Ectopic pregnancy support thread

[tasmaniandevilchaser]

Hi everyone, this is a place for anyone who's had an ectopic pregnancy - whether you want to moan, cry, fret or just have a chat with other people who understand. I know there's lots of other good websites on ectopic pregnancies but after hijackingchatting with sunshine on another thread, I thought I'd start one here.

Well I'll get the ball rolling with my story - after a MMC in November (found out at the 12 wk scan that the baby had died at 10 wks) I was just getting myself sorted, having counselling, when I had the ectopic. I know I am lucky in that I have a lovely DD. Having had a normal pregnancy, I knew from the beginning this one was not good and as soon as I got a BFP I was down at the hospital.

After 10 days of mental torture, waiting around, scans, rescans, blood tests, it got too late for the methotrexate (they finally saw the ectopic in a scan on a Friday early evening and the methotrexate wasn't in stock )

I finally had the surgery to remove one tube on the Tuesday. This was the end of February, at first I wasn't sure how I would cope, but I am just plodding on. I know I am lucky that it didn't rupture, but honestly I can't think of having an ectopic as being lucky. Especially after a MMC .

Anyway, come join me if you want to share your story, I have , and

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Hi there - this thread is a little old. If you'd like to know more about ectopic pregnancies, we've got more information here. MNHQ

Oops! sorry, posting from my phone!

leo thanks for sharing your story, sounds like a nightmare at a+e, unbelievable they didn't think about another EP with your history. It's really good to hear from someone who is "out the other side".

hiya joby, thanks! I feel similar to you, in that I'm fairly sure it's not an EP this time, whereas I really knew something was wrong with the EP, even before I POAS. I'm also more worried about another MMC, though I'm hoping myCan't believe you're 24 wks! Time really flies! (unless you're waiting for that 6 wk scan )

Well, I finally got the results of my 2nd blood test, they were supposed to double over the 48 hrs, and they almost tripled!!! 366 to 900 and something. I nearly had a heart attack when the nurse said that. They didn't test progesterone again, but it was 82 on Wednesday which is really good. It is looking promising. Just got to worry about m/c now. But I can only think about 1 thing at a time. So relieved as DH is away this w/e and having bad news on my own would have been pretty awful.

rechelle if you do want to make a formal complaint at some point in the future, you can contact PALS at the hospital. They will help you. Though I can understand that right now you need to rest up and take care of yourself as it is very soon after the op.

Whoop Whoop tas! congratulations x

All ok here, 14wks and counting.
Very busy working at mo and still only told a few people.
Great thing about being freelance is people don't know what size I am normally.

leo thanks for sharing your story - I always love hearing the news of a baby conceived by a one-tubed-wonder!

Things are all ok here. CD15 and got my peak on the CBFM but I have a question for you ladies who got bfp after ep. IF I get pg this month (big if of course but an if nonetheless) I will get my BFP halfway through our holiday so won't be able to get to an EPU. At what point did you ladies get bloods done? I suppose I am petrified of having anothe ep which is left to late to treat and losing the other tube. I KNOW this is really unlikely and I would be back in the country by around 5.5 weeks BUT it would be helpful to know your experiences. I can't remember when you all got bloods done?

Thanks

hi berries I got 1st bloods done very early (but I ov'd quite early that cycle), on 3+6. But 5+5 sounds fine to me. If you have any symptoms they could probably do your bloods and scan you the same day. My EPAU took me very seriously when I called, got me in the same day, but I did say I was having twinges "like last time", which was mostly true. They've gone now thankfully. I am feeling good. No twinges at all any more. I am hopeful that it might work out, I'm hopeful today anyway!

Berries My EPAC has never offered me blood tests. I also got BFP on holiday, I phoned them up while I was away and got a scan booked at 6wks for when I got back.

Tas

Ok, thanks ladies. Well I am feeling a bit less hopeful today. Dh is on prednisolone and despite his doc saying it wouldn't affect his swimmers, t'internet seems to think differently. Oh fuck it. It seems like one thing after another now.

So pleased you got your bfps tas and tired..... It still gives me hope. Just wish dh didn't have to be on these stupid meds :(

How is everyone else doing? Xx

Hi Ladies, I'm joining your board....

Just wanted to share my story here. First I want to say I'm so sorry for all your losses, this is horrible!

I too, had an ectopic pregnancy. Me and my husband were trying to conceive for 7 months and almost gave up and that was when I found out I was pregnant. We were so happy. Everything seemed to progress well until I reached 7 weeks and started to spot brown, I was told this was normal so I relaxed, but a day later brown turned into red and I thought I was miscarrying, so I went to ER to confirm that.

When I got there it was Sunday evening and they told me ultrasound was closed, did bloodwork said everything was OK and it was probably ruptured placenta and to come back the day after for ultrasound.

The next day I was there for the ultrasound and that was when they told me they saw nothing in the uterus and I probably miscarried early on and my body absorbed it. They also saw something in my right tube, but gyne was not convinced it was an ectopic since I had no symptoms. He told me to come back to ER a week later for another ultrasound and then to see him in his office the day after. He also warned me that if I develop sever pain I need to come back to ER.

Monday, Aug 27 was exactly a week later and I went for my scheduled ultrasound, I was on my way home when the technician called me and told me I had to come back, I turned around and when I got there I was told that based on my results I had to go to ER asap. They did another ultrasound and sent me to ER. When I got to ER I became extremely weak and I had cold sweat pouring down I felt I was going to pass out. They checked my bloodpressure which was 80/40 and they admitted me immediately, after resuscitation with fluids I was OK, another gyne on call came. He reviewed all the results and told me he was not convinced I had an ectopic and told me that I'd probably go home again.

Later on he popped in again and told me he decided to review my ultrasound by himself and he saw that the embryo in the right tube grew from 1.3cm last week to 5.7cm this week. He told me he was going to do surgery, he was convinced it did not rupture.

I had surgery later that night and when I was done he told me that when he opened me up, my abdomen was full of blood and my tube did rupture and he was very surprised I had barely any symptoms. I lost my right tube, and I had the surgery done right in time that's for sure. He told me he had never seen this before, barely any symptoms meanwhile everything was ruptured.

I am so glad it was caught on time! If this ever happens to you insist on another ultrasound 2-3 days later, do not let them make you wait a week, it is very dangerous!!!

Good luck to all of us and I hope we will all soon have healthy babies!
Congrats to the ones who got pregnant after EP, that is very reassuring.

Hi Fuzzy Welcome to our group. Sorry it's under such bad circumstances. How are you feeling now? Hope you're being well looked after?

It seem so hard to believe that in this day and age, especially with the emphasis on QUALITY healthcare that so many EP's are being missed by medics and so many women are being told "you're miscarrying, there's nothing we can do, go home." This makes me soooo angry. Our lives are being put at risk. Grrrrr!!!

Sorry rant over! I guess I was so lucky at being diagnosed and operated on that day.

Thanks tired

I'm feeling OK now, exactly a week after surgery. Asked for another week off from work today as my job is physically demanding and I didn't feel I could do it.

This what makes me so upset too, I mean they had a week to diagnose me really, why not repeating ultrasound 2-3-4 days later, but wait a whole week. Oh well, can't do much now anyway. It makes me so happy to know that a lot of you managed to get pregnant again after losing one tube. Gives me hope really, because I was almost convinced it'll never happen again :(

tas Fab news about the bloods!

berries I had no blood tests. I rung them a day or so after my bfp (which was about 5 weeks pregnant) and they got me in for a scan just before i was 7 weeks. They did make sure i had no symptoms of ectopic and was made to promise that if any appeared i would go straight to hospital!

fuzzy Sorry to hear your story. Definitely take as much time off work as you need. I was ibitially signed off for 2 weeks but ended up having 5 weeks off. I then came back on part time hours for 2 weeks. Like you, my job is physically demanding so there was no way i could have been at work any sooner!

Thanks joby
How soon after EP did you ladies start trying again? Not that I can even think about it now, but maybe in the future something to look forward to.....

fuzzy, I'm so sorry to hear about what happened to you. I'm another one who was (both times) asymptomatic, which worries me slightly in case it happens again and I don't know until too late

Time off is such a lottery. The first ectopic, I was offered four weeks, but as I wasn't working at the time it wasn't needed. The second one, the consultant said before the operation that I would be signed off for 4-6 weeks, but wasn't around afterwards when I was being discharged, and the doctor tried to do it for a week, which she then upped to two weeks when I argued. We left it, and I came back the next day to pick up the certificate, and ended up having a full on, snotty, gulpy sobfest until a senior person turned up and changed it to four weeks. There just doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it!

As for trying again, I had unprotected sex within days buy more for comfort than procreation.

hi fuzzycat sorry to hear that you've been through that awful experience. Sounds scary. We took about 2 1/2 months before TTC, I was quite scared the first time.

It's making me quite scared to hear all your stories about asymptomatic EPs. I don't have any major symptoms now but I do have some twinges and I feel a bit dizzy, though it could be stress. I have tickets for the Paralympics this weekend, so really really don't want to be in hospital.

My scan is tomorrow, I'll be 5+1. I'm gearing myself up for bad news. It's all so spoilt now, I was so happy and naive when I was pg with DD.

Thanks northey and tas

Northey I'm scared too it might happen again, I can't believe you had 2 of them! You are very strong! They say early scans are helpful to rule out EP, but then again they did my 1st scan at 7wks and didn't see anything, but diagnosed with MC totally ignoring stuff they saw in the tube.... I'm thinking an early scan might help, but only if they see nothing in the uterus insist on another scan 2-3 days later.

As for asymptomatic EPs I felt really dizzy and almost passed out twice during the first 7wks of pg, I also had slight cramps, but every time I mentioned it to the dr I was told it was normal, and pg women faint all the time, and cramps mean that the uterus is stretching..........

tas you'll be in my thoughts, let us know how it goes.

fuzzy your ER sound useless. Mine was spotted at just under 6 wks when my HCG levels were only 1100 (they normally only scan when levels get to 1500-2000). So sorry they put you through that.

northey what a disgrace you had to beg for a decent sick note! They tried to fob you off with a week??!!! What planet are they on??!!

I know! Even in the midst of my sobbing I remember thinking to myself that I absolutely must not stop or leave the hospital till they gave me what I needed, or it would not happen at all.

Also, they clearly hadn't read my notes, as they kept telling me it was only keyhole surgery, and I had to keep pointing out that it was a bloody massive laparotomy! Grrr.

northey I'm so sorry, that's awful they made you go through this

tas my HCG was 3500 so they should have seen something, but they did not, so instead of doing something they just let me go home....

Ahem. While we are playing hcg top trumps, I could mention that mine was 19,500. And they still didn't see anything!

Sorry, that makes me sound like a competitive twat. I was really more coming from the "and they didn't see anything" angle

Good luck for tomorrow Tas. Mine's tomorrow, hopefully there will be some "good scan result vibes" about!

Northey the hospital gave me a 2 wk sick note, a very kind and sensible GP made it 6 wks. I needed this long, and if I'm honest although physically recovered mentally it took 8 months plus counselling. Sorry to sound miserable, but be prepared for a rough/up and down few months

Good luck for tomorrow tired I'll be thinking about you

tired how soon after did you start TTC again?