bleeding out!

@strongcupofTea Mine was the same that she wasn’t concerned at all, I even asked if there was a risk and she said no. She gave me the progesterone purely as I had a miscarriage before but I think an average woman wouldn’t be given that.
I’m trying to focus on the fact they weren’t concerned and they do seem super common, I think the sight of red blood just causes panic. Did you have much bleeding with yours?

@EllieJade95 yes I would say the fact it's stopped is a good sign 👍

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you

Just wanted to share my experience, so at 12 weeks I woke up to a big bleed, literally covered in blood and had cramping, obviously thinking the worst, I was scanned the next day and baby was fine and no reason for the bleed found on the scan, carried on bleeding and then spotting for a few days...

Almost 3 weeks later, again I woke up to bleeding not as much as the first time but had a sore/crampy feeling in my stomach for a couple of days and thought it couldn't be ok this time...

Went to the hospital and had my cervix checked and then sent for a scan, again baby fine but the sonographer did find a "small bleed" afterwards a doctor saw me to review what was found and didn't want to discuss the size of the bleed as "I would only go home and worry" he advised that the bleed is close to the baby and that there is a risk or miscarriage and that I could bleed again and told me to return with any new bright red bleeding but other than that didn't want to review the bleed until my normal scan at 20 weeks...

I saw my consultant a few days later due to being a high risk pregnancy for another reason, she wasn't overly concerned about the bleed but did prescribe progesterone until 24 weeks pregnancy which I am still taking.

The bleeding stopped after 3 days and I have had nothing since...

I am now 18 weeks and trying to stay positive, I have just over 2 weeks until I'm scanned again and I feel like I can't get excited until I know what's going on with the bleed.

Sorry I can't offer any advice but I have heard that most of the time the bleed will be reabsorbed and go on to have a healthy baby at the end.

Good luck

I had one with my second pregnancy - a bleed at work (13 weeks) which confirmed it. Mine was 6cm and I bled on and off until 18 weeks. Come my 20 week scan it had resolved 😊 I avoided sex, heavy lifting where possible and drunk lots of water/orange juice.

I'm now pregnant with our third and I have another (picked up at 7 week scan), however, it is tiny and hopefully won't cause any problems. I'm 10 weeks tomorrow and haven't bled yet 🤞🏼

@ke11y86 So sorry you are going through this too! The sonographer was also not concerned, so much so that it wasn’t until I went home and did a google search that I started to become anxious. I feel like I thought everything was ok as I had a few days without bleeding & now I feel so anxious as this bleed is a lot more than the first.

They said mine was very small & she only prescribed progesterone given the fact I had a miscarriage recently. I also had the slight cramping which felt more like a sharp ish pain, I had that when I had the first bleed too and it went as soon as I had bled which is what I found odd.

Both said to me that you will either bleed it out or you will re absorb, so I’m hoping my body is just bleeding it out but it’s terrifying 🥹

Hoping everything continues to go well for you x

@mumtotwox Glad it worked out for you and I’m sure it will this time too! I was also told mine was very small and the bleed the first time was very small but this time is significantly more. I know it’s super normal, I guess it’s the sight of red blood that gives you the fear and I’m terrified it may lead to miscarriage 😢

I had a large sch which caused some bleeding and cramping at 8w. Scanned at EPU and they were not concerned as baby showed a strong heart beat. If your sch is only very small (compared to the sac) then it's very unlikely to cause miscarriages. From what I read, miscarriages can be caused by large sch AND when the bleeding is so heavy that it irritates the sac or even flush it out. I only had two episodes of light bright red bleeding with my large sch (no cramping or pain with the second episode), which didn't cause any problem.

Miscarriage pains and cramping get worse gradually I believe. Again if strong heart beat has been picked up at around 7/8 weeks, the likelihood of miscarriage is really low. Once you get past the 12w mark it gets even lower. So fingers crossed for you!

@EllieJade95 Thank you so much, I really hope it will be grand. Seeing blood is terrifying when pregnant so yes 100% puts the fear in you. Try and take it easy - do you have a date for your 12 week scan?

It's such a horrible thing to experience and of course you always think the worst but try to stay positive,
I feel better that the bleeding has stopped but I'm also worried that it could start again... I was actually not too concerned after the scan as I had read a lot about sch and that most of the time they just heal with no issues but when the doctor told me that I do have a risk of miscarriage obviously it was very worrying to hear.

I have also avoided any heavy lifting and anything too strenuous, have kept well hydrated and trying to stress as little as possible. I wasn't actually advised to do any of that but it makes me feel better 🤣

Fingers crossed all goes well for you as well x

@katerose2022 That is exactly what I am trying to tell myself - she’s said mine is very small, I guess I started to fear if it had got larger but even she said there would be no point of a scan yet as they wouldn’t really see a change in 4 days so I guess it wouldn’t be. I’m trying to think really logically and not let my brain be influenced by the anxiety I have after having a miscarriage.

I guess it’s also stressful cause even though they say it’s small, you don’t actually know how much blood it contains so you don’t know what’s “normal”. The pain was definitely throwing me, as it was extremely painful cramps but the fact it went once I had the bleed and became more of a slight dull sensation just when I stood up I’m trying to remain positive 🤞🏼

Forgot to add - I don’t have pain now other than when I stand up and wee. Has anyone else had this? It feels similar to when I had a UTI when I was younger but I don’t have any other symptoms of a UTI other than the pain when I wee!

I had a small bleed at 8 weeks and had a scan where everything looked OK and couldn't see a reason for the bleeding. It stopped after a day but then the day before my 12 week scan I had a massive bleed. I was convinced I must have lost baby and went into the scan expecting to be told the worst. Instead baby was absolutely fine and they could see a sch. I had light spotting for another few weeks on and off and then at a scan at 18 weeks they said the sch had gone, absorbed by my body.
I would go and get checked out though if you have pain. Far better to be cautious as if it is a uti you need to start treatment ASAP.

@Armeins I had my scan on Thursday and everything was fine and I hope still is I just feel this has thrown me a bit. I did see cramping is expecting & they said that if it gets worse than period pain to contact them.

I’m not sure if the pain when I wee is in relation to the bleed as I don’t have any other symptoms for a UTI and it’s only come on since I’ve had the pain/bleed today. I’ve just taken a paracetamol & going to see how I get on tonight. I’m still bleeding a bit but only when I wipe. I’ll see how I feel in the morning and call if I still have it and call my doctors for UTI anti biotics as well

Hi OP I can imagine the worry you’re going through because I’ve been there. I had a huge bleed (think balloon popping and blood all down my trousers) when I was 11 weeks with DS2. I’d had 2 bouts of being doubled over with stabbing pain that felt like gas earlier in the evening then it came all of a sudden. My DH and I were absolutely convinced we’d had a MC and went into EPU to get scanned the next day and he was perfectly fine, we couldn’t believe it.
I’ve also had a MC which was totally different, started as brown spotting with period like cramps which went on for several days. Then started getting waves of pain (I guess mini-contractions) which led to passing clots and ultimately MC.
It does sound like it’s more symptomatic of SCH based on my experience but then not everyone will have the same symptoms. Try to stay hopeful OP, cautiously optimistic is all we can ever really ask for when you’ve experienced a loss x

@elliew818 The anxiety is awful isn’t it. I just feel sad as I have had the worst anxiety since day 1, because I had a miscarriage just before I got pregnant this time and every time I had a scan I’d feel slightly more reassured and the anxiety started to creep away and then something will bring it back. I guess my anxiety is also thinking ahead of “what if it doesn’t go away” as I know it’s more concerning later on due to early birth etc.
That was mine too, a complete gush and wouldn’t stop. I’m still bleeding, but it’s just when I go to the toilet/wipe and it’s a small amount just on the tissue so I’m trying to hope it’s improving. Yes! The pain come from nowhere and I was doubled over, sweating & made me sick (nausea is a symptom of mine so doesn’t take much) and then all of a sudden the bleed. It’s like the stomach gets all this pressure and pops.

My realistic mind is telling me that it is because of the SCH, especially given the sudden pain which then went once I had the bleed. I think if it continues I will call them tomorrow, I’d say for reassurance but I guess you don’t really get the reassurance!