19 replies to this topic

[prarie_faerie]

As title says, I am bleeding after concieiving via a FET and am really worried. I had light pinkish spotting and cramping at 5 weeks, doctor said this was normal and I had more bloodwork that showed hcg levels were rising and good (just over 6000). So I was told dont worry about it and that they would see me in person at week 9 for first check up and ultrasound. Now, a week later I am bleeding again with cramping, heavier this time with some clots and cramps. Colour is bright red. My clinic does not take calls over the weekend so I could only leave them a message. I have no fever and the cramping is only minor (less than period cramps). I'm really scared and I really wish I could speak with a nurse or doctor at my clinic, but will have to wait a few days until they open again.
My partner is telling me he is sure everything is fine as he has read that bleeding in early pregnancy is common and especially true in ivf pregnancies. But I'm understandably scared. Should I go to an emergency - if I did what can they even do for me?
Has anyone else experienced bleeding in ivf pregnancy and did you miscarry or was it okay?
Thanks for taking the time to read this and for your responses, dont really know what to do with myself right now

[DorothyandToto]

I had bright red bleeding with clots at 6 weeks and bright red bleeding again at 8 weeks. I am currently 11w2d and everything is good so far. Mine was a FET as well.
You may have a small sub-chorionic hemorrhage (which is what I had) and my doctor said she sees them in almost all IVF/FET pregnancies as the embryos are artificially shot up into the uterus...not a gentle connection like a natural pregnancy implanting.

I know its hard not to worry. My doctor said as long as it wasnt as heavy as my period and I wasnt filling up a pad in an hour to try and relax. Try to put yourself on pelvic rest until you can talk to your doctor. Feet up, no lifting/straining.

If you start bleeding like a period or get severe cramps and/or fever...obviously head to the ER.

My doctor told me when I bled the first time and they found the SCH that I would probably bleed again.

Good luck!

Editing to add that the ER really cant do anything to stop a miscarriage, but I dont think thats what is going on with you.

[KDP]

I had significant cramping and a very large gush of bright red blood with large clots at about 7 weeks of my first IVF pregnancy. I was convinced I had miscarried. I went into the doctor the next morning and they sent me to emergency for an ultrasound. Emergency sent me to the early gestation clinic at the hospital. They did a quick check and an ultrasound and confirmed it was a SCH (subchorionic hematoma). Apparently they are common in all pregnancies and very common in IVF pregnancies for some reason. The stress of not knowing is horrible, so if you’re close to a hospital, I’d go and get it checked out. I hope it turns out to be nothing!

[Graceland]

I had a large amount of bright red bleeding with cramping when I was 6w0d pregnant after an FET. It was on a Saturday morning, and my clinic was in a different city than where I lived, so I went to the emergency room. They ran blood work and gave me an ultrasound. I was happy to learn that my HCG levels were very high (40,000+) and we were able to see 2 gestational sacs: I was pregnant with twins! Because it was so early, it was still a little nervewracking because there were no heartbeats just yet. So we scheduled a follow-up ultrasound with our clinic at 6w6d where we saw two beautiful heartbeats. My daughters are now two years old. Hang in there. There are definitely positive outcomes with bleeding/cramping. Oh, and we never found a reason for the bleeding. They never saw a SCH on ultrasound.

[returnable]

As title says, I am bleeding after concieiving via a FET and am really worried. I had light pinkish spotting and cramping at 5 weeks, doctor said this was normal and I had more bloodwork that showed hcg levels were rising and good (just over 6000). So I was told dont worry about it and that they would see me in person at week 9 for first check up and ultrasound. Now, a week later I am bleeding again with cramping, heavier this time with some clots and cramps. Colour is bright red. My clinic does not take calls over the weekend so I could only leave them a message. I have no fever and the cramping is only minor (less than period cramps). I'm really scared and I really wish I could speak with a nurse or doctor at my clinic, but will have to wait a few days until they open again.
My partner is telling me he is sure everything is fine as he has read that bleeding in early pregnancy is common and especially true in ivf pregnancies. But I'm understandably scared. Should I go to an emergency - if I did what can they even do for me?
Has anyone else experienced bleeding in ivf pregnancy and did you miscarry or was it okay?
Thanks for taking the time to read this and for your responses, dont really know what to do with myself right now

 

I also had a very similar experience. I think maybe even around week 10 or 12 I lost so much blood; woke up with the bed soaked and passed fist sized clumps in the toilet that we were sure we lost the baby. I mean how can someone lose so much blood and the baby be okay? But like others have said I had a subchorionic hematoma (SCH). This baby is now almost a year old.

 

Even if you go to emerg there is NOTHING they can do for you and from my experience you are the lowest priority there so you will wait a very very long time. The only thing is that they can do an ultrasound when they eventually get to you to see the baby. There is nothing you can do with SCH, and if you are to miscarry, there is also nothing they can do to prevent it. After 20 weeks of pregnancy if this happens you can go to labour and delivery emergency and THEN they can possibly do something. Until then, it's unfortunately out of your hands. Oh and rest doesn't help SCH.

[DorothyandToto]

I was actually told pelvic rest by my doctor for my SCH, so apparently there are differing opinions in the medical community. My friend had an SCH and was told pelvic rest by her OB as well who is a completely different doctor to mine.

I didnt suggest pelvic rest merely from reading or a wives tale...it was from a medical doctor.

[returnable]

I was actually told pelvic rest by my doctor for my SCH, so apparently there are differing opinions in the medical community. My friend had an SCH and was told pelvic rest by her OB as well who is a completely different doctor to mine.

I didnt suggest pelvic rest merely from reading or a wives tale...it was from a medical doctor.

 

Sorry had't seen that comment from you and wasn't trying to critique. I just made the comment from what I had been told last year.

[Cotton]

I had a SCH that never bled and was told "modified bedrest" and "pelvic rest" by the RE. I think the point of pelvic rest is to protect your heart in case you lose the pregnancy so you won't be left wondering if you could have done something to prevent it.

 

https://www.aafp.org...0215/p1080.html

 

This says you should be able to see an intrauterine pregnancy at your beta.

[SynchroGirl]

I also had a SCH that never bled, I was told to take it easy and not to freak out if I had bleeding. By week 9 it was no longer seen on ultrasound. Seems it is quite common so hopefully that is what you are experiencing. Sending good thoughts your way.

[prarie_faerie]

Thank you all so much for your responses, it has calmed me greatly to know that this is common and that everything may still be fine! A nurse got back to me today thankfully and said she cant get ahold of my doctor but did send me for more bloodwork. Waiting now on hcg results. But bleeding has stopped and so has cramping and today I have felt very nauseous so I am hoping these are all good signs and that my bean is still there and alright.
At work yesterday when I saw a large amount of bright red blood and clots I was so shocked and immediately thought "oh my god I'm having a miscarriage" and was devastated but now after hearing from you all and because it has stopped, I have a lot of hope that things are alright.

[yaenaSK]

Prairie_Faerie - first of all, I am SO excited to hear your FET was a success!

 

I have had bleeding twice now, with pregnancies following a FET. I can't sugarcoat the first instance - I did miscarry eventually. But the bleeding the signified the miscarriage was about to happen wasn't bright red, or pink - it was really deep red (kind of like day 1 or 2 of your period, when there is a heavy flow). I should also add that they discovered I had a high risk condition with my 7 week ultrasound, so I think that makes that particular experience a little difference - and my betas, while acceptable, were on the lower end of acceptable. There were many signs for that miscarriage, other than spotting or bleeding.

 

This pregnancy I had bleeding again. Mostly pinkish, but there was an instance of bright red (bright, but not deep or dark). The spotting was pretty frequent, and I had an extra beta done (which still wasn't as high as yours!), as well as an additional ultrasound (did them at 7, 9 and 11 weeks). I am still very happily pregnant this time at 13.5 weeks, and all of the spotting has stopped. I am assuming you are still on the progesterone supplements? That seems to have been the cause this time around, as they found no evidence of a SCH. I found that Endometrin irritated my cervix, causing the spotting and bleeding, and often I had a little cramping with it. It was after I stopped taking it (at about 9 1/2 weeks) that my bleeding stopped.

 

I did start trying to rest more, whenever the spotting began. It was often also after long periods on my feet, or after lifting too much. So if I started to spot, I sat down. I don't know that it did anything to help, since it kept coming back, but mentally it did a lot for me, feeling like I was listening to my body more.

[prarie_faerie]

Hey Yaena,
Thanks and congrats to you too! Yes, still on progesterone but the bleeding happened after I had missed one of my daily doses so I thought I had caused myself to miscarry for sure. Wish at this point I could rest more as my cramping seems to come back whenever I'm very active or doing heavy lifting which is required of my job.

Unfortunately I am bleeding again bright red tonight with much worse cramps. Still no word back from my clinic

[yaenaSK]

Prairie_Faerie - did you mention you had missed the dose of progesterone? I know I missed a dose of estrogen with this one, and then almost missed another and ended up taking two about 90 minutes apart. I have heard that missing doses can cause some spotting or bleeding, but please don't think you are causing yourself to miscarry! Cramping can be a result of overexertion, and from stress too - so being worried about the bleeding could definitely be contributing to the cramping.

 

I really hope they get back to you tomorrow! And better yet, that you can get in on Monday for an ultrasound. How far along are you now? 6 weeks? They should definitely be able to do one at this point (I was just over 6 1/2 when I had my "7 week" one, because of the spotting). I'm a little confused as to why they would make you wait until week 9 to begin with, but maybe it's a case of different doctors, different protocols.

[prarie_faerie]

Thank you all for your kind responses. I was so hopeful that it was SCH like most of you suggested and that things would all be fine. Unfortunately last night cramping and bleeding became progressively worse until there was little doubt in my heart that I had lost my bean. Miscarriage was confirmed this morning at an ER. Still no word back from my clinic, not sure what the next steps are or how long this will last. I was at 6.5 weeks - so early but still I felt so attached and elated.It's been a very sad weekend.
Wishing you all health and to have more luck than me xxxx
Thank you again for support, I really appreciate it especially without feeling very supported by my clinic

[DorothyandToto]

I’m so sorry Prarie! I was so hopeful for you.

[Graceland]

Im very very sorry for your loss.

[yaenaSK]

Oh Prairie - I am so sorry. I was hoping for a very different outcome for you.

 

As for what next - my experience was, they might bring you in for an appointment (just to go over things), but where you went to an ER they might not, as it might all have been covered there. (Speaking of - I really hope your ER experience was an positive as possible, under the circumstances.) Then they will send you for repeat blood work, until your hcg drops back down below 5.

 

I was cleared to try again as soon as my hcg had dropped and a natural period returned (which typically takes 4-6 weeks from the start of the bleeding - it was about 5 in my case).

 

I totally understand what you're saying about feeling connected - that was your baby Miscarriages are really devastating, but I promise some of the sting eventually goes away. Not all - you will always remember that little spark of potential and what it meant to you. If you are interested, I know a local counselor who is UNREAL - she helped me through my experiences this past year and was a lifesaver. She also went through 7 years of infertility treatments and outcomes herself, so she understands on such a deep level. If you're interested, shoot me a message and I will send you her name.

[returnable]

I am so sorry for your outcome. Be good to yourself and know that there is nothing you did wrong and nothing you could have done to change the outcome.

[prarie_faerie]

Thanks for the support everyone. Its been a hard month. Doctors say I can try again as soon as period returns, but Ive decided to wait a couple months at least as the thought of being pregnant again just makes me feel sad and I want to feel positive about it again before trying. Anyway, question for those who have been through a miscarriage: 2 weeks after miscarriage and my hcg is 20. Havent had any bleeding or cramping since until today when I have very bad cramps and horrible headache (no bleeding). Have not seen anyone/ had ultrasound or any care since an external ultrasound to confirm miscarriage at ER. Im worried something could be abnormal? I called my clinic and told them that Im in pain and asked if this was normal 2 weeks after and nurse instructed I take a Tylenol and have a hot bath?? Im not worried about pain management, more so that this isnt normal - it wouldnt be my period this early right? Especially if I still have some hcg in my system. I think its weird that no one has seen me at my clinic either to confirm the miscarriage was complete. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

[yaenaSK]

Hey Prairie - I didn't have any ultrasounds at all, after the one just before I miscarried (when they saw the heartbeat had stopped). I was asked a few questions about the "materials" (such an awful word) that I passed. After that, just the bloodwork. So long as there is a consistent drop in your hcg levels, it is a good sign. (I think I needed about 3 weeks or a little more to get under 5 - I was around 15 at the 2 week mark as well). I did have some off and on cramps, and I continued spotting until my hcg had dropped completely, which I was told was normal.

 

I just went on the theory that so long as I wasn't showing signs of infection (fever, nausea, vomiting) things were probably ok. The body really goes through hell after a miscarriage, and I have heard cramps can be pretty severe. BUT, I also think calling the clinic was smart, and if Tylenol and a warm bath doesn't ease them, you should definitely follow up.

 

(Also, I really think it is awesome you know yourself well enough to take time off before starting again. Taking care of ourselves is so important in this journey.)