August 30, 2009

2 ER Visits in 2 Days!!!

Let me start off with saying that (so far) the twins are doing fine and so am I! I am directly going to get to the story… since I am a little tired and (still) a bit startled!

The week following my first heartbeat u/s was progressing well and then the Thursday (before the second heartbeat u/s)… late in the afternoon I started having this weird feeling. Fortunately I was home… I started having blurred vision and a headache… I attributed that to “low” sugar and decided to have a berry milkshake and eat a sandwich! While prepping the food, I realized that my left foot started tingling… that sensation moved on to my left hand (mainly palm), followed by left side of my lips, tongue and gums! That sure did freak me out. All the tingling eventually turned in to numbness and a headache! Ever since getting PG, I have had tingling and numbness once in a while… but one sided and also mouth - never! I called my nurse and she said that I should go the ER if it continues or if I am uncomfortable – and yes, one sided tingling and numbness is not normal (sometimes associated with a stroke). My DH came home early and we decided to go to the ER. I felt generally okay but we did not want to take any chances! At the ER they did a bunch of b/w… everything seemed normal (HCG had gone up). I was offered a CAT scan, but was told that it was totally up to me if I wanted to do it since I was PG. We decided to not do the scan (if things repeated we would probably go for it is what we thought). We also didn’t do the u/s since I was going to the RE the following morning. We came back home after mid-night… this visit was may be an overkill… but I guess it is better to be safe than sorry.

The following morning (Friday, 08/28), we went for our regular u/s and b/w to the RE’s (at 7W1D). The doctor recommended seeing a neurologist if these symptoms show up again. The u/s went well… we saw our two little peanuts, they had grown a lot and had a strong heartbeat (~140’s)! The b/w results reconfirmed what we saw at the ER (HCG levels had climbed up and Progesterone was greater than 40)!

So… everything seemed to be going well. I was kind of convinced that everything was going well with this pregnancy, we had seen the heartbeat the second time, the measurements were good… I even ordered two pregnancy books (
Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy and When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads: Proven Guidelines for a Healthy Multiple Pregnancy …both have great reviews on Amazon.com)! Saturday was very relaxing (off late we have been keeping a low profile in our social life… as in we are trying to stay home and relax as much as possible and not tire myself out even more than I already get by just sitting on my ass)! We got up late, had a good lunch, lazed around and then went to do some groceries. Picked up some “healthy” food for me… came home had dinner and then settled in to watch a movie!

…And then (TMI warning)! I realized that I felt a little wet down there, so I decided to go check on myself. As soon as I sat down (to pee) there was a HUGE gush of blood (at around 1000 pm - the blood was red and not dark brown or pink). I freaked out and called out for my DH! I held my pee and then emptied my bladder in cups so that I could collect any kind of tissues etc that would come out! I immediately called the RE (nurse), she “calmly” mentioned that it is normal during the pregnancy and I could come in the following morning. However, if I use more than a pad in an hour, I should rush to the ER! Well, I used up a pad in 20 minutes. I was still gushing out blood once in a while (I had no control over the flow and even stained our couch)… we decided to head over to the ER again! After our relaxing dinner, I had some darn watermelon and oh my gosh, that filled up my freakin’ bladder so much! I was afraid to go pee at the hospital since I was afraid I would pass something in the loo. Finally after speaking with the doctor they gave me a pan to pee in to. I passed one small thin clot which they collected (I couldn’t quite empty my bladder completely though). I was then rushed to the u/s room! Oh what a relief, there were the 2 heartbeats! I started stabilizing mentally. However, the first u/s was abdominal… and I had to try to empty my bladder more for the vaginal u/s! So I went again with a pan! I passed a 2 inch oval chunky dark red clot… I skipped a heartbeat seeing that… I had just seen 2 beautiful heartbeats 5 minutes ago… what was this! I went back in for the vaginal u/s…. and there were still those 2 beautiful heartbeats! The clot was collected, the u/s technician wasn’t sure if it was going to be analyzed (since it wasn’t technically fetal matter). She mentioned that this is probably
Subchorionic Hematoma. And I could bleed again and pass out more clots. The bleeding stopped (was minimal) after I passed the clot. After the u/s they did some b/w… HCG was still rising everything else looked okay. We came back home at around 0330-0400 in the morning and were supposed to leave for my RE’s at around 0630 am… so we took a “nap” and went to the RE’s. The doctor who was doing the monitoring for the weekend is a dick head! I love all the doctors at the clinic except for this a$$! He has zero bed side manners… he came in and started doing his job, I was a little concerned if he even knew why I had come in. I asked and he was like, yes I know! He wouldn’t discuss anything… just showed us the (good) heartbeats and did some measurements. I offered to show him the ER report and he said he didn’t want to see it since they normally don’t say anything. He also went on to say that more than likely this will happen again! Oh how great! Though he ended our meeting by saying that typically after seeing heartbeats the chances of miscarriage reduces drastically!

So here I am now… hoping to speak with a different nurse tomorrow (my nurse is on vacation until after Labor Day weekend) and somehow reach my RE so that I feel more convinced. I am supposed to be graduating to an OB on Friday (09/04 at 8W1D) and my OB appointment is on 09/15. I really don’t know if I am going to be able to stay sane during the no u/s phase! Reading about Subchorionic Hematoma has not helped… and I can’t wait for tomorrow! All the posibilities that went through my mind since the bleeding started is all together a different story! I am so glad we went to the ER, or else I would have been miserable throughout the night and that dick would have made my life even more miserable today!

If anybody knows anything about Subchorionic Hematoma or has experienced it, please leave me a message. Thanks for all your support!
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Update: I have been bedresting the whole day today and intend on doing that for a few more days! I spoke to a nurse today and my RE is supposed to call tomorrow. I am just hoping to get a few questions answered when I speak to him. All your comments and information have been a great help - Thank you so much! I also came across this forum on Pregnancy-info.net about Subchorionic Bleeding... and that has been pretty reassuring too!

13 comments:

  1. ***HUGS***

    How scary. I am so glad the the twins are doing okay.

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  2. Oh my goodness! I am glad to hear everything is still ok, but that had to be the scariest thing ever! I hope things calm down and go smoothly from here on out.

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  3. I cannot imagine how scary that must all have ben for you! My heart goes out to you. I personally don't know anything about Subchorionic Hematoma, but I do follow a blog of someone who I think had one. She's now 18 weeks and having a girl. So there's a success story for you! Her blog is http://allaboutashleyc.blogspot.com/ . I'm praying that your two little ones continue to do well, despite any bleeding you have. Hang in there!

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  4. Hi- one of my good friends had a very bad subchorionic hematoma, a clot (not a bleed- I believe they can be either) and bled very heavily for a good eight weeks. We were all very afraid that she was going to lose the baby. She took it easy, though not complete bedrest because that's almost impossible when you have a toddler, and the clot pretty much disappeared and she stopped bleeding recently, thank heavens.

    Sadly, there's not a lot doctors can do about this sort of thing, but sometimes it is okay. There's an increased risk of preterm labor, so it's something to watch out for, especially with twins.

    You might want to ask your doctor about baby aspirin, extra folate, and B6; some studies say these can help, and at least the vitamins seem like they could hardly hurt.

    Best of luck.

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  5. Anna at http://annacyclopediaisworkingonit.wordpress.com/
    faced a similar difficult situation with a sh.

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  6. Oh dear, that's really really scary!! Thank God everythign is ok, I don't know much about the condition you are experiencing, but I want to send you a big hug. Fran

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  7. Hi, I'm here from Mel's L&F. I had a subchorionic hematoma in my 24th week, which put my irritable uterus into preterm labor. I spent 12 weeks on bedrest, mostly in the hospital with superstrong drugs to stop the labor. It all ended well- my baby girl is turning 4 in a few weeks!

    My understanding of subchorionic hematomae is that they are reasonably common in the first trimester. Did they give you an idea of how big it is? I'd try and get a different RE to give you some details!!

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  8. Hi honey!! Glad you came to my blog. I had a hematoma and bled from week 6-around week 15. It was very scary. I had emergency ultrasounds twice because the bleeding got so bad. I bled that entire time just like a bad period. They kept assuring me that this is common and that it would probably resolve my week 20. It was very scary but at my 18 week ultrasound it was GONE!!! I am about to be at week 19 with a healthy baby girl. I know it is hard but try not to worry tooo much. This happens more than we know and it happens more with IVF patients. One thing that helped me was renting a doppler machine when I was 11 weeks. IT was reassurance that I needed every night!! Good luck and if you have any more questions let me know:)

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  9. this was sure pretty scary. I'm so glad you and babies are ok. Please go see a neurologist because of the numbing. That is not normal at all and should be checked.
    I hope you can soon talk to the other nurse regarding the bleeding. Hopefully is just your body pushing out something that is not needed.
    I will be thinking of you.

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  10. Hey! I had to take progesterone until 12 weeks. They said it isn't "high risk" unless the hematoma gets bigger than the baby or last more than 20 weeks. GOOD LUCK!!

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  11. Oh you POOOR thing! You must have been completely terrified on both counts, especially the second visit! I am so thankful the two little lovelies are doing well.

    I had an SCH with this pregnancy. My RE's said they are far more common with IVF pregnancies nd they don't really know why. I spotted off and on for a few weeks, which totally FREAKED me out and would freak anyone out. Try to keep the image of your little beauties' hearts beating away, nice and strong. And it is true! Your risk of M/C is super low after seeing heartbeats. Hang in there, sweetie.

    THINKING of you!!!

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  12. So scary, glad everything is okay! I couldn't find your email so I will answer your questions here. My OB suggested the Peri for the NT scan at 12 weeks. I was to see the Peri then along with a full anatomy scan at 20 weeks. Had things been normal I would have seen the Peri at 24, 28, 32, and 36 weeks for growth scans. Since they were not normal at 20 weeks I started seeing the OB and the Peri on alternating weeks. It is pretty normal to see the Peri oftten with twins. My OB mentioned it right away. Hope this helps!

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