My Partner and I had been trying to conceive for 4 years when I finally fell pregnant, I have 2 children from a previous marriage, I had severe pain in my left side and didn’t even consider that I was pregnant, after 2 days of being in agony my boyfriend finally persuaded me to go to A & E.
They told me there that I was pregnant, John and I had about an hour of sheer joy, they told me the pain was due to a bladder infection and a course of antibiotics would clear it up. The next hour is still a bit of a blur, the docs and nurses started rushing about, taking blood and hooking me up to drips, I had a scan then was told I most likely had an ep. I was taken down to theatre straight away and woke a couple of hours later and was told it was an ep, I was 11 weeks gone which apparently is quite far along for an ep, it was a partial tubal abortion to give it it’s correct name and the only reason the pregnancy had gone on so long was because it was at the top of the tube so had a bit more room to grow.
I didn’t feel to down about it, I hadn’t really had time to get used to the idea of being pregnant, so things got back to normal pretty quickly.
My second ep happened a year later. I was cheif bridesmaid at my mums wedding, a couple of weeks before her big day I took a test and found I was pregnant, my biggest worry was not fitting into my dress!
I had been to my gp and he told me there was no reason why this pregnancy would lead to another ep so I stayed positive. I had blood tests every 48 hours to check my hcg levels. One day they would double, the next they would hardly rise at all, they kept the tests up until the day before my mums wedding, they brought me in for a scan and said they were concerned that my levels had not risen above 800 and they were going to take me to surgery again to ‘have a look’. I pleaded with them not to take me in until the following afternoon and explained about my mums big day and they eventually agreed, so I made it to my mums wedding (couldn’t eat or drink anything after 9am though!)
That afternoon I was taken to theatre again, they put cameras into my stomache to have a look, they cut into both tubes as they thought they looked ‘plump’ in places.
They found nothing in the tubes but found blood and clots behind my womb which suggested to them another ep tubal abortion.
My latest ep was on Dec 13th 2005, I found out I was pregnant and was obviously very worried.
The day after I felt the familiar pain in my left side, My partner took me straight to A & E, after a couple of hours of sitting in a cubicle I was told the pain was in my head because of what had happened to me previously and that it was to soon for me to feel anything if it was another ep.
I went home feeling very stupid and returned to work the following day, still in pain but trying to ignore it. 3 days later I rung the specialist who dealt with me the last time, he told me to come straight in, I was scanned and back down to theatre again within 2 hours of getting there. It turned out it was another ep and because it hadn’t been dealt with straight away my tube had ruptured and had to be removed. Some days I feel fine about it, others I feel really sad and down. I have just been back to my doc for my 6 week check up, he has said it is very likely that I will not have anymore children as my remaining tube is full of scar tissue from my second ep.
If I do conceive it’s more than a 90% chance it will turn out to be an ep because of the scar tissue. They want me to go in for more testing so we know for sure, but all the tests are invasive and will only lead to more scar tissue so so far I have declined all further tests. The doc said if they found my tube to be full of scar tissue like they expect they would want to remove it to prevent any more eps, my arguement is while I still have a tube I want to try and use it! If it turns out that I have another ep they will probably remove it anyway but at least I will know that I tried again and it’s a chance I am willing to take.
I feel so much better for telling my story, even if no one reads it! I have never told it from start to finish before and it has got alot off my chest.
John and I will continue to try for our little bundle and have not been put off by what we have been through. x
UPDATE: I finally managed to get a little bean past my battered tube, unfortunately it ended in a missed miscarriage at 11 weeks. The proper term is blighted ovum. It was just one of those things that could have happened to anyone, the silver lining to this story is that my tube worked once so chances are it will work again.
My partner John and I are having a break from ttc at the moment, I’m sure it won’t be long before we start trying again, I can feel that familir longing coming back.
Well if you have made it this far well done for sticking in there! and thanks xx