Ectopic Pregnancy

Last month Danny and I learned that I had an ectopic pregnancy. I feel like I am just now processing everything. It started out as heavy vaginal bleeding, which carried on for a couple of weeks. I chalked that up as being one of my famously annoying irregular periods. Next, I had some intense pain on what felt like my ovary. I figured that was my cyst acting up. But, what happened next really clued me in to what was going on. I started passing placenta tissue. After a sobbing phone call to my mother, we went to the ER. 

Fun fact: Did you know that shoulder pain can indicate internal bleeding? Well, now you do.

The ER was not my favorite place to be. For the most part we felt unheard and unseen. I had some ultrasounds done (internal and external). Finally, near the end of our stay, an obgyn swooped in to help. 

Based off of my HcG levels and the placenta tissue I had passed, it was clear that I had been pregnant. The baby had implanted in my fallopian tube. We were given a choice. Surgery, right then and there. Or - we could wait it out for a couple of days and get my HcG levels checked again. If they were to go down, it was a positive sign. If they went up, I would need surgery. 

The risk of them going up was that my Fallopian tube would burst, if it hadn't already. We decided to wait a couple of days. When I went to my follow up appointment, unfortunately my blood work showed that my HcG levels were continuing to rise. (Not at a normal pregnancy rate, mind you. But rise nonetheless.) 

We scheduled surgery for the next day. I was still in utter shock. This was so much to process. I slept for most of the night, but woke up in an uncomfortable amount of pain. It was time to call the doc and push our surgery up. As I walked to the car, I nearly vomited. I draped my body over the roof of the car and said over and over, "I'm going to pass out, I'm going to pass out." 

I pushed myself hard to stay conscious. We made it to the hospital. Surgery came a couple of hours later. They discovered a large amount of scar tissue from endometriosis. They were able to remove the tube and the scar tissue. The cyst, however, is there to stay - along with my ovary! I now have a super sweet scar :) Recovery took a couple of weeks. I kept pushing myself. It was hard to walk and laughing split my side, literally. I am so thankful that my obgyn was able to save my life. I should be able to have a healthy pregnancy in the future. 

About 2% of women in the US have an ectopic pregnancy. That is 1 in 50 pregnancies. Ectopic means 'out of place.' An ectopic pregnancy always ends pregnancy loss, even when surgery is not needed. If you are worried that you may be experiencing something similar, please reach out to your doctor!