Subchorionic Hematoma and blood clot? Any BTDT

[BabyBearsMom]

Another tough day in this pregnancy :tongue5: I woke up this morning with blood running down my legs. After a quick trip to my OB and a visit with an antenatal specialist, they said it was caused by a subchorionic hematoma that has clotted and the clot is sitting on top of my cervix (which is apparently much better than when the clot is between the placenta and the uterine wall). I've been assigned to two days of strict bed rest so that the clot can dissolve. The doctor said that if it doesn't dissolve, there could be more complications with the pregnancy. They also said that it was very possible that this could happen again and if it happens later in the pregnancy it will make the pregnancy high risk. Any one btdt? I'd love to hear some positive outcomes in this scary situation. TIA!

[weech]

No BTDT, but sending P&PT! Hope everything goes alright :hug:

[swissair81]

I had a SCH with my last pregnancy. My clot was 8 cm (read: huge) and was between the placenta and my uterine wall. I actively bled for about 2 weeks. I was on restricted activity (no sex, no running around) for 14 weeks until the clot spontaneously dissolved at 24 weeks. I was still watched closely until the end (I had appointments every 2 weeks from viability.), because there is an increased risk of IUGR. My baby is 14 months old, and I think she's the most beautiful miracle ever. Feel free to pm me for info or commiserations, or whatever.

[ShanaMama]

No advice or BTDT, just hugs & best wishes. That sounds very frightening.

[rin]

I had a subchorionic hemorrhage (or hematoma; it's the same thing) with my pregnancy with DD. It was identified at 12 weeks; I'd been bleeding for two weeks before that, but because it was my third pregnancy (the first two ended in miscarriages at 8 and 10 weeks) I just thought it was another miscarriage and was so depressed about it I didn't bother going to the doctor right away. (Yeah, not the best decision I've ever made, although it was ok in the end.) There were several small-to-medium blood clots (I don't remember exactly how big, but I think there were three different ones) and they told me to be on restricted activity levels; no lifting anything heavier than a gallon of milk, pelvic rest, and no impact sports/activies (so no bike riding, running, etc). Walking was ok, though, and they didn't put me on bed rest, but I ended up spending a lot of time sitting on the couch anyways since I didn;t want to overdo it and then blame myself for ever afterwards.

If I remember correctly, I had bleeding for about a month total, and then it tapered off. I had no further complications with the pregnancy, did not have any more bleeding until the day I went into labor, and my DD's now a healthy 18 month old. :hug: to you! Rent yourself some cozy movies or send you DH out for movies/library books to help the bed rest go faster and try not to think about it too much.

[swissair81]

I wasn't on bedrest either, but every time I started walking around even a little bit, I bled more. So I just used my common sense and put myself on restrictions that worked for me.

[BabyBearsMom]

Thanks for the support and stories ladies. They did okay me to use my laptop so I can at least work from home. After seeing the specialists yesterday, my regular doctor called me today and we have a meeting set up tomorrow to set up my "treatment plan" for the rest of the pregnancy. My blood clot is 7cm so almost as big as Swissairs but thankfully not behind the placenta. The doctor told me to expect to bleed for a few days because I had "an awful lot of blood" in my uterus.

Thanks again! :hug:

[mctlaw]

Hope you are on the mend. What a pain!

[egoldber]

I had this with younger DD at 9 weeks. I really thought I had lost the pregnancy there was so much blood and clots. It was so scary, but all was well. I never had any bleeding after my initial incident, so they will probably watch you pretty closely. :hug:

[lizzywednesday]

I think that's what happened with my SIL and my nephew is fine. He turned 1 last month. The biggest issue was that he arrived early.

DH's SIL also had some sort of complication (I heard the word "clot" tossed around about it as well) when she was pregnant with her youngest. Our nephew is 5.5 y/o and a bundle of energy.

Take your docs' advice and take it easy. P&PT to you and lots of hugs. :hug:

[dowlinal]

I had one with my twins. I was about 10 weeks along and ended up in the ER in the middle of the night when I woke up in a puddle of blood. The doctor was a real jerk. He told me that I had obviously lost my babies so he didn't know why I was there. I made him do an U/S because at that point I was praying that one of my twins had survived. My clot was pretty big and it was between the two sacks. The ER dr was still a jerk and told me that I had a chance of keeping the babies, but I saw my OB the next day and he was completely reassuring about it. He said that he sees this all the time and it's no big deal. In my case, the babies were larger than the clot and we had done IVF so I had been monitored for a while and they had been growing on schedule and had good heatbeats.

I was on modified activity for a few days until I stopped bleeding, but less than a week later I went to Disney World. The bleed was in early Dec and I had U/S every two weeks until the clot was completely gone. I think it took 1 week to stop bleeding and 6 weeks for it to be gone, but it's all a little fuzzy now bc I developed placenta previa right after the clot reassorbed so I had constant U/Ss. I carried my twins to term so it had no lasting effect.

[Aishe]

I had one at about 14 weeks with ds. My ob told me that I didn't need to restrict my activity or do anything special. She said it should resolve within a couple weeks and thankfully it did. I think I bled lightly for a few days afterward and just barely after that. I hope yours is a similar experience!

[essnce629]

My best friend had one (between the placenta) that resulted in period-like bleeding at 8 weeks and 12 weeks. I think she was on modified bedrest for about a month or so. It resolved on it's own and she went on to deliver her dd at nearly 42 weeks. Her dd is now 5 years old!

In the midwifery textbook I have it talks about taking vitamin E for a subchorionic hematoma since it's supposed to help the placenta reattach. I know my friend took whatever dose the book recommended. I think it was for 3 weeks and then you tapered off. I can look it up if you want.

[BabyBearsMom]

My best friend had one (between the placenta) that resulted in period-like bleeding at 8 weeks and 12 weeks. I think she was on modified bedrest for about a month or so. It resolved on it's own and she went on to deliver her dd at nearly 42 weeks. Her dd is now 5 years old!

In the midwifery textbook I have it talks about taking vitamin E for a subchorionic hematoma since it's supposed to help the placenta reattach. I know my friend took whatever dose the book recommended. I think it was for 3 weeks and then you tapered off. I can look it up if you want.

I'd be very interested to know the dose.

We went to the follow up with the doctor today and they were very positive and pleased with my "progress" for the last two days and tomorrow I get come off of bed rest. I have never been so excited to go to work! I just hope that this doesn't happen again.

[brittone2]

I had one with my third pregnancy. It was an incidental finding on a 9 or 10 week US at the time. The reviewing doc (not my midwives; all US are done at the local university hospital) said oh, there's a clot, you might see some spotting in a week or so.

I did. It was brownish and not heavy and nothing like some of the huge SCH bleeds I've heard of people having. But it was still scary!

I was confused after the US because I wasn't expecting that news and didn't really think of my questions until later. I called my midwives and they reassured me that most SCH are not risky to the baby.

Everything else was fine. There was no trace of it when I had a later US (17-18 weeks).

Glad you are released from bedrest!

I've heard of some people having *huge* bleeds from SCH and even then, baby seems to usually do just fine.

[flygirl555]

I am about two weeks from delivering twins and had an SCH at 5w 3d. They are quite common during the first trimester and most women go on to deliver healthy full-term babies. Mine cleared up on it's own in about two weeks.

As your doctor advised, mine told me to put my feet up, limit physical activity and drink LOTS if water.

Good luck!

[essnce629]

I'd be very interested to know the dose.

Ok, found it. Sorry I took so long!

From the book "Holistic Midwifery: A Comprehensive Textbook for Midwives in Homebirth Practice"

"Have the mother take 2000 IU of vitamin E and 500mg of vitamin C with bioflavinoids daily to help strengthen the placental bed. This dosage of vitamin E should be continued for 2 to 3 weeks and then tapered off."

[swissair81]

Ok, found it. Sorry I took so long!

From the book "Holistic Midwifery: A Comprehensive Textbook for Midwives in Homebirth Practice"

"Have the mother take 2000 IU of vitamin E and 500mg of vitamin C with bioflavinoids daily to help strengthen the placental bed. This dosage of vitamin E should be continued for 2 to 3 weeks and then tapered off."

I wonder if someone who has a history of SCH could take the same dosage as a preventative. I have a sister in law who had this problem 3 pregnancies in row.

[doberbrat]

add me to the list. I've had it in 2 pg - one ended in a m/c and the other is a perfectly healthy 6yo. I heard a lot of conflicting info - bedrest (modified or full) doesnt help its just a way to make mom feel like she's in control to it helps outcome.

The dd's was a large clot and I was on bedrest then modified bed rest. The pg I lost, I was told it was very small and bedrest was not needed. so who knows?

There is a board somewhere for women w/ sch. I could see if I can dig it up if you'd like.

Chin up.... it does totally suck and its really scary but usually they resolve just fine.

*hugs*

[swissair81]

add me to the list. I've had it in 2 pg - one ended in a m/c and the other is a perfectly healthy 6yo. I heard a lot of conflicting info - bedrest (modified or full) doesnt help its just a way to make mom feel like she's in control to it helps outcome.

The dd's was a large clot and I was on bedrest then modified bed rest. The pg I lost, I was told it was very small and bedrest was not needed. so who knows?

There is a board somewhere for women w/ sch. I could see if I can dig it up if you'd like.

Chin up.... it does totally suck and its really scary but usually they resolve just fine.

*hugs*

There's a yahoo group. I'm still a member, as I've never bothered to unsubscribe myself. It's called SCHGroup.

[MSWR0319]

add me to the list. I've had it in 2 pg - one ended in a m/c and the other is a perfectly healthy 6yo. I heard a lot of conflicting info - bedrest (modified or full) doesnt help its just a way to make mom feel like she's in control to it helps outcome.

The dd's was a large clot and I was on bedrest then modified bed rest. The pg I lost, I was told it was very small and bedrest was not needed. so who knows?

There is a board somewhere for women w/ sch. I could see if I can dig it up if you'd like.

Chin up.... it does totally suck and its really scary but usually they resolve just fine.

*hugs*

Just curious, how far along were you in the pregnancy you lost? I just found out I have a small one and it's making me very nervous!

[swissair81]

My sister-in-law lost her first pregnancy with a SCH at 15 weeks. She had similar clots with her next 2 pregnancies- the kids are almost 5 and 3 now. It's very individual for the pregnancy- even for the same person, the outcome can be different each time.

[essnce629]

I wonder if someone who has a history of SCH could take the same dosage as a preventative. I have a sister in law who had this problem 3 pregnancies in row.

I'm not sure, but either way it shouldn't be taken for more than a few weeks since it can cause the placenta to attach too firmly to the uterine wall (which would cause problems with it releasing postpartum). Did she have the SCH all around the same time? I would probably take the vitamin E and C for 3 weeks leading up to the time she previously had the SCH. So if it tended to happen around 8-12 weeks before I'd probably take the vitamin E from weeks 5-8. I did read somewhere that someone did take it preventatively after having a previous SCH.

[MSWR0319]

My sister-in-law lost her first pregnancy with a SCH at 15 weeks. She had similar clots with her next 2 pregnancies- the kids are almost 5 and 3 now. It's very individual for the pregnancy- even for the same person, the outcome can be different each time.

Thanks, that makes me feel a little better.

[BabyBearsMom]

Thanks, that makes me feel a little better.

According to my OB, the chances of a miscarriage with SCH is 1-3%, so stay calm. She said it increases your chance slightly of pre-term labor, but it all depends on where the clot and blood are as compared to the baby. Try not to worry too much :hug:

[MSWR0319]

According to my OB, the chances of a miscarriage with SCH is 1-3%, so stay calm. She said it increases your chance slightly of pre-term labor, but it all depends on where the clot and blood are as compared to the baby. Try not to worry too much :hug:

Thanks! I haven't had a chance to talk to my OB yet. I found out from an ultrasound in the ER the other night and they didn't have much to say except it was small and not to worry. I called my OB, who of course was out of the office, and her NP said all tests looked great and not to worry. I just can't wait to actually talk to my own OB next week.

[sweetsue98]

I had a SCH at 17weeks. It was a 8cm clot between placenta and uterine wall. I bled for 4 weeks and when I return to the perinatologist he said the clot was back at 9cm. I haven't bled since and the clot has decrease over the weeks but I am considered high risk. Have been on bed rest for 4 weeks and now on short term disability for the remainder of the pregnancy. I'm currently 28weeks and the baby is active. I knew in my heart that this was a viable pregnancy so whatever you feel....hold on to that.