Bleeding in late pregnancy - sp. TMI

[Amy]

A couple of days ago DH & I had BD, and for the first time I had pink
spotting afterwards. It wasn't a lot, and it faded to brown that day. I did
ask my midwife, and she said spotting after sex is normal at 36 weeks, and
just to be aware that it can trigger off labour. Well last night after BD I
had bright red bleeding when I wiped, it was more than last time, I wasn't
gushing but it was like early on in a period. That too has changed to brown,
but I'm not so sure this really is normal.
I'm not overly worried about triggering labour, as we're looking at
induction at 38 weeks anyway and I think if this one comes early she's
trying to tell us something, but I didn't think labour was normally preceded
by bright red bleeding, maybe just a bloodstained mucous plug or something
like that, but as I've never gone into labour naturally nor got this far in
pg I have no idea. I don't have a low lying placenta, so I know it's not
that. I haven't had any internals so I don't know if I'm dilated at all or
not, I tried to check myself but my cervix was higher than usual.
After sex I also get a feeling of pelvic congestion, a deep intensely
painful lower back pain near my tailbone which can last several hours. My
midwife said that's normal too.
Ok, so if anyone has got this far and isn't thinking 'why is this silly
woman still having sex at 36 weeks with back pain and bleeding?', do you
have any experiences with this to share?

[Sarah Vaughan]

In message >, Amy > writes
>A couple of days ago DH & I had BD, and for the first time I had pink
>spotting afterwards. It wasn't a lot, and it faded to brown that day. I did
>ask my midwife, and she said spotting after sex is normal at 36 weeks, and
>just to be aware that it can trigger off labour. Well last night after BD I
>had bright red bleeding when I wiped, it was more than last time, I wasn't
>gushing but it was like early on in a period. That too has changed to brown,
>but I'm not so sure this really is normal.
>I'm not overly worried about triggering labour, as we're looking at
>induction at 38 weeks anyway and I think if this one comes early she's
>trying to tell us something, but I didn't think labour was normally preceded
>by bright red bleeding, maybe just a bloodstained mucous plug or something
>like that, but as I've never gone into labour naturally nor got this far in
>pg I have no idea. I don't have a low lying placenta, so I know it's not
>that. I haven't had any internals so I don't know if I'm dilated at all or
>not, I tried to check myself but my cervix was higher than usual.
>After sex I also get a feeling of pelvic congestion, a deep intensely
>painful lower back pain near my tailbone which can last several hours. My
>midwife said that's normal too.
>Ok, so if anyone has got this far and isn't thinking 'why is this silly
>woman still having sex at 36 weeks with back pain and bleeding?', do you
>have any experiences with this to share?

If you know that your placenta isn't low-lying, then there are two other
likely causes of this, neither likely to be a problem:

1. You might have had something called a small abruption - which, in
plain English, means that a small part of the placenta has peeled away
from the uterine wall. Large abruptions are bad news, but small ones
are common and not usually a big problem. If this was an abruption,
then from your description it will have been a very small one (not much
bleeding, no pain).

2. Could be a cervical erosion - raw area on your cervix. If it is
that, then that's totally harmless.

However, do go see your care provider and get it checked out - to make
sure everything is OK, and for your own peace of mind.

BTW, if you're 36 weeks and likely to have this baby soon, strikes me
that this is an excellent time to be having sex. After all, it might be
the last chance you'll get for weeks/months, so just as well to enjoy it
while you can. However, please note that this paragraph, unlike the
rest of the post, does _not_ represent my certified medical opinion.
;-)


All the best,

Sarah

--
"I once requested an urgent admission for a homeopath who had become depressed
and taken a massive underdose" - Phil Peverley