I started bleeding heavily around week 6 of my pregnancy. I mean gushes of blood. I was so scared because I had previously suffered a miscarriage a few months prior so you can imagine I was totally freaking out. I called the dr. to have him tell me to go lay down and take it easy and he would see me in the morning. Of course I went to the dr. the next day and I had an exam and ultrasound and I was told everything looked good, no signs of miscarriage and even saw the baby's heartbeat. At that point I was told that some women bleed during their pregnancies and there was no explanation.

I was spotting off and on for a few days and then about a week or so later I had more gushes of blood. I was sent for another u/s and that is when I was told I had a subchorionic hemorrhage. I was a little upset at first because at my 6 week u/s they detected it, but never said anything to me about it until my 2nd u/s, which I was 8 weeks pregnant. I was told that this was not uncommon and to go home and get in bed. I had no clue how long I was supposed to be on bedrest and it ended up being a whole month.

I went for a few more u/s in that period of time which showed my s/h gettting bigger and bigger. I never did get the size of the s/h but I was told that this was a lot bigger than most s/h, so you can imagine I wasn't all warm and fuzzy inside. The whole month I was on bedrest I still bled, not gushes, but it was like I had my period.

After being on bedrest for a whole month, I was getting more upset and anxious because I couldn't do anything. Mind you, I have a 2 year old son, so it was hard for me to stay in bed 24 hours a day, and even though I have an understanding husband, this was taking a toll on all of us. I had a dr. appt. for my 12 week checkup and the dr. said that with my job, I'm an office assistant, I could go back to work since I was on my butt all day. That was the best thing I could have done for myself. My bleeding slowed down some. Instead of having a constant period, I was having a lighter flow, mostly spotting, and I started feeling better and better about my pregnancy, and my homelife was getting somewhat back to normal.

I am currently 21 weeks pregnant, and I can go for days without any spotting, etc. I know if I've done too much in one day, because the next day I might get a few spots, but nothing like I experienced early on in my pregnancy. I keep going to the doctors every 2 weeks, and I've been monitored pretty closesly with ultrasounds...I've had 7 so far. My last ultrasound I had at 17 weeks didn't show a s/h so we are assuming it is gone, I'm keeping my fingers crossed. That ultrasound also showed I have a low lying placenta, (oh great, another thing to worry about) but the dr. is assuring me that this will move up as I get further along in my pregnancy. I hope so because if not, I will be put back on bedrest till the end of my pregnancy. I pray everyday that the next 4 months of my pregnancy are "problem" free.

UPDATE! August 20, 2001

I am now 27 weeks pregnant. That seems like a great milestone for me with all I've been through so far. I had another u/s around 25 weeks and everything looks good. I made the tech. double check the hemmorage and she could not see any signs of it. The u/s before that (21 weeks) showed the same thing, but I needed double reassurance. I also went in to check on the low lying placenta. When the tech. first looked (full bladder) the placenta was still in the same position as it was when I was 21 weeks. To get a better look, the tech had me empty my bladder and as she was doing the u/s again, she says "that is interesting". The baby moved down and the placenta moved up within that short period of time. The tech. saw this as good news and told me that I shouldn't have any problems from here on out, but of course, I have to talk to my dr. at my next appt. I haven't had any spotting or bleeding since 20 weeks, so I think things are looking up....still keeping my fingers crossed and being cautious! My next dr. appt is next week, 28 weeks, so I'll keep posted!

I hope my story has helped you understand that you're not alone and even though you bleed during pregnancy, it doesn't mean the worst is going to happen for you. Stay tuned for my update!

~ Danielle

My pregnancy went full-term (40 weeks) and I actually had my baby girl on my due date, November 22, 2001 (Thanksgiving Day). Her name is Courtney Renee and she weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long. She is a perfectly healthy little girl.