Miscarriage at 3 Weeks: What Early Signs Will I Feel?

Last updated on July 26th, 2018 at 06:19 pm

Question: Miscarriage at 3 Weeks: What Early Signs Will I Feel?

If you’ve already had intercourse with your partner, and you are expecting a child, having a miscarriage is the last thing you would hope for.

A miscarriage means your baby (called the embryo) fails to develop further in your womb and is washed out of the uterus before it can survive on its own (before 20 – 24 weeks of pregnancy).

The truth is, at 3 weeks of pregnancy, miscarriage rates are extremely high with a lot of women not even knowing when a miscarriage has taken place.

At three weeks of pregnancy, you’re yet to miss your period, and you are just 3 weeks away from your last menstrual period. You are also a week past your ovulation and around the time implantation of your baby to the uterus will occur.

Fertilization is the fusion of sperm from the man with an egg released during ovulation to form your baby (medically called the embryo). The process of fertilization occurs just after ovulation (about 12 to 24 hours) and it takes about 7 to 12 days for implantation to occur.

If you are 3 weeks pregnant now, it’s possible that your baby has already attached itself to the wall of your womb and already started to grow.

At this time, miscarriage is very common, and you may not even know when it will occur. Some women will only test positive for pregnancy through urine or blood test with no other proof of pregnancy if a miscarriage occurs.

While it’s common, that at three weeks you could have a miscarriage without knowing, if you are very observant, you may already have noticed some signs of pregnancy.

Immediately after fertilization and implantation, pregnancy hormones becomes elevated, and you are likely to start feeling pregnancy symptoms.

Though not common in every pregnancy, implantation bleeding will occur, and it is a mild spotting that occurs just before your expected menstrual period. Other symptoms of pregnancy at three weeks are tiredness, throwing up, headache, and feeling exhausted. Some women will experience a different mood, breast pain and sometimes change to their usual activities.

If you’ve already had a miscarriage at three weeks, it’s mostly because of chromosomal anomalies with your developing baby. Though there are other possible causes, chromosomal abnormalities are the commonest reason why it happens.

This article explains the causes, signs, rates, chances, and symptoms of miscarriage at 3 weeks pregnant.

Why do miscarriage at 3 weeks happen?

1.  Chromosomal abnormalities

Genetic anomalies are the main reasons you will have a miscarriage in early pregnancy. And if it occurs, surely it has nothing to do with your actions.

A human cell has a fixed number of 46 chromosomes (The egg from the women with 23 and the sperm from the man with 23). During fertilization, there is the union of genetic materials contained in the sperm and the egg.

An extra, duplicated or deleted chromosome will cause abnormalities in your baby’s development and therefore result in a miscarriage.

The truth is, 2 out of 10 women will end up having a miscarriage in early pregnancy, and in more than 50 percent of these women, genetic abnormalities are the main reason why it occurs.

If your body recognizes a malformed baby, it will “on its own“ protect you and trigger a miscarriage to happen.

2.  Age of pregnant mother

It’s quite common that older pregnant women will have a miscarriage in early pregnancy. About 50 percent of these women (especially those more than the age of 45 years) will have a miscarriage.

There is still a chance younger active women will have a miscarriage, though the chances are very slim. Only about 15 percent of women that are less than the age of 35 will have a miscarriage, while it is slightly higher for women between 30 and 45 years (about 30 percent).

If you are more than 45 years old, there are many risks to your pregnancy and baby. A miscarriage is one of them. It’s advisable you take early steps necessary by talking to an OB/GYN doctor close to you.

3.  Strenuous exercise

Before pregnancy, having a regular exercise like running up and down stairs, jumping rope, or having a vigorous swimming will not cause any effect on your health.

If you become pregnant, a strenuous exercise increases your risk of having a miscarriage. It’s important you take a lot of rest.

4.  Failed implantation

Implantation occurs when the embryo is attached to the uterine blood-thickened endometrium. It is a significant step in pregnancy, and if it’s successful, you will start showing symptoms of pregnancy and testing positive too.

If implantation fails, then your baby will be washed out through your vagina as miscarriage blood.

Other causes of miscarriage at three weeks pregnant are smoking, vaginal infections, drug abuse, trauma to your abdomen and maternal health problems like heart diseases, thyroid abnormalities, hypertension, and diabetes.

What are the signs of miscarriage at 3 weeks?

At three weeks, a lot of women will not be aware of pregnancy or a miscarriage. So, if you don’t feel symptoms, it’s not abnormal.

On the other hand, in some women, pregnancy symptoms may show up early and depending on test strip used, you may also have tested positive for pregnancy.

If you are having a miscarriage, here are the possible symptoms

Vaginal bleeding

Most women that will end up having a miscarriage at the 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th week of pregnancy will experience vaginal bleeding.

At three weeks, after a failed implantation, your baby is washed out as blood from your vagina. Because your baby is not well-formed at this time, you will not see fetal parts on pad or tissue paper when you wipe. A mild, moderate or severe bleeding is common with blood clots.

If your bleeding is heavy and due to a miscarriage, you will continue to test positive for pregnancy. It may take a while for your blood or urine test to show a negative test after a miscarriage.

Other symptoms of miscarriage at three weeks are a mild or severe pain in your lower back, waist pain, feeling like you are no longer pregnant, vomiting, and moderate to severe cramps in the lower part of your abdomen.

If you’ve tested positive for pregnancy, and suddenly experience these symptoms, talk to your doctor immediately.

Here’s an email I got from Emma (one of my readers)

Hi Doc

Its 4 years now since I last got pregnant and luckily I experienced implantation like bleeding 5 days ago. I had a pregnancy test yesterday and it’s positive. However, this morning, I feel cramps in my belly too. Am i having a miscarriage?

If you are expecting your next period and notice vaginal bleeding, it not always because of a miscarriage. Implantation bleeding occurs before period, and you will feel mild cramps too.

If spotting is ON and OFF, dark, lighter than your period and without blood clots, then its implantation bleeding rather than a miscarriage.

What are the chances of miscarriage at 3 weeks?

Because at three weeks pregnant a lot of women will not know they are pregnant, it becomes challenging to estimate the number of pregnancy loss.

However, more than 50 percent of women after fertilization will have a miscarriage before their next period.

As you go past your first trimester, miscarriage rate decreases.

Miscarriage at 3 weeks picture?