Expert: Pat G - 2/12/2012

Question
QUESTION: hello I'm 27. i had a (medical pill)abortion 8weeks on January 20,2012 stopped bleeding on the 27. Resumed light spotting on Feb 5 through 11 but when i would wipe it was stretchy like when your ovulating but mixed with blood(spotting comes and goes that week), and been having unprotected sex ever since the 5 of Feb since its been almost 3weeks. is there a high possibility of pregnancy and i did not feel that ive ovulated. I'm very confused here. Can you please clarify my questions.at this point can you feel if you ovulated.How long should i wait for the a regular period to come after the abortion? and what probability is here for another pregnancy. thank you for your time....i really want this baby if i am.

ANSWER: Hello, jessica,

The fact that you had stretchy mucus probably means you were fertile, even though there was blood (which would have been caused by the abortion pills. A woman with an exceptionally short period might also experience fertile mucus with menstrual blood mixed in. Because the pills upset a woman's hormonal balance, a woman cannot expect to feel the same symptoms of ovulation she is accustomed to. Not everyone feels they have ovulated. I never did. I simply knew when I had become pregnant, within a few days.

To have fertile mucus that soon after a pill abortion may very well mean you would have miscarried anyway. A woman can actually have fertile mucus and can ovulate while pregnant. I think this happens because the baby she is carrying is weak and will not make it. Pregnancy hormones are too low to sustain the baby's life. If a woman becomes pregnant from this new ovulation, she may or may not find out about it. She may never know what really happened. It is common for a woman to have a D&C because supposedly she has had a miscarriage (because she bled a lot) and has retained tissue, so if there is a new baby, the doctor probably won't admit it. I know of two cases where a woman conceived while she was pregnant. In one case, the mother had twins, but they were two months apart in gestational age. Both were healthy, and at the time I met one of them, she was middle aged, and they were both still doing well. In the other case, the first baby died, but the second baby was born perfectly healthy a year after the woman first became pregnant. So since a woman can be fertile during pregnancy, it stands to reason she could be quickly after an abortion as well, if she was destined to miscarry anyway.

You should count three weeks after you observed the mucus and had sex. Test for pregnancy then. If the test is negative, test again in a week.

Will you be able to take care of a baby, or are you still facing the same problems that prompted you to have an abortion in the first place? There is help available if you need it. Please keep in touch and let me know what happens, and if you need help, let me know. Take care.

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QUESTION: thank you for your responce. but i have noticed the streachy texture started on the 5feb. then stoped then resumed streachy texture 3days later before i had sex. And today feb 11 has stopped again.(and theres been no spotting at all). At times i feel a light slight pain when ovulation happens but this is very light than what i used to feel before.can you ovulate several times since your hormones are all over the place. And just been feeling very gasy from my stomach some days ago. Just like the same symptom i had when i was pregnant the first time.But next coming week should be down to 4wks since i had the procedure. should i expect a period by the end of the month of february? so far theres still no PMS or tender breast symptom at all like how i used to feel before i got the menstruation.i never did have no pregnancy symptoms the first time i felt normal like every day, not until i tested and i was 6wks far.no frequent urination nothing. it was really weird.are all preg the same? Thank you for your time pat. you seem very caring about this subject. I feel like i have your support.

ANSWER: Hello, jessica,

I will support you as best I can.

I don't think it's likely you will ovulate several times close together like that. It takes time for the ovum to mature. Also, there are really no expectations after a pill abortion. Nobody knows how a particular woman will react. So don't "expect" a period, but be prepared. After a pill abortion, bleeding can be quite erratic. If bleeding gets heavy, try taking some cayenne or eating food with red hot peppers in it. If this doesn't help, see a doctor. That kind of bleeding can be serious.

Each pregnancy is likewise different, though a given woman will probably have somewhat similar pregnancies. Some women don't experience unusual symptoms for awhile. Not all women get morning sickness. I never did. I never had PMS while I was pregnant, either. In fact, I didn't have it before or during a period, just other undesirable symptoms.

You said when you tested, you were 6 weeks. If you are sure of this number, let me know how many days after you tested, you used the pills. Take care.

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QUESTION: when i used the pill i was 8weeks far.and used (mipefrex and misopro at one day apart) and the only thing i noticed that made me test was that my veins in my breast were so visable and now there looking visible. can it be still because the hcg is still present in my body. I saw a dr and said when i checked on the 27 of jan my hcg was still high, he said that by next week on the 17th of feb should be going down.the bleeding is not heavy no longer its just light spoting and its not even visible in the pad only when i would wipe. Today i have not spoted at all.

Answer
Hello, jessica,

That's pretty late to rely on pills for abortion. You may still be pregnant from before the pills. The pills will probably alter the hormonal readings so that you won't really be able to tell from them reliably exactly what is happening. What usually happens is that because the baby is making his or her own progesterone, he or she no longer needs the mother's progesterone. Cytotec will cause contractions or bleeding, but unless a woman actually expels an object large enough to see clearly, she probably is still pregnant. By 8 weeks, the baby is completely formed, just very small. You said you took them three weeks ago, so you would now be 11 weeks pregnant. You may be able to lie on your stomach on the bed and feel a lump, especially if you are relatively thin.

The only way you will really know for sure, probably, is to see a doctor. Don't go to the person who gave you the pills. He cannot be trusted. Any doctor who is ethical would never give those pills to a pregnant woman because they are so dangerous, and anybody who would give them to a woman as far along as you were obviously doesn't care about the woman, just money. This is because since the pills will most likely fail, he will insist on doing a surgical abortion, and will get paid again. If you are still pregnant, the safest thing you can do is leave things alone, and not do anything more to endanger your life or health.

Please let me know what happens.