I had baby #3 on March 11th in a quick and uncomplicated delivery. The baby is now almost 2 weeks old and yesterday and today I’ve been having an increase in bleeding (sorry to be TMI - but it’s bright red and heavier than it’s been in the last week). I had some postpartum complications with my last pregnancy (retained placenta; bled for 6 months) so I’m a little anxious about what is normal and what isn’t. Dr. Google says that the bleeding should be light and brown by now. My doctor said I should call if I’m soaking a pad in an hour (which I’m not but I am wearing adult diapers so it would take a fair amount of blood to do that). Anyways, I would love any feedback on what is normal since my last experience was anything but normal.
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I bled heavily and red for 6 weeks after all my kids. Especially if I increased activity at all. If you’re concerned I would call with your history though!
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@Mrs. Champagne: That’s good to know. The bleeding seems to increase whenever I breastfeed rather than any increased activity. I know the uterus is contracting when you breastfeed.
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@Shantuck: obviously ymmv but I’m pretty sure I remember this happening while bf #3. I would get up from feeding and feel a gush and need to go change my pad.
I read somewhere (not sure if true) that those bf contractions get stronger as you have more births so that could be part of it. Definitely watch the volume though and call if it seems too much!
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@bhbee: That’s exactly what is happening. I’m guessing the blood is pooling as I sit to feed and then I stand up and it all gushes out.
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@Shantuck: I think I had similar thoughts after my recent birth. My bleeding stayed red for a while then dropped off suddenly (like, in the last 4 days went from red to non-existent) instead of tapering and changing color.
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I bled for 6 weeks, mostly red. I think it's more due to the breastfeeding and probably being slightly more active than you were at immediately postpartum.
FWIW, I passed a softball-sized clot at 5days PP, went to the ER, and they looked at it and said yeah, that's concerning but then they did bloodwork and sent me home saying I was ok.
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I bled for 6 weeks each time and it was always red, it would definitely ebb and flow if I was more active or times when I thought it was done then I'd start bleeding heavily and red again the next day.
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Super helpful everyone! Thank you! I’m in Chicago and we’re sheltering in place here so I really don’t want to deal with any issues this time. Glad to know this isn’t abnormal. My last birth experience really messed me up.
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8 comments