subinvolution/retained placenta????? WORRIED

[janiecw]

I had a pretty uneventful birth and everything seemed fine, I stopped bleeding and seemed to be recovering. However last saturday I started bleeding bright red blood pretty heavily it was very heavy to began with but is now like a moderate - heavy period. It has been bright red for over a week now. (which is bad im already anemic) I called my dr office on wed. and the nurse said as long as I wasnt soaking a pad every hour just try to rest and drink fluids. The thing that makes me nervous is Ive been resting and I am still bleeding.
I am starting to get very worried I have an appointment on tuesday and the bleeding is moderate I change pads about every 3 hours although the flow increases when I stand up etc.
Anyone have any experience with this? I was researching they may have to do a d&c. how long does that take. Kaylee is breastfed and wont take a bottle can I feed her in recovery if I need to.
Do you guys think I will be ok til tuesday morn when I have my appointment?

[eliana1300]

Okay, first off, the research on the computer will scare the hell out of you. I know because this happened to me, and I was petrified.

A few questions before I tell you my story (as gross as it is): How long did you stop for? I checked your birth story and you had Kaylee at the end of March. It is not unheard of for bleeding to stop after 3 weeks, sometimes even shorter. On average, the bleeding is for 6 weeks, but that means there are people that bleed for only one week and some that bleed for 8 weeks or longer. So don't panic just yet. It is possible for you to get your period very quickly after birth, although that is often unlikely especially with breastfeeding. However, you said that Kaylee is breastfed exclusively, so I am assuming you are making enough milk to satisfy her (ie, no screaming after nursing, any extra after she nurses and falls asleep?, etc).

Okay, my story:
I had my son in mid-November, and was still bleeding when I had my 6 week appointment. They said it wasn't unheard of, but to call in another week if it hadn't stopped. It often fluctuated to the point where I thought it was going away, but a week later, it would be like a bad period. At 8 weeks post-partum, I told them I still hadn't stopped. We decided to do a uterine biopsy to determine what was going on. That was the most painful part of the entire experience, including the c-section. The biopsy showed that I had had at least 2 uterine infections between birth and the biopsy, but it did not indicate why. I was scheduled for a D&C a month and 1/2 later, to explore more thoroughly why I was still bleeding.

GROSSMENTS FOLLOW: A few days before the D&C, I passed this gray-looking thing that looked odd. I knew it had come from my vaginal area because I needed to push it out a little bit (not like a contraction, which I have very limited experience with). I called the dr, explained what happened, and was told to go to the ER. I did so and gave them this thing for them to test. I proceeded to have the D&C a few days later, and they confirmed that I had a retained placenta, most of which I past just a few days before. The bleeding stopped shortly (like a few days) after.

I also was nursing around the time that I had the biopsy done, but my supply had plummeted around 6 weeks. Normally, a newborn has a growth spurt at that time and nurses around the clock. I attempted this and my son screamed after every nursing. It was a combination of reflux and my supply dropping that made him switch to formula. I even tried to hand-express right before we fully switched him to formula, and not a drop came out. I was very upset, even though I hadn't planned to nurse for longer than 6 months at the time. Looking back, I can see how everything was related, although at the time, it never occurred to me.

Please PM me if you have any questions. I went through a lot of questioning myself during that time, and I would love to spare anyone from that. It is scary but honestly, the chances of a retained placenta is supposedly rare. So I will hope that it is just your first period, and it is heavier than you are used to.

[cqbpas]

Another possibility is that a clot or three were sort of acting like a cork, blocking the blood from coming out with such a dramatic rush. You know how part of the post-partum discharge is to call if you pass clot larger than a lemon? I recall saying to myself if I saw so much as a golf ball I'd be on my way to the ER. A lemon? Did they not know that little grapefruit head over there about killed me??

Oh I was so happy to pass only weensy bits...not even a marble. Happy days. In fact I was pretty much done about 10 days out. Aren't I the master birther? Too bad I'm a shitty incubator, or I'd just do this annually. Go me. Day 14ish. My uterus opened up like the breached levees in the NO 9th Ward post Katrina, like the Boxing Day Tsunami in Indonesia and Thailand, or...like (as I found out hours, tears, and a great panic attack later) a postpartum uterus that was NOT done bleeding at all, was continuing about it's business of bleeding and shedding and general housekeeping...and because medium sized clot took a breather, at just the wrong time, in just the right angle of the right spot...suddenly we had a big old traffic jam. I guess it all hung around at the "gate" until maybe I sneezed or pooped or ?? And then I honest to God thought I would bleed to death right only bathroom that hour.

I'd never seen blood come like a faucet was on, I had a bathtowel between my legs. I strapped R in his carseat and wrote steves name and cell and school numbers, rory's name, and my mame and ss# on a paper and put that plus my DL and insurance card a bottle in the seat with him, called the OB whose nurse said to come the next day "if it was that bad"; I told her "listen--this is bad enough that I've put a f***ing note on my 2week old baby in his carseat so that the EMS will know his name, my name and insurance and can locate my dh. I did that because it's that bad that I'm scared about not getting there on my own if I leave now. So let me try again. I'm 2 weeks post partum from a complicated pregnancy and my Hgb when I delivered was only 8.0. I'm bleeding enough that it is dripping into the toilet and I'm alone and scared. I'm calling to TELL you I'm coming in right this minute so you can pull my chart. If I'm not there in 30 mins, you can call downstairs and I'd bet money you will find me there in the ER. Thanks". And I hung up shaking and terrified.

It wasn't until later, after two kinds of u/s and calming, and stat Hgb that I found our this "cork-plug-pop-bleed" thing, but ive read it since. Maybe ask about it?

Fingers crossed. I'll think of you tomorrow. Insist on CBC if you are cmcerned you've bled too much.

[janiecw]

Thanks ladies I can't wait for my appointment I'm so nervous. I hope it isn't bad. I am going to ask for a cbc and ultrasound just to be sure because today especially I'm feeling weak and have had some lightheadiness, and like I said I've always struggled with anemia anyways so... I'm hoping the ultrasound will answer any questions my mil said she had subinvolution with her 3rd but no retained products they had to give her methergine to finish contracting it down. So who knows..
Actually I do feel like there's a clot or something. TMI you know how on ur period u can feel the clot sitting there that's kind of how it feels I can feel something there on the cervix that needs to come out I get pieces of clot but nothin bigger than a nickle at this point. I hate my reproductive organs we've been fighting since my teen years.