TTC after ectopic part 3

[that90sgirl]

@coffeewithmilk @HereIfYouNeedMe @myrainbowjourney

Really been struggling this past week, I feel like I'm in no man's land atm. 4 weeks post second methotrexate injection, my Hcg Levels are down to 37. I feel like it will never end!

I just want my body back to normal. Constantly crying and snapping at everyone. I've had enough :(

So sorry to hear @Mistysmom. When the hcg levels are dropping, even though it feels slow, it's very normal to feel emotional. I know it doesn't help saying that, but it's to be expected. I hope you will feel better very soon.

How are you today @Mistysmom? 37 is nearly, nearly there. I think it was about four or five weeks for me to be discharged, it won’t be much longer for you. You’ve been through something really traumatic so of course you are going to be snappy and upset. Don’t be too hard on yourself.

Thanks @Bundaberg84, never realised the emotions would hit me this hard.

Thank you @NigellasMicrowave. I'm still a bit all over the place. Think it hit me harder as I was really hoping to be discharged last week and then when my levels only dropped to 37, I felt so disappointed. Coupled with the emotions, I wasn't in a good place. I'm feeling a bit more myself now but all positivity has gone xx

Hi everyone. I hope you don’t mind me jumping on. I stumbled across the first post yesterday and was gutted when I realised how old it was as it was as I thought I would love that support. Was super happy to discover it’s still going (but sorry we have all had to go through this experience to be here).

A little bit of background - I have a little girl who has just turned 4. We were so lucky falling pregnant straight away with her and having a happy, healthy pregnancy. We started ttc number 2 in august last year and fell pregnant at the start of this year. After a couple of weeks I experienced some bleeding - doctor and midwife just kept telling me it was probably a miscarriage and that they wouldn’t scan me until 6 weeks. I was so confused feeling like I must be miscarrying one minute but then still having pregnancy symptoms and positive tests so kept some hope. Had a weekend of weird pressure down there, painful cramps and feeling dizzy so eventually got seen by an out of hours doctor who asked me if I still feel pregnant! Had a positive test there and she said she could rule out ectopic and would just refer me for a scan the following week. Luckily EPU didn’t like the sound of it and managed to get me in for a scan the following day. My husband rushed home to look after my daughter and I just waved at them out the door not really knowing what to expect. 24hours later and I was back home having had emergency surgery for an ectopic and lost my left tube. It took a couple of weeks for me to feel physically ok and I felt like only then could I start to get mentally better. Had a bit of emotional ride since but got some counselling and feel in a much better place now.

However the ectopic heartache is now compounded by not having been able to conceive since (currently on 12th cycle). My consultant was great and referred me to the fertility clinic if I wasn’t pregnant within 6 months and so we have had all the various tests now. My remaining tube is clear which is good but I have low ovarian reserves and really short cycles (16-24 days) suggesting I don’t ovulate every month.

They have finally agreed to start me on letrozole next cycle. It feels like a positive step as at least something is happening. But I also feel like it’s almost our last 6 month’s chance as that’s the max you can take it for and I am not sure we can face IVF especially as we have been told our chances are so low (although I have see a previous poster who has had success so now I am more confused!)

Anyway, I thought I would feel so much better knowing I can start the tablets next month but actually I feel so much pressure for it to work this month so I don’t feel like we’re about to run out of time - oh it’s all such an emotional rollercoaster isn’t it?!

Anyway, sorry for going on - so nice to get this off my chest to people who know what I’m going through and to not just feel like I’m moaning all the time to friends who are carrying on with their lives (rightly so of course).

Baby dust for all our journeys. X

It's been a while since I posted on this thread, but thought tonight I'd reach out to all of us who are thinking of ours lost little ones tonight on the wave of light, and always xx

Hi everyone, just a little note from me to say that baby James arrived on Thursday, almost exactly 13 months after my ectopic surgery. Sending lots of love to you all and thank you again for all your support xxx

@Kate105 this is absolutely wonderful news !! Congrats on the birth of your beautiful baby boy. Another bit of positive news here - I had my embryo transfer exactly a year to the day!!! after I had the mexotrethate treatment for my ectopic, felt like it was fate tbh! The transfer was successful and just found out today at our 20 week scan that we are expecting a baby girl xx

Hi Everyone, I thought I would post an update on here as it might give some readers comfort and hope for the future. I have found this forum so helpful and supportive so I feel that I need to share my update on here for everyone else to see. I stopped taking my pill at the end of July 2020. I had a period in August and September however started bleeding again 2 weeks after my period stopped. This lasted a few weeks which I thought was strange so I called my GP who told me to take a pregnancy test. Turns out I was pregnant. The bleeding continued however because I did not have pain the GP would not refer me to the EPU. After a few phones calls throughout the week I managed to speak to someone at the EPU who gave me a next day appointment. This was the 2nd of October and I found out that day that I had a 9 week ectopic pregnancy growing in my Fallopian tube. I had emergency surgery that day and had my right tube removed. After this I felt very down and upset that it wasn’t caught sooner but there was nothing I could do. I was looking on this forum everyday for advice and support which helped me immensely. Anyway long story short we have been TTC ever since and I am now 7 weeks pregnant and have seen a heartbeat! This is a huge milestone and I know it is still early days but I am so happy! I just thought I would share this because I know that it can feel like it will never happen for you but have faith 😘😘❤️ I have my fingers crossed for everyone of you xx

Congratulations @Intrigued2020! I wish you a very healthy pregnancy. And thank you for posting your story, just the right moment for me as I'm now in cycle 4 after my ectopic and I kinda feel like it won't happen again, I fell very fast the two times I was pregnant (had a chemical before the ectopic) and nothing since. Thank you for giving me a bit hope :)

@Bundaberg84 - Your welcome! It was a total of 14 months for me until I finally got my positive and it was confirmed in the right place! You will get there 💪 xx

Hi ladies, just jumping on to this thread! So much useful info and I have spent the last hour or so reading through it.

I’m 6 weeks post methotrexate after a PUL, my hcg was very low (I think 440 at its peak) but still took 5 weeks to get to 0.

Counting down the weeks until we can try again, this was our first time to conceive after about 7 months of trying. It’s been a rollercoaster but reading these positive stories has really helped me!

Congratulations @Kate105, @Luan82 and @Intrigued2020! Lovely news from all of you 💙

@DoctorBambino @coffeewithmilk @NigellasMicrowave How are you all getting on? x

Congratulations on baby James @Kate105

How exciting @Luan82 I'm so happy for you, how far along are you now?

Congratulations also to you at @Intrigued2020!

I'm now 27wks +4 days! Can't believe I'm about to enter the third trimester! I am absolutely loving every minute and am so so grateful!

Best of luck to everyone still trying and going through the pain of ectopic. It is so positive to see how many of us have made it through!

A warm welcome to anyone who has found themselves on this thread since I was last here - I’m sorry you find yourselves here and you deserve lots of support. The women here are amazing.

Congratulations on baby James @Kate105

I’m nearly 13 weeks now and had the dating scan this week to find a very active baby, which was the most enormous relief. I am so grateful every day. The past ten months have been so full of fear and anxiety and I didn’t think I would get here - but here I am. I hope it gives hope to people just as the success stories did for me earlier this year.

I’m beyond happy for you both! I love how many success stories we have on here now 😍

I'm now 27weeks with a little boy who is currently doing karate as I'm trying to get to sleep. Can't believe I got here after everything.
Sending love to everyone who finds themselves on this thread. It helped me more than anyone will know when I was going through my awful times.

Congratulations to everyone on here who has got their rainbows 🌈. That concept always seemed so far away for me, but it will happen those that are still waiting.

Sending love to all xx

@DoctorBambino I'm 22 weeks ! Genuinely count my lucky stars every single day that we got here particularly after the diagnosis of unexplained infertility and potentially DOR - there were times where I questioned if it would ever be possible for us but I'm so grateful for science giving us a second chance and giving my body that extra boost that it clearly needed to produce a good egg!! 🥰🌈 sending love and positive vibes to everyone going through hard times - it can, and will get better ❤️‍🩹 xxx

Hey all. Haven't posted on here for a while but I thought I would reach out to anyone feeling in a similar situation and still going through TTC post ectopic.

The happy stories recently post are great to hear! However, we are now onto TTC cycle #5 after my ectopic in May which led to my right tube being removed. Prior to that I had 2 MC in the space of 9 months.

Just feeling really deflated and lonely. I have spent the last year and a half+ going through this and feel like I cannot speak to any family/friends about it anymore as I just feel like I am going around in circles and have said it all prior and now repeating myself. Trying not to speak to my DH either as I know he is struggling also.

My cycles are still longer than they should be despite me loosing the 10lbs I put on from emotional eating after my operation. I am on CD17 with no sign of ovulation on my Ovulation Tests and I just feel deflated and crap about it. If it all isn't hard enough without also having longer cycles that play with your mind each month.

We are going to think about looking into IVF in the new year as we are just so worn down with everything - we are lucky enough to have the monies to pay for it privately.

Any words of wisdom from any of you who have been/are in this situation?

Thank you all in advance! Xx

Hi @Louise276 - I've just seen your post and had to reply, I'm so sorry you're going through this it's such a tough situation. By the time we elected to go down the IVF route we'd been trying for two years (including the ectopic and recovery period) during that process I had quite a few tests before deciding IVF was the best option, including the usual blood tests, semen analysis, AFC count, and HyCoSy to check if my tubes were clear as well as a laparoscopic surgery scheduled which was cancelled due to my low AMH and age factor. Officially my diagnosis is unexplained infertility but it looks as though I have diminished ovarian reserve and my body isn't releasing a viable egg every month which made me a good candidate for IVF - we were so lucky that 18 days of stimming resulted in three eggs and one viable embryo which took and I'm now 22 weeks, I would start by either consulting your GP for tests or your local fertility clinic, there are so many options for TTC now including ovulation induction - I really hope this helps and if you ever need to chat or are feeling lonely or low please do send me a message- happy to chat more about the process ♥️x

@Luan82

Thank you so much for coming back to me and congratulations again on your pregnancy! My apologies in advance for all of the questions. At what point did you decide on IVF - presumably after your ectopic? Did you loose any of your tubes with your ectopic - or was the laparoscopy to remove both of them? Also, did you get IVF on the NHS or Privately? Presumably IVF was recommended to you as opposed to a personal choice?? I am conscious that there is a higher risk of ectopic with IVF. Sorry again for the questions lol.

So far the experts we are being seen under have tried to discourage us on IVF as ultimately I have got pregnant fairly easily prior to the loss of my tube so they want us to carry on trying. My main reason for wanting to consider it is we are really worn down by the whole thing - I know there is a fairly good chance we will catch naturally but with each month that passes it gets harder and more difficult.

The only fertility test we haven’t had done is semen analysis but nobody seems to want to test DH’s swimmers. All of these have been paid for privately as because I have been pregnant 3 times in the last 19 months we have not been trying for long enough the quality for NHS testing.

If we do go down IVF it will be privately as we will have to have tried for another 7 months naturally before we could be even referred for any fertility treatment on the NHS!

My goal between now and Xmas is to loose a bit more weight and try and be as healthy as possible, whilst trying the final 2 cycles of the year and then in Jan start looking at our options.

Thank you again for your help! Xx

Hi everyone, just read through the thread and congratulations to all the new mommies here and baby dust to all of us still on the rainbow baby train.. I've just had ectopic surgery last Thursday after 5 years of trying left tube removed, I have PCOS also, feeling so low bleeding slowly stopping and the emotional wave has only just hit me.. have a trip abroad planned next month but just feeling meh with everything now.. when to start TTC again..? I am 40 years old.. still can't believe I am 40....☹☹ so time is at the essence..any words of wisdom advice will be much appreciated.. thank you..x

Hi @Louise276 sorry to hear about your situation. We decided to go private for ivf once we had tried again for 6 months after the ectopic (I ruptured and had tube removed). Prior to that we had ttc for 6 months so we weren't eligible for the NHS ivf pathway yet.

Immediately after the ectopic we paid for a consultation with an ivf clinic and they suggested trying for a while longer and having a hysfosy which we had on the NHS.

To be honest we probably rushed to ivf quicker than advised but it worked out perfectly for us. Currently 28 weeks and 5 embryos in the freezer. Without ivf I could easily still be ttc now!

Hi @Bundaberg84, I recognise you from the TWW thread. I must have missed that you’d also had an ectopic. Crossing fingers for you xx

@DoctorBambino

t sounds like we are in the same situation that you were in before you decided to go for IVF. Congratulations, whilst you may have jumped into IVF early - I bet it was the best decision you made and I can 100% see why you took that option. We have also had a Hycosy (all clear) and will shortly be in the TWW of cycle #5 post ectopic.

How did you decide what IVF clinic to go for? What did they advise you on potential increased risk with an ectopic with IVF? Medically we should probably TTC for longer than the 6 months but probably feel in a similar situation to how you must have felt. Again, if you want 2 babies then having embryos in the freezer is also an attractive benefit of IVF.

We have been TTC for so long now having sex is just awkward and we don’t seem to have much sex outside of the ‘the right time’. I think for the sake of our relationship we need to explore other options now.

My cycles are slightly longer atm which is really frustrating given everything going on. Looks like I will ovulate on CD21 this month - but I am so in tune with my body and cycle we have been doing this for so long.

I think we will continue until Jan and then look into our options. Any tips on how to pick an IVF clinic would be most welcome - we are based on SE London.

Thank you again for your help! Xx