Hi mama's! I am one month postpartum on the 24th and exclusively breastfeeding. For the past few days I have had some bright red moderate bleeding with some clots. I have not contacted my OB yet but plan to tomorrow. It seemed that my lochia tapered off around the third week and was brown in color. Any one have any experience with this? FYI this is my second baby and it was a csection delivery. Thanks in advance for your help./
I had a csection as well and my nurse told me if I had bright red blood for any reason that it was most likely A. indicator that I was doing too much...my body's way of telling me to take it easy and that I am still healing My lochia was really light, but lasted for almost 6 weeks and then finally went away completely until I stopped breastfeeding.
My period came back at 7.5 weeks postpartum. It was incredibly heavy, with big clots. Like you, I was breast-feeding exclusively and this was my second baby, delivered by a C-section. I'm still bf exclusively at 3 months and my menstrual cycle is back to normal. Some of us aren't so lucky to have that go away while nursing!
Talk to you doc to make sure, but it's probably normal and maybe just a sign you're too active (though I know women who went back to working out at 2 weeks and never had trouble...so that may not be it either). You can try taking shepherd's purse. It's safe even when breastfeeding and can help stop both menstrual and locia bleeding.
FIrst off Congrats on the new baby. Now as far as your "flow" goes. If it has gone from brown back to bright red, it can be a sign that you are over doing activity. First down grade your activity. Rest for the day and if the bleeding continues, it is a chance it can be your period. Your first perios can come one month postpartum. I think first just take the physical activity down a notch. You should not still be passing clotts. If you are passing clots that are small, coin size, just watch it.. If they are golf ball size or larger then you need to call your OB. Large clotts should have passed by 1 month postpartum. So decrease activity and watch and see. If it continues but does not increase, it is a good chance it is your period. Breastfeeding is not a precurser of not getting a period. This is a myth and the reason we have some women coming back as returned customers shortly after the postpartum visit. Good Luck!
Mine also tapered off around that point and started up again (I remember because my husband and I felt we were "good to go" and then I had A. annoying surprise). I also was much more active with my second child because I had a toddler at home alone with me, so I think that made my bleeding last longer. I did not have a c-section so can't shed any light on that. Call your doctor though if you passing the larger clots (he/she probably already told you what size was normal) and/or if you start bleeding too heavily.
I've had three babies, 2 csection and one vaginal. With all three, my lochia tapered off and then started up again for another week or two. Everything was fine... there's a lot of postpartum "debris" in your uterus. "Debris" is a term I picked up. lol.
Sometimes activity level increases the lochia as well.
I would still suggest calling your doctor if you're feeling any other symptoms.
The same exact thing happened to me after my second baby who was also delivered by c-section. I was told that it was just a sign that I was doing too much too soon and to back off what I was doing. I did and after about 24 hours it went away, but if I started trying to do too much again it came back.
It could be a sign you are doing too much, but it could also be your monthly cycle starting back up. I have 3 kids (all vaginal deliveries) & I exclusively breastfeed all of them. My period came back at 3 months with my 1st 2 and at 6 weeks (only 1 week after lochia stopped!) with the last one. Unfortunately you may be one of the "lucky" ones who don't get the break in flow most breastfeeding Moms enjoy!
