is anyone ttc after pph ( post partum hemorrhage)

[Tink1o5]

I have 2 boys. After my second son 5 hours after delivery I had a pph. Me an DH really want to try for another but I am definitely scared.


Anyone else go through this or currently going through this? ?

 

[6footnoodle]

Hey! I am going through the same thing. After I had my daughter I had pph 3 weeks after and had to have 2 d&c procedures. I am so nervous now. I am scared that something might be wrong with my uterus because of it. Or maybe I have scarring left over so I might struggle getting pregnant. This is only my 2nd cycle trying.

 

[sjackson310]

How bad was your PPH, Tink?
I am a Post Partum RN (sometimes L&D too if they need help), and I have seen some bad PPHs. My last one required a hysterectomy, it was her first child and she was 17 years old.
I will reassure you and say that a lot of my patients go on to have healthy deliveries and no bleeding issues. Sometimes the doctors will order for the patient to receive a prophylactic dose of medication (extra bag of pitocin, some methergine IM) just in case. On my patients, when they tell me they have a history of PPH, I will usually do a few extra fundal massages and make sure they are educated on when to call for help (clots bigger than a nickel, large frequent gushes, etc) and show them how to do fundal massages as well.
If you breast feed, it will make it even less likely to happen. But a lot of my previous PPH patients will do fundal massages on themselves every hour or two out of fear. Which is totally okay. Our protocol at my hospital is after they deliver, they get a massage once every 15 minutes for the first hour, then until they are brought to PP unit they get it every 30 minutes. Once on PP unit, we do it hourly for 3 hours. if all is well, they get it once a shift (so twice a day) after that till discharge.

 

[sjackson310]

Your chart is looking great so far, 6footnoodle!
When are you testing? Looks like it is maybe going triphasic?

 

[Tink1o5]

Sjackson - my issue is that i contacted my OB after having my son (which was almost 3 years ago) and asked to get my medical records. When i got them there was NOTHING in my paperwork about my hemorrhage. I called them and they said we didnt see anything about a hemorrhage. So the hospital i delivered at and my OB does not have ANY record of my hemorrhage at all. Not what caused it, not the meds that stopped it... nothing! its like it never happened.

The only thing i have is my discharge papers from the hospital and they say "normal vaginal delivery, Check up in 6 weeks"

So im at a loss...i know nothing other than i had a PPH and am definitely scared to TTC again but would really love another baby.

 

[sjackson310]

Hmm that's odd. Usually we type in our interventions and medications given.

Well, you can always let your OB know your fears that you had and ask for extra medication to be given, or ask your OB nurse to take extra caution with you. As a nurse, I'd rather be told that and be on the look out, then totally caught off guard hours later if it were a repeat hemorrhage.

Usually though, it's an isolated incident.

 

[sjackson310]

If it were to happen, it'd most likely be within several hours of delivery. Not at home. If you do hemorrhage at home, it's usually not quite as severe (i've seen the entire patient bed completely soaked in blood, head to toe, during a PPH, with blood dripping on the floor and clots the size of almost a cantaloupe). Not to scare you, but if it were to happen like that, it'd be while you're surrounded by hospital staff.
I really, truly believe you'll be fine. Usually my patients afterwards have minimal bleeding, even though I mentally prepare myself for the worst just in case.

 

[Tink1o5]

Yea with my son I gave birth all natural. I didnt even get to the hospital till i was 8cm. Everything was perfect.. then 5 hours after having him i had to get up to go pee and when i got up blood gushed and i had a trail of blood all the way to the bathroom and lost a huge clot in the toilet.. i yelled for my husband to get the nurse somethings wrong and she came rushing in an helped me to the bed.. next thing i know there is a bunch of doctors in my room and im being stabbed in the leg with medication.. being told to take pills left an right and being put on lots of drips of some medication.. and i also remember a nurse sticking her hand up in me an scraping clots and stuff out all over the bed.

 

[sjackson310]

Yea with my son I gave birth all natural. I didnt even get to the hospital till i was 8cm. Everything was perfect.. then 5 hours after having him i had to get up to go pee and when i got up blood gushed and i had a trail of blood all the way to the bathroom and lost a huge clot in the toilet.. i yelled for my husband to get the nurse somethings wrong and she came rushing in an helped me to the bed.. next thing i know there is a bunch of doctors in my room and im being stabbed in the leg with medication.. being told to take pills left an right and being put on lots of drips of some medication.. and i also remember a nurse sticking her hand up in me an scraping clots and stuff out all over the bed.

it sounds like they hung an additional bag of pitocin & gave you a shot of methergine (I am assuming it was methergine and not hemobate because you didn't mention having explosive diarrhea all over the bed which you would have if they gave Hemobate). Sorry that happened but glad that everything is okay now! Oh, and the pills you took were probably Cytotec.

 

[Tink1o5]

Thanks for the info! Well i just really hope this time around it doesnt happen. I had my first born with me in the hospital because i have no family or anyone to watch him so he saw the whole thing.

 

[sjackson310]

Thanks for the info! Well i just really hope this time around it doesnt happen. I had my first born with me in the hospital because i have no family or anyone to watch him so he saw the whole thing.

Oh no that is horrible.
What normally causes PPH is that the uterus fails to contract on its own. Usually, you'll feel that wonderful, crampy contraction feeling. While uncomfortable and maybe even painful, that is your uterus doing what it needs to to prevent hemorrhage. Where the placenta used to be attached, the blood vessels were pumping blood to the placenta. Once that placenta is gone, the blood vessels COULD (and did in your case) flow blood freely into the uterus and cause a hemorrhage. If the uterus is contracted/firm, it occludes the blood vessels, kind of like a tourniquet. For some reason (you have to pee really bad, there is a clot/retained placenta, or just a freak event), every now and then, a uterus atonizes (aka goes completely soft) and then blood can come out of those blood vessels and you will hemorrhage unless given medications to cause the uterus to contract and firm up (pitocin, cytotec, methergine, hemobate, etc) and from manual (your nurse) massage.

This is why your nurse did a vaginal sweep, to remove any clots that were preventing your uterus from firming up like normal. Imagine your leg got cut off in a freak accident. You could bleed to death. If someone puts a tourniquet on it, it will occlude the blood vessels from spewing out so much blood. That's what firming up the uterus does.

This is also why C sections patients bleed. Many women think if they have a c section, they will not bleed vaginally. They are surprised when they notice they are. It's because every woman who has a baby, has a placenta. They don't normally bleed as much with a c section though because the doctor's know they removed all of the placenta and can suction the uterus out before placing it back in the pelvic cavity.

Sorry if you knew all about this already but thought i'd mention it all just in case. The reason you hemorrhaged may be unknown, but USUALLY there was an event that caused it. Rarely does a uterus just stop contracting on its own for no identifiable reason. So do lots of your own fundal massages, go pee when you feel the urge, and breast feed if possible. if your doctor is okay with it, ask for prophylactic medications to prevent PPH. I am pretty sure your next delivery will be uneventful

 

[Tink1o5]

Thanks for the info! Well i just really hope this time around it doesnt happen. I had my first born with me in the hospital because i have no family or anyone to watch him so he saw the whole thing.

Oh no that is horrible.
What normally causes PPH is that the uterus fails to contract on its own. Usually, you'll feel that wonderful, crampy contraction feeling. While uncomfortable and maybe even painful, that is your uterus doing what it needs to to prevent hemorrhage. Where the placenta used to be attached, the blood vessels were pumping blood to the placenta. Once that placenta is gone, the blood vessels COULD (and did in your case) flow blood freely into the uterus and cause a hemorrhage. If the uterus is contracted/firm, it occludes the blood vessels, kind of like a tourniquet. For some reason (you have to pee really bad, there is a clot/retained placenta, or just a freak event), every now and then, a uterus atonizes (aka goes completely soft) and then blood can come out of those blood vessels and you will hemorrhage unless given medications to cause the uterus to contract and firm up (pitocin, cytotec, methergine, hemobate, etc) and from manual (your nurse) massage.

This is why your nurse did a vaginal sweep, to remove any clots that were preventing your uterus from firming up like normal. Imagine your leg got cut off in a freak accident. You could bleed to death. If someone puts a tourniquet on it, it will occlude the blood vessels from spewing out so much blood. That's what firming up the uterus does.

This is also why C sections patients bleed. Many women think if they have a c section, they will not bleed vaginally. They are surprised when they notice they are. It's because every woman who has a baby, has a placenta. They don't normally bleed as much with a c section though because the doctor's know they removed all of the placenta and can suction the uterus out before placing it back in the pelvic cavity.

Sorry if you knew all about this already but thought i'd mention it all just in case. The reason you hemorrhaged may be unknown, but USUALLY there was an event that caused it. Rarely does a uterus just stop contracting on its own for no identifiable reason. So do lots of your own fundal massages, go pee when you feel the urge, and breast feed if possible. if your doctor is okay with it, ask for prophylactic medications to prevent PPH. I am pretty sure your next delivery will be uneventful

Thank you so much. Its nice to talk to someone who knows what they are talking about. The only i knew was if you BF it can help your uterus contract, and I have exclusivly BF both of my boys from birth till 2 years. Dont want to bother you with my worrying anymore, but again Thank you!!

 

[6footnoodle]

Your chart is looking great so far, 6footnoodle!
When are you testing? Looks like it is maybe going triphasic?

Thanks part of me wonders if maybe I'm getting sick. My throat started feeling sore yesterday. This might be effecting my temps. I don't have any pregnancy symptoms so not sure I will test early. I might just wait until AF shows or doesn't this weekend.

 

[6footnoodle]

Thanks for the info! Well i just really hope this time around it doesnt happen. I had my first born with me in the hospital because i have no family or anyone to watch him so he saw the whole thing.

Oh no that is horrible.
What normally causes PPH is that the uterus fails to contract on its own. Usually, you'll feel that wonderful, crampy contraction feeling. While uncomfortable and maybe even painful, that is your uterus doing what it needs to to prevent hemorrhage. Where the placenta used to be attached, the blood vessels were pumping blood to the placenta. Once that placenta is gone, the blood vessels COULD (and did in your case) flow blood freely into the uterus and cause a hemorrhage. If the uterus is contracted/firm, it occludes the blood vessels, kind of like a tourniquet. For some reason (you have to pee really bad, there is a clot/retained placenta, or just a freak event), every now and then, a uterus atonizes (aka goes completely soft) and then blood can come out of those blood vessels and you will hemorrhage unless given medications to cause the uterus to contract and firm up (pitocin, cytotec, methergine, hemobate, etc) and from manual (your nurse) massage.

This is why your nurse did a vaginal sweep, to remove any clots that were preventing your uterus from firming up like normal. Imagine your leg got cut off in a freak accident. You could bleed to death. If someone puts a tourniquet on it, it will occlude the blood vessels from spewing out so much blood. That's what firming up the uterus does.

This is also why C sections patients bleed. Many women think if they have a c section, they will not bleed vaginally. They are surprised when they notice they are. It's because every woman who has a baby, has a placenta. They don't normally bleed as much with a c section though because the doctor's know they removed all of the placenta and can suction the uterus out before placing it back in the pelvic cavity.

Sorry if you knew all about this already but thought i'd mention it all just in case. The reason you hemorrhaged may be unknown, but USUALLY there was an event that caused it. Rarely does a uterus just stop contracting on its own for no identifiable reason. So do lots of your own fundal massages, go pee when you feel the urge, and breast feed if possible. if your doctor is okay with it, ask for prophylactic medications to prevent PPH. I am pretty sure your next delivery will be uneventful

Thanks Tink. This also helps me understand. For me they left some placenta in my uterus after delivery. I had a huge clot come out twice in the three weeks leading up to my pph episode. I had called the hospital and my family doctor when I got the clot as big as a lemon come out of me and both brushed me off and turned me away.

 

[sjackson310]

No problem guys! Also, great job BFing for so long!

6Foot, lemme know how that test comes out! I am only CD 4 so I have to do something while I wait, so I'll live vicariously through you lol.

 

[6footnoodle]

No problem guys! Also, great job BFing for so long!

6Foot, lemme know how that test comes out! I am only CD 4 so I have to do something while I wait, so I'll live vicariously through you lol.

Omg I just got a bfp!! You made me feel good about my chart and then I've been dizzy since last night but thought it was cold related but omg no. I'm pregnant!!! So happy that my uterus isn't broken. It's a faint positive on a cheapie but still a positive

 

[Tink1o5]

No problem guys! Also, great job BFing for so long!

6Foot, lemme know how that test comes out! I am only CD 4 so I have to do something while I wait, so I'll live vicariously through you lol.

Omg I just got a bfp!! You made me feel good about my chart and then I've been dizzy since last night but thought it was cold related but omg no. I'm pregnant!!! So happy that my uterus isn't broken. It's a faint positive on a cheapie but still a positive

OMG OMG CONGRATS!!!! SOOOOO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!

 

[sjackson310]

No problem guys! Also, great job BFing for so long!

6Foot, lemme know how that test comes out! I am only CD 4 so I have to do something while I wait, so I'll live vicariously through you lol.

Omg I just got a bfp!! You made me feel good about my chart and then I've been dizzy since last night but thought it was cold related but omg no. I'm pregnant!!! So happy that my uterus isn't broken. It's a faint positive on a cheapie but still a positive

OMG I KNEW IT hahaha! Congrats! Now I really want to live vicariously through you lol!

 

[6footnoodle]

Thanks so much guys. Im a bit nervous about delivery but I will get over it. I have 9 months

 

[Tink1o5]

Yea im sure you will do wonderful this time around. Im super Happy for you!!