Advice During Pregnancy

Hello,

I am now 36 weeks pregnant I bleed very heavily a few times with cramping it started at 8 weeks & went upto 15 weeks the only thing that my midwife told me to do was get a lot of bed rest with my feet up but it was impossible for me to do with a 5 year old in school and me working full time. All you can really do is get as much rest as possible if a miscarriage is going to happen nothing can really stop it but as I said I had heavy bleeding like a medium period with cramping & I am now 36 weeks pregnant expecting a healthy baby girl hope this helps & good luck :-)

M.,
Please ignore all these people who are suggesting that you should call a doctor instead of a midwife. Midwifes are great and well trained to handle all pregnancy complications. In fact, statistically midwifes have MUCH more positive outcomes than ob/gyn ( lower infant and maternal mortality rates)
If you are comfortable please stay with her, she can always send you for a scan if she thinks it will help.
I have had 3 miscarriages- 2 with an OB and 1 with a midwife. The OB does send you for more ultrasounds, but that does not change the outcome at all. I ended up leaving my OB after my last miscarriage and am now very happy seeing a midwife and planning a home birth for my next delivery ( in 20 or so weeks!). What I learned through my experience is that if you are going to miscarry, there is nothing ANYONE can do about it, so stay with the people who will give you the most support no matter what the outcome. I have learned three times now that God has a way of taking little ones who are not meant for this world. But if you baby is healthy and strong he or she will be just fine and your risk of miscarriage will be dramatically reduced in just a few weeks.
Bleeding while pregnant is such a scary thing for the mom to be- I will keep you in my prayers.

spotting in early pregnancy is scary because it can be a sign of something wrong, but it can also be normal. i did have spotting... light and mostly a brownish color and no cramping. I also had a midwife but when my nausea also abated around the 6th week of pregnancy, i did got to my doctor, which is definitely what you should do. what my doctor did was get me in for a sonogram (that day too, which was great) to check and see if the baby had a heartbeat. low and behold, the baby did have a heartbeat and shortly afterwards, my spotting stopped and my nausea returned. seeing your doctor will put your mind at ease, whatever the outcome, as they can determine if the spotting is worrisome or not.

Dear M., I'm sure you are concerned but obviously your midwife thinks it is not so bad. Although I have not had this happen to me I have heard about it. I'm sure you will get some helpful respones. Try to rest as much as possible. My prayers and good wishes, Grandma Mary
Oh dear, I just read your response. I am so sorry. You will be in my prayers for healing of mind and body. Yes you will grieve your loss. Take the time you need.

First, if you are going to miscarry, there is nothing
you can really do. That being said, I bled really bad
with my middle two. One is a 32 y.o. NYC firefighter
and the other 31 yo with his own trucking business.
No cramps just bleeding. Just take it easy. Let the
house go and just sit and relax. Good luck.

With my current pregnancy, I also had bleeding. I started spotting at 6 weeks and at 8 weeks I had lots. I ended up going to the ER because it was a weekend night and they told me I had a hemotoma, which caused the bleeding. Saw my dr. the following Monday and he said bleeding can be normal in pregnancy. I stopped spotting at 11 weeks. I am currently 32 weeks with a healthy baby girl. Try to stay positive and not worry too much! I know...Easier said than done.

I'd call a dr. instead of the midwife.
Lynsey

Hi M.,
I had some bleeding with this pregnancy (I am 18 wks) and my dr. put me on projesterone. She said it was pretty common and not to worry. I was on the projesterone till 12 wks. My bleeding was not light nor heavy but somewhere in the middle ( needed more than a panty liner but not quite enough for a regular pad). If you are still worrried after talking with your midwife...then make an apt. to be seen. That is what they are there for. She should be able to give you answers and feel comfortable with what is happening to your body. I know that early bleeding is not uncommon so she might just be more casual about it than you are! Call her back and tell her you are still worried. I know that with my bleeding it did increase and I was so freaked out! It was still within the normal limits of what they expect or think is normal and no one but me was worried.
My first pregnancy ended in miscarrage at 5-6wks. It was more like having a very heavy period. Crampy, heavy flow and clots. I had an almost immediate loss of any pregnancy symptoms (tender breasts & light headedness). Ihope this helps and will keep you and the pregnancy in my thoughts....call your dr. only she can put your fears at ease or give you the correct info about what is or isn't happening. Best of luck to you and your family.
T.

With all due respect, please see a physician.

hi
you have received some hopefully reassuring tales from people who experienced bleeding and also continued to have a viable pregnancy. if you are having a hard time just relaxing and letting your body work itself out though, you should talk to her again and see her if that will help. you can do a 2 part blood test for the pregnancy hormone levels that will tell your midwife if your pregnancy is viable or not. when it happened to me, i was sent in for an ultrasound to see what they could tell about why i was spotting. the ultrasound, however, was not conclusive enough for my doctor so she conducted the 2 part blood test. unfortunately mine was not progressing, and i went on to miscarry. my sis-in-law had one miscarriage and then the next time she got pregnant spotted periodically throughout, was freaked, but now has a great 7 y.o. boy! (btw- i have used, and am using again, a midwife, but when i had spotting i didn't have a midwife yet, so i saw my primary care physician.)

one thing my doc mentioned was that how you are feeling can be a gauge. if you are still experiencing the same physical symptoms of pregnancy, then things are more likely to be fine. your midwife may be going from what you told her, heard reassuring things about how you are feeling, so gave you the advice to take it easy. if you have any more questions feel free to contact me, and good luck!

I had my period for the first 4 1/2 months of my last pregnancy. My 1st after conception was the longest I ever had-2 wks of heavy bleeding. I'm usually 3-5 days. It turned out my placenta wasn't completely attached to the uterus and blood was pooling behind it. Every month my body got rid of it like a period. My dr said it was good my body was getting rid of it. There was nothing that could be done. My dr said it would attach in time and it did. I delivered a healthy baby boy in March. Don't stress yourself about it. Just make sure to take your vitamins and iron. If you're bleeding & producing blood for the baby, you'll need an iron supplement. Give your body the nutrients it needs to fix itself. Drink plenty of water.Get rest when you can. You'll be fine. Trust your midwife and your body to know what it is doing. There is a simple reason even if you don't know what it is.

I had that happen once around my 10-11th week. I called my doctor went in had an exam and a sonogram. Everything was fine (for me, I'm not saying my situation was the same as yours). it was around the time I would have been menstrating and since I was "freshly" preggers, my body still had a lite "period"..... He described it as a final clean out of my lady system....

In my opinion if your not comfortable, even after listening to your midwife...... You should go n and get it check out at a clinic or ER..... It will ease your mind..... And it is virtually impossible to take it easy with two other children in that age range....

Good luck!!!

I think bleeding around the time you would have had your next period is pretty common. I bled lightly around the 8-9 week mark with both my pregnancies and went on to have healthy babies. It might just be that. I hope it all works out OK for you.

I bled with two out of my three pregnancies. One ended in miscarriage and one resulted in a beautiful little girl who is now 20 years old. With the first pregnancy when I bled I had bad cramping, my breast were no longer sore, all my pregnancy symptoms went away. With my daughter it was very light and no other symptoms. It was also right around my normal cycle. As long as you have no other symptoms you should be fine. As far as taking it easy I know that is easier said then done. Good luck to you I am sure you will be fine.