Am I bleeding to death?
After bleeding extremely heavily for about a week, suffering intense cramps and pains, I went to see my local GP.  I explained to him that my period had been a couple of weeks late, and that I suspected that I had,

had a miscarriage.  Oddly enough the Doctor said that this was highly unlikely, and just a heavy period – I insisted that it was more than that, and asked that he treat me according to my request.  He gave me a pregnancy test, and I was quite shocked to find out that the result was positive. From where I was sitting in the Doctor’s surgery, I could see MaxiMan across at the hair dressers; oblivious to the test, or it's result, he was happily getting his hair done… ‘gulp’.  This was a little unexpected to say the least, I never thought of having a baby ever, let alone now!  The doctor explained that the hormone levels could still be present if I had miscarried, and scheduled me in for an ultrasound the next morning to see if I would need a curette.  I was still bleeding lightly – and I found it all rather bemusing, I was just pleased to be taken seriously, and have a reason for feeling so ill.

Ice-cream sundaes and decisions.
MaxiMan took it all in his stride, he was pretty easy going about the whole thing – though looking back, I don’t really think he knew what I was talking about.  He drove me to get my ultrasound the next morning, and our main concern was that I wouldn’t have to have the procedure, as I didn’t want to take any more time off work.   Within seconds of placing the scanner thing (sorry this isn’t a technical document), on my lower abdomen – the lady said, ‘look, there’s your baby.’  I advised that I wasn’t here because I was pregnant; she asked me what I thought the little white blipping thing on the screen was. I suggested that perhaps she had linked up to some sonar and it was an enemy sub - then I nearly fell off the examining table.  That probably would have been a good time to call MaxiMan in, and introduce him to his first child who was apparently around 7 weeks and 2 days gestation.  However, he was sitting so comfortably in the waiting room studying that I didn’t want to disturb him.  I breezed out and he asked, 'is everything ok?'   I said ‘yes, we’re pregnant.’  He replied, ‘oh, what do we do now?’ .  I suggested we get giant ice-cream sundaes for breakfast and discuss it later…  MaxiMe seemed to find the whole thing very tiring, and after doing some research on abortions online for about 30mins, I was already looking at baby furniture.  The next day when I returned to work, my Doctor called me and told me to go home and have bed rest for at least 2 weeks.  I was still bleeding steadily – more like heavy spotting.  I never really asked why, I felt sick as, and was still cramping, so I went home.  That weekend we went to MaxiMan’s parent’s for his Dad’s 50th birthday, and I had to let them know that I couldn’t do anything to help out, and that of course I couldn’t drink, so began the torture of being pregnant.

City mouse vs country mouse.
My city Doctor recommended that I rest until the bleeding stopped, and abstain from sexual intercourse for at least a week afterward.  I hadn’t had a chance to get an explanation as to what the full results were.  I had the letter in Bathurst with me, and it said that I had a corpeus luteum cyst.  I presumed that, this cyst was the cause of the bleeding, and I wasn’t sure what it meant, so we made an appointment with the family GP while we were up there.  The country Doctor assured us that the cyst meant nothing particular, and was quite common and in the majority of cases wouldn’t cause any problems.  He also said that although bed rest was recommended, it was only because it is the best suggestion that some Doctor’s make to cover their own butts, and that we were most likely going to lose the Jellybabee or Macushla as he was known at the time.  In that moment MaxiMan and I suddenly became very paternal and maternal and we got him to book us in for all the blood tests etc appropriate to being pregnant.

Lazing around and getting fatter.
Contrary to what country Doctor said, I did find that the bed rest limited the bleeding, and that the volume of blood was very much dependent upon how much I moved.  In total it took another 8 weeks before it stopped, and I didn’t return to work until I was 16 weeks pregnant.  I highly recommend resting as much as possible if you are bleeding, as I am sure that it made a big difference in our case.  It certainly won’t guarantee that you won’t miscarry, however if it increases your chances of having a healthy baby – then it is worth it.  I consulted my city Doctor again, and he was adamant in his agreement that he thought bed rest would make a difference.  Later when referred to the hospital for my clinic appointments, the Doctor there agreed as well.  She said if anything, the baby may be a little smaller than usual, and come a few weeks early – which made sense to me, and this is what actually occurred in the end.  My placenta had also deteriorated and had to be removed surgically after the birth.

What caused it?
We never really got a full explanation of what the bleeding was, just that it was good that the haemorrhage was below where the baby attached to the uterus, instead of above – where it could have been more likely to affect the attachment.  There are also other types of bleeds called breakthrough bleeds that occur roughly when your normal period would – 4, 8 and 12 weeks into the pregnancy.  I may have wasted 8 weeks sitting around in pain and flu like symptoms at home for nothing, yet I am glad that I did follow the orders of my original and GP. I definitely bled more and experienced more cramps, pain and fever than when I rested in bed or on the couch.  It also felt well worthwhile when we flew home to New Zealand with a beautiful, bonnie little babe to show off 5 months later.

Take charge of your destiny.
My advice is that if you are bleeding, get it checked as soon as possible, to determine what the cause may be.  Use pads, never tampons, and be prepared that your Doctor will want to see the pad to check the nature of the blood.  Don’t put on a fresh one immediately before the appointment, or if you do – take the old one in a bag.  Trust your instincts, if you feel that resting is affecting the flow of blood, and your cramps etc – then rest.  Don’t go around for a few days thinking you have got some cancerous cyst inside you like I did – get an explanation of your results, immediately.  Get a 2nd opinion, get a 3rd opinion too if you must.  Don’t let medical people make you feel like a prima donna for taking steps to be empowered and informed in regard to your pregnancy.  In the end, the person in charge of your pre-natal care should be you, it’s good preparation for being in charge of a little MicroMe when it’s finished.

I have attached bookmarks to a couple of sites that have more information on bleeding and cysts - I found them easy to read and understand.