[~Laurie~]

First of all, let me say that if you are at all uncomfortable answering these questions, I completely understand. I feel terrible for asking, but I just don't know anyone else to ask. Secondly, for those that do answer, thank-you so much for sharing with me. So, on to the questions....
For all of you that had spotting during your pregnancy, how much did you have? What is considered 'spotting'? What was the quality (colour, texture) of it? How long did the spotting last? Did the pregnancy turn out ok?
For those of you that had a miscarriage, what was it like? What was the pain like? How much blood? How long did you bleed for? How quickly did you notice a change in your pregnancy tests? I am trying to self-diagnose a bit here because I am confused as to whether I am miscarrying, have miscarried, or what else is going on. I'm still bleeding, but I took another test today, and it is as dark as it was the day before yesterday (yesterday's test was a little lighter than it had been), so I am confused. I am willing to take off work if it will help anything, but I can't afford to take off if I've already miscarried. Thanks again, girls. Sorry for being a nosy pain in the butt.

[Del4]

Let me see if I can remember all the q's.

With the twins, I had a normal, albeit light and short, period for the first 3 months of the pregnancy. I didn't even know I was pregnant. They are both alive and kicking at 6 years old.

With my last pregnancy, I spotted all the way up until 20 weeks. It was awful and they never found a reason for it. Sometimes it was brown, sometimes pink, others ORANGE. Yes, orange. Reicher is alive and well and doing beautifully -- he'll be 16 months on Saturday.

With the miscarriage, I was very early. I'd only known I was pregnant for a few days before I lost it. The pregnancy tests never got any darker. I started to worry then -- like they should have been changing, but they weren't. Then I started bleeding and stopping and bleeding and stopping and that went on for 2 weeks. I never had any awful cramping and it wasn't like you would imagine a m/c to be. I thought it would be sudden, extremely painful and then over..... but it wasn't like that at all. It lingered.

Anyway, I hope that helps! YAy for dark tests! lol I pray every day for a nice dark line. I really hope things are going just fine with this pregnancy.

[Christine-MA]

I'll share my input, although I can't help with everything...

I didn't spot at all in my first pregnancy. I am now though with this one, I have spotted a little bit since 9dpo (I am currently 16dpo), and I think there was only one day in there when I saw nothing. It's slight, not really even when I wipe, but I notice some on a pantiliner. It's brown and seems wet? Almost like CM? But I was never good at monitoring that! So that's what's going on now....I can't tell you if this is a viable pregnancy yet! I am hoping!

With my miscarriage...I actually didn't know until 10 weeks that there was no heartbeat. I scheduled a D&C for 2 days later but I woke up at 3am that morning with cramps. The bleeding wasn't that bad for the six hours before I went to the hospital, when I wiped it was definitely there. Maybe like a light period, with a medium time or few? But the Dr had told me that I didn't pass a lot when he did the D&C. I will say that the cramping was horrendous. I imagine it's similar to labor (because it really couldn't be any worse!). I imagine it was what contractions are like, because it was constantly aching, but every five minutes (like, on the dot) it would be very painful.

Thinking of you!

[Pitridge]

I'll do my best to answer all of your questions.
For all of you that had spotting during your pregnancy, how much did you have? Not much.What is considered 'spotting'? I had to wear a pantiliner, I could wear one all day if I wanted to, I had some when I wiped What was the quality (colour, texture) of it? It was brown, it ended up being old implantation bleeding.How long did the spotting last? It started on a friday morning and by sunday it was pretty much gone Did the pregnancy turn out ok? So far so good, 10 more weeks to go
For those of you that had a miscarriage, what was it like? Honestly I did not know I was m/c until it was too late, I think I could of done something about it if I payed more attention to the spotting that I was having and the cramps that I was getting. What was the pain like? I was having some cramps, but it wasn't that bad, it felt like AF cramps, I think the worse was after the d&c How much blood? At the begining it was a bit of spotting, it started on a wed then it stop for a day,on friday I was bleeding, not spotting. Over the course of the weekend, the bleeding got a bit heavier. It just felt like a period. Also over the weekend I was passing some small clots. How long did you bleed for? Well I went for a d&c the day after I found out that we did not have a h/b, so it was not even a week. So I started spotting on a wed and I went for the d&c on a tuesday. How quickly did you notice a change in your pregnancy tests? I didn't, once we found we were pg I did not take any more pg test.

wow i did not think that I would start crying........

[AliciaF]

My first recommendation would be to go back to the doctor. Another beta level will answer your questions and let you know if you need further testing.

Bleeding, even a lot of bleeding, in the first trimester is "normal". That's what I was told over, and over, and over again while I had it. My bleeding was due to a subchorionic hematoma. Most of the time those are benign conditions that resolve by themselves by the end of the first tri. Unfortunately, mine was severe.

But, I had heavy, red, bleeding from 5w6d on. I had ultrasound after ultrasound and Clark was always kicking away in there, oblivious to the bleeding. If I hadn't abrupted at 20 weeks, he'd be here today.

Go back to your OB, it will ease your mind. I have heard that your hcg levels drop approximately as fast as they rise so it can take a while for the hcg to get out of your system.

[Momeejenjen]

For all of you that had spotting during your pregnancy, how much did you have? With my last pregnancy I spotted a little pink tinge at 7weeks...then again at 11weeks 2 days
What is considered 'spotting'? To me spotting is bleeding that does not need a pad but maybe just a panty liner
What was the quality (colour, texture) of it?It was very very light and just tinged pink and only when I wiped
How long did the spotting last?not really a duration but just for a couple wipes and it was gone Did the pregnancy turn out ok? unfortuantly no, the second time I started spotting (same spotting from 7 weeks) I went in to the doctors and the babies heart had stopped
For those of you that had a miscarriage, what was it like? I had a natural miscarriage... after first it was like a period... I had to change my pad every couple hours... after an entire day of that type of bleeding.. I felt a gush and the bleeding had gotten so bad I just stayed in the bathroom for 3 hours... by this point my cramps had gotten horribly unbearable... they were full blown contractions... I was taking alieve and ibprofen but nothing was taking away the pain, the contractions were less than a minute apart and I was passing a lot clots... it was miserable
What was the pain like? Full blown contractions, very painful.. and the clots were large enough I could feel this passing, I would scream with some of them passing
How much blood? A lot.. I had no idea I could bleed that much, I ended up in the ER after 4 hours of non-stop heavy bleeding
How long did you bleed for? Start to finish was about a week and half
How quickly did you notice a change in your pregnancy tests? I didn't take any tests.. but when I went into the ER my HCG had dropped to 5500.. with in 2 weeks after the miscarriage my HCG levels were back to normal

I'll do my best to answer all of your questions.
For all of you that had spotting during your pregnancy, how much did you have? I have only had a little, brown spotting during my second pregnancy at around 8-9DPO, implantation bleeding.
What is considered 'spotting'? I consider it light, no flow
What was the quality (colour, texture) of it? mine was brown, and hardly any, like dried blood
How long did the spotting last? only 1-2 days off and on and very little

For those of you that had a miscarriage, what was it like? Well, when I went in for my 1st OB appt they could not find the heartbeat. They said it must have just happened because the baby's growth was on track for 9 weeks. My OB brought in another Dr to confirm. I opted to have a D&C rather than let the miscarriage happen naturally. It was not very painful but very uncomfortable and of course sad. I had pain meds but only used them the first night to sleep. I bled afterwards, like a period for a week and a half. And had my next cycle a month later.

[.H.e.a.t.h.e.r.]

For all of you that had spotting during your pregnancy, how much did you have?
with my daughter 2 incidences at 8/10 weeks, with my m/c 4 incidences before the m/c at 5w3d

What is considered 'spotting'? What was the quality (colour, texture) of it? How long did the spotting last? Did the pregnancy turn out ok?
I guess anything that isnt full bleeding? mine was watery brown , with my daughter it was just one little bit on two occasions.
with my m/c it was 4 episodes. the 4th episode never stopped and eventually turned to blood.
My daughter turned out fine.


For those of you that had a miscarriage, what was it like? What was the pain like? How much blood? How long did you bleed for?
10x more painful than labour. This was nothing like a period...I cant even believe how much pain I experienced from a 5 week miscarriage. I bled a considerable amount but never enough to be concerned. I bled for about a week and then spotted another week.


How quickly did you notice a change in your pregnancy tests?
I took a test about 4 days after the m/c to see if it was fainter and it was the darkest I'd ever seen. I took another about 5 days later and it was negative.

[klt]

For all of you that had spotting during your pregnancy, how much did you have? What is considered 'spotting'? What was the quality (colour, texture) of it? How long did the spotting last? Did the pregnancy turn out ok?

With my first pregnancy I had slight spotting. Just once, when I wiped. It was brown. It never returned. My son is almost 13 Spotting is considered light bleeding, not a heavy flow. Brown blood is old. Fresh blood tends to be red.
No spotting with my second or third pregnancies.
With my last pregnancy I spotted just short of 5 weeks. Brown (old blood) It was gone by morning. We did an u/s at 6 weeks and the baby measured exactly where it should have measured and there was a very strong heartbeat. About a week and a half later I spotted in Disney World (fun, huh?!?!) When I got back to WI we did an ultrasound and there was no longer a heartbeat. I had suspected something was wrong because most of my pregnancy symptoms were gone. The baby only measured at about 6.5 to 7 weeks.

For those of you that had a miscarriage, what was it like? What was the pain like? How much blood? How long did you bleed for?

My m/c was NOT typical. I ended up waiting about 2 1/2 weeks. The bleeding got heavier as my hormones dropped. Most women cramp TERRIBLY as they begin to pass the fetal tissue and the contents of the uterus (Yes, it's a baby, but, for this response, I'll call it fetal tissue.) There can also be a number of clots that are passed. The fetal tissue and placenta are lighter in color. The clots are dark red/purple.

I never cramped. But, without the cramping (like labor pains) the tissue was not passing. I ended up in the hospital after I hemorrhaged for over 12 hours. Very yucky. But, NOT NOT NOT typical. After the tissue was removed I bled for about another week and a half. AF started again 25 days after the m/c. Very early.

How quickly did you notice a change in your pregnancy tests?
Once a heartbeat is seen on u/s, HcG levels and pg tests aren't as accurate as the u/s, so I never tested again. And, many pregnancy tests are so sensitive to Hcg, until levels are really low, no change will be detected when a m/c is starting. Remember, tests can look lighter because of less concentrated urine... and that can happen just by drinking more fluids and not testing at the same time of day.


Man, I feel sooooo bad for you having to worry. As you can see, spotting can be really normal. And, you may have nothing to worry about. Call your doc. See what he/she says. They can tell you so much more than trying to guess and making yourself sick with worry.

Hang in there. I hope everything turns out. KUP and I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Hopefully this was helpful?
Kelty

[~Laurie~]

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate your answers. I'm so sorry I made you cry, Patty. That's exactly what I was afraid of doing. From your answers I've learned that I am mostly spotting (no real flow), and that the results of that vary. I have been spotting since Friday, I haven't really passed any clots, and the colour varies. Most of the time, it is watery brown when I wipe. Sometimes it is a deep maroon colour (that's when it's heavier), and twice it was bright red (both times were only when I wiped). I could wear the same panty liner all day if I wanted to. I don't have any cramping. I will have a heavy bit of spotting, then nothing but when I wipe for almost a day. I really don't know what to think. I admit, I am dissappointed to learn that my positive tests don't mean anything. I am so pessimistic, largely because I never had any spotting during my previous two pregnancies, but I keep hoping that everything will be OK. I am trying to decide if I am just setting myself up for pain. Anyway, thanks again for all of your input. I know they were terribly invasive questions for me to ask, and I am so grateful that you shared with me. I've still got my fingers crossed.

[Pitridge]

I think it made me sad because I haven't thought about it (that whole week or so of pain) in a long time, I just tried to focus on this pg.

[..Red..]

First of all, let me say that if you are at all uncomfortable answering these questions, I completely understand. I feel terrible for asking, but I just don't know anyone else to ask. Secondly, for those that do answer, thank-you so much for sharing with me. So, on to the questions....
For all of you that had spotting during your pregnancy, how much did you have? What is considered 'spotting'? What was the quality (colour, texture) of it? How long did the spotting last? Did the pregnancy turn out ok?[/b]

I did have some spotting near 6 weeks. This was more scary than anything, and it was like a heavy spotting. Most of the time it was dark, like the end of AF, but sometimes it was bright red, especially right at the beginning. Most of the time the heavy part was during a BM. This lasted for about 2.5 straight weeks. It ended right before Thanksgiving. This was more or less considered normal and was nothing to do with the subsequent stillbirth. I didn't have any pain except for the normal pulling and stretching.

For those of you that had a miscarriage, what was it like? What was the pain like? How much blood? How long did you bleed for? How quickly did you notice a change in your pregnancy tests? I am trying to self-diagnose a bit here because I am confused as to whether I am miscarrying, have miscarried, or what else is going on. I'm still bleeding, but I took another test today, and it is as dark as it was the day before yesterday (yesterday's test was a little lighter than it had been), so I am confused. I am willing to take off work if it will help anything, but I can't afford to take off if I've already miscarried. Thanks again, girls. Sorry for being a nosy pain in the butt.[/b]

I didn't miscarriage normally. I was induced at 24 weeks. The pain was unbearable and ended up with an epidural. I think part of this though was the grief more than the pain. However I would suggest going to see the dr. I know I rushed to urgent care when I started bleeding. I was a wreck. It definitely helped ease my fears. I didn't think to POAS however because I didn't think that it would tell me anything. Of course I know now! I'm going to be an addict.

[..Jessica..]

What was it like? Hmmm..it was the worst feeling ever, felt like my heart and stomach were being ripped out by a man 300lbs using both hands.

What was the pain like? The worst feeling in the world, horrible horrible cramping. I was bawling I was in so much pain.

How much blood? A lot, I changed the pad every 2-3 hours.

How long did you bleed for? 4 days, it got lighter as the days went by.

How quickly did you notice a change in your pregnancy tests? I didn't test after I began bleeding. My doc did a hCG draw the day I started bleeding (Friday), and called me on the Monday to tell me that the numbers had dropped and I had a miscarriage.

If you're going through a miscarriage, I'm truly sorry Laurie. I am praying you are not.

[kellyanne]

Well, my experience might not help much, because it is still kinda confusing to me. But I'll share anyhow. I wrote before about my first pg with DD, I bled enough that I wrote it off as AF and didn't find out about her for another month. I also spotted very lightly several times throughout that next month....now I think, how did I not figure out something was up? but I'm also very thankful for my obliviousness, I would have been so stressed had I known. I had no problems with the pregnancy after I found out at 8 weeks. My first two m/c's were fairly early on (5 weeks or less) and it was just like AF came late. There wasn't any more pain than usual, my tests got lighter immediately, and the second line was gone within a day or two of bleeding. My next pregnancy started out "normally" (haha) for me until I started spotting a small amount of brown blood at about 6 weeks. At that point u/s told me that the baby was behind, etc, but the pregnancy continued for another 4 weeks with spotting on and off and always measuring way behind. When I was told the hb had stopped, I elected for a d&c. This pregnancy (still blows my mind to think that this is my 5th pregnancy) has gone smoothly except for 2 days of bright red spotting (a very small amount) at 10 1/2 weeks. What you are describing sounds similar to my spotting with this current pregnancy. I had an emergency u/s and everything was fine and has been since.

I'm sorry that you are having to play the "wait and see" game Laurie, I've been there and I know how much it sucks. I agree with Alicia, some betas could probably shed some light on the situation for you. I really hope that your spotting stops and your lines keeping getting darker!

[Mommy0305]

Sorry, I guess I'm late in adding this.

I had spotting very early, around 6 weeks with my 3rd pregnancy - it was light pink and only on the tissue when I wiped after sex or a bm, and it would go away after that. I had a trans vaginal ultra sound at all most 7 weeks, and there were two sacks, one with a baby that had a heart beat and an empty one - so I had a vanishing twin - that's what my doc said caused the spotting.

I later lost the other baby (as you see) many weeks later due to an chromosome abnormality. The baby's heart stopped beating at 13 weeks, we discovered it when I went in for my 14 weeks check up.

[dee68]

with my m/c I spotted for the the ENTIRE time I was pregnant.....I found out at 7 weeks there was no development and had a natural m/c @ 11.5 weeks....with a lot of blood....and terrible pains and contractions.

I bled for about 2 weeks afterwards...

[huckleberry312]

For all of you that had spotting during your pregnancy, how much did you have?
I had spotting with 4 out of 6 of my pregnancies.

What is considered 'spotting'? What was the quality (colour, texture) of it? How long did the spotting last? Did the pregnancy turn out ok?
My spotting varied from bright red to brown. It's texture varied sometimes it was blood like a cut and other times it was mixed with cervical mucous. Only once did it not turn out ok.

For those of you that had a miscarriage, what was it like?
I knew immediately by the gush of fluid and blood I was miscarrying.

What was the pain like?
I had contractions. It was just like giving birth but in a tolerable pain amount. It stopped once I passed everything

How much blood? How long did you bleed for?
It was a fair amount of blood the first two days, but lightened to that of a period after that.

How quickly did you notice a change in your pregnancy tests?
3 days prior to the M/C I had a blood test and my hcg was 29000 at 9 weeks. It didn't drop until I actually miscarried. Once I passed the baby within days. I had egg white cm and ovulated again 17 days after the miscarriage.

[mom2njia]

For all of you that had spotting during your pregnancy, how much did you have? I spotted with 2 of my healthy pregnancies and it was just there for a day or so when I wipedand it was red. With my 3 losses I didnt even spot til I was losing it. And with my blighted ovum it was faint orange spotting
For those of you that had a miscarriage, what was it like? Kia was a birth as I was almost 5 months so that was different. The next loss I was only 5 weeks and I knew it was coming from fading test lines. It was more painful than I thought it would be. Felt like bad cramps and then for like an hour or so it was really painful. My last loss (4th one) was very much the same only I was about 6 weeks (i think its sad I get them confused). The blighted ovum at 9 wks ended in a d&c.
How much blood? Like a very heavy clotty period (tmi) and I passed tissue and a tiny sac with both, that followed the painful part.
How long did you bleed for? 7-10days
How quickly did you notice a change in your pregnancy tests? the tests with the 2nd and 4th turned negative before I started bleeding.

[~Laurie~]

I meant to respond to Alicia's suggestion of getting betas done, but I am so distracted lately. I had betas done on Monday, and they were 3950. I have to go in the morning and have more blood drawn. She wants me to go every three days. Honestly, I want this baby so much, but I just can't see this working out. How can you bleed so much like this but still have a successful pregnancy?

[AliciaF]

I meant to respond to Alicia's suggestion of getting betas done, but I am so distracted lately. I had betas done on Monday, and they were 3950. I have to go in the morning and have more blood drawn. She wants me to go every three days. Honestly, I want this baby so much, but I just can't see this working out. How can you bleed so much like this but still have a successful pregnancy?[/b]

Obviously I can't say either way what is happening with you. But I bled a tremendous amount during my 3rd pregnancy and the baby was fine until the end. My bleeding was quite a bit heavier than a normal period, with clots and bright red. Baby was fine.