Seemingly harmless bleeding, but should I be more concerned?

[MindUtopia]

I'm pregnant with my 2nd after a loss. I had a mmc in April at 11 weeks that eventually meant I had to have a d&c when it didn't happen on its own, but we got pregnant again right away. I'm now 9 weeks with this baby.

I've had two scans, one a private reassurance scan at 7 weeks and the second one in the EPU at 8 weeks. Both scans showed a perfectly healthy baby, right on the mark for dates, everything else otherwise looking great, no SCH, no other signs of anything amiss or that could cause bleeding. The private scan was just for me to know everything was fine (my mmc happened at 5 weeks, so I just wanted to check to see all was well and it was). After that scan, which was abdominal (not vaginal), I had 3 days of very light brown spotting. It was hardly anything, like a few wipes of brown mucus each day over the next 3 days, and then it went away. I googled and it sounded not uncommon to have some spotting even after an abdominal scan, and since I felt fine and it had stopped, I put it out of my mind.

That next week when I was 8+2, I woke up to heavy brown mixed with red bleeding. It was mostly brown, but a lot of it. I still felt fine, no cramping. But I called the EPU as a precaution and they got me in for a scan the next morning. All still looking great. Baby was still right on dates, perfect heart beat, no sign of anything that could have caused any bleeding. They suspected it could just be my cervix bleeding. I have always had issues with my cervix (I've had abnormal cells in the past, though fine now), I've had two biopsies, some cervical erosion, it's just always been a bit irritable and problematic, but not in a serious way. With my daughter (5 years ago now), I had really heavy gushing red bleeding at 10 weeks that similarly had no explanation. Scan showed everything looked perfect. They said it was likely just a burst blood vessel on my cervix. I never had any more bleeding with her and an otherwise easy pregnancy. So we assumed this must be the same again.

I left the EPU knowing I would likely have some more bleeding over the next few days because the vaginal scan was really uncomfortable and they were obviously pushing right on my cervix. Bit of spotting that day, but then mostly light red bleeding and spotting over the next 3 days, one of those days being pretty heavy. I felt fine, no cramps, but just worn down. It's more emotionally draining than anything. That ended on Sunday and I've had nothing at all since. I woke up today (Thursday) having had more bleeding overnight, mostly brown but heavy with some red. I still feel fine, no cramping, though I do have a chest infection so I've been coughing a lot, which I suspect is just irritating it all.

I think probably I'm just going to be one of these people who has bleeding in early pregnancy. Obviously I did with my daughter, but not quite this regularly, and it's all the more traumatic after having had a mc so recently. My gut tells me to ignore it and just wait it out. It's mostly stopped now and is just light spotting. I decided after the last scan that I didn't want another EPU scan. Everything looks great and there was no obvious cause of the bleeding that was of any concern. The scans just seem to irritate it even more and make the bleeding worse. So I just don't want anymore other than my usual 12 and 20 week scan. I wasn't even going to bother calling the midwives this time as I just feel like surely I'm going to end up calling them every week at this point!

But I'm wondering if there is any reason I should be calling them and asking them to check anything else? Like I don't want a scan, but should they be checking my blood for any reason? Is there something I might be missing? I know progesterone deficiency can cause spotting, but I've never had any hormonal issues before and I've obviously made it to 9 weeks with no problems, baby developing perfectly, etc. so would that make it unlikely to be a progesterone deficiency? I guess I just want to make sure I'm not just ignoring this when I shouldn't be. My gut says all is fine and I'm really trying to stay relaxed this pregnancy, but I guess I just want to be sure I'm not just putting blinders on and missing something obvious.

 

[Bumpontherun]

Sorry to hear you are going through this. I think you are handling it in the right way though.

Both my miscarriages were accompanied by strong cramps and during my phonecalls to EPU they were never particulalry concerned by bleeding, much more worried about the cramps.

I had a friend who bled heavily around your stage (actually she had recently had a loop excision of her cervix for abnormal cells so it may have been due to this) and she is now about 30 weeks and doing well. I think you are right and there are just woman who bleed for no definite reason in pregnancy.

If you don't want another scan I don't really see the point in going back to the EPU. I don't think they would do any additional testing. My understanding of the NHS stance is that they won't prescribe progesterone in early pregnancy as the evidence is not compelling (I know it is frequently prescribed in the US) so even if they tested your levels and found them low I don't think it would help much.

I think you are probably right to try and make things as unmedical as possible and try to think positive. Will keep my fingers crossed that it all settles down.

 

[xkirstyx]

I'm in the same boat as you. I've been having loads of brown and small amount of red bleeding this week( and I have with all my other pregnancies) I had a scan last week because I was passing clots, two large ones. And I've been spotting ever since scan. I've not phoned epu about it since I seen baby is doing good and bleeding is very normal for me! I have got my booking in on Monday so I will mention it to the mw then. Or I'll phone if bleeding gets worse or I start cramping.
I hope things settle for you xxx

 

[Sweetkat]

A miscarriage at 8-9 weeks would be very very very heavy bleeding with horrible cramps. I miscarried at 8 weeks and it was the most awful experience. I was literally standing in a pool of blood - so you would know if it was a miscarriage straight away.

I was also told with this pregnancy that bleeding is normal. I have endometrial lining collected in my uterus which apparently is really common and that can cause spotting.

 

[MindUtopia]

Thanks all for the reassurance. I've just started bleeding again now, but I'm just going to ignore it. I say 'bleeding' but it is mostly brown ish with only a little red, but still medium heavy like a period. I had bleeding and spotting with the pregnancy I miscarried, but I never had any cramping. I really wanted the mc to happen naturally and we waited it out for 6 weeks with a bit of bleeding and spotting, but nothing more. I eventually had a d&c because 6 weeks had been an agonising enough wait. I wonder now if maybe even that bleeding was just my body carried on and being pregnant and nothing at all to do with the mc anyway. By far the heaviest bleeding I've had was with my daughter (it literally poured out and down my legs), but the rest of my pregnancy was perfectly fine, with no more bleeding, and she's 4 now. I'm going to try and stay relaxed and just ignore it. I feel fine, other than having a horrible headache and miserably nauseous, which surely has to be a good sign. Anyway, thanks for sharing your experiences with me!

 

[Sweetkat]

I think there is no link between bleeding and miscarriage in most cases. I never bled with any of my MMCs until the MC was confirmed and it was the actual miscarriage (two days of clots then spotting) or I had had pills for medical management. Otherwise not a drop of blood with MMCs.

MMC1 - no blood until medical management
MMC2 - I knew from 6 weeks baby was measuring behind (only ever measured 4-5 weeks) and I miscarried at 8.5 weeks. A day after bleeding started I miscarried.
MMC3 - D&C and no bleeding before that

So if it's continuous bleeding over time it's not a miscarriage, it's some other issue like old uterine lining coming out or an irritated cervix (that's my opinion anyway).

 

[MindUtopia]

Thanks, seems to have quieted down now. I haven't had even a tiny bit of spotting since Friday (5 days ago now). I had some red but most brown 'bleeding' (like it wasn't red, but it was more than just spotting) probably 5 days out of the previous 7 last week. But no cramps. And now thankfully nothing the past 5 days. I'm taking that as a sign maybe it's settled for now. I feel fine (well, I feel awful, but I take that as a good sign) and I feel very much how I did with my daughter at 10 weeks and nothing like I did with my mc at this point. So surely just nothing. It didn't really stress me out with my daughter when it happened, but having had a mc so recently, I guess I'm just hyperaware of absolutely everything this time. Hopefully that's mostly the end of it. I've been trying to take it easy, but today I worked out for the first time since it started. We'll see what that does, hopefully nothing.