Brown discharge & hook effect at 7 weeks pregnant

[Kalena123]

Hi ladies.

(a T.M.I kinda post!!)

I had started having on and off brown discharge at the beginning of my 6th week of pregnancy, enough to show up lightly on my underwear. No cramps at all, and still feeling very pregnant (sore/tender breasts, nausea, constipation, fatigue, etc...). Today, I have not seen any spotting at all.

My midwife suggested I take a pregnancy test to see if test is still a positive. So, I did and it was extremely faint positive compared to a week before. I was naturally concerned, but I had heard about the 'Hook Effect' so I diluted my urine in water and like magic, my test line was completely dark again!

Just wondering if any of you other ladies have experienced this and if so at what point? And did any of you have spotting accompanying your hook effect?? I was surprised the hook effect had already taken effect at 7 weeks for me.. Does that sound too early?

But what I'd really like to know is, does everything sound promising so far in my pregnancy? (My last pregnancy ended in m/c at 13 weeks so that is why I'm such a ball of emotions!


Thanks!


PS - Will post pictures!

 

[Kalena123]

Here is the picture of my hpt tests showing the diluted urine test (bottom) is way stronger of a positive than my concentrated first morning urine (top) which is way fainter.

 

[jodiejodie]

This is really fascinating! How can water help the positive show up more? I got my bfp on Wednesday and it was pretty faint. I took another test today. With pee that I maybe held for an hour or so thinking it would be a lot darker since it had been 3 days and it almost looked lighter than my first test. Should I try adding water tomorrow morning?

 

[wellsk]

I had the hook effect happen to me at 5+6, and I had also had brown spotting for around 3 weeks at that point. However, it cleared up around the 6 week mark.

I've had 2 scans since and baby is fine

Hope this is the same for you too

Sometimes you can get a little brown blood when the cervix is irritated by something.

 

[Kalena123]

This is really fascinating! How can water help the positive show up more? I got my bfp on Wednesday and it was pretty faint. I took another test today. With pee that I maybe held for an hour or so thinking it would be a lot darker since it had been 3 days and it almost looked lighter than my first test. Should I try adding water tomorrow morning?

Well it depends, if you think the reason your test is fainter because your urine was diluted then i would use concentrated first morning urine. All hpt's contain a different amount of dye too which could also be why yours came out fainter recently. But, if it was concentrated urine you used and it was fainter then you could try this experiment and add 50% water to urine and see what happens! If the test is darker then you'll know, If its lighter trying using extra concentrated urine then. Apparently when our hcg increases it can get to such a high level that pregnancy tests aren't capable of picking up on it properly (has something to do with the way the urine changes chemically or something and it can't stick to the antibody strip or test line of the hpt.) I think the water loosens the hormone in our urine so that it can stick to the hpt. The hook effect normally occurs around the 6th week to 13th week of pregnancy. It's almost unbelievable, but it's very real! Let us know what happens if you try it!

 

[Kalena123]

I had the hook effect happen to me at 5+6, and I had also had brown spotting for around 3 weeks at that point. However, it cleared up around the 6 week mark.

I've had 2 scans since and baby is fine

Hope this is the same for you too

Sometimes you can get a little brown blood when the cervix is irritated by something.

That is such a relief to hear, thank you! I'll be calling my midwife tomorrow to let them know and see what they say!

 

[Kalena123]

Bump.

 

[Katewaits]

Your pregnancy tests are clearly fine, so that shouldn't be a worry.

I had red turning to brown spotting at 7 weeks, and even a small clot. But ultrasound showed perfect healthy 8 week old babe the next week, so don't worry. Pregnancy still going well at 9 weeks and no spotting for about 10 days.

Doctor said it was probably implantation bleeding, which surprised me because it's been so long since it implanted. But doctor explained that it's not just when it first implants (although it can be that and take a while to come out, which would explain why it is brown), but implantation is a process rather than an event. As the fetus establishes itself more deeply, and particularly as the placenta attaches and links up you can get 'implantation' bleeding.

 

[SamiB]

I didn't know about the hook effect. Wow...if I did a test and it was faint I would panic so much! Anyway.... I had lots of bleeding with my first and everything was ok. Sometimes these things happen but it does always worry us. Lots of love x