Doing the panic dance
Monday, October 26, 2009
8 WEEKS, 1 DAY PREGNANT
8 WEEKS, 1 DAY PREGNANT
When I woke up this morning, my first thought was, “I’m two months today!” Eight weeks is the first milestone that feels really impressive, because it’s (technically) two whole months. As in two down, seven to go.
My second thought was: “OMG, is that blood???”
Yes. Panic-time. There was a small amount of brownish stuff — like what you get at the end of your period — on the toilet paper.
I think I almost passed out from shock and panic. Darling Husband had left at the crack of dawn, so I was sobbing alone in the bathroom. Praying for the baby. Freaking out. Running for my copy of What to Expect.
As I frantically looked up “bleeding” in the index, I tried to stay calm. I remembered reading about implantation bleeding, but it was too late for that — wasn’t it? And while I had to admit that a bit of brown stuff was “better” than bright red scary blood, it was still blood.
The book calmed me somewhat, and I forced myself to get dressed and ready for work. I did some major BlackBerry research once I reached the bus stop, Googling “light brown spotting 8 weeks pregnant” and reading thread after thread of women who had gone through the same thing.
The consensus on the internet was a huge comfort, as it seems that brown discharge is fairly common — especially among eight-weekers — and since it’s “old blood” it’s not usually a sign of a problem. It is riskier if the blood is bright red, and if you have cramps as well.
I’m scheduled to see my doctor on Wednesday — and hopefully hear the baby’s heartbeat for the first time — so for now, I’m going to wait it out. It’s still really scary, though.
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