TTC after ectopic/after loss/older age etc ALL WELCOME 🙂

[YellowZ]

Hello,

Would anyone like to join a thread for TTC after ectopic/miscarriage, or when facing other challenges eg age, PCOS etc? DP and I have just decided to try again for no2, and I'm going to come off the pill. It would be nice to have some buddies to share experiences and support each other 🙂

About me:

Pregnancy 1: conceived first cycle age 35, healthy pregnancy, DS born summer 2021 (now age 2)

Pregnancy 2: conceived first cycle age 37, ectopic, surgery November 2022

My plan is to eat well, exercise, cut out alcohol, and generally look after myself.

Because I got pregnant quickly both times, I'm hoping our chances are still good...no idea how only having the one fallopian tube is going to affect things 😬

I think I'll do OPKs but not sure about temping yet.

Would love to hear from others!

I caved an peed on a stick. I'm a ridiculous person

Ohhhh ladies I need an emotional vent!

I'm still in limbo with this 3rd ectopic. I was last at the hospital on Tuesday this week, they took bloods again (HCG 118) but still wouldn't scan me.

We had our first fertility clinic meeting today, which was booked in before we suspected another ectopic anyway. The Dr was was really good, he offered to scan me and do another blood test just to see where I was up to considering the hospital just told me to come back in a week!

He said my uterus lining looked thin ie not what it should be for pregnancy, no sign of pregnancy in uterus but also nothing visible in my tube either. My HCG has today come back at a whopping 464 which is a huge increase from Tuesday which is baffling everyone.

I wish someone would tell me what the fuck is going on. Aaaaah!!!

Oh god @lemonyfox so sorry to read your update. I'm glad the fertility Dr scanned you and couldn't see anything of immediate concern, although I'm sorry it didn't look like the pregnancy is viable (which wasn't news I guess, but I remember still hanging onto that 'what if' of it all being OK, after all, despite instinctively knowing it wasn't).

Has anyone set out any options at this point, or are they just waiting to see what happens? I suppose that's what 'expectant management' is.

@Bugdem123 did you manage to DTD? Hehe

@overthinkersanonnymus never mind! These things happen (POAS)

@YellowZ the hospital want to wait until my HCG is over 1500, which should be by Mon/Tues next week, before they'll scan me. I would guess that once they confirm it's not on my uterus then they'll diagnose it as ectopic.

Call me crazy but I've already told the doctors I want my remaining tube removed. This would be my second ectopic in this one tube and I just can't risk this happening again in future.

@lemonyfox I'm glad you had an understanding doctor who had a good look for you, but sorry that things are probably not looking great and that you're still in a bit of limbo. Hope you get some definitive answers very soon ❤️

@lemonyfox sorry you might have mentioned already, but are you having any pain?

Might be worth asking the hospital about the likelihood of internal bleeding before HCG gets to 1000? Just because of my past experience, in your position i'd ask for a scan to check for bleeding, even if an embryo wouldn't be visible. I had bleeding into my abdomen before it reached 1000. They couldn't see an embryo, but they could see the bleeding. I might have been 6/7wks.

The sonographer/consultant were surprised I wasn't particularly in pain... It wasn't that painful in my stomach, but I did have some occasional nasty arse stabbing sensations going on 😂

Sorry I don't want to add another worry onto the heap that you already have. It's unlikely you'll have the same experience as me, ectopic pregnancies all seem very different. But maybe worth asking the drs the question just in case.

Is it possible to have IVF with no tubes?

So sorry for what you're going through, it's horrendous 💐

@YellowZ some cramping but that's it. I had no symptoms in my first two ectopics either though, never suspected a thing. The Dr who scanned me today said there's no blood in my abdomen so nothing has gone wrong so far!

That's crazy you had no pain with internal bleeding last time. It's so weird how every ectopic is different. When my second ectopic ruptured and I had bleeding internally I had shooty bum pains too though!

Yeah IVF completely bypasses tubes. Weirdly, IVF actually increases the chance of an ectopic slightly - they think it's because the needle pushes the embryo too far into the uterus/too much force sometimes so it can cause it to travel up the tubes. That's why I want mine out before we start IVF, with my shitty tube track record it'd probably happen again with me! The fertility Dr today was 100% in favour of removing it too.

@lemonyfox oh that's interesting, I wondered why there was a higher risk of ectopic with ivf. Well, there you go. Thanks for the explanation.

What kind of surgery did you have when it ruptured? My keyhole surgery had minimal impact in terms of pain, a short recovery time etc. Wasn't keen on the stitches in my tummy button but that was the worst bit. I'd definitely have the surgery again if it reduced the risk of a pregnancy going wrong.

Sorry about this gruesome conversation everyone 😳 haha

Yeah so the sonographer was like, oh you're young and fit, that's why your body is dealing with the bleeding so well. I was like HA! I am fucking ancient, terminally sleep deprived due to DS and have been living off chocolate buttons.

(Realistically she probably meant I am fit compared to an 80 year old or someone with a long term health condition)

@YellowZ I had keyhole too, felt absolutely fine after a day. Yes the stitches inside your belly button are so weird feeling aren't they! Especially when they get itchy when they're healing.

Pfft honestly I think doctors make explanations up some times 😂

@lemonyfox sorry you're in limbo, but great that there's an understanding doctor who is willing to take action. I never knew that about IVFs and ectopic, interesting.

@YellowZ sorry, you may have said already, but what DPO are you now? Have you POAS recently?

@Lostlawyer26 I hope your weekend goes quick!

@SnookyPook how are you doing?

@overthinkersanonnymus I guess your blood tests showed nothing abnormal? We're in a similar position to you, but haven’t been trying as long (about 8 months). We've had all the tests going though (age not on our side) and have found polycystic ovaries and sperm morphology issues (though neither should rule out conceiving naturally). We've elected to try ovulation induction next cycle. Doc says the chances of success are slimmer than normal for us because of the sperm issues, but we're still going to try because it's the most affordable option!

Got a positive OPK yesterday evening, after a negative in the morning. DTD yesterday, Thursday, and Tuesday. Hope that will be enough to catch it (if ovulation is occurring at all) because I'm at work today 7am - 7pm, and dp is going out tonight, so won't have a chance today.

@CatCaretaker I'm doing ok... Think my test this morning is looking good and a bit darker than Thursday's so that's nice. Still a long way from being confident but at least for now things are hopefully looking as they should. 🙏🏼🌈 Going to try and step back from all the testing now and just let things unfold...

@SnookyPook yay, yes that's looking promising. I know there's a long way to go, but very happy for you. It's interesting isn't it that the month you stepped back from it a bit, you got a BFP!

Hello!

@CatCaretaker sounds like you've definitely timed dtd well ☺️ CD1 here today. Ahhh well. It'll be interesting to see what my cycle is like - I think I might have slightly long cycles, but have never actually tracked before as I've either been on the pill or got pregnant within a couple of weeks of stopping.

The good thing about this month is that it's confirmed I definitely do want to give TTC another go. I mean I thought I did before we started obviously, but those BFNs have made me think, yeah I do want this - despite the emotional risks.

I've downloaded it starts with the egg to my kindle. Will report back with anything useful.

My plan this cycle month:
Exercise
Eat well
Don't forget to take vitamins etc
Ovulate hehe

@Annonomous29 what dpo are you now?

@SnookyPook oops missed your update. That's looking great! ☺️☺️

@YellowZ we did! And again this morning 😂 feels like when we first started dating haha. I got a peak on the advanced digital OPK last night and a peak on a strip this morning so hopefully doing it yesterday, today and tomorrow will catch the egg!

@SnookyPook the line progression looks great. You always impress me with your attitude to these things 🩷 I'll keep everything crossed this is a wee sticky bean.

General question. Has anyone found that their period is different with age/coming off the pill?

My AF always used to start suddenly with no spotting. Just full flow right away. The ectopic pregnancy period was different, as I was spotting for a while before AF properly started.

CD1 is just spotting so far. I'm not sure if spotting pre-AF is maybe just my new normal? But I'm slightly anxious about it. Urgh. Won't know for a while I guess.

Haven't had other periods to compare it to as I went back on the pill after the ectopic, I think I just counted the bleed I had post surgery as a 'period' and went from there.

@YellowZ Hi sorry for not posting often eveyone is still under the weather.
im currently 6dpo but have no symptoms at all. Fingers crossed.

@YellowZ I’ve had a change in my periods since the MC - or possibly since coming off the mini pill a couple of months before that - I have two days of spotting before now and a much lighter flow. My GP wasn’t concerned and said the D&C cleared the womb lining so there’s less to shed, but I’m not sure I quite buy that. I count CD1 as first day of flow rather than the spotting days.

Hello @Oxalis00 ah thank you. That's reassuring. I have been telling myself it's much more likely it's because of being on the pill than anything bad going on - but definitely good to hear it's not just me. Interesting about deciding when CD1 is. I'm going to count it from today, but then if I ovulate later than expected, keep that in mind for the next cycle.

Eek @Annonomous29 I feel like that's gone quickly (it probably feels like aaaages to you). Sorry you're still not feeling 100%

Hi there, I would like to join if that’s ok please.
im 28, TTC no 1. Fell pregnant after 4 months, but turned out to be an ectopic which ruptured at 6 weeks (hcg over 15,000) so had an emergency salpingectomy.

im still recovering but will be trying again once I have had a proper period.

my urine hcg is still positive at 2 weeks.. how long did it take others to fall down to negative?

can’t believe I’m now wishing for a negative test. How the tables turn :(

Hello @Blackberry95 sorry to hear about what happened. Welcome to the thread 👋 hope you're not feeling too awful.

I think my HCG was normal within a couple of weeks, but it was lower than yours (around 500?) So I guess it might take a little longer to leave your system. Someone else might have a better idea than me.

@Blackberry95 hey, welcome. When I had my rupture it was fairly quick, within a week or two.

Sorry to hear about your experience, those HCG levels at 6 weeks were crazy, did the doctors say why they were so high?

My HCG on my second ectopic was at around 2300 when it ruptured, around 9 weeks, if I remember rightly. My first ectopic was still under <1500 at 10 weeks though so very different levels.

@lemonyfox I did ask the surgeon that question and he just said it can happen sometimes if the pregnancy is growing well in the tube.. if it had been uterine that would have been smack bang in the middle of normal range for my gestation. I’m still waiting for my histology back and hoping it’s not molar, it’s in the back of my mind but is very rare so I’m hoping I’ve not had double bad luck

Hi everyone how are you all doing?

I've been in Evan hell this weekend with easy at home but I think this one may be legit??

It's different from the clear evapa I've had. They were all really dark pink or has bits missing from the line.

Could this be a real line?

I am definitely it counting this a BFP at this stage but it would be nice to be able get some opinions!