Dark brown spotting 13 weeks *TMI PICS*

[FirsttimerMA]

I've been having on and off bloody discharge for three weeks.
Yesterday I was in EPAU for a cervical check, the nurse used a speculum to have a look. No sign of infection but my cervix was inflamed. I had no spotting after this yesterday

Today we had our dating scan and all was well. This evening I've noticed increased spotting when I wipe. Previously it was just in my discharge but now seems to also be on the tissue. My vagina does feel slightly irritated.

I'm just concerned as I didn't have any spotting until more than 24 hours after the internal check.

That looks like old blood, I would be much more worried if it was fresh & bright red. I had the same at 15 weeks, but my ds is now a 6 foot 20 year old.

@Nat6999 it's ongoing.

When you had it how long did it go on for?

It's currently 2am and started at around 7pm. It's getting darker and I feel like I'm the second pic there were a couple of small red clots.

Would this happen from an internal scan?

Can you ring epu for advice? I had several bouts of bleeding with ds and all was fine but were no professionals

@Helplessandheartbroke I saw EPU on Thursday for the internal check. They said they wouldn't see me again until I am filling pads with blood, which is fair.

I just want to know if this is normal post scans/ checks.

@Helplessandheartbroke did you have anything similar to this?

I actually had bright red spotting a couple of times. Turned out I had group b strep which they don't but should routinely check for... speak to your midwife tomorrow. I think pp is right in that seems like old blood but were not midwives x

I'll have to wait until Monday to speak to her but I'll keep monitoring it.

I did have swabs done for infection but no results back yet.

Well you're in your second trimester so don't be afraid to go up to hospital. Epu is for first trimester I thought.... anyway I'm sure and hope all is well but best to check.

If you've had a scan today and all was well then chances are this is something harmless. Old blood from implantation, for example. I had bright red blood more than once in both my successful pregnancies.

My hospital said EPU is up to 16 weirdly. I'll just have to monitor over the weekend.

If it gets worse I'll go to A&E but can imagine they'll scan me so soon again

I hope so :/ would be a cruel twist if not. The scan seemed fine

Wishing you and baby all the best. Try and rest x

Thank you 💕

Did they tell you where your placenta is at your scan? Your cervix can be irritated easily in pregnancy, whether that be from sex or pessaries and so I'm sure an internal check could cause it too. It could be that the blood from the check didn't come straight out and therefore is now coming out brown as it's old.

I ask about placenta as it you have a low lying, especially anterior placenta then it's much more likely for things like sex to cause minor bleeding and in that case again I'm guessing a check could do the same. If it doesn't turn red or get heavier I wouldn't worry too much.

I also bled in early pregnancy but it was all external from thrush, one of my sister's bled around this time due to pessaries she needed with her IVF and the other sister had a small bout of bleeding due to a low lying placenta and sex irritating the cervix. Blood in pregnancy is more common than we think but I completely understand your worry. For now it looks ok to me, especially if you have not got cramping etc.

@Ttcmumma they did the internal check with speculum and said my cervix was very red and inflamed :/

I did ask about placenta position but they said they don't check this until 20 weeks. But the did say at this stage the placenta is likely to be over the cervix anyway and will move as it continues to develop and form fully.

The ultrasound tech was shaking my belly a lot as baby wasn't in a good position. Could this cause is?

Did you have similar bleeding to what I pictured? How long did it last. It happened a few more times over night too. I'm worried sick.

@FirsttimerMA I'd say it's likely just your cervix irritated then seeing as it was already red and inflamed. They're so sensitive in pregnancy.

Oh strange I had a scan at 13 weeks, 13+4 and 16 weeks and they told me my placenta position everytime I asked. Mine was always posterior and high.

I doubt they sonographer would have caused it, they're very well cushioned in there it would take quite a blow to the stomach to cause any harm but the speculum may well have irritated your cervix further.

My bleeding was similar, it never went on my clothes but it was with almost every wipe for a atleast 3-4 days and cleared up after thrush treatment. My sister's was almost a pad full of red blood and they never found an issue and my other sister's looked like part of the mucus plug came away and then stopped, which can happen as the plug will rebuild itself if you aren't at the end of pregnancy.

I'm almost 34 weeks now btw so there were no issues whatsoever for me in the long run. Both my sister's still have healthy ongoing pregnancies since their bleeds

@Ttcmumma weird they didn't confirm them. Unless my placenta isn't done firming?

It's happening in every wipe for me too. I'm worried it's a flow. Also after almost every wipe. I'm scared if even going number 2 in case it gets worse.

The speculum exam was a day before the ultrasound. So it's like this started a whole day after.

If you don't mind me asking what made you have a scan 4 days apart? My nurse told me not to have them so close. But I was tempted to book a private one for reassurance.

@FirsttimerMA because my 13 week scan was just my usual 12 week NHS scan that dated me further ahead and 3 days later was when I had blood when wiping. After having a loss last January I freaked at the sign of blood and booked a private reassurance scan for the next day. All was fine and no sign of internal blood and I eventually worked out I was thrush. Normally having them too close together is more of a not seeing growth and panicking thing. Two close together as a one off won't do no harm, as long as you realise the growth may not be exactly as expected. Luckily my growth was exactly 4 days difference to so I had nothing to worry about but I went in knowing that all I wanted to see was a heartbeat and no sign of blood coming from within the womb.

Without scaring you, if possible, as I don't believe your bleeding is a miscarriage but with my mmc last year, I had a scan at 10+5 that was perfectly healthy and all good and my 13 week scan showed baby had died at 10+6. So things can change very quickly unfortunately. Tbh I had no signs of that loss as it was a missed miscarriage but when I did eventually start bleeding it was red and I had bad cramping too x

I'm going to monitor the bleeding and if it continues and progresses I'll see if I can call 111. I just don't think EPAU will see me again so soon after my dating scan.

Ahh I don't realise things could change that quickly. I was reassuring myself that we had a good scan just yesterday and this started a few hours later 😞 did you have this brown discharge with you MMC too??

@Ttcmumma also did you have the typical thrush symptoms? As I don't

@FirsttimerMA nah nothing until 4 weeks after the baby died! My pregnancy symptoms were getting stronger belly growing etc no blood or anything for 4 weeks after.

I had itching and constant need to pee. Which progressed to paper cut like cuts on the outer vagina and some thicker discharge x

I had that and bright red blood at 11 weeks. Went for private scan and baby was fine. She turns 5 this week.

@Ttcmumma I'm so sorry you had to go through that :(

I'm still getting discharge but when I called EPAU they said this can happen for a bit after a cervical exam and to monitor for darker heavier blood like a period. So I guess I have to wait and see.

So tempted to buy a home Doppler

@FirsttimerMA I have one lol, tho it recommends not using it before 16 weeks. I think I used from 14/15 weeks but it did sometimes take a while to find the heartbeat that early. I no longer use it as she is beating me up from the inside so I know she's ok lol

Would you say it gave you the reassurance you needed?

I'm super tempted but DH is not convinced. He thinks it's going to feed into my anxiety.