Miscarriage or not????

[Rubyshoos]

It's been exactly 19 months since I last posted on mumsnet when my ds was born in Dec 07. Here I am with a dilemma which I hope you can all help me with. I'm a 25/28 day cycle girl and last week was delighted to discover after doing a test that I was pregnant. So suprised and shocked was I that I did two further tests which both came up positive. My dp and I were so pleased then only to find on monday (so I was then 4 weeks and 4 days pregnant) to discover I was bleeding, which has carried on for the last 3 days in pretty much the normal way it would as if I was having a normal period. I'm so confused - was I ever pregnant? I've never had a 32 day cycle and three positive tests? I called the midwives at my local hospital who were very casual about it "sounds like you are having a period dear" etc etc. What I want to know as I'm keen to get pregnant again asap, is this my period or is this a miscarriage (it seems to be exactly how a period is, tummy cramps in the beginning etc) and should I count the day I started bleeding as day one...

any advice would be so much appreciated as I'm mega confused!

I'm not surprised you're confused! I think that you definitely have been pregnant - my obstetrician told me that while false negatives are possible in pregnancy tests, false positives are not. It's very possible that you were pregnant, but something has gone wrong and your body has worked it out coincidentally at the time your period was due (in which case your bleed would be a bit heavier than normal), but it's not unheard of for a very small number of women to have a "period" every month of their pregnancy at the same time that they would have been due if they weren't pregnant. And I think that implantation bleeding takes place at around 5 or 6 weeks, but when I had it it was more like spotting. Miscarriage in my experience felt like the worst period pain I've ever had (and when I went into labour for the first time after two miscarriages and a planned C-section I realised that it was actually more like labour pains).

How long does your period normally last?

I'm so sorry Rubyshoos, it's so disappointing when this happens. It sounds like what is called a 'chemical pregnancy' (because it showed on a test, but wouldn't have shown on a scan). The medical profession wouldn't, I don't think, term it a miscarriage (not until they could have seen it on a scan if it hadn't ended, IYSWIM). But, it is still a loss, because you conceived, but unfortunately it didn't go very far. I had two of these while trying to conceive this time round. It is the loss of a pregnancy, and so yes, a miscarriage IMO. But, it is also your period, and you should count the first day of bleeding as the first day of your period. All the best.

Oh, should have said, with both my chemical pregnancies I got negative tests on the third day of bleeding, and the period didn't feel much different to normal. When I miscarried at a later stage it was more painful, and took a week for my tests to go negative.

It does sound as though you were pregnant - as ttalloo says, false positives are rare. To get 3 would be unlikely.

You may have had a very early miscarriage, which are unfortunately really common. But have you done a test since you stopped bleeding? Some women do bleed in pregnancy for various reasons and so you could still be pregnant. If you are, if I were you I would wait a week and then get an early scan because bleeding in pregnancy should be checked out IMO.

Thankyou all so much for your quick responses. No i haven't done another test since the bleeding (I've been too scared!) plus I assumed that I may still have hcg levels in my system so it would come up positive and then my hopes would be up again (a very small part of me is clinging to the fact that maybe I am still pregnant) But if I'm honest with myself, what I'm experiencing now is pretty much exactly what I experience when I'm having a normal period, here I am on day 3 of bleeding and it's still going just as it was for a normal period (which normally last about 5/6 days). Do you think seeing as i didn't end up with a D and C or even had a scan and I 'lost' the pregnancy so early on that my dp and I can 'go for it' pretty much straight away and try and conceive again?

It's all so sad and disappointing, but as my lovely husband says 'onwards and upwards'! Thanks to you all xxx

If you have lost the pregnancy then, AFAIK there is no reason to wait before trying again. Good luck.

I'd go for it straight away (and have lots of fun trying!).

Wishing you huge amounts of good luck for next time!