a Little Confused About Something... Posted: 09-28-04 14:28pm
Ok ive read countless stories on the
internet about pregnant women who have
their periods either throughout their
entire pregnancies or during a chunk of
it...And even though they swear its their
period, i'm a bit confused as to how this
is scientifically possible.
As we alllllll know, a period is the
periodic shedding of an unfertilized egg
and uterine lining. If a woman is
pregnant, then #1) she will not ovulate
(right??) so there is no unfertilized egg
to be released, and the only egg that's in
there is fertilized already, so it wont be
shed through a period....And #2) she
wouldnt shed her uterine lining, since her
growing fetus is attached to it.
That being said, can someone tell me how a
pregnant woman can say she's had her
period while pregnant? Unless its
implantation bleeding or something else
that she only thinks is her period(?)
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Kia
Supporter
Joined: 23 Jun 2004 Posts: 6594 Location: Planet Tampaxia,
Posted: 09-28-04 16:52pm
Periods during pregnancy can be many
things.
Some women get "womb lining" growing
outside the uterus - this can still be
shed.
Some women still just get a monthly bleed
- but not a true menstrual period.
Unless you take a case study you won't get
one hard fast answer.
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Kia
Supporter
Joined: 23 Jun 2004 Posts: 6594 Location: Planet Tampaxia,
Posted: 09-28-04 16:59pm
What normally happens to cause a period?
In a non-pregnant woman, there is a
monthly cycle of female hormones which
controls the release of an egg and causes
the lining of the womb to thicken. If
that egg is not fertilized, hormone levels
fall at the end of the month, and the womb
lining breaks down and is shed as a
period.
What happens when a woman is pregnant?
When a woman becomes pregnant, the cycle
of hormones is usually lost. Instead,
hormones' levels increase to stimulate the
womb and make it ready to support the
developing foetus. So no womb lining is
shed - and there are no periods during the
pregnancy.
What could explain these rare cases of
periods during pregnancy?
There are two possible explanations:
hormone levels aren't high enough. In
some women, the hormone levels in
pregnancy aren't high enough to prevent
the lining of the womb being lost in those
areas where the placenta isn't attached.
So sometimes a woman will have one episode
of bleeding or more in the first month or
two of pregnancy (and, rarely, throughout
the pregnancy).
The bleeding is due to something other
than a period. For example, a
pregnancy-related cause of bleeding, such
as a tubal pregnancy, or another cause,
such as polyps on the cervix. In these
cases the bleeding isn't usually regular
like a period.
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ParanoidFreak
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 26 Sep 2004 Posts: 21
Posted: 09-28-04 21:02pm
Thanks for all that info! That did
explain a lot...But in the first case that
the article described (i think it was an
article lol), the one about hormone levels
not being high enough...Would the woman
bleed like a period in that instance?
For example, my periods generally last
about 5 days, and are extremely heavy the
first two days with terrible cramping
during the first three days (and by
"terrible" I mean I need to take
prescription medication every 6 hours plus
aleve every 4 hours plus a thermacare
patch just to feel slight relief)...If a
woman were pregnant and her hormone levels
werent as high as they should be, could
she expect to bleed like that??
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Kia
Supporter
Joined: 23 Jun 2004 Posts: 6594 Location: Planet Tampaxia,
Posted: 09-29-04 04:18am
Personally, I wouldn't think so. Plus,
you would need to make sure those meds
were ok to take during pregnancy else you
could run the risk of birth defects.
Where it is hormone levels related it is
usually only the first few months.
I was interested to see the bit where it
said about the womb lining detatching,
from where the placenta isn't.
The article was from about.Com - they seem
to have articles on nearly everything,
maybe have a look next time you are
online.
If you are having your standard regular
style periods, I would be reasonably sure
you're not pregnant, especially if you
have been keeping your clothes on.
You can get birth control in the form of
pills, patch or shot which would help
alleviate your worries, make sure you also
use a condom of you have intercourse.
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ParanoidFreak
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 26 Sep 2004 Posts: 21
Posted: 09-29-04 09:49am
Thanks so much kia and no, we wont be
having intercourse, we're both virgins and
good god could you imagine how much we'd
worry if we were actually sexually
active?? Lol we'd never get any sleep!
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Kia
Supporter
Joined: 23 Jun 2004 Posts: 6594 Location: Planet Tampaxia,
Posted: 09-29-04 11:16am
No probs, any time, just ask and my
opinion you can have
also about.Com is a great resource.
If I don't know and you want me to look it
up i'm sure I can somewhere, if it is in
one of my pregnancy books, I can scan it
for you
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jessamyn
Supporter
Joined: 18 Aug 2004 Posts: 4107 Location: San Diego, CA
Thanks: 11
Thanked:3
Posted: 10-14-04 20:21pm
Unlike miss.Kia <3 haha I dont know all
the pregnancy scientificness hahah however
I do know someone who had their period up
until beinf almost 8 months pregnant she
gained no weight nor anything then missed
her period took a test went to a doc and
found out she was 8 months she ended up
(luckily) having a very healthy baby girl
(6 lbs ?Oz) but yeah so I guess its
possible