It seems as though these days many women are deciding to have children at a later age, therefore becoming more susceptible to miscarrying or life threatening ectopic pregnancies. Many of you know I have miscarried before and have had a bit of a struggle in conceiving. But, like my first experience when I miscarried my reason for sharing my story was not to have the whole world feel sorry for me, but it was to let other women know they are not alone. However, this story is a little different in that my purpose is to share my experience for awareness. Early August, after about a year and a half of trying to conceive since my last miscarriage, I learned I was pregnant again. I was of course apprehensive because of my first miscarriage. I had undergone a series of tests for about a year trying to figure out what was wrong with me. After the last uncomfortable test I had, my doctor told me she could not see anything that was abnormal and that we should continue to try. So, some part of me was hopeful with this pregnancy. But, by late August my doctor informed me that I would more than likely experience yet another miscarriage. Because I had miscarried before my doctor had been closely monitoring my hCG levels and was able to determine that my pregnancy would not be viable. Of course I was devastated when she gave me the news. The memories of the horrific first miscarriage came back and the worries of the future took over my thoughts all over again. But, this time around I felt stronger. Like I knew this could happen again. I remained more hopeful this time and prepared for the miscarriage that the doctor warned me about.
A week passed and sure enough during a camping trip with a group of friends, I experienced what I thought was a miscarriage. I thought everything was over and I could finally get on with my life once again. But, then another week passed and the Sunday before my 30th birthday, I was preparing to go to the store with my husband and sister-in-law to get some supplies for my brother-in-law’s wedding… Now, I must warn that I will be pretty open in the symptoms I experienced. Anyway, I felt a pain in my stomach and felt like I really needed to go number two, but couldn’t. And I felt this intense pressure in my rectal area. I just thought I had really bad gas and told my husband to give me a few more minutes and I should be ready to go. However, the pain continued all night long. The pain persisted in the morning and I could barely walk without complaining about the pain. It was my sisters who persisted me into going to urgent care. My oldest sister had experienced an ectopic pregnancy and it was very scary for the entire family as her case was pretty bad and ended up needing a blood transfusion. But, since I thought I had already miscarried, I still thought it was gas. My brother-in law is a paramedic/firefighter and told me some insane stories about people calling the ambulance for having gas, so immediately I thought I was going to be one of those people. Although, I must admit, some part of me was a little scared because maybe it was something worse. So, of course with everything I was thinking I was apprehensive about going. Nonetheless, I gathered some courage and told my husband to take me. He agreed that I should go since the pain did not get any better.
When the urgent care doctor saw me, he asked me a few questions then asked me to lie down. He then pressed on the upper right part of my abdomen and I suddenly felt the most intense pain I have ever felt in my life. The pain was so bad and it immediately shot up to my shoulder as if I had gotten electrocuted. I let out this embarrassing yell and started crying uncontrollably. I thought the pain was going to go away, but did not. I yelled my husband’s name out. I think he thought I needed comfort, but truthfully I needed him to lean on because I literally thought my arm was going to fall off or that I was going to faint. I think I even scared the doctor because he immediately stood up when I shouted, put his hands up and said “Yeah… this is beyond urgent care. You have to take her to the ER”. I am no medical expert, but it was as though my body was in so much shock that I was almost a little numb because I felt so much better than when I first went in.
The ER took me right in and started the tests pretty fast. They initially thought it could be my gallbladder because of the area the urgent care doctor examined me. However, they still had ectopic pregnancy in mind since I had been pregnant. They did a series of tests which included a full abdominal organ testing and transvaginal exam which took a combination of about one hour and half. They also took my blood to test the levels of hcg. I felt like I was a nearly an expert on the levels of this hormone. As mentioned before, prior to knowing I was going to experience a miscarriage, my doctor ordered this test twice a week. I know I am exaggerating here, but I felt like my arms were beginning to look like I was on drugs since I was going so often to get poked by a needle. But, looking back, my doctor was doing what any good doctor should do. She was being proactive and wanted to monitor these levels. Prior to the miscarriage she found that my hcg levels were not where they should be to sustain a normal pregnancy and I would eventually have a miscarriage. The last time I had blood drawn I saw that hcg levels dropped to 25mlU/ml which also lead me to believe I experienced a miscarriage. However, when they took my blood again at the hospital it was at 160 mlU/ml which really surprised me as it is not normal. During pregnancy once your hCG levels start to drop, it is a good indicator that you will miscarry and the levels should continue to drop; not drop then rise again like they did for me. They came back with the ultrasound tests and found an 8 cm mass. They were not exactly sure whether it was a cyst or ectopic, but needed to go in to be sure. They ended up doing a laparoscopic surgery.
A laparoscopy is a minimally invasive surgery in which surgeons make small incisions and use a long fiber optic cable system which allows viewing of the affected area by snaking the cable from a more distant, but more accessible location. There are many advantages to this in that the recovery time is shorter, incisions are smaller and are less susceptible to infections. In my case they made two small incisions in my lower abdomen and belly button. A hollow needle is put through the first incision and carbon dioxide or nitrous oxide is slowly put through the needle to inflate the belly. The gas lifts the abdominal wall away from the organs inside so your doctor can see clearly. In ectopic pregnancies, they also put a cannula (thin tube) though your vagina into the uterus. The cannula lets your doctor move your uterus and ovaries to get a better look. All of this info was mostly taken from medlineplus.gov and justmommies.com
Once they went in they found that it was indeed an ectopic pregnancy. It implanted on the ovary which makes up 1-2% of ectopic pregnancies, and that it ruptured (also not as common). When an ectopic pregnancy ruptures, they will most likely do a laparotomy which involves a large incision. But, because they decided to do a laparoscopy and not open surgery they could not get to everything so they gave me methotrexate which kills multiplying cells. This drug is used for cancer, autoimmune diseases and ectopic pregnancies. If doctors catch an ectopic pregnancy at a very early stage they will most likely only use the methotrexate and not surgery to terminate the pregnancy. After surgery, I was able to go home that same night. I was pretty sore and needed assistance in getting up and down from a chair/bed for about 3 days. After that, I was able to walk around normal, but would tire easily and couldn’t really do normal activities; that lasted about a week or 2. I was out of work for 3 weeks and by that time could function in my normal activities. Although, I could not do any strenuous exercise for about a month or two.
The thing that makes ectopic pregnancies so scary is that it can be life threatening especially if it ruptures. Many of the symptoms are very close to pregnancy symptoms, so of course it is easy to ignore. Yes, I had a ruptured ectopic pregnancy and yes if I would have waited more, things could have been much worse; thank God it was not. But, as I mentioned before, my sister also experienced a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. However, she had no idea what was going on, she did not have someone in her life to warn her of the symptoms. She had all of the symptoms I was experiencing, but she did not take herself to the hospital. Instead, she fainted at work and had to be rushed to the hospital. It took them a while to determine what was going on, so she was essentially internally bleeding while they figured out what her case was. Things got so bad that she ended up needing a blood transfusion and they told her she was lucky to be alive.
These days doctors have better tools to catch ectopic pregnancies at an earlier stage, so some can argue that less women are dying from this, but then there’s also the argument that more women are getting pregnant at a later age in which they are more prone to complications. Either way you look at it, the bottom line is listen to your body. If you feel that something is not normal, take yourself to get checked out. Who cares what people will think if it turns out nothing is wrong. Check out the ectopic pregnancy symptoms below and research it more online or ask your doctor.
If you have any questions about my personal experience, please let me know as I am sure I have left a lot out. I know this time around I left the emotional part of this whole experience which is just as important, but not my main focus in this post. What i can say is to have a solid support system. For me, my number one rock during this long frustrating fertility journey has been my husband. He experienced this as well, of course from a different angle, but experienced it no less. We’ve had our down moments, but definitely have come out better and stronger. Then there’s my family who has also always been there no matter what. They Immediately came down when I went into surgery and have always been there during my “dark days” as I call it. Then my selective couple of friends who also, much like my husband and family have been an awesome support system. To those that do not know me personally or barely know me, it might seem as though I am a really open person especially since I share my experiences like this. But, those who really know me, know I hide my true feelings and very few people see that. However, I must stress that you absolutely need that support system so that you can express your true feelings because your own mind has the potential to destroy you.
Statistics
there are many stats out there that are different, but at least this gives you an idea
25% of pregnancies end in miscarriage
1 in 80 of pregnancies end in ectopic pregnancies (this stat is definitely one I have seen different out there)
98% of all ectopic pregnancies happen in the fallopian tube
60% of women go on to have a normal pregnancy, 15% have another ectopic pregnancy 25% experience other infertility complications
Ectopic Pregnancy Symptoms:
Vaginal spotting or bleeding – when I thought I was passing my miscarriage naturally, this was actually an ectopic pregnancy symptom
Cramping – I mostly had cramping on the right side of my abdomen
Dizziness – I was dizzy quite a bit before the doctor informing me I would miscarry. I thought I was just lacking water.
Rectal Pressure, Gas Pain, Feeling Constipated – the rectal pressure symptom was probably the most different symptom I had ever felt. It is hard to describe the true feeling, but once you experience it, you will know something is definitely not right.
Low blood pressure – my blood pressure was normal, but this is a common symptom
Shoulder Pain – The only time I actually experienced this was after the urgent care doctor pressed on my abdomen. It was the most intense nerve pain I have ever experienced.
Nausea – common symptom for normal pregnancy and ectopic pregnancy. I did not experience this.
Shock – if it ruptures, a women will have internal bleeding and may go into shock from all of the bleeding.
Symptoms of shock – cold clammy skin, anxiety, dizziness, sweating, feeling weak, fainting, having rapid pulse. Will need to call 911 ASAP.
victoriahicks86 