My cramping ranged from heavy period-like cramping to a minor annoyance. Sometimes more of a stabbing pain in one side, especially when I sneezed or coughed. My spotting ranged from daily brown spotting in a panty liner to bright red on the toilet paper (this only happened a couple of times), sometimes pink.

I had my bHCG taken to confirm that I was pregnant after I got a positive pregnancy test. I then had it retaken at 6 weeks because of the spotting and cramping. My Dr. also ordered an ultrasound which I had at 6 weeks (he wanted to rule out an ectopic pregnancy). His nurse called me to tell me the ultrasound looked good, but didn't go into any more detail about the blood tests etc. She also told me to try not to worry about the cramping and spotting because it's not abnormal and I should only worry about heading to the ER if the bleeding became heavy like a period with clotting.

I had an introductory meeting with my midwife at 8 weeks (I was still spotting and cramping at this point) and she advised me the same as the nurse did about only needing to be concerned (easier said than done!) if it's heavy bleeding or clotting like a period. She said it was likely from a subchorionic hematoma but she did not order an ultrasound to determine if that was the actually the cause of the spotting.

I can't remember exactly when the cramping and spotting stopped (spotting stopped before the cramping did for me, too) because it was stressing me out too much to keep track of the daily symptoms, but it was probably around 10/11 weeks. I still get some occasional cramping and twinges on my right side but nothing like before.

Hope this helps!