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My non-emergency ectopic experience

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El Mc
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 11:38 pm

My non-emergency ectopic experience

Post by El Mc »

I'd heard about ectopic pregnancies but I thought it was always an emergency with blue lights and terrible pains but it turns out it's not.

After ttc for almost 2 years I'd basically given up hope of another baby (I'm 35). But in July last year, 3 days after my wedding, I started bleeding. I knew instantly I was pg but I also knew something was wrong as my af was only the week before. I assumed it was an early mc, like my first loss, and decided to wait it out. A week later I was still bleeding but not badly so did a test just to make sure.....bfp. The next day I had the slightest pain on my right side only, barely anything but something told me to go to my gp. Long story short I ended up in the EPU for a scan which showed a cyst on one ovary, a 'sac-like structure' in my womb (hope!!) and a possible ectopic in one tube. As I was in no pain and bleeding was minimal, I was asked to choose between surgery and methotrexate but I decided to wait 48hrs to give myself time to choose and for repeat bloods.

48hrs later my hcg had gone up but not enough so I decided to have the surgery. However, when they scanned me, my tubes were clear - a pregnancy of unknown location - and the 'sac-like structure' was not 'viable' so I ended up waiting another 48hrs in case the pregnancy had 'resolved itself'.....don't you just love medical terminology? Anyway 48hrs later my hcg had risen again so I had to make a decision on what to do. I was offered surgery to try and find the pregnancy but there was no guarantee they'd find anything so I chose methotrexate. A week later my bloods had gone down but not enough so I had to have second dose. Kudos to the 2 nurses who gave me the injections though...I didn't feel a thing either time!

I then had weekly appointments for blood tests to make sure the mtx was working...thankfully(?!) it was. My hcg dropped by approx 50% each week for a few weeks then it went right down and then finally after 6 or 7 weeks my hcg was 4 and I was signed off. I have to say that the medical staff were amazing and I can't fault the care I received.

I'm now coming to the end of my 6 month post mtx wait to ttc. It's been a long and sometimes difficult time, with a bunch of people announcing they're pg which has devastated me each time. I'm still not sure I even want to try again as that was the 4th pregnancy messed up - early mc at 6-ish weeks, then my dd was premature at 32+4 (she's a tall, strong, amazing 8 year old now), another mc at 13+2 (my boy) and now the ectopic. None of my losses or my dd's early birth are connected they're all just 'one of those things' so it feels a bit like which pregnancy failure will I tick off next time? I'm terrified tbh but I've got time.

Sorry this is a bit of an essay but it feels really good to get it all out x

london11
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2017 1:45 am

Re: My non-emergency ectopic experience

Post by london11 »

So sorry to hear about your experience, it is so hard. I just had the methotrexate shot at 6 weeks (12/30). I have been doing IVF for a year and it was my first positive pregnancy result. Apparently there were two sacks but no heart beats in either, and one was in the opening of the tubes so ectopic. It's so devastating, after the IVF process it feels like I have just rolled to the bottom of a huge mountain I had almost summited. The methotrexate is making me feel nauseous and exhausted constantly, I haven't started bleeding yet. At this point I just want the whole thing to be over.

El Mc
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 11:38 pm

Re: My non-emergency ectopic experience

Post by El Mc »

Hi london11, I'm so sorry you're going through this. It's bad enough under normal circumstances, but to have gone through IVF too....it's so unfair. I couldn't believe how tired the methotrexate made me. Rest when you need to, it will get better. Are you back weekly for blood tests? It feels like such a long haul doesn't it? I hope your hcg goes down quickly (although it feels wronghoping for that. Thinking of you

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