Ectopic Pregnancy ?

[Eli2020]

Hello ladies. After trying for few months I finally had a positive test around 10 days ago. This led to few of the happiest days of my life until suddenly on Saturday I started spotting which shortly turned into bleeding. We went to A&E and they tested my HCG levels which were 80. For clarification on Saturday I was 4 weeks and 6 days. They saw my cervix and they said it's still closed so can't be 100% sure miscarriage is happening but considering low hcg and bleeding that's what it most likely is.

This absolutely devastated me and after we got home flow became heavier and I was having sharp abdominal pain. Bleeding and pain continued on Sunday too but a lot milder. On Monday I had another blood test and scan. Hcg was now 116, cervix was still closed but they couldn't see anything on the scan. Anywhere. They said due to closed cervix and nothing on scan they assume this is a pregnancy of unknown location. I'm getting scanned next Monday again to see if it's ectopic pregnancy and/or where exactly it is.

I'm very scared. While I was devastated about the pregnancy loss now I'm thinking what will happen to me. Has anybody been diagnosed with pregnancy of unknown location or ectopic pregnancy and what was their experience? I'm also holding onto the tiniest percentage of hope that the baby is just hiding in there and too small to see but I doubt it🥺 I'll appreciate you sharing your experience with me as not knowing what's happening with me is just excruciating.

@Eli2020 so I have had both ectopic and unknown location, first the ectopic they tested my hcg it was 80 the 48hrs later it was 110 and then 48hrs after it was 150 so still rising but not doubling I was 5 weeks so only 1 day ahead of you they done a scan and coukdnt see anything but due to bleed etc decided to keep testing hcg for a week it didnt double just rose slowly they did another scan were they thought they could see something but only very small so we decided to wait a week to see if I naturally passed it as I was bleeding but I didnt so I was treated with methotrexate injection fast forward 5 months later we were pregnant again I had some pains on one side etc so they done my hcg levels which came back at 80 and I thought here we go again I was devastated as I was 6 weeks at this point so hcg levels were low they told me to prepare for worst I had more hcg tests done 48hrs later which had doubled so they scanned me but they couldnt see anything just free fluid so they told me I would need to have tube removed I was devastated I was driving home and the consultant called me and said she had relooked at my scans and as they cant be sure its ectopic they were treating as unknown location and to come back in a week, 1 week later more bloods which had gone up still and they scanned me and there was a little sac and egg am now 36 weeks pregnant so yes it can still be good news but it can also go the other way my advice would be prepare your self for the worst and if the outcome is different and positive then this is a bonus sorry this was so long of a story hut hope it helps In some way x

Hello didn’t want to read and run.
I had an ectopic a few months ago. I hadn’t realised I was pregnant at the time because I’d had what I thought was a period about 2 1/2 weeks earlier. Mine began with a sudden onset of bleeding, but I knew something was wrong as it wasn’t like menstrual blood it was bright red, like when you cut your finger. I took a test which confirmed I was pregnant and then I went to A&E and they said my HCG was ok so it might just be a threatened miscarriage. I went home but then started to suffer quite strong pain on one side and weirdly down my leg, though the bleeding stopped. The pain continued and I had a scan the next day at which point they confirmed there was nothing in my uterus and I had to have immediate surgery. The care I got was absolutely superb and after the surgery I had a bit of discomfort for a few weeks and couldn’t run around as much as normal, but it wasn’t too bad. Mentally it was very hard to deal with (I think as it was very sudden - within 24 hours I’d found out I was pregnant, thought I was having a miscarriage, thought I was going to be ok, found out it was ectopic and then surgery and no longer pregnant) so I didn’t have much time to process it all.

I hope this helps you to understand and prepare and as a comparison for your own experience. Hard as it may be try not to be scared. Even if it is an ectopic you will get through it - it’s a horrible experience but it is possible to start feeling better when its all over. I am now pregnant again after the first month of trying (thought have other worried now with this bloody Corona nonsense) so there is lots of hope for the future too. I wish you the best and hope that you get some positive news or reassurance moving forward.

Thank you so so much for your reply!
I really needed to share with someone as being In a limbo (and staying at home minus hospital visits) I have no one to talk to. So happy you ended up with a happy outcome :) May I please ask whether you had any bleeding with your current pregnancy in the beginning when it was treated as PUL? I'm just thinking I have so many things going on with me right now-small chance could be a chemical pregnancy and a miscarriage, could be ectopic, could be PUL.. it's horrible not knowing for sure :(

@MadameDePompadour thanks for your reply. This gives me hope. Sorry to hear you've been through this but glad you are now pregnant. Initially when I thought it was just a miscarriage the one thing they gave me hope was that we can start trying straight away when I ovulate next but yesterday at the hospital was told as it's most likely ectopic we will have to wait for at least 3 months before trying again and this really upset me. How long did you wait between your ectopic pregnancy and trying again? Thanks x

Hello. I think it depends on if they treat you medically or surgery. I understand the medicine they use means you have to wait a few months but with surgery they said wait for one period and then you are fine to try again. I had to have surgery as by the time mine became apparent it was an emergency and medical treatment was not an option for me. They instead removed the affected. Fallopian tube. I waited three months anyway though as I was just not emotionally ready to try again, so my ectopic was in October and I got pregnant in February. X

Hi @Eli2020, I had an ectopic just before Christmas. Found out I was pregnant and within a few days at about 5 weeks I had dark brown bleeding every day. EPU said to wait another week and then have a scan which I did, and the Sonographer said she saw something unusual but it could be nothing and they also took bloods. Then I went back two days later and took bloods again which showed my levels weren’t rising sufficiently. The next day I saw the specialist who scanned and confirmed it was ectopic. By this stage I was in awful pain and they referred me to go straight to emergency surgery ward and I had keyhole surgery that day to remove the Fallopian tube.
I agree that it was really hard having a few days of being pregnant and exciting before 2 weeks of pain and limbo was the hardest thing. At least after the surgery I could focus on the next stage and I am now 5+6 (fingers crossed it all goes ok) so it can happen within months :-)

@MadameDePompadour your position sounds similar to mine. Have they offered you an early scan this time round? I had mine booked in for next week but they’ve just cancelled because of CV

@BG1234 yes they told me at the time if I got pregnant again to book an early scan to check, which I did, though they said they would only scan at 7 weeks which I found a little odd because that’s around the same time my ectopic started to rupture so seemed a little pointless in a way. I had it is this week though and it was very reassuring to see everything was in the right place, but I think it was more for that than necessity if that makes sense.

@BG1234 really sorry you had to go through this but so happy you are now pregnant 😍 wishing you a very smooth pregnancy. May I please ask how long did it take you to get pregnant after it happened? I was reading somewhere online that after a miscarriage etc you are even more fertile and this gives me hope so I really hope it's true

@Eli2020 I had the surgery on the 20th Dec and waited for my first period which happened exactly 4 weeks later. Then we tried but nothing happened, but on the second month it has. I also heard that you are more fertile after x
By the way the surgery was ok, the pain from the actual ectopic was worse for me, and the scars are so tiny!

@BG1234 this really gives me hope. Glad things turned out this way for you and hopefully I will have a happy pregnancy again soon. Thanks so much for your replies on this x

@Eli2020 fingers crossed for you. The limbo really is the worst part but any other questions please ask x