20 weeks pregnant with ongoing spotting and anxiety after previous losses

[GLI2024]

Hi all, at a bit of a loss so thought i would post here. I am currently 20 weeks pregnant (3rd pregnancy but two loses prior to this both before 6 weeks)

I have been a nervous wreck already based on my past, however have since had bleeding issues on and off this whole pregnancy so far.

At 6.5 (while on progesterone) I started spotting as you can imagine i instantly freaked as two loses before this. Scan all ok and heartbeat present and SCH confirmed at this point then had on and off spotting until 9 weeks. Then nothing until 14 weeks pregnant.

At 14 weeks (2 weeks after healthy 12 week scan) I kept spotting brown blood small amounts but frequent, had scan all ok and internal check and told I have cervical ectropion.

Since that day I have had spotting on and off every 4-5 days which lasts 2-3 days at a time. Tiny amounts ofc and mainly in underwear or when wiping dark brown blood.

Have been to pregnancy unit so many times and told to just monitor it if it changes. Since then had a healthy 16 week scan also. This week its started pink and then goes brown which is new however I have been on holiday and walked a lot and think ive pushed myself way to far as easied off once I stopped walking.

I am not sure what the point of this post is to be honnest, but i am really struggling considering i am half way through the pregnancy i am finding this so hard to cope with everyday. Everyone is so excited for us but I am just a bag of nervous haven't brought one thing yet as just feel too nervous.

What doesn't help is my intergestion has been awful which is causing me to feel crampy when need loo, after eating etc so this with the spotting sends me spiraling.

We have our 20 week scan tomorrow which im just even more nervous about. Really cross as due to my past i have asked midwife many times that I want further appts and scans which are just declined constantly please help a very worrying mum to be and if you have any similar situations please share. Only positive stories please. Thank you ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Sorry to also add* i have an anterior placenta which also isnt helping my anxiety as not yet felt movement.. a few times I think ive felt the odd kick towards my side but very rarely and inconsistent.

Also forgot to add if you did suffer with cervical ectropion too. Did anything help ease this?

I’m so sorry I know how worrying it is.

I’ve been bleeding since just after 5 weeks (after a loss before), I’m now just before 10 weeks with an IVF pregnancy. Literally everyday brown and pink blood, and then I had a very large bleed (two huge flooding gushes) and passed a clot about 1/3 the size of my palm at 7+1. It turns out it was also a haematoma, they could see a few areas of bleeding on my scan. It’s just carried on since then. My IVF clinic were relaxed and even looking at the large black clot they said it was old blood and my scan (earlier that day) had probably dislodged a haematoma

I had a loss before too and have struggled with anxiety because of it. With the loss yes I had bleeding but crucially a lot of distinctive cramping and pain from the get go which I haven’t had this time. Now I get twinges that are uncomfortable but it feels quite different. Also different from the digestive crampy feeling you mention

I decided to go privately for care. I saw my obstetrician at 9 weeks and he said some women do just bleed through pregnancy. It’s obviously worrying especially if you’ve had a prior loss. But brown blood is old blood. Also remember that they can actually see two possible explanations for your bleeding: the haematoma and the ectropian. Some women have bleeding with no explanation. And you are also so far into pregnancy now. When is your 20 week scan?

I hear you on not wanting to buy anything and being unable excited. I’ve decided to order a notebook and start working on a list of things I want to buy / need to do but I won’t start ordering until further down the line. It’s not a baby specific list, it’s just things I will need to organise in general for a future baby

Remember you have gotten this far. You’re only 4 weeks from the point the baby can survive outside of you! For me that’s mentally the point I’m aiming for for when I will try to relax a bit. Will see if I actually can when (/if!) it comes around

hang in there xx

Firstly, I'm sure you know that the causes for first trimester losses are completely different to the causes for late miscarriages/stillbirth. You aren't at greater risk of a rare late loss just because you've had a couple of early miscarriages, which are very common. So try to put that out of your head if you can.

I have had an ectropion in a previous pregnancy which caused spotting. Once I knew what it was I was able to relax about it. I'm not saying this to try to make you feel bad about worrying. I'm saying it to show that spotting does not automatically lead all pregnant women to be anxious. The problem here is not actually the spotting. The problem is that you feel anxious.

Anxiousness is common in pregnancy, and understandable. But it is really important to get a grip on it, as it won't just go away after pregnancy. It's going to turn into newborn worries, then toddler worries, then teenager worries and so on!

Have you tried all the usual things? Distraction, keeping busy, allocating 10 minutes a day to worrying and refusing to think about it outwith this time? Etc? If you have and nothing has worked, and you feel it's causing a big problem for you, I'd ask your midwife for support with it. They are usually really keen to support your mental health during pregnancy, so it's generally easier to access help when pregnant/postnatal.