A (hopefully) expectant father here

[Rhiandell]

Haha, I know exactly what she means. Even at 12+6 and two scans I occasionally forget. Then another wave of sickness reminds me again.
As for the midwife, I had similar experience with my community midwife. According to my brother who's an obstetrician, all the good midwives work in the hospital, and the community midwives are the ones that aren't good enough. Of course it's a big generalisation, but so far, the midwives I've met at the antenatal clinic have all been fantastic.
Remember that she has the right to see at different midwife, and they should give her a number for Supervisor of midwives if she has any concerns.

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[KateK]

That's really interesting actually Rhiandell and makes a lot of sense.. My community midwife doesn't seem to know much about anything.. She's very lovely and personable but I have to admit I don't 100% trust her expertise and advice.. Sounds awful but it's true

 

[harveyshammers]

Morning!

So not the greatest update here, in fact we're very worried that my wife is having a miscarriage.

We tested clear blue on Thursday and it came back as 3+ weeks so we were delighted! She was still suffering with cramps and her breasts has started to feel heavy and tender - things were looking good! Then this morning happened. She woke up this morning to have a wee, wiped and brown blood was evident (this has continued). Her boobs no longer felt heavy or tender - in her words "I feel normal". We then took another clear blue digital today and now it's showing 2-3 which I'm assuming means the hcg levels are down we're now worried and assuming this means miscarriage? Any similar positive stories or should we prepare for the worst?

Thank you again for all of your help and kind comments

 

[Rhiandell]

I'm sorry to hear that Harvey. However, it might not be a miscarriage. Typically they tell you that unless the blood is clear red or flowing freely or accompanied with sharp pain, you shouldn't worry. Still, if you want to be reassured, call the EPU and talk to them. Remember that symptoms come and go, some days you feel nothing, other days every one of them kicks in at once.

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[harveyshammers]

Thanks for the reply, really appreciated. Do you have any thoughts about the drop from 3+ weeks to 2-3 weeks on the digital test?

 

[LD1978]

Hi Harvey - easier said than done but try not to worry as brown is old blood and very common. If it turns red then can you call epu? I bled red with my first and have a gorgeous girl sat here now. I also have thyroid antibodies (not high) that were discovered in pregnancy and was on thyroxine. They actually went in pregnancy but I was given growth scans due to my thyroid. I think they will just keep a closer check.

Please don't rely on the digi either as the conception indicator is not reliable at all.

Hope you and your wife are ok

 

[SiameseCatLady]

Tests are not necessarily the most reliable things and a scan is the only way to tell for sure. To stop you worrying and stressing about something you don't know for sure, ring your hospital and speak to the early pregnancy unit or if they cannot let you walk in, call your GP and get a scan booked in. Probably next week now.
Stay positive and tell your wife to rest, rest, rest! Any major issues with pain or more red blood, please go to a and e. Xxx

 

[KateK]

Oh Harvey i'm so gutted to see this.. Though as the others have said you can't take those tests too seriously.. I know we all said that the weeks indicator going up was a good sign, but in the same breath it going down isn't nexessarily bad.. Hcg fluctuates throughout the day and if she's been drinking loads of water in this warm weather that could have diluted her urine.. As the others have said brown blood generally indicates older blood so try not to panic but I know that's impossible.. For your peace of mind ring the Early Pregnancy Unit at your hospital.. It seems to be luck of the draw but the midwives and doctors at my local one couldn't have been more helpful and sympathetic.. Sincerely wishing all the best for you and your wife, stay calm for her xx

 

[harveyshammers]

Thanks for the replies all, the comments are really appreciated.

Quick update. So we had more brown/very dark red blood (with clots, if you moved it around apparently it was a little redder) on Saturday through the day. It was very dark and covered a fair bit of a pad.

I started to resign myself to the worst news but after a while the brown blood/clots started to stop and slow down over Saturday and now my wife hardly has anything (maybe a tiny bit, some small clots) - Sunday and today (so far). We also tested another Clear Blue on Saturday evening and it came back to 3+.

She feels ok, had some cramps last night but nothing major. Her breasts have started to ache/hurt again and she's started to have bad headaches and feels a bit sick in the morning (again, nothing major but still).

We called the EPU and they were really good. Said that was it was brown/very dark blood it should be old and nothing much to worry about - apparently it is very normal? She said we were more than welcome to come in if worried or go to Doctors on Tuesday/Wednesday if still concerned.

Unsure what to do now seeing as the bleeding as stopped (so far) and the symptoms have returned. Any advice is appreciated the first appointment with the midwife is next week Wednesday.

Thanks again all!

 

[SiameseCatLady]

Hiya.
To be honest, it's good that bleeding has stopped, but I would go in to the EPU anyway. I am surprised, as well, that if you told them she had clots, they said to see how it goes. For your peace of mind, I really would go in. Your poor wife has had cramps and bleeding... Go and get checked out. It will make you feel a lot better. Good luck. Xxx

 

[harveyshammers]

Thanks for the reply.

The bleeding has pretty much stopped, hardly anything now (she said it was lighter the other day as it was mixed in with discharge). Still a few tiny clots but nothing major. The cramping is across the front of the stomach and hips, she's not mentioned it coming back over the last few days either. Do you really think this is something to seriously worry about? The only reason I ask is because my wife seems pretty unconcerned by it all and the person at the EPU also seemed pretty fine about the situation as well. From the majority of replies I've read on here as well suggests its pretty normal.

 

[Rhiandell]

I really don't think you should worry Harvey. Again, brown blood is normal and can appear for any number of reasons. If you talked to the EPU and they said not to worry then I would listen to them. I know all things can be scary and a source of worry when it's all new, but remember that even though you might read about a lot of horror stories here, the vast majority of pregnancies all go according to plan.

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[SiameseCatLady]

Well, I am not a professional. I don't know that it is something to worry about hugely. I do just think that you seem quite concerned and having had a miscarriage, I would feel more comfortable knowing that I had been scanned and looked at. I am definitely not saying that I think there's something wrong. It's just that my EPU said if I had clots to go in to see them. I guess differing advice is giving to be everywhere.
I am really sorry if I have made you panic more than you need to. I am hoping, for you, that all is well. Xx

 

[harveyshammers]

Evening everyone!

So I've got an update for you all.

My wife hasn't really had any symptoms recently - sore breasts only lightly and no morning sickness. I was still worrying after the brown blood last week and then yesterday she told me that she had bright red spotting followed by a more red blood (about a periods worth). Straight away we went to the local EPU and spoke to (I'm assuming) a midwife. She asked a number of questions, felt the stomach of my wife and did a few tests. She couldn't say one way or another and booked us in for a scan the next day (today).

Went into the scan, got took through and the person doing the scan asked a number of questions - basically she confirmed my wife had a heart shaped womb (she thought it could be twins first!) but said this was nothing to worry about. Anyway, cut a long story short she told us we had a embryo and it was attached to a yolk sac, all in the right place. She also showed us the pulsing of the heart which was amazing! She measured the baby at approximately 6 weeks and 1/2 days, though I think we're at 7 due to the conceived dates - is this normal? Could she be in fact 6 weeks and 1/2 days and it just took a few days? She said obviously this was just a snap shot of the pregnancy now but everything looked normal and nothing to be concerned about to date.

Anyway we left the EPU on a high and continued on our day. This evening my wife has had some more brown blood followed by more fresh blood - not a periods worth but she can feel more coming according to her. Of course with the scan being today I'm trying to stay positive but I can't help but worry - any thoughts on this? Is there a point where we should go into EPU again or do we just leave it? No pain as of yet and no symptoms.

Thanks again for all of the kind words and support. We've got our first midwife appointment tomorrow and will mention everything to her as well.

 

[Maaaaaac]

First of all huge congratulations to you both!

The internal scan they do can cause sone discomfort and slight bleeding, its usually blood that has been shaken loose rather than fresh blood so give it a day or two after scan then contact them again if there is still bleed. It is also normal for dates to be off as the foetus is that small there is room for error, the dating scan is usually much more accurate. Also conception could be a day or two later than expected.

Again huge congratulations hope all goes well x