Implantation hemorrhage

[Bowbabe]

10 months ago I was told I was pregnant, the doctor also said I had an implantation hemmorrhage.  On the ultrasound it was as large as the baby's sac.  He said we had to watch it closely.  I went back to him every week.  Around week 8 I had a heart beat.  The doctor still wanted to watch me closely.  He had put me on bedrest because my job is very busy and I was on my feet most of the day.
On the nieth week I went and there was an empty baby sac and the hemorrhage was a bit smaller,  He told me I had lost the baby.  
The entire time I was pregnant I felt the doctor knew this would happen. Did he know?  Does this happen with implation hemmorrhages?
I had a D&C in the hospital a few days later.  After surgery the doctor assured me that everything was find inside and that next time the pregnancy would be find.  
My husband & I waited the three months we should have and have been trying 6 more months.  I have not gotten pregnant again.  I am beinging to feel that something is wrong.  I am very consistant with my cycles, they are 27 & 28 days. I am also 35 years old with no children.  
My question's are: how dangerous is having an implantation emmorrhage?  How can I aviod having it occur again?  When should I start going to a fertility specialist??
Thank you.

[TanteMilly]

Hello - I first want to say I'm sorry you are going through this. I'm pregnant for the second time (lost my precious son at 20 weeks in July) and am 10 weeks along. I was told I had an implantation hemmorage around 7 weeks but "not to worry about it". Well I ended up in the hospital last sunday when the hemmorage burst (not sure of the correct medical terms or how it burst). There was quite a bit of blood but I had an ultrasound that showed the baby is still in there and is growing properly. I haven't had an ultrasound since so I'm on pins and needles as I am already considered high risk. I'm eager to hear about any information you may learn as we both seem to have gotten different reactions from our doctors. Please keep me updated on how you are doing, I'll keep you in my prayers.

Shelley

[capermom]

Sorry for your loss. I have no idea what that is, I never heard of it before. Maybe you should she another OB about this. Maybe there's something they can do to help you. Good luck in the future, sending lots of babydust for you and your hubby.

[nurse12hr]

I am sorry for your loss...

I have never heard the term "implantation hemmorhage".  There sometimes is a bit of spotting early on when the pregnancy implants, but usually nothing more than that.  
There is no way to avoid early pregnancy bleeding--it just happens, and usually doesn't end up in miscarriage.  So the odds are that your next pregnancy shouldn't have the same problems.

As to when to see a specialist--depends on your age.  If you are young, the usual advice is to see a doctor if you have been trying for 1 year.  If you are a bit older, trying for 6 months on your own is reasonable, then seek out help.  If you don't feel comfortable with your own OB, try to find someone you like and trust.  There are often simple measures that an ordinary OB Gyn doc can do to help, before it is necessary to see a fertility specialist.

[TanteMilly]

Hi Christie

When I hemmoraged last week it was way more than spotting, I went through 3 pads in 1 hour. The hemmorage had grown twice in size and was right beside the embryo. I believe the ultrasound showed it to be about 3 cm by 3cm two weeks before it burst and it had been obvious that it was getting larger. It was also obviously larger than the baby. I'd never heard of it before either. But none-the-less - it was very scary.

Shelley

[nurse12hr]

Wonder if the developing placenta eroded through a blood vessel...there is just no way to determine how/why some early pregnancy bleeding develops.

So glad, anyway, that your baby is doing well!

[Mistyanne]

Hello shelley, I am so sorry for your loss, I havn't heard of a implantation hemorrhage causing a miscariage.  I am 10 wks and on my third pregnancy.  I've had implantation hemorrhage with both of my last two pregnancys.  The last one was last night actually.  It's not like a normal implantation bleeding for some of you that havn't heard of this before, its a gush of blood when they burst, both of mine burst.  A HUGE clot and a massive amount of blood happend with both of mine, enough to scare the pants off me the first time it happend, but nonetheless I had a healthy baby. maybe this was a freak thing that you lost yours, but as a nurse that has worked with many OB doctors, I have been informed to wait a year when you have a miscariage, but because the D&C disrupts the lining of your uterus, and the egg might have trouble sticking.  Just keep trying, and don't pressure yourselves, that will only prolong the outcome. I had never had a miscariage, but we had quite sometime trying to conceive, and the way it happened for us was me going on a vacation with the kids, and coming back after a month and wham bam, we conceived literelly the moment i came back :D Good luck, i think your next pregnancy should go fine, as long as you dont have any other complications.

-Misty

[Blinkingfirefly]

This is apparently quite common, though there is little information on it available.  When the egg burrows into the uterus wall it doesn't know to avoid vessels.  My spotting was light and consistent for about 4 or 5 weeks and when I awoke one morning I was soaked in blood.  I went for 2 quantitative HCG's and an ultrasound which confirmed a hematoma (bruise) under the placenta.  I asked about the complications and was told that the baby was just fine (heart beating and all) and that I shouldn't worry.  I know that of all the abnormal normal stuff during pregnancy, bleeding is NOT one of them.  If you are soaking more than 4 pads in 4 hours you NEED to seek medical attention IMMEDIATELY.  My doctor told me not to worry (which makes you worry more).  I asked about duration of the hematoma, and he said it could ooze for the duration of the pregnancy, or "burst" and drain, or cut off the fetal nutrient supply (which would result in a miscarriage).  This could be a complication until about 20 weeks, when if all remains well on the developmental path, this should no longer be a comlplication.  

To recap:  
Continued bleeding can be serious and needs to be evaluated anytime there is an excess of 4 pads in 4 hours (not sure which kinds of pads, but better to be safe than sorry).

A subplacental hematoma or hemorrhage is often caused by the implantation through an artery (or vein) and can ooze, drain or cause miscarriage.

If everything is ok after 20 weeks gestation, there should be no further complications.  (There is always a small percentage of people who do not fall "read the textbook" and have complications further down the road, but for the most part, 20+ weeks will not miscarry due to this condition).