Miscarriage question

Factual Questions
1

My wife and I found out we were pregnant last Sunday and confirmed it on Thursday with the doctor. On Friday we went to the doctor because my wife had some slight spotting and had a little blood in her urine. Our Ob-Gyn put her on 24 hours of bedrest. She woke up at three in the morning and rushed to the bathroom and had blood that resembled her period.

Everything I read says this could be normal, as well as the cramping she feels (like it is her period). Also, since she is only 5 weeks pregnant, all of the MD sites say if she did have a miscarriage, it would not resemble this.

I KNOW THERE IS NO MEDICAL ADVICE given on this board. I AM NOT ASKING FOR MEDICAL ADVICE. I am just wondering if anyone can tell me what a miscarriage would look like / or feel like at 5 weeks of pregnancy.

2

This is not medical advice. I am merely sharing my personal experience.

Trying not to sound indelicate here (as I have been there myself and know how emotional this is)…it would look like a giant blood clot.

I didn’t have blood in my urine but it looked like I did because when I urinated, it mixed with the blood already present from spotting. Maybe that’s what she’s experiencing too?

I can go into more detail offline if you require…

Either way, good luck to you.

3

At five weeks, the “giant blood clot” would not be large. The embryo (if there is one, many very early “miscarriages” are hormonal pregnancies with no embryo at all) is about the size of a grain of rice, and the placenta a little larger. It would basically look and feel like a heavy period. The only way to know for sure is to wait it out and then do another pregnancy test. If she is miscarrying, there’s essentially nothing you can do about it now - she’s so early on. It’s important that she see her doctor though, even if another pregnancy test comes out negative. It’s possible for not all the endometrium to come out, and she might need a D&C.

If your wife is overweight, it’s likely that she’ll continue to have bleeding throughout her pregnancy (assuming this is not a miscarriage). Generally, if the blood is brown or pale, they don’t care much. If it’s bright red, that’s not a good sign. (Says the woman who started bleeding at 14 weeks and then got bright red blood with a lot of clotting at 23 and had to have a c-section.)

4

[QUOTE=shellofmyformerself]
This is not medical advice. I am merely sharing my personal experience.
Trying not to sound indelicate here (as I have been there myself and know how emotional this is)…it would look like a giant blood clot.
I didn’t have blood in my urine but it looked like I did because when I urinated, it mixed with the blood already present from spotting. Maybe that’s what she’s experiencing too?
I can go into more detail offline if you require…
Either way, good luck to you.
[/QUOTE]

Yes, I would love to hear what you have to say.

To respond to both who took the time out to respond to me (and to anyone else who might be able to provide information (NOT MEDICAL ADVICE), my wife compared the blood last night to what her menstrual flow looks like on Day 3.

However sickening it might sound and borderline TMI, I am curious to see if there are pictures out there or DETAILED information guidelining what a miscarriage around week 5 might look like.

5

Ditto on the above.

We had a miscarriage at 8 weeks and it was basically a heavy period with a little pain.

Also, don’t underestimate the emotional pain your wife may feel if she does end up miscarrying. My own experience was that I hadn’t had enough time to become attached to the baby that might have been born so I was ok. But my wife had and, although I believe it was a type of pregnancy where there is never a viable embryo, she still sometimes talks about what might have been.

Good luck.

6

[QUOTE=FormerMarineGuy]
Yes, I would love to hear what you have to say.

To respond to both who took the time out to respond to me (and to anyone else who might be able to provide information (NOT MEDICAL ADVICE), my wife compared the blood last night to what her menstrual flow looks like on Day 3.

However sickening it might sound and borderline TMI, I am curious to see if there are pictures out there or DETAILED information guidelining what a miscarriage around week 5 might look like.
[/QUOTE]

Everything I’ve heard, read and experienced says “a heavy period”. I’ve knowingly lost a couple that early, and that’s really all it is. Cramping, bleeding, some clotting. You can’t see the embryo or the placenta. I suppose if you were to strain everything through cheesecloth, you might find it. It’s 2 mm or so long (again, if there is one) and looks, under a microscope, like this.

I’m sorry, I know you want to know. It really sucks just sitting around wondering if it’s over. I’ve been there, and it’s horrid.

7

[QUOTE=FormerMarineGuy]

However sickening it might sound and borderline TMI, I am curious to see if there are pictures out there or DETAILED information guidelining what a miscarriage around week 5 might look like.
[/QUOTE]

I can understand your desire to have an idea in advance of what might be happening, but really, you’d be best to wait for a doctor’s opinion.

What’s happening might be bad, or it could be nothing.

For info, we were told that it is relatively common for first-time mothers to have a miscarriage and that it generally has nothing to do with their ability to carry a child. Our second pregnancy went well and gave us a baby daughter who makes me smile even when she’s being a complete shit.

8

I’d like to ditto what PP have said. I have had a miscarriage at about 5 weeks (and one at 12 weeks) and also have had bleeding at about the 12 week mark that didn’t result in a miscarriage. The miscarriage bleeding was like a period…it started out as spotting, then developed into clots like a regular period. It was not bright red for me, though. For both of my miscarriages, I had contractions and severe pain, so I went to the ER for both. Many women don’t have that and can miscarry at home, but it’s wise to see a doctor, both to see if a D&C is needed and to discuss whether there could be a reason for the miscarriages other than bad luck. I miscarried because I have lupus and it was discovered that I needed to take aspirin throughout my pregnancies in order to carry to term.

Anyway, the bleeding that wasn’t a miscarriage was very spotty and stopped within a few hours. I went to the ER for that, too, and they tested the blood and determined there was no fetal tissue.

9

[QUOTE=WhyNot]
Everything I’ve heard, read and experienced says “a heavy period”. I’ve knowingly lost a couple that early, and that’s really all it is. Cramping, bleeding, some clotting. You can’t see the embryo or the placenta. I suppose if you were to strain everything through cheesecloth, you might find it. It’s 2 mm or so long (again, if there is one) and looks, under a microscope, like this.

I’m sorry, I know you want to know. It really sucks just sitting around wondering if it’s over. I’ve been there, and it’s horrid.
[/QUOTE]
WhyNot’s description here describes what happened to me, as well. The first time, I ended up having a D&C because the embryo wasn’t expelled. But I really doubt you could see anything…it is really, really tiny at that stage. If I hadn’t known I was pregnant from a pregnancy test, I would have just thought my period was late.

I know how hard it is to wait and not know what’s happening…I ended up having to have an ultrasound to determine if a miscarriage had occurred (they look for presence of the embryo, and if there is one, that heart is beating). It’s really tough. Good luck to you and your wife!

10

[QUOTE=WhyNot]
It’s important that she see her doctor though, even if another pregnancy test comes out negative. It’s possible for not all the endometrium to come out, and she might need a D&C.
[/QUOTE]

This happened to my grandmother back in the late 1950s. She nearly died of the infection. Her doctor told her that she was lucky she hadn’t gone insane (!) from it.

11

[QUOTE=Lissa]
Her doctor told her that she was lucky she hadn’t gone insane (!) from it.
[/QUOTE]

I suspect her doctor was older than god and believed that disorders of the uterus make one insane or “hysterical”.

12

[QUOTE=FormerMarineGuy]
My wife and I found out we were pregnant last Sunday and confirmed it on Thursday with the doctor. On Friday we went to the doctor because my wife had some slight spotting and had a little blood in her urine. Our Ob-Gyn put her on 24 hours of bedrest. She woke up at three in the morning and rushed to the bathroom and had blood that resembled her period.

Everything I read says this could be normal, as well as the cramping she feels (like it is her period). Also, since she is only 5 weeks pregnant, all of the MD sites say if she did have a miscarriage, it would not resemble this.

I KNOW THERE IS NO MEDICAL ADVICE given on this board. I AM NOT ASKING FOR MEDICAL ADVICE. I am just wondering if anyone can tell me what a miscarriage would look like / or feel like at 5 weeks of pregnancy.
[/QUOTE]

Generally speaking the more cramping there is and the more blood and clots there are, the more likely it is that a spontaneous miscarriage has occurred, but it’s unreliable. The cramping happens because blood clots (or tissue) is passing through a closed os (the cervical opening to the uterus). It can be hard, and it’s not very important anway, to distinguish a blood clot from a partially-developed pregnancy, but early pregnancies look sort of like a clear small bag of jelly (think grape, for instance).

Best to just tough it out for right now and see what happens; there is nothing other than taking it easy that will change anything. At some point over the next week or two, a second test for the pregnancy hormone (HCG) may help you decide if the pregnancy is not going to continue to develop. An ultrasound might also help, depending on how early the pregnancy is. Neither is definitive when done only once early in a pregnancy; what we do is compare one result against the prior result. Home pregnancy tests usually check only for the presence or absence of HCG; the doctor might check the actual total quantity, and when compared against an expected range on two occasions separated by at least several days, have a better idea of prognosis.

Back in the day, women decided they were “really” pregnant at quickening, when they could feel a baby move. Nowadays tests for HCG are so sensitive that people find out they are “pregnant” within a few days after fertilization. The problem is that a high percentage of fertilized ova – say a third or a half-- never even make it to quickening; after that the percentage of lost “pregnancies” drops way off.

I think we’ve done a poor job communicating to lay people that a “Pregnancy Test” is just a test for HCG. Each couple needs to understand in advance what the odds are, and when they want to consider the woman to actually be expecting a baby.

13

[QUOTE=WhyNot]
I suspect her doctor was older than god and believed that disorders of the uterus make one insane or “hysterical”.
[/QUOTE]

That’s what I figured too. She still believes it! When one of her daughters had a c-section, the incision became infected and my grandmother worried endlessly that her daugher would go mad. I tried to explain, but, well . . . you know how older people can be when they have an idea stuck in their heads that has been there for fifty years.

14

Not to give false hope, but there can still be a viable pregnancy present even with this type of bleeding. I have seen it many times. Someone will present with heavy bleeding , an ultra sound is done and a heart beat is found. Some women just bleed during their first trimester, some for the entire pregnancy…whatever the outcome, positive thoughts and prayers coming your way, I know its an emotional rollercoaster

15

I’ll never know if I was pregnant or not, as I didn’t take a test. But at the tiem I’d seperated from my ex-husband my period was really late, after being clock regular at 27 days. I was at day 42, and finally had my period. It was very heavy, more so than usual.

I’m told that emotional distress can screw up your menstrual cycle, so that could have been it. But if I was pregnant I’m almost glad it was over, because with a child I would have had to maintain contact with the father.

16

[QUOTE=goldenmean1975]
Some women just bleed during their first trimester, some for the entire pregnancy…whatever the outcome, positive thoughts and prayers coming your way, I know its an emotional rollercoaster
[/QUOTE]

This is often given as the reason why some women don’t discover they’re pregnant until months down the road.

I, too, want to wish you the very best.

17

I spotted during my first trimester at “that time of the month” and I think into the second trimester. My sister did as well. Like a light period.

18

Hormones are so funny, they vary from woman to woman. I have long been regarded as the one all my girlfriends go to with women’s health q’s, so I have seen many examples of bleeding in the 1st trimester. If your wife had heavy periods that would last for days, or experienced PMS Symptoms, then it is possible that she may bleed around the time of the “expected period”. Around this time in the pregnancy, however, the embryo is attaching itself to the wall of the uterus, into the layer of matter that is usually flushed out monthly in the absence of pregnancy. They key is to decide what color the discharge is: brown, dark, mucousy or bright red. Brown and dark indicates that it may be the lining of the uterus sloughing off some as the baby makes it’s home. The doctor wil ask the same question aboutthe color, so be prepared.
I am not a doctor, and I would never dream of giving you medical advice. But, keep your spirits up, and don’t worry abouthings until your doctor administers the tests that indicate a dop in the HCG hormones. Remember that you want your baby to be as healthy as possible and have the best chance at life, so your wife’s body may be making an executive decision. Good luck, and I hope to hear good news!

19

I just wanted to update everyone. I now know exactly what a miscarriage looks like. My wife had a miscarriage yesterday. I appreciate whoever took the time out to respond. This thread can either be closed or moved, I will leave it up to the mods.

Thanks.

20

I’m so sorry for the loss of your pregnancy.

If you don’t mind, is there anything you observed that I should add to my description that would be helpful? I do actually have people ask me about it all the time, and I’d like to be thorough. If it’s too painful to write about, just ignore this.

I’ll be keeping you and your wife in my thoughts today.