2 EPs, 1 early MC, 1 late MC @ 18 weeks, premature delivery

[sariman]

Hi

I have an obstetric history that has surprised the most experienced of doctors!

Jan 2007 - EP which resulted in removal of left tube

Aug 2007 - pregnancy in which I started bleeding @ 8 weeks and bled throughout, waters broke (Premature rupture of membranes) @ 21 weeks and delivered a premature baby in March 2008 @ 31 weeks. He’s a healthy 5 yr old now

March 2011 - early MC @ 5 weeks

August 2011 - pregnant again; started bleeding @ 7 weeks again; went through blood transfusion, constant trips to the A&E in an ambulance. Result: a late MC @ 18 weeks in Dec 2011. Something which left me devastated and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to overcome the trauma I went through when we buried our baby.

May 2013 - EP; because of my history, I went in for an early scan @ 6 weeks but they couldn’t see anything, hcg was 1700. 48 hours later hcg was 3000 (rising well) but they still couldn’t see anything in a scan - diagnosis was EP… Went in for a laparoscopy to remove the remaining tube. The doctor performing the laparoscopy didn’t remove the tube because when she went in, she wasn’t sure if the preg was in the tube or not and thought it best to leave the tube inside. To make a long story short, was finally given methotrexate at hcg level 8000! Two doses of methotrexate which finally ended the preg and my tube was left inside.

However, I was told the tube is extremely rugged and not at all healthy and any future preg is likely to be another EP

I have been left shattered because of all these experiences and I have no hope of another child. IVF is too expensive and I am not sure if I am stable enough to go through the stress of an IVF. The fact that I may never have another child is something I am just not ready to accept. I am miserable in my desire to have another child.

Talking to people who have been through something similar makes me feel better because I feel they are in a position to understand what I went through and how I feel.

[bellelady]

hi there

i couldn’t begin to imagine what you have been through but i could only say that i fear going through what you have been through!!!

i just had an EP 3 weeks ago and they removed my left tube (what is it with left tubes? i read so many forums where it’s the left tube that is the culprit). thing is, this pregnancy was a miracle by itself. 6 weeks ago, i had a lap & dye where they removed scar adhesions that have been the culprit for my infertility. the weirdest thing is that i was already pregnant during my first surgery. they did do a urine test but it was negative. i never really questioned or tell them to double check because to begin with, the reason why i was having the first surgery was because i had fertility problems!!!

it’s still weird – i privately joke that the embryo was a cliffhanger (imagine surviving being flushed with that horrid blue dye?) so it was a real suprise to find 2 weeks after my first surgery that i was 6 weeks pregnant… sometimes i think, should have i insisted on a blood test to test if i was pregnant? should have i delayed my lap & dye and then maybe discovered i was pregnant? maybe it was my lap and dye that pushed the embryo further up the tubes? or do i resign to the fact that as i have scar adhesions and naturally a higher risk of EP, that there was nothing i could have done to prevent this?

and so 3 weeks ago, just after 5 days of discovering with joy and trepidation that i was pregnant, that in fact i could even get pregnant, i went to EPU because i had a tablespoon of fresh red blood (sorry TMI). it wasn’t even alarming – i wasn’t feeling faint. i had some cramps during lunchtime while i was at work but it felt more like mild menstraul cramps rather than unbearable pain. i went to EPU “just in case” but in my case the doctors said they are not letting me go home. i have a 6 week live fetus on my left fallopian tube and im already probably internally bleeding and the tube may rupture anytime so they will have to remove the tube because MX (methothrexate) won’t work on a live fetus. so just like that, there wasn’t much time to think about things. not only will i lose the baby but a tube.

operation went well and the next day the surgeon explained that i already had a can of coke of blood pooling inside and he was surprised i wasn’t feeling any symptoms – maybe because i’m quite fit and healthy otherwise. but it would have ruptured anytime. but he said, given my history of scar adhesions plus an EP, the risk of me having another EP is significantly higher because whose to tell that my right tube isn’t as dodgy? chances are, it is.

so the next step is IVF. but what if it doesn’t work first time? what if it doesn’t work on the second or third? what if it doesn’t work at all?

i prayed to God and i said I will make a great mother — and I really hope one day I will be. For now, I am still recovering from 2 surgeries almost back to back. At times I feel hope, at times I feel scared. At times I feel grateful, at times I feel it’s unfair.

My ex-boss lost her fifth baby (she already has 4). At 12 weeks, they had to do surgery because the baby was dead.

I said to her the same thing I say to you — I don’t think it matters when you lost your baby, how you lost your baby, or if you have any children already — the outcome is the same— you lost a baby. A baby that could have been many things by now. A baby that even letting time pass by won’t replace…