You’ve found out you’re pregnant – Happy days. You find blood in your knickers – You panic!
First thing is first – Don’t panic (easier said than done) but panicking is neither good for yourself or your unborn baby. Bleeding in early pregnancy is not uncommon, however you must let your Doctor or Health Professional know as soon as you can.
The first thing we want to do is jump onto Google and see what it means. I am not advising against this, as we are all guilty of doing it – but please try not to read too deep into certain webpages and their content, as you could find yourself in a worse position, pacing the room, thinking the worst!
There are three stages of bleeding in early pregnancy:
- ‘Spotting’ or light bleeding without pain – this isn’t too serious, however should still get checked out
- Light to medium bleeding with pain in your shoulder, bowel pain, diarrhoea or one side of your stomach – there could be a chance of an ectopic pregnancy (where the fertilised egg may be buried and developing in the fallopian tube) and must be checked out straight away
- Bleeding with severe back or stomach pain – there could be a chance of miscarriage (a loss of pregnancy in the first 24 weeks) and must also be checked out straight away
These three stages are all serious as must not be ignored. Of course the last thing you want in your pregnancy is complications, but you must also be prepared in case you do experience these symptoms.
My Own Experience … (a little detailed)
When I was just six weeks pregnant, I experienced very severe stomach cramping, back pain and spotting. Obviously this was not something I wanted to experience, but I had to act quickly at the time without panicking. I remember positioning myself on all fours on the living room floor was the only position I could bear! Luckily for myself, I already knew I was pregnant, so didn’t think it was extreme period pains – I knew it was something I had to get checked out right away.
Leon took me to A&E where my urine and bloods were taken after quite a long wait. I remember sitting in the waiting area in short bursts of agony that took my breath away each time. My urine test showed positive as pregnant, however it was explained to us that this could show, even after a miscarriage. So the best professional decision was to go for an early scan (which had to be booked for a following day – 6 weeks + 1day).
That night was very painful and long. I called work to update them on my situation. Unfortunately, due to Leon’s work contract, he was unable to attend with me, so I took my lovely Mum, who I knew would be strong with me and support my every emotion.
The nerves were horrendous – I remember being sick on the way in Mum’s car after eating cherries (you could only imagine the mess) but as the wonderful Mum she is, she just shrugged it off and continued supporting me in the horrible, low situation.
We went into the room and explained the situation to the sonographer, who swiftly commenced the ultrasound scan. Everything was fine and little tiny baby was there with a little flash as a heartbeat. Baby looked nothing like a baby – just a little shadowed dot on the screen, but was enough to put our mind at rest.
It was bank holiday over that weekend, so I returned to work as normal on the Tuesday morning when the pains had eased off. However, this still wasn’t a great start back to work, as I had bled a little more before arriving to work. By 10am I felt as I needed the toilet to check for blood, to be faced with a clot approximately three inches long. This was the last thing I wanted to see at this point. Now this is the time where I panicked and couldn’t help but cry – my manager needed to know!
I called 111 (non-emergency phone number) for advice on my situation. The lady carried out an assessment over the phone and booked me straight in at the Urgent Care Centre for 11am. I grabbed my stuff and left work a soon as I could – calling Leon on my way to the car, where I burst into tears in the middle of town – I just couldn’t control my devastation
Leon met me at the Urgent Care Centre, where we were called into a private room to discuss what had happened. I explained to the Doctor all that I had been through and she directed me to the couch where she examined my stomach. She rubbed, poked, prodded and decided right away – “You have had a miscarriage”.
I looked round to Leon. We were both speechless.
Leon: “But how can you just say that by feeling Sarah’s stomach Doc? I don’t mean to undermine you, but I cannot believe you can just diagnose a miscarriage that easily without an ultrasound scan”
We were devastated and confused – we had only had a scan four days prior. The Doctor’s answer was “Things like this can happen overnight”. The only way to describe her reaction was brutal – she was heartless and we were heartbroken.
We insisted on an urgent re-scan. The next available slot was in 48 hours. We couldn’t believe our bad luck. How do we sleep, how do we continue life for the next 48 hours not knowing if our baby is okay?
We went home and all I remember is us both lay across the landing floor crying together – how can this turn into something so bad, so quickly, when we saw the heartbeat just days ago.
That night I went to the toilet and passed another bloodclot. That confirmed it for me – I was flushing my baby down the toilet. I was hysterical – my world was torn.
With the support of Leon, family and friends, I was encouraged to keeps my spirits high just incase our baby was still alive and kicking, it wasn’t a good idea to pass on negative emotions.
The scan day came. I was 6 weeks + 6 days pregnant. Unfortunately again, Leon was unable to get the time off work, so Mum came along with me in his place. Luckily Leon was able to be on the other end of the phone the whole time.
Déjà vu!
Here we were again in the scanning room, explaining the situation – the nurse and sonographer were disgusted at how we had been treated by the doctor. They advised me to put in a formal complaint about the Doctor and pointed us in the right direction to do so.
So this was the moment of truth. The Sonographer had the screen towards her, but almost immediately turned the screen to me and Mum and said “Here’s your baby, with an amazing heartbeat, your baby is fine”. Oh my goodness, me and Mum looked at each other and Mum was crying in relief (Mum never cries). That moment was more than magical. All of a sudden, life was perfect again and we could be happy and continue this journey we only dreamt of 24 hours earlier.
This personal experience was horrendous and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone! However this does happen to others. Sometimes expectant parents feel alone when they experience serious situations, not knowing that someone may have been in their exact position. I am not saying you should take the exact same action as myself, I am purely sharing my story.
My biggest and only advice from this is, if you do experience any bleeding or discomfort, please get it checked out. It may be a little scare, but could also be something more serious – do not ignore something you know isn’t right.
You have just read Part 6 of my First Series - TEN PROBLEMS IN PREGNANCY!
Enjoying my series so far?
Take a look at Previous Posts …
1. Problems in Pregnancy: Sickness
2. Problems in Pregnancy: Heartburn
3. Problems in Pregnancy: Tiredness & Fatigue
4. Problems in Pregnancy: Foods to avoid
5. Problems in Pregnancy: Feel Good Within Yourself
Upvote and follow for Part 7 COMING SOON!
Thank you :)