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Conception

When's the best time to get pregnant? Use our interactive ovulation calculator to work out when you're most fertile and most likely to conceive.

Original poster

I would really love to hear from people who had a successful pregnancy after an ectopic.

51 replies

randomuntrainedcuntowner · 30/09/2017 22:26

In hospital, in pain and feeling sad after having one of my tubes removed after a ruptured ectopic.

Obviously grateful for at least being safe as I apparently lost a lot of blood, but feeling worried about the future.

Therefore would love to hear success stories of conceiving with only one tube.

I'm 35, have dd from a previous relationship, but would love to give dp a child. 😕

OP posts:
EllyOlly · 01/10/2017 08:00

I have a lovely dd, conceived less than a year after an ectopic pregnancy and surgery to remove a tube. Sending love. It's an awful thing to go through. Xx

SandunesAndRainclouds · 01/10/2017 08:05

I had a ruptured EP, lost consciousness and apparently almost my total blood volume! BP was barely recordable and pulse was thready. Very dramatic by all accounts...

I now have 4DC, on every early scan ( was convinced in each pregnancy it was another EP) the corpus luteum was on the ovary on the opposite side to the good tube.

EP and salpingectomy doesn't always equal total loss of fertility.

Wishing you a speedy recovery Flowers

stresshead84 · 01/10/2017 08:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

laurzj82 · 01/10/2017 08:19

Sorry this happened OP. Flowers

My friend now has a beautiful 4 yr old having had an ectopic pregnancy.

Wishing you all the very best. Look after yourself Flowers

fairyofallthings · 01/10/2017 08:19

I have two post ectopic children, both are now teenagers. Good luck op.

Original poster
randomuntrainedcuntowner · 01/10/2017 08:47

Congrats to all of you who went on to have lovely dcs. It is interesting that you can still conceive from the opposite ovary and that so many of you did. Is it bad that I am an gp trainee who has done a six month sting in o&g and I didn't even know that?! 😂

OP posts:
Original poster
randomuntrainedcuntowner · 01/10/2017 08:49

And reading the posts of how poorly some of you got, I am realising that I massively dodged a bullet by coming out relatively unscathed and that in fact it is really a life threatening emergency. So thank you very much for sharing everyone - it is helping me stay positive. 💐

OP posts:
Orangebird69 · 01/10/2017 08:51

Not me, but a relative. Ectopic pregnancy. Ttc for a couple of years but no good. Then nearly bankrupted themselves with a couple of rounds of ivf. Not successful and they gave up. They now have a dd and a ds, both conceived naturally, both in their 20s now. Don't give up Flowers

Original poster
randomuntrainedcuntowner · 01/10/2017 08:54

Oh and thank you different for the tip for peppermint tea and capsules for the shoulder tip pain. It is still agony this morning, the pain in my actual wounds and pelvis is barely registering compared to this. I can only get even remotely comfortable by lying completely still on my left side, not too flat, but head not too raised either. Any slight movement sets it off into spasm again. They have just given me 30mg oramorph for it it is that bad, so I'd rather at least try the peppermint if it means I am not having to take such hardcore painkiller!

Mum is going on a mission to Holland and Barrett before she comes in! 😂

OP posts:
BagelDog · 01/10/2017 09:03

I had an ectopic and lost my left tube, then two miscarriages.... since then I have had three children and am pregnant with number four...

Fertility is thought to be about 75-80% with one tube. Having had an ectopic you need early scans at about six weeks in following pregnancies and can see which side the luteal cyst is - two of mine have been from the side with no tube, amazing how much the fimbrae can actually move.

Shoulder tip pain was horrendous for 24 hours, major feature for the next 24, then just sort of vanished... I found it was really positional and needed up sleeping half day up.

Found that getting bunged up really exacerbated it, so movicol and peppermint oil was my best thing.

Hope you feel a lot better soon. I found by the time trying again seemed like a reasonable thing to do the two cycles were pretty much done with.

Take care

SandunesAndRainclouds · 01/10/2017 09:13

After my EP I was well supported by The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust. They support research and training in medics because while the incidence of EPs is quite high, diagnosis pre surgery is low. Early intervention is key - EPs can be medically managed if diagnosed early enough - but they just aren't diagnosed, or mistaken for something with similar symptoms like grumbling appendix.

I was really lucky that my GP knew what he was dealing with and I was sent in as emergency gynae so I was stabilised in resus before going into theatre. I was also incredibly lucky as I had a laparoscopic salpingectomy and 21 years ago that wasn't the favoured practice.

Mismanagement of ectopic pregnancy is a problem that would be easily solved with training and awareness. Not just for the medics but for women too.

So don't worry about being a trainee GP and not knowing, you're not the only one. But once you are healed, both physically and emotionally, you are in a very unique position to be able to help other women and raise awareness in your field should you wish to. That's all further down the line though and the most important thing now is your recovery.

SandBlue · 01/10/2017 09:14

Another one chipping in to say both my boys were conceived easily after a ectopic and tube removal.

Highly recommend the ectopic pregnancy trust for loads more people going through similar, and also accurate info.

Hope your feeling better soon - but take it easy. I did too much too soon after they let me out of hospital. Flowers

Littlebelina · 01/10/2017 10:02

Recovery for my ectopic was worse than for either of my c sections (one emcs preectopic and one elcs post ectopic). The gas has to escape post surgery and it will just take time. Peppermint tea and lots of rest.

Original poster
randomuntrainedcuntowner · 01/10/2017 10:04

Sandunes - thanks for the info. I have to take the blame for not being seen sooner, I had lower pelvic pain on my right on Wednesday that lasted nearly all the day, but I convince myself it was all growing/stretching and/or because I was constipated.

Even when I collapsed in agony early hours of Saturday, I still convinced myself it was something I ate/ibs and waited til late next morning to go in.

I know that even if I had presented on Wednesday any of the hcps in my hospital would have taken my symptoms seriously and immediately and suspected an ectopic. It was only when I got the shoulder tip pain that I realised there were just too many red flags waving and had to go in. Then they rushed me into a scan and theatre super quick once they heard my history.

So I think in my case it was my fault and not any health care professional, but it just goes to show that the early signs can be ambiguous and often ignored by patients and also possibly by hcps. So I would urge anyone who is 4-12 weeks with any unusual pain to get checked out.

OP posts:
Original poster
randomuntrainedcuntowner · 01/10/2017 10:07

Bellinna - oh poo! I had an ELCs for dd for breech presentation and that wasn't exactly a picnic to recover from despite it being relatively uncomplicated! At least now I only have a fairly low maintenance 6 year old and a dp to deal with and no screaming baby! 😂

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SandunesAndRainclouds · 01/10/2017 10:13

You don't have to take the blame because this is not your fault. Not at all. We're all 'guilty' of passing pain off as something else but HCPs are probably worse for it! I'm was a nurse / midwife and I've definitely done it too. I hope I didn't come across as blaming you because that wasn't what I meant.

I managed to get to full rupture by passing the pain off as something else, despite not being able to walk at times. It then eased off and was forgotten about until the next time, then the next and it was only when I actually collapsed that something was done.

MrsMarigold · 01/10/2017 10:14

I had a ruptured ectopic seven years ago, I was the same age as you. I collapsed at work, almost died from blood loss, lost a tube and apparently while they were there they found a massive cyst on the ovary on that side, so removed that too. I never felt so ghastly, I literally slept for a month afterwards, but was so relieved I was ok.

I was signed off work for six weeks and got pregnant again before I even returned to work Blush! My DS is now six and a bit. I decided when he was six months old to have a second DC, got pregnant straight away and had my DD. There is 15 months between my DC.

Good luck! SmileFlowersCake Take it easy.

ItsNiceItsDifferentItsUnusual · 01/10/2017 10:49

You're right to remember how serious it is. Obviously not to dwell on it, but there is a reason people seem to take so long to recover (I certainly did) - your body has been through a huge trauma even if the surgery to correct it isn't necessarily complicated or massively invasive. It is not that long ago that an ectopic pregnancy would have been fatal, full stop. So rest! I'm imagining as trainee medic that is hard, but you must.

I also found it helpful in the time afterwards to book something lovely to look forward to for each month, to make the month in month out ttc less all consuming.

Original poster
randomuntrainedcuntowner · 01/10/2017 12:28

Don't worry dunes, I didn't think you were blaming me at all!

OP posts:
Original poster
randomuntrainedcuntowner · 01/10/2017 13:17

Thank you nice - me and dp are going to wait after the two periods they have recommended I have and that work out my fertile window after that and spend a couple of nights together just the two of us away somewhere. Obviously ttc won't be the only agenda, it will be nice to get to spend a bit of time together processing it all, the how knows we might get lucky!? 😉

OP posts:
Original poster
randomuntrainedcuntowner · 01/10/2017 17:26

Back home now sipping peppermint tea and letting it all sink in. Feel a bit shell-shocked to be honest. Been signed off for two weeks and going to take it all off to allow myself to recover physically and mentally. Thank you to all of your who shared your stories and advice. 💐

OP posts:
Polly99 · 01/10/2017 18:22

take care random.

One thing I found, particularly with my first ectopic, was that it was so shocking and I was so relieved to have survived (it was never much of an emergency and was treated with methotrexate but I felt I'd dodged a bullet) that I didn't really cry etc. And I didn't want to be a weeping mess in front of my DD. The thing is, physical recovery is generally easy enough (unless you had open surgery which makes it harder) but emotional recovery is a bigger deal. Take your time, cry as much as you need, and rant on here if it helps. Someone suggested the ectopic pregnancy trust and I found their forum v helpful too. Over the years I've also found acupuncture good for getting those emotions out. You may be far less uptight than me, but those things are worth a go if you need to process things.

stresshead84 · 01/10/2017 18:41

I had a tube removed during emergency surgery after it ruptured.

I didn't believe a word of it when I was told by a doctor at a follow up appointment that the other tube could still 'catch' an egg from the side without a tube... but he was right!

I had an early scan with DS1 and it showed the egg had come from the side with no tube! I've gone on to have DS2. Both natural, no intervention.

Hope you feel better soon OP. Give your body time to recover and give yourself some headspace to work through everything that has happened.

Growuphelen · 01/10/2017 18:51

My gorgeous golden-haired, blue-eyed grandson is a post ectopic baby. My daughter in law was initially treated with methotrexate then needed surgery. She is 37 and conceived within 3 months.

NotEnoughCushions · 01/10/2017 22:31

Pleased to hear that you're home OP, take care of yourself and take the time that you need to recover.

Reading some of these posts has made me feel quite reflective. I do think that a lot of it is the realisation that you have been in a potentially life-threatening medical emergency and that thought of 'what if?'. I still feel that my ectopic is something that will always be a part of what made me who I am and I know that it affected DH as well.