Pregnancy Info HOME

If I can give some of you hope. I have a hematoma.Have had bright red blood since 14 weeks anb still bleeding. Been in and out of hospital, had numerous scans, and am now 24 weeks+2 days. At my last scan at 22 weeks, it showed that my baby is perfect, the correct size for dates. I have to return for another scan at 26weeks.I have midwife visiting me daily to listen for baby's heartbeat.All is well. My doc says that if there are any changes at 26 weeks he will admit me to hospital and monitor me. He said he will deliver but not until after 28weeks. There have been so many times I have thought the hematoma has won, but to date, it has not. You have to stay positive, and believe that all will turn out well.

This is an update to my posting on April 28, 2005, at which time I was 15 weeks and had experienced some bleeding with clots during week 13. We received various stories for several weeks before I was able to see a perintologist (fetal specialist) ...some that gave us a glimmer of hope, while others like the ER doctor who basically said there was a major separation of the placenta and to go home and wait out a likely miscarriage. Truthfully, it didn't really seem like anyone at my hospital (ER or OB/GYN department) knew why I had the bleeding or the clots, or the extent (if any) of placental abruption. It wasn't until we were able to see a fetal specialist two weeks later that we finally got some real answers. He did his own ultrasound and said he saw what my problem was..... a low lying placenta, and as the baby and uterus expands, so does the placenta. Since my placenta started out in such a low area, the lower placental edge started to grow into the area of the top of the cervix and could not attach to anything there... thus causing some bleeding. He was very rea__suring and said this problem usually fixes itself over time, and that the placenta will typically sense when it can't "grow" or grasp onto anything in a certain area, and will then usually expand in other directions. He also said the natural progression of the placenta as any pregnancy progresses is to migrate up. Through lots of prayers and several more visits to the perintologist, I have now made it to my 34th week! He says the baby (a boy) is doing great! Thank God, I haven't had any more bleeding or spotting since the few episodes in April. The specialist said the placenta is still low-lying, but has seemed to inch away from the cervical opening which was causing the bleeding. I now go for NST (non-stress tests) twice a week for the final 6 weeks of my pregnancy so they can closely monitor the baby. A c-section is scheduled for week 39 since my first baby 4 years ago was 10 pounds and was delivered by caesarean after 24 long hours of labor. She was just too big to come out naturally, and the chances of another big baby are very high. However, If for any reason they feel the baby is not getting what it needs, which I guess they can tell from fetal activity, heart rate, growth rate, etc., they could decide that the baby be born earlier. I am writing this update to hopefully give all of you still early in your preganancies a glimmer of hope. My best recommendation would be to initially get plenty of bed rest until the bleeding subsides, and to see a fetal specialist as soon as possible. Best wishes to you all!

Kathy, your story is very informative and encouraging - thanks for sharing and it's wonderful that you're doing so well. Last week, after no bleeding for 2.5 weeks, I had an evening episode of bleeding which scared me enough to stay home from work and request an ultrasound the following morning. As I could not sleep that night, I thought about all the success stories on this site and that gave me great comfort. The ultrasound showed a healthy baby (14 weeks) and that the blood clot had stretched from the top of the uterus alongside the baby down to the cervical opening - yikes! All the doctor could tell me was that he was concerned, as he had hoped that the clot would stay put and get absorbed in place, but that he remained "cautiously optimistic about this pregnancy". Not the most rea__suring words but that's what I got. I went on a planned family camping trip over the holiday weekend and it did wonders for my peace of mind to sit in deep forest for a weekend. Hang in there everyone and keep the faith.

Hey everyone, I posted about my daughter back in July when she was admited to thehospital for two blood transfusions as she had lost so much blood. She was in her 18 week. She spent two weeks in the hospital and they released her to bedrest at home. Two weeks later she had a terrible bleed and alot of pain. We took her to the emergency and they did and ultra sound and found that her water had brokem they said all of the bleeding had wore down the sac She was sent to a hospital that was better for premature deliveries. She was 23 weeks completed at this time. 5 days later she went into labor -- but we got lucky and it stopped. She got the two injections for the babies lungs. On Friday she went into labor again but this time we were not lucky enough to stop it. Saturday morning she gave birth to a 1 lb 7 1/2 ounce baby boy. It has been extremely rough but he is now one month old. He went down to just over a pound and is now back up to 1 lb 10 ounces. It has been a very tough time but he is a realy fighter Good luck to all of you that are still pregnant and it seems that the majority of the women with the hematoma manage to get through with just bleeding and I hope this is in store for all of you

Judy - thanks for posting your daughter's story. I am so happy everything worked out for her and your grandson. Take care and thank you for your kind words of support.

I have been diagnosed with this in two different pregnancies. Both starting bleeding around 12 weeks, then spotting until around 20 weeks. After that anytime I would bleed I would start contracting. The first pregnancy I was put in the hospital on horrible medication and I delivered around 26 weeks. My baby boy was 2lbs 1 oz. and didn't survive. The second time this happened I started with the contractions around 19 weeks and ended up delivering a baby boy at 21 weeks. He of course didn't survive. I think that it all depends on how much your bleeding. Because if I didn't bleed and I was on medication it helped stop the contractions. But if not, nothing like bed rest or medication helped when I would bleed. The only positive thing to my story is that I have had two normal pregnancies so I am blessed to have two children. That is the only way for me to look at this. I am not sure why things like this happen. But it's definitely hard. I am sorry all of you are going through this. And good luck.

They found a blood clot when I was 6 weeks. I had been doing some pretty vigorious activity and stopped due to cramping and started bleeding. I know they say activity is not the cause, but I can't help but think it was. anyone else? I bled throughout my pregnancy and actually stopped bleeding for over a month and there were supposedly no signs of the clot. Then i had a huge episode at 25 weeks. I stayed in the hospital for 2 1/2 weeks until they had to take the baby. They called it Caos syndrome. Chronic abruption with low fluid basically. My baby girl is now almost 2 years old and perfect after being born at 27 weeks. I am nervous to get pregnant again. I have heard blood clots are random and usually do not recurr. So, why are people writing in with consecutive blood clots? any success stories? please share.

hi Jossi, I am glad to hear that your daughter is doing great! As far as being active, I am as well. I am a professional dancer and dance teacher. I had to stop performing when they saw the sch. I don't know if it is related to exercise, but I think that we try to find reasons for why we are going through this. Don't blame your exercise. Mant people are active throughtout their entire pregnancies and do not have any complications. Hang in there.

Jossi - in answer to your thoughts as to whether being active makes these SCH worse I think not. I certainly don't believe they cause them. I have a 20lb 9 mth old daughter and a SCH. Haven't bled from it since week 14 (now 24 wks) but have never been on any form of rest. In fact my heaviest bleed was when I was in hospital on bed rest for 4 days due to the severity of the bleed! I have always had to put my daughter first and have to lift and carry her all day as she is still a baby and haven't noticed any relation between this and bleeding etc. My hospital consultant insists that rest is not needed for SCH but I do not do any additional exercise like I did in my first pregnancy. I walk everywhere though and carry my daughter and push her in her buggy so am active all day - no choice anyway. Here in UK they do not seem to see it as serious as in US for some reason and do not advise rest for it. Kathryn x

Hi all, new here as from today. Wish I could have found the site 2 weeks ago as all your stories have given me a glimmer of hope. I was admitted to A&E 2 weeks ago after a ma__sive bleed (Bright red). The delightful, smirky doctor told me my cervix had opened and that i was probably miscarrying. It was Bank Hol, he couldnt get me a scan till 4 days after. I a__sumed the scan was to see if I had lost all of the contents of my womb and spent the whole time in tears just waiting for my baby to fall down the toilet. I went for my scan and my partner and I were suprised to see our baby still there kicking with strong heartbeat. I begged my midwife to send me for a further scan a week later as I was still bleeding and it revealed a SCH over my cervix. I have been bleeding for over 2 weeks now with intermittent severe cramping pains (which arent the usual stretching pains) I am 14 weeks pregnant. The sonographer told me 50/50, however my sister is a midwife and asked a consultant Obstetrician for advice for me....apparently he states that SCH diagnosed prior to 17 weeks are usually non problematic. Only after this time they become higher risk. Supposedly, at around 16 weeks your body has a surge of something that makes your placenta bury deeper into the lining of your womb, thus making it more likely you will carry baby successfully. Diagnosis after 17 weeks can place you at higher risk (hope i am not scaring anyone here, sorry if I have!). Anyway, with all the advice flying around its hard to know what to believe. I am a firm believer in what will be...will be! Im 14 weeks, scared to death i will loose my first baby, still bleeding and cramping which hasn't let up since I went to A&E but so far baby is still here! I will come back and let you know how I progress, as I have no more scans booked till 22 weeks. Good luck to you all!!

Hi Michelle, I'm in the same boat as you. My bleeding started at 12 weeks and I continued bleeding for several weeks and have only just stopped at 18 weeks, my next scan isn't until 20 weeks so I know how hard it is to wait. If it gets too hard for you get in touch with the early pregnancy a__sesment unit (if your in the uk, don't know what they call it in the us) they were absolutely fantastic with me and I was scanned a couple of times with them. So good luck and let us knopw how you get on x.

I was diagnosed with SCH at 5weeks with an ultrasound used to date the pregnancy. I have had several episodes of bleeding, spotting starting at 6weeks. Some early on (8-10 weeks) were very heavy saturating two overnight pads an hour for two to three hours. I have had weekly to biweekly ultrasounds since then until week 14. I hadn't bled for about 3 weeks. My OB thought the clot had organized and he couldn't visualize any free blood on ultrasound. He said he thought I had turned the corner. He agreed to see me in a month which was a relief since I had been seeing him weekly or biweekly. He scheduled me for a level two ultrasound with a perinatologist due to my age (35) and the clot. We also wanted to avoid an amniocentesis if possible. At 16 weeks I had an episode of bleeding that lasted about an hour. I have never been on bed rest...just exercise restriction and pelvic rest. I was feeling the baby move at this point, so I knew she was alright the next day, however we were devastated since we though we were done with all of this. I saw the perinatolist 6 days later (9-9-05) and the baby looks wonderful..she is measuring a week larger than originally dated and has no markers for any defects. I'll interject that I was warned my quad screen would probably be abnormal due to the clot however, all of those levels were within normal limits. However, the perinatologist was concerned with the size of clot. She said the biggest risk was infection, which would cause my water to break. I have been on antibiotics since the clot was diagnosed and she advised I continue those. She also said she observed some more "old blood" and would probably bleed again. She said there was "more placenta than you need" so the baby is getting what she needs. However, she told me to quit walking on the treadmill which I had recently started again due to "your implantation site being so fragile" and advised water aerobics if I felt I had to exercise. She said any time you bleed in the second trimester they worry about you the rest of your pregnancy. She said she would advise my regular OB to scan me at least every four weeks to check for growth restriction with the baby but I wouldn't need to see her again unless there were any more problems. She said she advised against an amniocentesis due to the clot size and the baby's lack of markers indicating any defects, which I had already decided to forgo any way. I am dating 18wk6d as of the last scan. I didn't have a period to date the pregnancy by. I had a Mirena IUD for a couple of years which caused my periods to stop. I had it removed and must have gotten pregnant right away, before I had a normal period. The perinatologist said this lack of menstruation could have caused my estrogen lining not to be as hospitable to implantation as it should have been. This will be my third child. My previous two pregnancies had no complications whatsoever. I'm taking one day at a time and praying that we have a full term healthy little girl. It certainly makes you realize and appreciate what miracles all of our children are.

yes and it is very frightning to me. I have had several episodes with bright red blood followed by weeks of dark blood..many u/s..latest eposide showed I had a bleed 6cm I have a one year old and have been told to go on complete bed rest???? My doctor told me to take a blood pressure medication to help with the cramps that occur with/without the bleed. I am 20 weeks pg and I am very scared. Has anyone experienced the symptoms and delivered a term baby? Did bed rest help...

Sara - hello, I want to address your issye of already having a baby and them trying to put you on bed rest. I can only go by my experience. I have a 9 mth old baby daughter who was only 3 and a half mths when I conceived. I bled more or less continuously from conception til 14 weeks. It was a scary time. I was flound to have two (one very large) hematoma's. I was told even past 12 weeks it was 50/50 for me. I became very, very stressed and down as I had to lift and carry my baby as she was after all just a baby but also kept sending myself mad with worry that I was doing harm to my unborn baby. I was put under consultant care here in UK and he put my mind at rest. He said there is no evidence that any form of rest helps these SCH to heal or reabsorb. Our bodies shpould do that. I have never rested apart from for 4 days when my bleeding was so bad I was admitted to hospital for 4 days so was on bed rest apart from trips to the loo. In fact, my bleed then despite the rest was the heaviest it has ever been! I still have a SCH left at 25 weeks but baby is much bigger than it and there isn't much depth to it so little or no blood left in it. A lot less worrying. I am getting scanned every 4 weeks but only to check to see if SCH has affected the growth of baby - so far so good. Also, your question regarding premature labour I would say this is only a risk when you are actually bleeding as that is when the womb is irritated thus could set off contractions. So no, never been on bed rest, same situation with you having another little one to care for. I have always lifted her (20lbs) carried her and pushed her round in her pushchair etc. I haven't seen any relation to that and bleeding. I am not saying just go about as normal like I did but that's what i was told to do and it didn't seem to affect it either way. I remember trying to rest and it ended up being so stressful as I was constantly worried. I feel for you I really do being in the same situation but we have to be realistic and look after our babies that we have already. Not sure where you are but I am in the UK and here they do not seem to see it as so serious as in US and do not seem to prescribe rest for it with the att_tude if the worst is going to happen then it will. I hope you get something worked out and freinds and family help you where they can but don't stress too much, look at me, no rest with an active crawling 9 mth old and everything looking good with pregnancy despite SCH. Take care and keep us all posted as we are a very supportive group who regularly come on here. Kathryn x

I love this site and I feel that it is good to be able to talk to others experiencing the same thing as I am. I think that it has helped me stay sane during times where I feel alone. I am an American in S.Korea and can not fly home yet due to my sch. The one thing that I have learned reading this site is that while we are all going through the same thing, we may have different circ_mstances. I feel that each of our situations while comparable in nature may differ due to size, location, and severity of the sch. I think that it is important that we listen to our Doctors, because they are the ones monitoring our situations. My Doctor here in South Korea put me on bed rest. So while some people may not be on bed rest and that has worked for them, I think that it is wise to take your Doctor's advice. I don't think that God gives us more then we can handle, its how we handle what we are given. I will keep praying for all of you.

Hi - yes sorry, just re-read my message and want to add that I'm not suggesting you do not listen to your doctor but just thought I'd let you know my situation as I had two SCH's and a baby to look after. I mean that I can emphasise with the stress this brings on top of the bleeding etc as we have to look after babies as well so rest is not always possible. Just thought I'd give you my story in case you cannot do complete bed rest as your doctor suggests (I wouldn't have been able to) and that it doesn't mean you are jeopardising your current pregnancy. Better go - my daughter is tearing up the magazine rack (get what I mean!) Kathryn x