I found out I was pregnant on 12 August 2023. We were so excited and so happy to be starting a family after trying to conceive for almost a year. On the day I found out that I was pregnant, I kept fainting, throwing up, and had shoulder tip pain. Since I had no history of ectopic pregnancy as it was my first time being pregnant, I was not aware that one of the symptoms to indicate a possible ectopic pregnancy was the shoulder tip pain. I went to see my GP. They did all the checks and referred me to my local early pregnancy unit, as they had concerns that I may be having an ectopic pregnancy. I was only 4 weeks pregnant, so an ultrasound was very unlikely to detect anything. They performed the ultrasound on my stomach but couldn’t see anything indicating an ectopic pregnancy, then booked me in for an early pregnancy scan on my 5th week. This is when we were told the devastating news that they had found our baby in my left Fallopian tube. However, it had ruptured, and I was bleeding internally.
They had to get me booked in for emergency surgery to remove my left Fallopian tube, a procedure called salpingectomy, which is keyhole surgery. I never knew how life threatening an ectopic pregnancy was until I was told and rushed into emergency surgery to save my life. I was thankful to be alive. We were told afterwards that it was a cornual ectopic meaning it was implanted close to the uterus still in the Fallopian tube. I was told that I’d be able to try again after three months, and that we were still at risk of having another ectopic.
The mental and emotional recovery was very difficult. I avoided meeting with my friends and avoided social media mainly because a lot of my friends were having babies or had babies of their own.
I then started to learn about ectopic pregnancies and the symptoms. It can be very difficult to diagnose an ectopic pregnancy, as the symptoms can be similar to those of a normal pregnancy, or other conditions. Sometimes you may experience one or none of the symptoms. The main symptom, a red flag, is the shoulder tip pain.
I fell pregnant again on the 11 January 2024. This time my husband & I were prepared, worried and wanted to make sure I was being closely monitored. We went to our local early pregnancy unit as it was the weekend. We let them know of my history of ectopic pregnancy. They did hCG (the hormone produced during pregnancy) blood tests to monitor me to see if I was having a normal pregnancy or another ectopic pregnancy. Unfortunately, my hormone levels were acting abnormally, indicating another ectopic pregnancy. I had a scan in my 5th week which showed something in my right Fallopian tube.
As my hCG was less than 5,000 I was eligible to have Methotrexate, which would stop the pregnancy from growing any further. After having the Methotrexate, I was monitored to see how my hCG levels were. Studies show that on day 4 after Methotrexate hCG levels may increase and then decrease on Day 7. Mine was the opposite – Day 4 my hCG decreased, and then Day 7 it increased, which was worrying so the next morning on 2 February, I had myself admitted for close observation.
Later that night I had excruciating pain on the right side of my lower abdomen. I had to go into surgery immediately to remove my right Fallopian tube. I had terrible pain because my Fallopian tube was twisted. The Methotrexate had not worked. Again, the same emotions came flooding back. I was told as I no longer had either of my Fallopian tubes, the next option for me was IVF. I had to wait at least 3-6 months before I tried IVF.
Six months later, we did our first round of IVF. Unfortunately, on the 20 September 2024, at 2am in the morning, I woke up to heavy bleeding, passing big clots. I was also passing out many times so went to my local early pregnancy unit where they found my symptoms were due to cervical shock, so they had to get me to a theatre to clean out everything and to make sure all the pregnancy tissue was out.
The same emotions came back to me again. I kept wondering why the pregnancy ended again at 5 weeks. I am still healing, going through so many emotions.
The emotional and mental recovery will take a while and I need to take it day by day in the hopes that one day we will be able to hold our miracle rainbow baby whether that maybe through IVF cycles, or adoption.
Thank you to Cynthia for sharing her experience. If you would like to share your experience of ectopic pregnancy, please visit our guide for more information.
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