18 wks but pregnancy 'unstable' - need some positive stories ..

[sportswidow]

Am 18 wks pg with No3, and suffered a massive bleed two weeks ago when I was in hospital for 48 hrs. Somehow the baby was still ok, heart beating, wriggling etc but a scan this week showed a gap between the placenta and the membranes. I am spotting brown blood most of the time and have been told the pregnancy is 'unstable'. However, 'it may settle down'. I have to wait two wks before a 20wk scan. I feel like a timebomb. Never had any problems whatsoever with Nos 1 & 2. Help! Anyone got any positive stories? How do I get through the next few days / weeks? Should I give up work and lie in bed or just carry on and pretend it isn't happening?

i had a couple of bleeds from behind the placenta which sound similar altho the latest was at about 14 weeks. it really hurt as well. I spent the whole pregnancy worried about it but ds2 sailed through and is absolutely fine. have they re-scanned? the brown blood is just the old blood - it's like a bruise under the skin (i thought of it like a blood blister). on my scans you could see the 'bruise' slowly getting smaller and disappearing. I don't know why it happened but I'd had bleeding from early on and scans showed regular spasms or contractions in the womb that might have been the cause.

anyhow, as I said, ds2 is here with us and happy and healthy. hope you have a happy and healthy pregnancy

I had blood clots behind the placenta which bled continuosly from 11-18 weeks for DS1 and then again from 14-17 weeks for DS2. Both boys delivered safely. Good luck with everything.

xx

Thank you sanfairyann and stillenacht, that gives me hope. I have to wait for the next scan in 2wks time, I sort of got the impression they didn't expect me to last that long. Doc suggested that it was a problem from conception, the egg didn't bed in properly so there is a weakness there, which may mean waters break prematurely, even if baby & I make it through this little bit. Ahh the uncertainty is the worst thing.

Will be thinking of you and hoping all will be ok in the end sportswidow xxxxxxxxxx

btw I did take all those times off work. I was signed off.

how are you doing? hope all is going well

hello sportswidow..you have something called a subchorionic haemotoma..its essentially a collection of blood between the placenta and the wall of the uterus..normally in the chorion..the folds of the placenta..it happens when the egg implants and in most cases reabsorbs by week 20...or bleeds out
a lot of the outcome depends on how big it is..larger ones are more problematic as they can cause an abruption..but smaller ones generally reabsorb...

I had one diagnosed at 7 weeks and as far as I know its still there..am also 18 weeks but a private scan at 15 weeks showed mine to have got smaller so Im breath holding until my anomaly scan.

I post on a forum which has a support group for this problem and one lady was told her baby would never make it..her SCH was so big that it threatened her baby..however she actually went overdue and delivered a little boy a few weeks ago.

doctors in the uk will not advise a change in activities however Its recommended that you have pelvic rest, so no sex..no standing for long periods...no heavy lifting and when you sit, put your feet up

by the way..forgot to say..if the blood is brown thats actually better as its old blood so could be the clot bleeding out

Hello, sorry for silence, been ill, but still here and still pregnant. Thank you for your posts. Felt so awful last week insisted on seeing consultant again. Scanned and you are right memorylapse, a lot of the blood that has been coming out is the old stuff. Have got myself signed off work til Jan and am waiting for anomaly scan which is this Thurs. Hope it will give me more of a sense of the outcome. Fingers crossed (will google subchorionic haemotoma now ...)

actually, have just decided not to google - saw your earlier posts on this subject. Don't want to scare myself any further

aww sportswidow, a friend of mine who was pg at the same time as I was with ds2 had the exact same thing happen!
she was in the bath and had this huge gush of blood, got out and it was soaking through towels... we all thgouht the baby couldn't possibly survive.

but she did! and she is now 2 yrs old!

friend had spotting throughout the rest of her pg as I recall, but the haematoma did basically go, and it was just the last little bits coming out as the pregnancy progressed.

so there certainly is hope"
oh, and just remembered, I was telling a friend at work about it at the time, and she said that happened to her as well when she was pg with her first, who also was absolutely fine.

sportswidow - i am sorry that you are going through this

i am not sure if it is the same thing but i had a placental abrubtion at 20 weeks with dd

i ended up having a few stays of 3-5 days in hospital and it was like you a very scary time - i also had a placenta praevia but this did move

i was on the ward with pg women with a belly as flat as a pancake - it was both sad and embarrassing as people literally asked me why i was there

anyway i got to 24 with a few more bleeds and eventually 28 - i then went overdue and gave birth normally to a big 8 lb 8 baby!

they told me she was small for dates and scanned me every two weeks but it was a very positive outcome

keep smiling and try to rest - i know it is hard. They told me no sex - no lifting - no vacuuming etc and i must say i adhered for the most part. taught ds to climb in and out of his cot...

when is your scan?

sportswidow..what ever you do..dont google!

These positive stories are great, ladies, keep 'em coming. I haven't googled and am not going to. Have the scan tomorrow morning and am very anxious, also exhausted after a full-on day with DD1s and 2. Not much of a chance to rest with them unfortunately.