Heavy bleeding at 6 weeks - Twin pregnancy - One heartbeat

[LB1995]

I have so many questions running through my mind it would be nice to see if anyone has gone through similar and what the outcomes were…

So last week at around 6 weeks I started spotting then an hour later I went toilet and red fresh blood start gushing out of me. It was a lot. Naturally I thought I lost the baby as there was no way it could survive such a blood loss.

I went to EPU the next day who did my bloods and said that most likely I was having a miscarriage. They said if the bloods come back above a certain level for the HCG they will ask me to come back for a scan, if not they will retest my blood 48 hours later.

I could not wait that long so I booked in for a private scan the same day. Me and my partner went expecting the worse to find out the baby was fine and had a strong heartbeat!

The EPU called the next day and said to come for a scan the following day.

We attended the scan to find out there are actually TWO babies! But.. could only hear the heartbeat on one. They think I am around 6 and a half weeks. They said at this stage if they can see the heartbeat on one they would expect to see it on the second baby too. They told me to come back for a scan in a week to confirm, but made me feel like there’s pretty much no hope for the second baby.
Also, they did not find where the bleeding came from.

The two babies looked so close together that now I am overthinking that they are identical twins which can cause even more complications. However I know it’s still too early to say anyway.

Now I’ve been doing some reading and I am aware that vanishing twins are quite common . However I also found information that says that 6 and a half week is still early to detect heartbeat.

I am just petrified now. I know there’s nothing I can do but wait, but I am just so scared that I will loose the baby with the heartbeat too…

I have attached the photo from the private scan I went to (they only seen one baby). Does anyone else actually see a shadow there that could be the other twin?

It has been a rollercoaster the last week, and it does not seem like it will end anytime soon either.

Any similar experiences or advice would be greatly appreciated ❤️

I had bleeding with my 4th pregnancy after 3 losses and assumed the worst.
When I was scanned I was shown one heartbeat and another sac that no longer had a heartbeat.
Luckily the bleeding settled and I had an uneventful pregnancy up to the end when my fluid was low. Early birth but not too prem and dd is now 23!

@DrMadelineMaxwell
Honestly I don’t think I will ever get over how much blood there was, it’s just so scary isn’t it.

I am glad everything worked out well for you!
Thank you for giving me some hope.

It's a scary thing you are going through. Fingers crossed you get a good outcome. X

I had a similar experience in that I had a scan for bleeding (I’d had a late term loss so scan was to see why I was still bleeding following the loss) at the scan discovered I was 6+5 with twins. They couldn’t see any reason for the bleeding, was told to rest and wait. A week later I had a big gush while driving, thought I’d wet myself….luckily wasn’t far from home, got to the loo to see it was a blood, lots of blood and so of course I panicked thinking I was losing one or both. The earliest the EPAU could see me was 4 days away, luckily my bereavement midwife was able to arrange a scan slightly sooner. I was terrified at the scan as the blood loss had slowed but was still present. Was lucky to see two beans measuring 8+3 & 8+4 with heartbeats. No reason for the bleeding could be seen, but was told it was very common for twin pregnancies. I had bleeds on and off until around 15-16 weeks but my 2 bubbas made it until my planned c section at 37 weeks.

Bleeding doesn’t always mean the worst and is much more common in twin pregnancy. I know that doesn’t help with giving you any kind of definitive answer I know exactly how worrying all this is, but I’ll be thinking of you and hoping for the best 💐

@Lillygolightly
Im sorry for your loss ❤️ I think nothing prepares you for it does it. Especially when you see blood you just expect the worse. From doing some reading it does say it can happen more with twin pregnancies, but no one really tells you this until after it happens!

Thank you for your kind words!