I found out I was pregnant for the first time in July 2023. We’d been trying to conceive for nearly a year and had started to lose hope, so we were both surprised and delighted. A few days later I experienced some bleeding. After an initial ultrasound scan found no evidence of pregnancy in my uterus, I was told the pregnancy might be ectopic. I’d never had cause to think about ectopic pregnancy, so had very little idea what it could or would entail. It happened to be 1 August, and my Googling soon pointed me in the direction of The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust – and told me it was Ectopic Pregnancy Awareness Day. As somebody who works in PR, I could appreciate the irony.
August ended up being one of the worst months of my life. The first week was a blur of blood tests and scans, as the pregnancy was confirmed to be in my left Fallopian tube. At first, we had the option of expectant management – waiting and seeing if the pregnancy would end naturally. A few days later blood tests showed my hCG levels (the hormone produced during pregnancy) were still rising, so I had an injection of methotrexate to stop the pregnancy growing (known as medical management). The methotrexate was part of the reason I decided to be open with friends and family about what was happening – we had a family wedding that week, and I knew people would notice if I wasn’t drinking. I couldn’t bear the thought of people thinking I was pregnant, when in fact it was because I was advised not to drink for three months after the methotrexate was administered. I was told not to be more than half an hour travel from a hospital due to the potential risk of the ectopic pregnancy rupturing and briefed very thoroughly on the symptoms of rupture.
I made it to the wedding and continued to have blood tests every few days to check my hCG levels. The staff were all kind, but I hated to be continually returning to the hospital where I’d first learned my pregnancy was ectopic, particularly as I checked in at reception where all the other women were having their 12-week and 20-week scans.
The evening of 19 August I started to feel dizzy, and the pain suddenly became excruciating – I knew pretty quickly that I’d had a rupture. Yet an ambulance call handler wouldn’t send an ambulance to me, and I had to be driven to the hospital A&E by my friend with my husband in the back. I was drifting in and out of consciousness and started to think I was going to die. When I arrived at A&E I was able to explain that I had a confirmed ectopic pregnancy which I believed had ruptured, but while I was taken quickly for blood tests and heart rate monitoring, I wasn’t seen by a doctor for nearly an hour. In the early hours of 20 August, as I was starting to go into shock due to internal bleeding, I had emergency surgery. By the time I was asked to sign consent forms, I could barely hold a pen. I told my husband I loved him and asked him to look after our cat. When I came round, I was told I’d had my left Fallopian tube removed, alongside a blood transfusion because I’d lost at least 1.5 litres of blood. I was discharged from hospital a few days later, but my physical recovery took a few weeks. While I was recovering, I saw people taking part in the 80 in 1 challenge to complete 80 miles in 1 month for The EPT, and I vowed to do it the following year.
Due to the methotrexate, I was advised not to try to conceive for three months, but then quickly fell pregnant again – finding out I was due the same week in August that I’d found out my first pregnancy was ectopic. Sadly, that pregnancy ended in a missed miscarriage. While I still needed surgery for that loss, the physical recovery was easier and meant I was able to return to exercise relatively quickly. I’ve struggled with my mental health a lot since both losses but have found doing my local parkrun and swimming at my local pool has provided some much-needed focus. I decided to join the 80 in 1 challenge this year to fulfil the promise I made to myself last year, and hopefully raise some funds for The EPT to help others going through an ectopic pregnancy.
Daniella is currently taking part in our 80in1 Challenge, you can read more or donate to her fundraiser here.
Thank you to Daniella for sharing her experience. If you would like to share your experience of ectopic pregnancy, please visit our guide for more information.
Please remember our support services are available at any time.