Conceiving After Ectopic Tube Removal

Hi there just like to say I’m so sorry for your loss. I too just had my 4th misscariage which was an ectopic. Right tube removed.

Sorry to hear this.

My mum had an ectopic pregnancy and tube loss over 50 years ago. Then after that she had me!

@Soph1809 they just did a visual check during the surgery and said it looked healthy when they visited me in recovery afterwards, but this is from the outside so obviously nothing is certain. If we hadn’t fallen pregnant quite swiftly I would have done that thing where you get the fluid through the tube to check it’s working (can’t remember what it’s called).

re: period, I had initial bleeding start around 3 days after surgery, and first period was basically bang on time a month after that so my cycle didn’t seem to be impacted by the surgery.

Please don’t worry yourself, your remaining tube is likely to be healthy and there are so many other options available for you if it isn’t.

Sorry OP, it really is a shit thing to go through. I was TTC for 12 months before having my ectopic which resulted in my left tube being removed. 3 months to the day after my surgery I had a positive test and my son is 2 now. Scans aLeo showed I had ovulated from my left ovary, the right tube had still picked it up! But I was so deflated after the surgery and thought it would never happen for me. The doctors make out ectopics are super rare but if you look at the statics it's not actually as rare as they lead us to believe. Uncommon, yes, but I have now known a few people to have the same and all have had babies after.

You are more fertile for 12 months after pregnancy regardless of its outcome and losing a tube does not reduce your chances of conceiving by 50% which I initially believed so the other tube can pick up eggs from both ovaries. Don't lose hope and good luck

Thankyou.
I didn't find out for certain whether the tube which was removed was already damaged, but it's quite possible as we had been TTC for about two and a half years with two losses in that time.
In contrast, it only took a few months to successfully conceive after the ectopic, and for at least a couple of those we weren't trying as I was recovering from the surgery.
I found the follow-up appointment with the surgeon provided some closure and reassurance that I was just very unlucky. It was weird talking with the actual person who had performed the operation, though!

@Soph1809 Thank you for such a lovely message ❤️ I feel as though I have literally experienced the worst, so I can definitely get through this - it’s just going to take some time. Yes exactly, we have to have hope ✨ I’m feeling so much better physically now, still bruised but getting around so much better. I’ve had 2 c sections and tend to recover well but this knocked me for 6 strangely!
Im so eager to try again, I know I should probably wait, but as the days roll on i’m more and more wanting to start trying. I have a follow up appointment in 3 weeks. I had to do a pregnancy test today to make sure it’s negative, so today has been difficult. Never thought i’d be doing a test and hoping it’s negative!!
Do you have a follow up appt booked in? xx

We started trying to conceive around Jan 24 and fell pregnant straight away, at 10wks I was rushed to surgery for an eptopic pregnancy and tube removal! They said my other tube was fine. I was so eager to try again straight away but gave myself a little while to recover physically. We have been trying since using ovulation apps to track when im most fertile. I cry my eyes out when my period comes each month but there is nothing we can do, just have to be patient and hope xx

So sorry for your loss. I had an ectopic and understand how sad and distressing it is. Give yourself time to heal. Mine was in my one good tube so I had ivf and it worked first time but my sister had two healthy pregnancies with one tube post ectopic.

Been where you were a long time ago now. Was pregnant again 5 months later, that resulted in DD1. DD2 was born 13 months after that. Firing on only one cylinder didn't seem to be an issue. I was so so worried it would be. I got early scans which weren't the norm back then to check all was as it should be and the embryo had made it to the uterus.

Just wanted to share this article from a while ago which has a success story after this scenario!
https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/parenting/ectopic-pregnancy-not-alone/

I’m so sorry OP and also to all the other PPs who have experienced an ectopic. I had an ectopic and was very lucky that it was caught early at around 5-6 weeks, but because it was doing so well (bless the little thing) I opted to have tube removal instead of watchful waiting/the drug option. We were pretty much straight back into TTC and managed to conceive 3 months later and this time it was in the right place!

The experience definitely removed my innocence around pregnancy, I remember the pure excitement around the first pregnancy but the second one I was a lot more “knock on wood” and cautious about meeting each milestone in the early days.

One thing I did do is stop drinking caffeinated beverages as I had read that this impacts the cilia in the tubes and was worried that might have contributed to initial ectopic, obviously no proof of that but worked for me and I also really enjoyed caffeine free life and the positive impacts on sleep and anxiety. Had to start drinking caffeinated coffee again to get through pregnancy fatigue though.

I found that having the tube removed was a weight off the mind as it was good to know that hopefully better chance for egg to travel safely through the remaining tube.

So sorry for your loss and to all the ladies here🤍 I had an ectopic a few months ago with my first pregnancy resulting in my right tube being removed💔 its such a rollercoaster of emotions to go through aswell as recovering physically from the op. Rest as much as you can although that's easier said that done and be kind to yourself. Peppermint tea will help with the bloating from surgery. The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust is a great place for reassurance and support. There is a forum you can post questions to aswell. I am petrified of another ectopic but try to remember we have a 90% chance of a healthy pregnancy next time and the EPU will scan early. Wishing you all the best xx

Not me personally but I have two friends who both lost a tube (one friend had an ectopic pregnancy and one friend was due to an issue with their tube) and both went on to have successful pregnancies after.

The friend who had the ectopic went on to have two children.

@Soph1809 Thank you - sending you lots of love too 💕 I’ve had quite a difficult journey having children, I lost my first baby boy at 3 days old to an extremely rare brain condition - not picked up during pregnancy. I then fell pregnant very quickly with my now 19 month old DS - who I thank my lucky stars for every single day. I knew I wanted another baby so soon after I had him, I think I’ve always felt sad that my little boy should have a sibling here and doesn’t, so I just long to give him a sibling. It was a difficult 12 months TTC before my ectopic and we were absolutely over the moon. Just feels like it was ripped away from us so viciously. I almost died however, so whilst I am so sad that i’ve lost my tube - I am just grateful to still be here. Wondering when life will just go a little easy on me 😓

I will say - I am feeling optimistic about having another (maybe naively), but I do feel it will happen as I’ve done so much research and there are so many women that have successful pregnancies after tube removal. I have no other known issues so hoping it’ll just be another case of ‘it’ll happen when it happens’.

How have you found the physical recovery from surgery? My stitches are getting very irritated and the bruising is getting darker by the day so hoping it goes away pretty soon xx