I found out I was pregnant again at the end of August 2022. My husband and I were shocked because we weren’t expecting it, but we were excited for our almost 1-year-old to have a sibling. I still experienced typical pregnancy symptoms – fatigue, nausea, morning sickness, etc. – and my first scan was scheduled for 13 October 2022.
Ironically, everything changed the day before.
Our firstborn turned 1 year old on the 12th, but we didn’t plan much because I wasn’t feeling great, which I put down to being pregnant. I was sitting on the sofa in the afternoon when I suddenly felt a strong menstrual-like cramp that I had never experienced before. I started feeling clammy and lightheaded and threw up from the pain. I checked for bleeding but saw nothing. Somehow, I managed to heat a hot water bottle and lay back down on the sofa. The heat took the edge off, and I felt a little better, so I continued to rest. I was honestly too scared to move in case the pain returned.
I was probably there for a good two hours and ended up napping, but realistically, I should’ve gone straight to the hospital. Little did I know I had been bleeding internally. When I eventually moved positions, I suddenly felt worse. The pain came back, and this time I was burning up and extremely dizzy. My husband called for an ambulance. By the time they arrived, I could feel the intense fuzziness in my head, and my vision went dark. I briefly woke up in the ambulance but was in and out of consciousness the entire time, and everything was a blur.
In the emergency department, they quickly performed an ultrasound and found two embryos. It was twins, and I was roughly nine weeks pregnant. Unfortunately, one embryo was growing in the rudimentary horn region of my uterus (also known as a cornual ectopic pregnancy) and had caused a rupture. They also found a large amount of blood in my abdomen, and I was becoming more unstable by the second. I was started on blood transfusions and whisked away to surgery.
I woke up hours later with two surgeons standing over my bed, explaining everything. I had a cornual heterotopic pregnancy, which is one of the rarest forms of ectopic pregnancy. They didn’t know what had caused it – the surgeon said it was just one of those things that happens. I had lost roughly two litres of blood, and they hadn’t realised how much until the surgery. I was extremely lucky to be alive. When I woke up, I was told I was paler than the white bedsheets.
Due to the blood loss, they couldn’t find the heartbeat of the second embryo that was initially surviving. I had a second surgery two days later to remove the remaining embryo, as they had to wait for me to stabilise. I received multiple rounds of blood transfusions and iron infusions. Recovery was long and difficult, and I suffered from iron deficiency anaemia. Not only was I lucky to survive, but I was also lucky to keep my uterus, Fallopian tubes, and ovaries, as I underwent a cornual resection. I couldn’t thank my surgeons enough.
Fast forward to today, I have a 6-month-old rainbow baby. Losing twins gave me an overwhelming sadness, as I thought I’d never have another child or a sibling for our son. I believed having another baby was impossible. But one year later, I found out I was pregnant again. No matter how scary it was and despite the risks – especially towards the end of my pregnancy, when my uterus could have ruptured again – I had a healthy pregnancy, and our firstborn now has a brother.
I still have painful twinges from scar tissue and have my iron levels checked periodically, but overall, I am healthy. I was told that if I had arrived at the hospital five minutes later, I probably wouldn’t have made it. I definitely count my lucky stars.
If I could say one thing...
If you’re pregnant, feel off, and sense that something isn’t right, please don’t do what I did and stay at home, hoping the pain will go away. I nearly lost my life because I didn’t seek help in time and lost twins during the ordeal. I often feel frustrated with myself for not going to the hospital sooner – maybe twin B would have survived.
A cornual ectopic pregnancy has a high mortality rate and can happen to anyone. It’s rare, but it happens. One reason I delayed going to the hospital was that I wasn’t bleeding externally. I was in pain but saw no blood, so I reassured myself that it was nothing and that the pain would stop. I was haemorrhaging internally, which led to tachycardia and shock. Miraculously, I survived.
Even if you’re not bleeding but are in pain, go get checked! I really hope that by sharing my personal experience, I can help save a life.
Thank you to Gemma 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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