Heavy bleeding advice

[OneWaryCat]

Hello,

We are 11 weeks pregnant with our first baby, conceived through IVF.

On Tuesday I woke up with red blood, which got worse through the morning.

Obviously we were distraught and spent 5 hours in a&e where I continued to have heavy bleeding and some large blood clots. We genuinely thought it was all over, it was hell.

Luckily when we were scanned, they said the baby was fine, and the bleed was elsewhere in my uterus. It has now stopped.

The gynecologist said she knew when I came in that it wasn't going to be a miscarriage as I was in no pain, and she said I'd have extreme cramping if that was the case.

We were so relieved and exhausted that we didn't ask many more questions and left.

Now my husband is worrying about what more we can do to prevent this from happening again/find out what actually caused the bleed or where it was. I feel like it was too much blood for cervical sensitivity. And the gynecologist didn't mention anything wrong with the placenta.

Any ideas what to do next or what it could be?

We are now back on progesterone pessaries which helps support the womb lining.

I have my 12 week scan on 11th April so could wait until then but if we want to know more about the source of this bleed I wonder if we need to act sooner.

Also my husband has health anxiety so this is sending it through the roof.

Thanks xx

They didn't mention sch haemotoma? That's possible.

So sorry you’ve experience this. It’s terrifying. I’ve had very similar recently. A big bleed at 9ish weeks, went to A&E, scanned and fine, saw EPU next day for another scan. Supposedly no known cause which seemed crazy for the amount of blood lost.
one week later, had an even bigger bleed. Scan the next day, a pretty large subchorionic haematoma seen. I’ve been spotting brown ever since. Saw EPU yesterday again and they said it’s likely I’ll bleed again…. And to take it extra easy. No heavy lifting, strenuous exercise, sex…. Etc. Nothing else can be done but cross fingers the next bleed doesn’t take baby with it 😰😰 holding on to hope that baby has been seen with a lovely strong heartbeat and kicking arms and legs!!

hope you get some answers/reassurance soon. Have you spoken to your midwife?

apparently these SCH can be very common and usually clear up 🤞🏻 take it easy. Stay hydrated.

I had several huge bleeds (and light bleeding and spotting in between) from 10 weeks. I think it completely stopped when I was 22ish weeks. Mine was a very large haematoma and main concern was that it could open cervix/rupture membranes. Some will say nothing you can do, but doctor I saw at 14 weeks said to rest as much as possible - short, gentle walks only, work from home, minimal stairs. I pretty much put myself almost on bed rest (a challenge with a toddler). The one time I tried to go back into work I had another heavy bleed while there. I went back to bed and did not move for ages - I do think I would have lost her otherwise - the bleeding was very very heavy. She was fine in the end. Ultimately my waters did go early but I was almost at term by that point.

Yours sounds a lot like a haematoma so I would similarly recommend resting as much as possible. Anecdotally people also recommend drinking plenty of water to keep fluids up and plenty of vitamin c.

Also haematomas are more common with IVF. I was asked every time I went in if she was an IVF baby (she wasn’t). I know it is terrifying but try to take heart with the fact that most SCHs will resolve themselves and the babies are fine.

Thanks everyone for your advice. I am worried I am doing a bit too much. Going to start cancelling plans.

I've also contacted the early pregnancy unit to see if they will give me a call to discuss my scan or is there is a letter being sent to my GP or notes that I can see. At the moment all I can see is some basic 'after visit summary notes' which say I was in for heavy bleeding and pregnancy was confirmed as viable, but no further info.

Just in case this helps anyone in the future: Got a call back from the EPU - they said not 100% sure what caused the bleed as the scan looked normal and the baby was fine, but they suspect it was a subchorionic hematoma which is where a blood clot or collection of blood forms between the chorion (the membrane surrounding the embryo) and the uterine wall.

She said it can be more common with ivf pregnancies due to increased blood from the treatment.

Feeling much better now and just hoping for more good news next week at the 12 week scan.