Update and apologies

First, I’d like to apologise for being so hasty in writing a blog about my ectopic pregnancy no. 4. I’m barely 3-4 weeks along and its too soon to say (or see) anything. I got carried away and believed the technician who said she ‘thinks’ she saw something on the ovary.

In conclusion so far, I am pregnant and it is not an ovarian ectopic pregnancy.

This is what happened today:

1. I visited my gynaecologist

2. I visited a senior and more experienced radiologist recommended by my gynac

3. We got my 2nd beta HCG blood draw showing a level of 211.9

My beta HCG increased but did not double in 48hours. My gynaecologist and the sr. radiologist are both in agreement that we DO NOT know where this pregnancy is yet and they don’t confirm it as an ectopic (yet!). They both said there 50% chance given my history that this will be an ectopic but at the same time, there is no reason to believe that just yet. Also, given that it is this early on (only 3-4weeks) in the pregnancy there is a 50% chance that we might still find it and it might just be intrauterine. In addition, the pain I am experiencing is in fact the corpus luteum cyst which may have ruptured causing the pain on my right side. There is no indicative mass on my right tube or anything else suggesting an ectopic. On the flip side, there is no yolk sac in the uterus.

So, yes, I am pregnant and we just don’t know where it is and only time will tell whether it is viable or not. I am not hoping either ways honestly and just trying to take a day as it comes. My next blood draw is in 48hours and we will know more then. In the meantime, if I spot or bleed or am in acute pain, need to rush to the doctor again.

A genuine thank you to Manju for guiding me correctly. 🙂

I’m pregnant and its ectopic no.4

I am having difficulty finding words to type right now. I am pregnant and its another ectopic pregnancy.

Yesterday, I started having shooting pains on my right side. I monitored it all day and started analysing when I had had my last period. Since BabyB my periods have been all over the place mainly because (1) I was breastfeeding until February (2015) and (2) I am on a progesterone only contraceptive pill. I finally figured I was about 4-5 days late in my very short 21-22 day cycle. DH has been out on a business trip so I decided to wait to test until today after he returned.

This morning we were at the hospital for Baby B’s 15 month shots. Fortunately, I bumped into my gynacalogist on my way out and she was kind enough to speak to me for a few minutes. She prescribed an immediate beta HcG blood test and a pelvis USG for ovarian cysts. My mind was put to rest when Dr.S was almost certain it must be a cyst-related pain.

The good thing about being in India is that even on short notice and and not an entirely emergency situation I was able to get a blood test and an USG scheduled within an hour. I was really hoping it was a cyst but in my heart of hearts I knew it was not. I knew it last night when the same stabbing, aching subtle pain on my lower right abdomen reappeared after 3 years! The emotion, the fear, the gulp in my throat, the fact that another one of our creations was going to miscarry or be made to miscarry. Even though it is the 4th time around and I know the drill, I still had a gulp in my throat.

As the technician scanned me, her expression said it all. She sighed and said, “Sadly, I think its another ectopic pregnancy and this time it is on your right ovary”. If I remember correctly, less than 2% or just about 2% of pregnancies are ovarian ectopic pregnancies and now I have that statistic to add to the list of my infertility achievements. It was still way to early – only around week 4 – so she still wanted it confirm it with a beta HCG blood test. Later, this evening, we got my blood test results and it came back positive. I had a beta HCG level of 166 making me about 3-4 weeks pregnant.

What makes me sad is that I knew a normal pregnancy was never possible but even after being on contraception, I fell pregnant. Lately, DH and I have been speaking about having our IVF baby no. 2 and we’ve talked at length about me being ready, us being ready, Baby B being ready. More than anything, I need to be physically and mentally ready to go through the treatment again (along with the baggage of disappointments) and be strong about it because in no way was I going to let ‘trying’ for baby no. 2 interfere with us raising Baby B. We even got my AMH done which came back at a disappointing 0.2 (a very very low egg reserve at 33 years of age).

What saddens me even more is that with this ridiculously low AMH and barely any eggs, I still fell pregnant! I find it very hard to admit to myself that I have been pregnant 5 (FIVE) times in total in the last 5 years and have only one baby (though very grateful for that one miracle – think I would have gone mental by now if she wasn’t there!)

So what’s next? We do another beta HCG blood test on Monday (after 48hrs) and wait for the results. Depending on how the levels move, Dr.S will decide the course of treatment. She said its most likely to be Methotrexate and I will be monitored closely through the week. In the meantime, I am taking paracetamol for the pain, trying my best to remain calm and keeping myself distracted with my dear sweet daughter who makes me giggle with her silliness through the day. She is the one and only thing that makes me feel better about this whole situation. When I look at Baby B – she looks back and smiles at me, calls me “mamma” and when I ask her for a hug she comes running to me and wraps herself around me. Love her to bits.