Cervical ectopic pregnancy

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1

Has anyone experience this? It would be so good to talk to someone who has had the same experience.

My last 2.5 weeks were so stressful!

I did my 3rd IVFs and thought I was not pregnant as I started to bleed 8 days post implantation as I did the previous 2 times. I was bleeding for 3.5 days what looked like a menstruation. I didn’t even bother with the pregnancy test.

Day 15 I started to bleed very heavily suddenly, had abdomial pains (mild), had a lot of blood clots and something that looked and felt like a liver. I lost over a pint of blood in a short space of time. I went to GB who did a pregnancy test. She said it was negative and didn’t know why I am bleeding. She prescribed pills to stop the bleeding. Half an hour later she called us telling us the pregnancy test was actually positive. She asked me to come back the next day to take the HcG level and two days later. I kept bleeing excessively until next day and then menstruation like bleeding with blood clots for 4 days.

Day 19 I got a call from the GB that my HcG are doubling and that I am still pregnant! OMG what a joy! I love dancing and decided to drive about an hour from home for blues dancing (a very slow sensual dance) and as I danced my third dance I felt something wet going down my leggins. I rushed to the bathroom and the basin was full of blood. I called 111 and they adviced to call an ambulance. So I was sitting alone in a parking lot in the middle of nowhere waiting for an ambulance to take me to A&E in Hospital A. My body got into some kind of shock and I was so trembling I couldn’t stop it. In A&E they struggled to get any blood from my arm veins but managed from my hands at last. They didn’t think it was an ectopic pregnancy but didn’t have a sonographer on hand so released me home until they won’t have an available one.

I bled more on Day 20 and 21. For example, within 5 minutes I lost about a cup of blood. I had no pain, no blood clots, no tissue - just a lot of blood.

Day 22 - my HcG levels were still increasing but not doubling anymore.

Day 23 - I finally visited a sonographer in the early pregnany unit in Hospital A who told me it is a likely miscarriage and asked me to come back in a week. I knew that is not right as I have started to feel that something is night right. I even told my husband a couple of days before that I feel that “this thing is going to kill me” and told him that “I feel I need to cut it out of my stomach”. I was taking post IVF progesterone that usually makes me depressed (was even suicidal after my second IVF) and we thought it is probably due to progesterone. But getting the sonographer’s diagnosis I had a strong urge to get a second opinion as it didn’t feel right.

Day 24 - I found a private sonographer who was willing to take me on that day. She showed us the pregnancy sack, the fetus and its beating heart. It had 104 beats a minute and was 340 mm! However, it is location was cervix and not uterus. She just looked at us and said “I am sorry” and I couldn’t stop crying. She said I have a rare cervical ectopic pregnancy , gave us the pictures of the baby which I will treasure forever and send us to A&E in Hospital B.

In A&E I eventually was admitted into a room but again, they didn’t have a sonographer and the doctor told me she doesn’t believe I have cervical ectopic pregnancy as it is extremly rare and it is probably a miscarriage but that we need to wait for the sonographer to confirm what has been happening.

Day 25 - I did 2 scans and both of them confirmed the cervical ectopic pregnancy. I called the early pregnancy unit in Hospital A and was told that “if it has a beating heart it is not an ectopic pregnancy” and that they “have never heard of cervical ectopic pregnancy”.

Then I finally met the gyneacoligal surgeon who immediately knew what was happening. He was very concerned about my previous blood loss and rejected the option for the injection as I would still be in a life danger due to the position of the baby. He decided to perform the surgery the next day to prepare for it well and for the risks of possible bleeding out. One of the option were cuts on side to pump the blood out, blood transfustion or hysterectomy. It was so scary to not knowing if I survive or if they will keep my uterus or what will happen. My husband was very worried as well as my parents and siblings and was “shi…ing myself” from the fear of not knowing what will happen. I had a conversation with my husband about all the passwords and that he could remarry again (after the surgery he asked me if he can still do that :-)).

Day 26 - Before the surgery I got a visit by a doctor showing me where they will inject me with the blood transfusion “to save my life”. I said good-bye to my husband. I then had to wait 40 minutes before the operation table as they were preparing for the blood transfution. I was so scared but actually it was good that I had this waiting time. A nurse was talking to me which helped me to relax.

I woke about 1.5 hour later with my body intact. The surgery went extremly well. My body reacted so good and didn’t bleed more than usual. The post op recovery was good too and I asked to leave the hospital. After two sleepless nights in the ward I wanted to sleep. My husband and I just crashed when we got home and slept for over 12 hours solid.

This has been over a week ago. I feel numb. I cry when I talk about this experience to others but don’t cry on my own nor with my husband.

How do I allow the emotions to come? I am worried I am supressing them. After my second unsuccesful IVF I was so angry at God that I couldn’t forgive him but I was scared to allow to feel the anger and in combination with the post IVF progesteron I was suicidal for about 5 weeks and the healing process took me 1.5 years!

I want to mourne but I don’t know how. I want to mourne the fear of dying, the stress, the shock, the news, feeling hopefull and then hopeless, the physical pain, dizziness, fear from the blood loss and not understanding why I am bleeding and what is happening. I want to mourne that our baby was healthy and had a strong heart beat but it was in a wrong location. I want to mourne that “we had to kill her”, that this was my first ever pregnancy and my 3 IVF and that I am 39 and feeling devastated, hopeless and scared that I won’t ever be Mom. I want to mourne all of that but I feel numb.

Did you experience the same? How did you overcome the numbness and allowed yourself the emotions? How did you came to acceptance?

Thank you all for your comments.

Barb x

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Barb,

My heart breaks for all you’ve had to go through. I am so incredibly sorry that you had to experience this ectopic pregnancy and loss. And had to have the uncertainty and confusion of the diagnosis adding to the trauma itself.

It is so normal to be feeling what you are feeling. These boards are filled with women and men who have experienced ectopic pregnancy. It is a physical and emotional trauma. What is difficult is there is not set timeframe or pathway for recovery, and we each take it in our own ways. Right now, it is so important for you to look after yourself and your feelings. What I can say, is that the feelings may never fully diminish (just as reading your post reminds me of my own surgery), but that over time, day-by-day the intensity lessens and there is some acceptance of what has happened. I found that journaling helped me to understand my own emotions and helped me to communicate them to my partner, friends, and family.

After a frightening ordeal like ectopic pregnancy, some women do find that they suffer from Post Traumatic Stress. We at the Trust believe that talking through what happened and your emotions as and when you can helps the healing process. We operate a helpline service, and if you would ever like the opportunity to speak over the phone to someone who has been through a similar experience, do feel free to call, details are below. We can exchange emails too, if you prefer that route.

In addition, you can ask to see a GP at your practice and ask them to explore ways in which you can get help and this can include referrals for “talking therapies” or counselling. We have information on our website about finding counseling services. The charity, Mind, may also be of assistance. They have local centres and support groups and can offer services on a means-tested basis or sometimes free. You can find your local centre following this link if that may be useful too: http://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/local-minds/

Right now, it’s so important to take care of yourself. We are here for you, however you wish and for as long as you wish.

With warm wishes,

Michele

If we have been able to help you, are you able to help us with a small donation or by volunteering?

Further information is available at http://www.ectopic.org.uk

Email us at ept@ectopic.org.uk.

Our helpline is 020 7733 2653 (available Monday to Friday 10am - 4pm).

Detailed medical information can be found on our website. Please remember online medical information is NO SUBSTITUTE for expert medical advice from your own health care team.

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Hi Michelle,

thank you for your kind words. I would like to talk to someone over the phone if possible.

Kind regards,

Barb

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Hi Barb,

This is shocking what you’ve been through. We had 2 misscarriages and than an tubal ectopic where I lost that side. I never seen a heartbeat from any of these pregnancies… it must be really hard knowing that she was healthy. I tend to believe that my ectopic was a healthy baby but in a wrong place.

I am amazed of these stories and how many of us struggling. They can tell me nothing changed since our grandmother’s time but I don’t believe them. I can imagine our generation had been made infertile. Unsure if it was deliveratly or not but it’s just crazy what we have to go through.

I wish you luck my dear, please keep yourchin up! xxx

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Hi Barb,

I just wanted to follow up, did you have a chance to call our helpline? Our helpline is 020 7733 2653 (available Monday to Friday 10am - 4pm).

With good wishes,

Michele

If we have been able to help you, are you able to help us with a small donation or by volunteering?

Further information is available at http://www.ectopic.org.uk

Email us at ept@ectopic.org.uk.

Our helpline is 020 7733 2653 (available Monday to Friday 10am - 4pm).

Detailed medical information can be found on our website. Please remember online medical information is NO SUBSTITUTE for expert medical advice from your own health care team.

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Dear BLK,

I am so sorry to hear about your cervical pregnancy and how it turned out for you. I am currently going through an angular pregnancy so I have read up on various types of ectopic intra-uterine and extra-uterine pregnancies and have therefore heard of your type. I have not come across any information so far whether cervical ectopics can proceed as a pregnancy, or whether they always end in miscarriage or termination when diagnosed. Perhaps you know more?

In any case, what strikes me in your story is that you seem to have been treated quite haphazardly in your contact with the hospitals and medical staff. With the kind of bleeding and problems you describe I would have thought that you would immediately have been signed in to hospital and carefully monitored until they finally diagnosed what was going on. So I am amazed at your strength and persistence in seeking help, but it saddens me that medical services do not seem to be what they should in times of emergency.

It has been similar in my case, I was diagnosed with angular pregnancy appx. 4 weeks ago. It is a rare type of pregnancy (see separate post here viewtopic.php?f=1&t=40425 ) but I was initially taken to hospital at 4 weeks of pregnancy with abdominal pains. They found abnormally high hcg-levels but since they only saw a black sack on the ultrasound they couldn’t say much more (and the abdominal pains had ceased so nothing dramatic seemed to be going on). I returned regularly the next 2-3 weeks for more hcg-tests and ultrasounds and eventually they were able to see a heartbeat. Despite lots of ultrasounds by different doctors and specialists they eventually dismissed it as a normal pregnancy. At a routine ultrasound at 10 weeks I was devastated to hear that there was definitely something wrong with the location of the foetus. New tests and scans were done and it was eventually diagnosed as an angular pregnancy. But it has definitely shocked me how little the large hospitals and doctors know about these rare types of pregnancies and how easily they seem to dismiss cases with strange symptoms/ signs/ scans. I would have really wished that a doctor had gone to the bottom of things at 4+ weeks in my case, since that would definitely have made a decision of termination easier. When it was eventually diagnosed as an AP I was so far along that a normal medical abortion would not be possible, instead I would have needed to do undergo surgery where a part of my uterus would be cut out along with the foetus. So for that reason I have decided to continue with the pregnancy but I really do not know what is around the corner. It may end in miscarriage, ruptured uterus (which scares me immensely) and premature birth.

So it saddens me to hear about other people who have had similar experiences where things are not investigated enough even though there are many warning signs- and where it can possibly escalate into a life-threatening state if not found or monitored in time.

My warmest thoughts, Erika

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Sorry, the address to my post on angular pregnancies seems to be broken and I don’t know how to edit, so here it is again:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=40425