I had been searching for weeks aimlessly trying to find some information on hematomas, with no luck; it was getting downright depressing. I was so thankful to be referred on a message board to this site, because it has helped me to learn more about what I am dealing with. This is my first, so pregnancy alone is new to me, let alone a subchorionic hematoma!! I am generally a very positive and hopeful person...and I'm getting back to that now, but this has definitely taken a toll on me!
At 13 weeks, I experienced the fright of heavy bleeding - I was sure I miscarried - and cried all night long. I started bleeding a moderate amount right before I went to bed, and then bled all night long - what a mess!! I was afraid to get up and go to the bathroom to see how much blood it was, but in the morning, I finally did. It was so scary, I kept thinking there was no way a baby could survive after that much blood loss. I still to this day have not experienced any clots in my blood, and boy do I feel fortunate for that! We went into the ob that morning and had our first u/s - the baby was doing great - 162 bpm. HE was doing somersaults for us and moving around a lot. Because he was moving around and giving them different angles to look at him from, they were able to see his penis and testicles!!! We were thrilled, but trying not to get too excited at that point, because we had no idea why I was bleeding...surely something must be wrong.
The technician and the ob both said they saw a hematoma on the u/s. It was 4.6 x 2.4 cm and very thin. They explained what a hematoma is and put me on semi-bedrest. They explained that the hematoma was small (never used the term sch) and the danger was that if it expanded it could cause the placenta to separate from the uterine wall. They did not seem concerned about this possibility (although, of course, I was!), and said we would just need to monitor it to ensure it's not expanding. They did alert me, however, that things could go south if the hematoma expanded and resulted in separation. I rested more than they said, I was afraid to move - afraid if I got up and walked to the kitchen that blood would pour out of me (I've had more fearfulness with this than in my entire life!!). I took the whole week off work even though the doctor said he'd "advise" me to take a day or two off, but that I'd probably be fine working. That first week, I had only brown spotting after the initial incident. I made it through the weekend okay, despite my worries, so I decided it was back to work on Monday.
Well, the guilt sets in, because on Monday during my first client, I could feel myself gushing. I made it through that HOUR LONG meeting, and then rushed to the bathroom...not a pretty picture - it was straight to the doctor and a new pair of pants for me!! More heavy bleeding - I cried all the way to the dr's office. I told my sister who drove me there, that there was just no way I was lucky enough to have a heartbeat again after TWO big bleeds. Well, we heard the heartbeat that day via doppler and everything was fine - my cervix was still closed and the doctor said again, "we just have to wait and see." I already had an u/s scheduled for the next day, so I went in on Tuesday for my 2nd u/s and there he was again, doing fine. It was reassuring, but I continued to feel frustrated about the bleeding. My ob (all the others I saw for emergencies were her colleagues) said she was not concerned at this point and that the hematoma appeared to be shrinking (at 2nd u/s, it was approx. 3.1 x 1.4? - something like that, the tenths may be off.) She encouraged normal daily activity, just no heavy lifting or exercise. She said probably the most helpful thing to eliminate the guilt factor for me ..."If you're gonna bleed, you're gonna bleed." She implied that resting unnecessarily (in this case) would only prolong the inevitable...and this way we would know better what we are dealing with.
I went almost a whole week with some red spotting, some brown spotting - kinda transitioning over to brown after the heavy bleed on Monday. Then, once I thought I was comfortably back to brown again, I had a moderate red bleed on Saturday. I honestly wasn't freaking out this time, although I did put myself back on bedrest for the weekend. I live in NC and the pollen here is horrendous this time of year...makes for beautiful flowers, but nightmarish sneezing fits for me. I am such an outdoor freak that I decided on Sat. morning to sit on my porch outside and read my book to get the day going. Well, by 8 or 9 am, I was sneezing nonstop. Every time I sneezed, I could feel my muscles pulling in by abdominal area - incredibly uncomfortable. I forced myself to spend the rest of the beautiful, sunny day inside. The red bleeding started that afternoon and ceased as soon as I went back on "bedrest" and turned brown immediately this time.
I am now in the middle of my 15th week and have had only brown spotting since last Saturday. My spotting has decreased a lot, and is now occurring only during the daytime and is very minimal. I still have those sensations that I'm bleeding a lot, usually there's nothing there at all when I go to the bathroom. I have decided that I am going to be optimistic and think positively, because that's who I am. I'm sure that stressing about this and worrying about what will come of it is not good for the baby. So, for now, I am enjoying the movements that I feel everyday, reading and singing to my baby boy, and saying lots of prayers!!! I have another u/s in a month (May 2nd, 2002) unless I have any heavy bleeding in between now and then.
A five-star day!!! We went back in to the ob today for a scheduled ultrasound (what's that? LOL) and doctor appt. The u/s went great! They confirmed that we are having a little boy - no doubt at all, in the tech's eyes!! She said he was posing every which way for her. Again, he is doing great, he was moving around a lot - doing somersaults and waving!!! She was able to get lots of good anatomy information and spent a long time with us since we are 18 weeks along now. He is developing wonderfully and is already so adorable! He is measuring about a week ahead of our edd, which is consistent with our previous two u/s. And he looks much less like an alien than he did in our previous u/s. :) LOL
As for the hematoma - it continues to shrink. The tech and ob both said they would not have noticed it had they not been looking for it! Although it is smaller, it IS still there. The ob expressed her confidence that we have seen the last of it and that we are at no more risk for miscarriage than any other person at this stage of pg - which was VERY reassuring to us. The placement of the hematoma, as small as it may appear now, is still excellent if it must be there - it does not appear to be threatening the placental attachment at all. It would have to massively expand and go up and around the side of the uterus to even threaten abruption.
To update what has happened since my previous NOVEL....LOL....the brown spotting stopped very shortly after I last updated and turned to tan spotting or discharge??? - kind of bizarre, but much easier to tolerate. :) That lasted only a few days ...and I've had no spotting at all for over two weeks!! and no heavy bleeding for over a month!!! Although this has been reassuring to a degree, I am still fearful to go into the bathroom 99% of the time!! I'm fairly sure I will always have that with me -for this and all future pregnancies- but hope that the fear will lessen over time!
I am 18 weeks now, and I go back for our next ob appt at the end of May with no plans for an u/s. I will, however, have another u/s at the end of June for that appt -just to monitor things. My ob said it really wasn't necessary to check back in on it, but I think she sensed my need to, and she is so cool, she said we could do one then. Anyway, everything is looking good for now! We are feeling reassured and hope to add to the list of success stories on this website! I'll update again after my next u/s. :)
June 8, 2002 - 24 weeks
Still no troubles with spotting or bleeding and, again, my ob is not at all concerned! In fact, I haven't even had an u/s in over a month. We have our next one on 6/27/02 and will check back in on the hematoma then. It is quite a relief to have no bleeding or spotting right now...but I still do occasionally freak out when I sense some d/c and assume it could be blood. I think bathroom phobias must be fairly common for sch folk. :) Anyway, I'm hoping this is a success story in the making! I'll update again after our next u/s. :)
July 9, 2002 - 28 weeks
I had an u/s on June 27, 2002 and our little boy is doing great! He is growing fast and is already 2.5 lbs (26w3d)! The best news is....the tech and MD could not even see the hematoma!!!!!!!! I have had no bleeding or spotting (or problems for that matter) in several months! Right now, we are happy to say that our worst problem is trying to agree on a name - LOL!!! I feel so fortunate and blessed to have made it this far...and I feel really hopeful that we will make it full-term! I may not get another u/s - if I do, it will have nothing to do with the hematoma unless my symptoms reappear or something. The docs are not at all concerned about it at this point and expect that I will go full-term with no further complications! Yea!!! I'll keep you posted!
Update!
Greyson Epting Keisler was born on 9/17/2002 - full-term (38 weeks, 1 day) via scheduled c-section. He is totally awesome and I am sooo in love. He was 6 lbs. 11 oz. and 19.5 inches long. He is such an awesome baby and we are just so elated!
My c-section had nothing at all to do with the hematoma...I ran into some additional complications in the last 8 weeks or so of my pg with low amniotic fluid and breech presentation. The delivery went off without a hitch, though, and Greyson is just healthy as can be! I never heard nor saw of the sch again since I mentioned in my last update...thank goodness!
Here is a link to some pictures of our little angel. :)
Greyson Keisler
Again, I am so appreciative to have this resource and that so many other women have been brave and thoughtful enough to share their stories!! Thanks, Robin, for all the information. The website dedicated to your son is a wonderful tribute!
Good luck to all of you - feel free to email me anytime!
~ Theresa :)
