I’m not asking for medical advice – I’ve called my midwife hotline and am waiting for a call back. I am just asking for other experiences while I wait…
In month two I was queasy all the time but only threw up once. Now I’m 14 weeks along. Yesterday, after eating a salad with vinegary salad dressing, I felt very sick and threw it all up. I noticed at the end that I was spitting some blood out too – like (sorry TMI) the extra spitting you do to make sure that everything unwelcome in your mouth comes out – it was pinkish, bloody.
This morning, I ate my usual Kashi Go Lean with bananas and skim milk. I used to feel nauseated after eating, but this time I felt really sick, and ended up throwing it up. But the whole thing was pink, as if I had eaten strawberries. I ate nothing red or pink. So I think it was blood mixed in. Did this ever happen to you or someone you know? Blood in the “morning sickness” vomit?
Never happened to me personally, never happened to anyone I knew. I’m glad you have a call in to your midwife. Hopefully, it’s nothing, but I think you’re wise to get it checked out.
Whew, she just called me back and she didn’t sound that concerned. She said it’s likely I didn’t have very much in my stomach (although I did have that whole bowl of cereal) and so acid was irritating the lining of my esophagus and so there was probably blood from that. Thanks for your concern. I feel better now – I ate a small frozen pizza and some tortilla chips – yummy, salty, and somewhat greasy (it was Weight Watchers so not too terribly awful) – and they have stayed down fine.
I’m glad you’re doing better. Have you had bananas or other fruit on an empty stomach before? They really used to bother me. I could eat them later in the day, but not first thing.
But again, good to hear it’s probably not much to worry about.
My wife did, twice I believe. Kind of scary and nerve wracking, but it wasn’t anything too serious (I can’t remember what the doctor said the cause was).
Both mother and child are doing fine (BabyScruffy is almost 11 months now).
You mid-wife is not a physician. She isn’t expected to respond to non-pregnancy medical issues. See a doctor. Throwing up blood isn’t normal, nor is it pregnancy related.
Being pregnant doesn’t mean you can’t have an unrelated illness.
Call your doctor immediately. Throwing up blood is not normal in any situation, and a diagnosis from someone who isn’t a doctor, over the telephone, is just not good enough.
If my wife were throwing up blood, I would insist that she go see a doctor immediately. I can’t emphasize enough how strongly I feel that you should go to a doctor immediately.
If my girlfriend threw up blood I’d be calling 911 so fast that those buttons would never work on my phone again…Please call someone, go somewhere, or do something.
Is she a lay midwife, a certified nurse midwife or something else? That makes a huge difference - a certified nurse midwife has essentially all the training an OB does, but she doesn’t have to get training in other unrelated medical fields like orthopedics and geriatrics. It’s really a fabulous way of training, IMHO. If she’s a certified nurse midwife, I wouldn’t worry.
If she’s a lay midwife, meaning she doesn’t have medical training from a medical school, then I’d get a physician’s opinion. Chances are still good that everything’s fine, but there’s always room for doubt, and you’ll hate yourself if you didn’t get a trained opinion and something really is wrong.
That being said, bleeding after a vigorous attack of vomiting is not terribly uncommon, and since pregnancy is a condition where we spend a lot of time throwing up, it’s not surprising that we’re more likely to vomit blood during pregnancy than pretty much any other time in our lives. Generally what happens is a small blood vessel is broken by the force of our heaves, and some blood leaks out. A little bit of blood can look like a whole lot of blood.
A certified nurse midwife does not have anywhere near the same training as an OB. AnCNW is usually a masters program (2 years) or a certificate program (1 year) after someone already has an RN. None of the information I’ve read discusses any sort of internship, but I’m not sure about that. They can not proscribe medicine in all states. They are well trained for what they do, but not for all medical conditions. And I certainly won’t believe any diagnoses without an examination from anyone, not matter what their training.
Ack, I haven’t been back to this thread and was surprised to see all those responses about seeing a doctor. She is a certified nurse midwife. The birthing center is on a floor of the UCSD hospital. She really was not concerned at all. I mean, I THINK it was blood…but it wasn’t a lot…unless, could a Coke have turned my vomit pink? I just thought of that. I think I might have had a Coke too…(I am off caffeine except every once in awhile…) I didn’t throw up today and felt fine all day…I’ll take everyone’s comments into consideration. Thank you for the concern.
I know that Whynot prefaced this by saying that I should check with a doctor, but the following seemed to be the midwife’s opinion: That being said, bleeding after a vigorous attack of vomiting is not terribly uncommon, and since pregnancy is a condition where we spend a lot of time throwing up, it’s not surprising that we’re more likely to vomit blood during pregnancy than pretty much any other time in our lives. Generally what happens is a small blood vessel is broken by the force of our heaves, and some blood leaks out. A little bit of blood can look like a whole lot of blood.
No, throwing up blood from retching is also dangerous. See a doctor. I worked at UCSD for several years and I’m very disappointed in the cavalier attitude of your nurse mid-wife. I thought they had higher standards.
There are many disorders that can start as vomiting a little blood. Be safe, not sorry.
Also, not everyone who is pregnant throws up. I never did, in four pregnancies. So I don’t think it’s something that should be taken as a given and not worthy of concern.
I feel better now – I ate a small frozen pizza and some tortilla chips – yummy, salty, and somewhat greasy (it was Weight Watchers so not too terribly awful) – and they have stayed down fine.