Readers Respond: First Signs of a Miscarriage

Responses: 21

The most common warning signs for miscarriage are bleeding and cramping, but those symptoms aren't always definite signs - and it's also possible that the first sign of a miscarriage could come from hCG test results or ultrasound. What were the symptoms that led you to be concerned about miscarriage, and what was the outcome? (Did you end up having a miscarriage, or did everything turn out OK?) Please share your experiences here to help others who are concerned about possible miscarriage symptoms.

Unsure

I don't know. I stopped taking the pill at the end of the pill cycle and so I was expecting my period. I got the 2 day period I was expecting, then it became brown and then a much heavier period began. I didn't think it might be a miscarriage until I started getting sporadic cramps (I never get these). They were short and sharp but I have no way of knowing if they were a miscarriage. I had taken a pregnancy test just before my period and it was negative. Who knows....?

—Guest Joss

Is it miscarriage? Or misdiagnosis?

I do not know when I conceived but must be now around four weeks at least. I did a blood test for hormone levels and one number was OK but the other was not. Two ultrasounds, and it seems it's a miscarriage in the works. I want to be strong...have already one baby...but now it seems really to hurt.

—Guest Mitzi

I am scared

I have had pains for the last 2 weeks in my sides, abdomen and severe back pain. It first started really really bad. I rolled over in my bed and a sharp sudden pain went through my side. About a week later it felt like something was fixing to come out of me. I have had some spotting.

—Guest imscared

8wks. preg., what I went through

Went to the doctor on Monday. They did a pap smear and said everything was good. The next night I was bleeding. I called doc, he said it's normal. They did a vaginal ultrasound and nothing. I went back to work. About 30 mins after leaving the hospital I got very bad cramping. It hurt to move, talk, anything. I went to the bathroom and a lot of clots came out. The toilet water was practically black. I finally got to the hospital, waiting for an hour with this nasty unbearable pain. Finally they took me in just to put me in another waiting room for about 15 mins. The doctor asked me what was wrong, and I said I'm having a miscarriage and he got mad that it took them that long to take me in. It hurt so bad it was like my stomach was being gutted. This was my first pregnancy. Who knows why I miscarried? No one will talk to me about it, but I'm okay. I know it happens for a reason and I hope I have better luck next time.

—Guest Jenna

Not sure

My experience happened about 10 years ago. I think I had already had a "chemical pregancy" a couple of years prior to this. I was not trying to get pregnant, but was always forgetting my pills and would take 2 or 3 at a time. One Saturday morning, I woke up ( I thought I was just having a regular period) and felt a "gush" like water. I went to the bathroom and it was blood. It seemed that with every heartbeat, I felt a gush. I went to the bathroom again and passed a clot about the size of a 50 cent piece. I guess I will never know for sure, but I will always believe this was an early miscarriage. I had endometriosis, so cramping was the norm for me anyway. I had never had bleeding like this before and only smaller clots, so this leads me to think even more it was a miscarriage.

—Guest Suzanne

There is hope

I had a mc in Oct 08. I was so depressed and sad. I walked in my house and went to the br and wiped and blood was on the paper. I went to the ER and they said threatened abortion. I was lost. The next day I woke up and was bleeding worse and then got this pain that made me bend over. It hurt so bad I couldn't walk. I went back to the ER and they told me that I had lost my baby. I was depressed for like 3 weeks. Well July 09 I found out I was preggo again, and I was horrified. A year had not even passed and here I was to live the future weeks in fear. Everything was progressing normal. Then I started bleeding. I went to the doctor on a Monday and they could not find a hb. The bleeding stopped and started again on Thurs, so I went back and they did find the hb. The bleeding stopped then started again. I went to the ER once more and my dr where both times they saw the hb. So they said they cant tell me why I'm bleeding but the baby looks ok.

—Guest heather

My angel baby

I found out I was pregnant on a Thursday. My husband and I have been trying for 8 months, so we were very excited. I made my first prenatal appt for the following Wednesday. Well the Monday before, I started to have cramps while at the casino with my husband. Then they suddenly got really bad. I went to the bathroom and felt so much pressure and pain. It was a pain I haven't felt before, but I now know it was my cervix dilating and contractions to get the baby out. Right there in a casino bathroom, I delivered my little 5 week baby with lots of bleeding and clots and pain. It was so hard to leave the casino and walk away from my little baby. I wanted to carry it with me, but I knew I couldn't. By the time we got home, all pregnancy symptoms were gone. I felt so empty inside. I had been looking forward so excitedly to my Wednesday prenatal appointment, but instead now I was dreading it. The doctor confirmed my miscarriage. I pray that someday I will be able to be a mother.

—Guest Missin Baby

Painful all around

I was more concerned about having a CVS procedure as I am of older age. I'd just got my head around being pregnant again after 13 years when at 8 weeks along I woke up not feeling pregnant. My boobs weren't so sore and I just felt different but thought nothing of it until later on that day when I began spotting. After each toilet visit, more and more spotting appeared then cramps -- not too bad but enough to know something wasn't right. The next day is when it really happened, full cramping in absolute agony. I was on all fours; it was like labour pains. I took a strong tablet for the pain and lay in bed until the pain subsided. I went to the toilet and lots of blood this time, and tissue and a feeling of such despair as there was nothing that could be done. A GP visit and blood tests and an ultrasound confirmed what I already knew. I had miscarried. I had so many mixed emotions, like a rollercoaster ride, and then a feeling of pain again. I have lost my baby...

—Guest saddened

Don't use a hot tub

I'm currently pregnant now and I have light bleeding and mild cramping. My boyfriend is nowhere in sight and I'm feeling more alone then ever. I'm scared. I've miscarried in the past after treating my girlfriend who was eight months pregnant to a day at a small spa. There was a sign that hung above that warned against use if pregnant. The same sign recommended only ten minutes of use. So I decided that ten minutes wouldn't be too bad. As soon I got out of the tub the extreme cervical cramping started and I discharged a moderate amount of dark brown blood. I was almost five weeks along. I continued to spot for the next week. When I finally saw my doctor she ran a routine blood test then proceeded to perfom a cervical ultrasound and saw no signs of a fetus. I was sent to radiology for a better ultrasound machine and results were disturbing. I was told I had what is know as a blighted ovum when an embryo stops developing but the pregnancy tissue continues to grow until miscarried.

—Guest AnnaLee

My Ordeal

My husband and I tried for a year to get pregnant (I have thyroid prob)and I went to the doctor and they did a ultrasound to confirm but said the fetus was measuring smaller so they thought maybe I miscalculated my last period. A week after finding out I started bleeding and having severe cramps. I went to the doctor and they said that I was going to miscarry. 2 days later I felt it come out size of grapefruit. I just sat there dumb founded, called the doctor and said as long as I wasn't bleeding a lot to come in the next day to ensure everything passed, and it had. 2 months later I found out I was pregnant again and am happy to say everything turned out great.

—Guest Daisy

Very early miscarriage possible?

I have 2 children & the last couple of weeks I had some emotional symptoms that I had with my 2 pregnancies. It was so strange and familiar that I took 3 pregnancy tests even though the chances of being pregnant were so almost zero. I took the tests 2 days before my period was due and there was an extremely faint line, almost invisible. So I took the one with the words, and it said "not pregnant". Then my period arrived as usual on day 28. It always lasts 4 days. This time, it was 6, and on day 7 brown spotting started with large clots. Today is day 10 and I am still having the brown spotting with large fiberous pieces of discharge. If it was a new pregnancy, conception would have been only 3 weeks ago. I have no cramping, but never do. The combination of unusual events has me almost convinced that I had a new pregnancy. Strangely, we were planning to start trying this month, which would be this weekend. If it was a miscarriage, I assume this cycle isn't possible sadly.

—Guest Wondering

Might be losing my dream

I found out monday morning that I am pregnant. That same day I started to spot, I went for blood work and my hcg was 13000. Tuesday night into the wee hours of wednesday morning I got cramps. I went to the ER and my cervix was soft and part way open. Also my hcg was now down to 9000. The doctors did some ultra sounds but did not really see anything (I am like 5 wks pregnant). So they sent me home. Now my OB is going to see me friday for another exam but my diagnosis is "threatened abortion" and all the doctors think I am going to miscarry. The bleeding is still light brown and no big clogs yet, just cramps so I am preparing for the worst and hoping for the best!

—Guest Tara lynn

It's a shocking experience!

Mine didn't have any of the mentioned signs. I was 11 weeks pregnant when I felt something coming out of me, only to find out that it is a big blood clot with something grey, and it stopped after 45mins. I still wonder why there was no pain but only to end up with an incomplete abortion. I feel pain when I really see women going through this!

—Guest hindoya

Shattered dreams

It happened around 9 weeks. I first noticed light spotting. I went to the emergency room. My worst fears were confirmed when the ultrasound showed no heartbeat. For 7 more days, just brown spotting. On day 8 I started getting cramps that got stronger as the day went on. Then I felt a gush like water breaking, only it was bloody. I ran to the toilet. The sack and the fetus plopped out out next. It was the size of a large bean. I could see its head,eyes,hands and feet. We saved it for the doctors to examine. Then I sat on the toilet for about a half hour. I was bleeding a lot. I felt like throwing up, but I didn't. Then I fainted. I thought I was going to die. My fiance called the ambulance. As soon as I layed down, I started feeling better but we went to the emergency room to be safe. The cramps went away. I bled heavy for another week. Then brownish spotting for another week. I passed a huge clot, then it stopped bleeding after 2 days. It took 24 days for the whole experience.

—joyjuice

My signs of miscarriage

I have had two miscarriages; my signs both times were a lot of cramping like I was going to start my period and then came the blood with quarter-sized blood clots. It was the saddest thing I ever went through so if any of you have any of these signs go to the doctor. I feel anybody's pain that has to go through something like this.

—Guest stacy