Gory question about miscarriage (be warned)

[moss]

I don't really know where to put this. I don't want to put it in the coping with miscarriage because it feels insensitive, but it is something that nags at me sometimes. This is kind of detailed, so sorry to anyone that it disturbs.

I have PCOs so I have very irregular periods and sometimes they are extremely heavy. About five years ago I had what I assumed was an extremely rare period (they were only about twice a year back then). This was just before I found out about the PCOs. Anyway, it was very heavy, and had a strange, pretty big clot. Here comes the gross part... It was grey with red spots. I went to my GP sometime afterward and she told me I have PCOs, but she kind of brushed off the clot thing. Ever since then I occassionally wonder if it was an early miscarriage, but part of me almost didn't want to know. I don't know what it would look like, and pain and heavy bleeding were common for me, so that wouldn't have made a difference.

Does anyone know if it ever looks like that? Now that I definitely know I am pregnant, I realise I need to know if that was a miscarriage. At least I made it to the second trimester, but this is now bothering me more than ever. I am going to talk to my midwife when I finally see her, but it is really bothering me right now.

Sorry again for the gory details.

 

[littlepip]

Firstly congrats on ure pregnancy

I had a miscarriage in may. I went to the toilet on sunday and was a spot of blood. then i carryed on spotting so went to a&e and they booked me an early scan. it was only really like spotting and also had a tiny tiny clot. when i had the scan on the wednesday it showed the baby had stopped growing at 5 weeks but i should have been 10 weeks. that afternoon i got HURRENDOUS period pains! i was doubled over in pain and couldnt sit still cos it hurt so much and this lasted a good 2-3 hours. then i woke at 6am the next morning wiht it again and DEMANDED to go to the hospital for a d&c and we got there and i got out of the car and the chair was COVERED in blood. my jeans were soaked as well and i had to walk to a&e with it all over my jeans. then they made me walk to the other side of the hospital to gynae and when i took my jeans off and my underwear there was loooooads of clots and i sat down to go to the toilet and something slid out which i can only imagine was the bag or something but it was like a huuuge clot and there was blood everywhere. sorry if TMI but just wanted to answer ure question.

 

[moss]

Don't apologise! And thank you for sharing it with me... I guess I really need to talk to my midwife, but I am getting impatient and I keep feeling minor pains that remind me of it. I know I don't need to be worried about the feelings I am having now, but I just wish I could know about that other time. I didn't have an absolutely enormous clot, but it was pretty big... It could have just been a lot earlier. Being pretty much paralyzed by pain was kind of normal back then and would be so bad sometimes that I would feel sick and feverish. I may never know, I guess, but if it changes the way they treat me now, I need to try to figure it out!

 

[NickyB]

Sorry for butting in on 2nd tri, my M/C started like a period, but the actual M/C was very painful and I lost a lot of blodd, I could see it running out of me. I lost some small clots, some very large clots, some looked like liver or kidneys from the butcher or something.

I'm sure everyone's different though.

Sorry to be so gory, but at least the title has a warning!

 

[moss]

I'm sorry. I also meant to say that I am sorry you had to go through that. That is for both of you. I am pretty out of it and at work typing between people barging in my office without knocking!

I think I might never know what that was. I am trying to convince myself to believe it was something else, but I can't think of anything that sounds realistic enough.

 

[littlepip]

Look on the positive side you have a beautiful baby on the way I always think about the baby i lost tho. It would have been due on xmas day so would be a month old by now but im looking forward to the one i will have very soon

 

[moss]

You're right. And I can't wait! I think part of me will always be bothered by what ever that was, though. I wish I could just erase it from my memory. Congratulations to you... with just a month left! You must be excited now!

 

[Suzie and Faith]

Hey, I had a similar experience where I thought I might be pregnant. I did a test, it was a faint positive. Then a couple of days later i got my period - or what I thought was my period. I passed a lot of blood and was in a lot of pain.
At the time I put it down to a false test - or my eyes seeing things!
And just an awful period.

I only starting thinking it may have been a miscarriage when i experienced the same 'i feel pregant' feelings.

It's hard not knowing but try and concentrate on your baby and now.

Have some

 

[littlepip]

You're right. And I can't wait! I think part of me will always be bothered by what ever that was, though. I wish I could just erase it from my memory. Congratulations to you... with just a month left! You must be excited now!

Yeh i am there's always light at the end of the tunnel

 

[Hazel]

Hi Moss

I have PCOs also and had a similar thing a few years ago. Hubby and I were on holiday and we'd been having a good night when all of a sudden blood was gushing out of me. I didn't have any pains and just assumed it was a very rare period as I had recently lost 2 stone. this is the first time I've been pregnant and had to have an emergency scan at 7 weeks because of a threatened m/c and the blood loss was exactly the same. I mentioned it to the m/w when I had the scan and she said it might of been but no way of knowing. The weird thing about it was the fact I asked my husband if we could start trying for a baby while we were on that holiday!

 

[moss]

That's really strange that you had the same thing. I don't know if this exists, but always try to tell myself that it was some of the cysts shedding all at once since it was spotted the way it was. I don't even know if that is possible but thinking it is that is more pleasant than the other possibility.

 

[Penstraze]

I had alot of pregnancy symptoms a couple of years back but BFN on pregnancy tests, at first the doctors were sure I was pregnant but testing too early but a few weeks went by and still BFN then I had a really heavy bleed thats was pretty painful and had loads of clots and all the symptoms went away as soon as I started bleeding, one doctor said it looked like I may have been pregnant but wasnt now so move on, but after that my hormones went mad and couldnt take the pill any more, so will never be sure if that was a miscarrage and triggered my hormone problems or if it was just hormone problems.

I will get to my point, when I mentioned this to my midwife I dont think she even wrote it on my notes because there was no certainty it was a m/c or not it has no effect on my treatment with this pregnancy. From your post what you seem to be worried about is how it will effect this pregnancy if it were a miscarrage or if you should be able to tell midwife for definate if you had a m/c but unfortunately its one of those things you'll just never know for sure and probably always wonder about but should have no effect what so ever on this pregnancy or the care your given. I would mention it to midwife for your own piece of mind but dont be suprised or upset if she dismisses it as irrelevent to this pregnancy like mine did.

 

[kalia]

I've had a few blot clots in my womb. The first time I went to the doctors with it - it was like a slice of chicken fillet but bright red. He said it was either a m/c or a blot clot. I knew it wasn't a m/c (nor was it on the other occassions) but I would guess that that means the clot from a miscarraige would be bright red, not grey with red bits. I did once study one in detail and it was red all through, not just coated in blood.
Sorry for TMI!
I hope this helps

 

[moss]

My medical books say miscarried fetal tissue can be red, pink or grey. So it didn't help me. It didn't show photos and if you do Google searches you get a lot of pro-life photos, and they aren't pleasant so I wouldn't recommend them to a pregnant woman.

It is true I will probably never know, but PCOs definitely change the way your hormones work in and outside of pregnancy, so I am hoping that when I tell my midwife she at least decides to check my hormone levels to be certain they are where they should be. PCOs can put you at a higher risk of miscarriage, so it is just a simple blood test she can do to help put my (and others with similar situations) minds at ease.

 

[Penstraze]

My medical books say miscarried fetal tissue can be red, pink or grey. So it didn't help me. It didn't show photos and if you do Google searches you get a lot of pro-life photos, and they aren't pleasant so I wouldn't recommend them to a pregnant woman.

It is true I will probably never know, but PCOs definitely change the way your hormones work in and outside of pregnancy, so I am hoping that when I tell my midwife she at least decides to check my hormone levels to be certain they are where they should be. PCOs can put you at a higher risk of miscarriage, so it is just a simple blood test she can do to help put my (and others with similar situations) minds at ease.

If theres something specific you want her to do i.e. check your hormone levels be sure to ask her if she could to put your mind at rest rather then waiting for her to offer the tests sometimes she may not automatically think to offer it to you but if you ask and she thinks it will put your mind at rest which would obviously be beter for the baby she is more likely to. Good luck, when are you seeing the midwife next?

 

[moss]

I have my first appointment with the midwife on the 12th. I have tons of questions and hope I don't overwhelm her because I didn't ask anything in my scan. I couldn't get words out because I was shell shocked from the panic I was feeling that there wouldn't be a baby there, and then that there wouldn't be a heartbeat. It took me at least an hour to fully compose myself afterwards... Actually, my husband spilling a glass of pepsi on my lap helped me.

 

[Penstraze]

Hope it goes well! Im sure you wont over whelm her thats what they're there for, I read its a good idea to jot down all the questions you want to ask and take the list in with you so you dont forget them. I thought I'd be fine without a list but when she asked if I had any questions I couldnt think of a single one then afterwards was kicking myself for not asking her loads of different things!

I know what you mean about the worry and being overwhelmed at the scan, I had a dating scan on friday, was so scared there would be nothing there and then just so relieved when she showed us the heartbeat felt in a world of my own for rest of the day!

 

[moss]

I know! I was expecting to burst into tears and be overwhelmed with emotion in my first scan, but I was just frozen. It wasn't until the next morning that I burst into tears when I woke up!

 

[DaisyRose]

Hi,

Congratulations on your pregnancy.

I had a miscarriage last summer at just over 6 weeks and to be honest, it was like a very heavy painful period! I did have clots, mostly jelly-like and kind of liver coloured but I'm very glad to say, I didn't see anything that looked remotely like a baby. I have read that early miscarried babies are sometimes re-absorbed by the body and it is just the remaining sac that comes out - I hope that is what happened in my case but I guess I will never know.

It is really tough not knowing what and why - I tortured myself for months; I also had a suspected chemical pregnancy almost 2 years ago but of course will never know for sure. However, I think the only thing one can do is look forward, and try to be positive. I will never forget the miscarriage I had, and will really regard it as my 3rd child, but it does get easier.

Really hope this one goes well for you.

 

[kalia]

Ask the midwife all of your questions - I'm sure she'll be happy to answer them. But do write them down or you will forget. Also, write down the answers or you might forget those too, I did