I have just found out I am pregnant, I would say around 4-5 weeks. I am waiting for a scan to see if the pregnancy is in the correct place because of my history of ectopic pregnancy that I had 2 years ago that ended in losing my left fallopian tube. Obviously I am nervous with this pregnancy so took to googling everything I am feeling to see if it is normal and I would just like to write my experience with an ectopic pregnancy as it may help someone else!
So I had my daughter in July 2022 (ivf baby), she was my last embryo and she’s happy and healthy! I have never been on contraception since my teens as I thought if I happen to get pregnant naturally then it is a blessing! Fast forward to April 2023, my period came bang on when it should have, normal flow for me and lasting 5 days. Week later, I parked up outside of work (this was on the 10th) and I experienced a very quick (literally lasting a second) sharp poking feeling in my left shoulder, didn’t think anything of it and went into work. A few hours into my shift (I work 13 hours at a hospital) I began having a sharp stabbing feeling up my rectum, I was struggling to walk properly and sit, but somehow I managed to work through it as I thought it may of just been trapped wind! Then comes the end of my shift, I was stood still and felt a little trickle in my pants, I went to toilet and there was some brown blood. I thought it was weird seen as though I’d just had my period a week before and never experienced a random bleed between cycles!
anyway, I shrugged it off but I carried on spotting VERY lightly throughout the night.
The next morning (this was on the 11th) I went to toilet and when I wiped, there was a big clot of dark blood, so I quickly rang my mum who said to go to doctors that day, and that’s what I did!
The doctor did a pregnancy test on me (at this point pregnancy didn’t even occur to me as I didn’t even think I would conceive naturally) and obviously it came back positive! The doctor said that I am probably suffering a miscarriage and to monitor it for 2 weeks, then retest to check it is no longer positive.
I went home and bought a clear blue digital to try to work out how far along I was, it came back 2-3 weeks.
I carried on bleeding into the next day and then started with VERY mild dull aches on my left side roughly where my ovary is. all of a sudden it occurred to me that this may not be a miscarriage but an ectopic.
(Can I just say throughout all of this, I was still able to go out and about, look after my daughter ect, it was not deliberating pain)
So the next day (on the 12th) I thought something isn’t right so I did another digital and it came back as pregnant 3+ weeks! I thought ‘how is my hcg rising if I am losing this baby’ so I rang doctors to refer me to EPAU (you can only go to EPAU if you are referred stupidly), I went in to see a doctor and he was the most disgusting doctor I have ever met. I expressed my concerns, I told him about my rising HCG, my cramps, bleeding and the one second shoulder tip pain, he examined my stomach and said that I didn’t scream out in pain when he pressed on my left side so it isn’t an exotic pregnancy but he would refer me anyway to ease my ‘worries’.
oh and may I just add that he knew I’d been told I am miscarrying and asked me if I wanted this pregnancy (but that’s a rant for a whole different day)
Anyway, fast forward to a few hours later, I get to EPAU where they did bloods, she said if my HCG is high then they will scan me, I goes home to wait. She rings me couple of hours later to go back in, they need to scan me.
that’s when they told me that it was an ectopic in my left tube and they would need to operate fast. By this point it’s nearly 9pm at night!
next day I was able to go home and at this point I just wanted to be with my partner and daughter as I couldn’t believe all what had just happened! I wanted to just grieve and take it all in!
my point is ladies, PLEASE listen to your gut and your body and if you feel there is something not right, then fight for the answers!
if I had just waited like the doctor told me to, then I’m sure I wouldn’t of been here as I had already started internally bleeding!
sorry for the long post, and thankyou if you made it this far!