Possible ectopic pregnancy

carrieharry79

I had my first U/S today and it didn't go very well. They couldn't see anything (I'm 6 weeks today) and she sat me down and had a talk with me to warn me that it could be an ectopic pregnancy. I feel like with IF, I'm constantly waiting for the next ball to drop. I will know more in a week, but I feel sad and just wanted to vent on The Bump. Thanks.

gsancho

I'm so sorry you're dealing with that.  Maybe I'm naive...but I thought it wasn't possible to have an ectopic with IVF?  Especially with your high beta numbers, that seems odd.

bears1011

I'm so sorry.

carrieharry79

Thanks all. I'll know more in a week.

gsancho Sadly the odds are much higher to have an ectopic with IVF than natural pregnancy.

Saintelizabeth

@carrieharry79 I'm so sorry you're going through this. I've had 2 ectopic pregnancies and they were very hard to go through. Like others have said please be mindful of any pains or bleeding and if you feel like something is wrong call your doctor asap. FX for good news next week.

alpCRNA

I'm so sorry you are going through this.  IF brain definitely sucks.  I've found that I just get anxious at times when I should be over the moon happy.  Hoping your next visit brings good news instead of confirmation of an ectopic.

pblge

(((hugs))) I'm so sorry. I had an ectopic and it was such a devastating experience. Did they test your betas again? It's concerning to not see anything, given how quickly your betas were climbing initially. I don't want to scare you or second guess your doctor, but it's odd to me that they're having you wait another week to be seen again. Seems like that's long enough for some damage to be done (and pain to be caused) if the embryo is as big as your early betas would suggest. Have you had any pain at all? I didn't have cramping or similar pain with my ectopic, but I had KILLER back pain, which I think was related.

Sending t&p to you.

Giants721

I'm so sorry.

ronniesgirl1981

I am so sorry. I, too, thought nicely increasing betas was a bit of insurance against an ectopic pregnancy. This is so shitty and unfair. I'll be keeping you and your family in my thoughts and prayers.

lebradford

I'm so sorry. :-( I had an ectopic this summer and it was very hard. Please feel free to private message me if you need anything at all.

I have to agree, it does concern me that they're waiting so long for a second ultrasound. When I went for my first ultrasound where they suspected an ectopic they had me come back for a repeat 3 days later. Can you get in any sooner?

Pintobean39

I just want to say I'm sorry.

lawmom747

I'm sorry. FX for good news next week.

fjamil1

I am so sorry you are going through this. FX'ed for great news next week. 

carrieharry79

Thanks All. I really appreciate it. There are a few of you that I may message to get more information about your symptoms because it's hard to know what is pregnancy and what could be a problem....

weansworld09

I am so sorry you are going through this. I have no experience with an ectopic, but I'll be keeping you in my thoughts

kristyn831

I'm so sorry. I hope you get good news at your next u/s.

Nutmeg8484

I am so sorry to hear this. IF is so completely unfair. I am sending you HUGE internet hugs right now.

turquoisequeen

I'm so sorry to hear that. Hugs! I feel you on always waiting on the next ball to drop. We are here if you need to vent more.

ktabs

I'm sorry to hear that. I agree with everyone that says a week seems like a long time. Lots can happen. With mine- the doctor came in the room after my ultrasound and told me to go straight to an ER. When I asked if I could go to a hospital closer to home and wait on my husband, she told me no. Mine wasn't confirmed, either. They couldn't find the sac and assumed it was hiding by a grapefruit sized cyst on my ovary. They treated it as an ectopic. My understanding was that because they moved so quickly, they were able to give me a methotrexate injection and spare my tubes. Good luck. Will be thinking about you.

beachbum913

So sorry to hear this. Sending T's and P's your way, and keeping my fingers crossed for you.

MKateG

Oh no... I'm so sorry your going through this. I had an eptopic which led to having that tube removed. It was very emotionally painful. My symptoms were an abnormal period (started out light but got heavier and lasted two weeks...which was not normal for me at all). I also had VERY painful cramping. My dr told me to go to ER if I had persistent abdominal pain. She told me if the thought runs through my head that I may need to go, GO. It was actually that night that I ended up in ER after having stabbing pain in my right lower abdomen. T&Ps ((hugs))

kmc84

Ditto to the pp's....

I'm so sorry. Please take good care of yourself.

mrs.willie

I am so sorry to see this. You can have ectopics with IVF as the embryo can travel while its floating around before it implants. I really thought with those great betas that it would've been in the proper place and they would've seen something on the u/s. With my confirmed ectopic with an IUI in January, my first beta was 35, but doubled normally up until the first u/s at 5w6d and the RE was able to locate it in my tube with a heartbeat already. I went directly into surgery. I had some sharp pains on my right side below my hip the night before that I thought was just muscles stretching. I had no bleeding. It was the most horrible thing ever. Please feel free to message me if you have any questions.

daydreamernyc

So sorry you are going through this. Sometimes it's just not fair! The unfortunate thing is that so many of us have had ectopics. I will echo that your betas seem really high. I had an ectopic in my tube and at 8 weeks my beta was 7000. Definitely get some answers fast, this is not something you want to sit and wait on. Again, So sorry, my heart goes out to you.

Kam10

I'm so sorry you are going through this. I too know the emotional and physical pain ectopic pregnancies cause and am sending my thoughts to you.

carrieharry79

I called today to try to move my second U/S up and am waiting for a call back. The doctor prepped me for an ectopic or possible miscarriage... she just talked about the ectopic possibility more, probably because I need to keep a close eye on symptoms. Whatever it is, there weren't any signs of a baby, so I've been having a rough time. I took the day from work. I'm hoping to get in on Friday instead.... At least that way I don't have to be in limbo through the weekend. Thanks again for the support everyone.

rella22

Hope you get in soon!

carrieharry79

They refused to see me sooner saying they will have the "best information" if they wait a week. I guess since I'll be a full 7 weeks, they will just be able to say definitively what's going on.

Sunny B

I'm so sorry

pblge

carrieharry79 said:

They refused to see me sooner saying they will have the "best information" if they wait a week. I guess since I'll be a full 7 weeks, they will just be able to say definitively what's going on.

Do you have a regular OB you could call up and ask? Again, I'm not trying to be scary here, but a delay could mean the difference between treating you with methotrexate or similar and emergency surgery for a ruptured tube. This is assuming that it's a tubal pregnancy, which I know isn't a certainty.

stace2524

So sorry, hopefully your second u/s will bring better news. T&P headed your way. 

MKateG

pblge said:

carrieharry79 said:

They refused to see me sooner saying they will have the "best information" if they wait a week. I guess since I'll be a full 7 weeks, they will just be able to say definitively what's going on.

Do you have a regular OB you could call up and ask? Again, I'm not trying to be scary here, but a delay could mean the difference between treating you with methotrexate or similar and emergency surgery for a ruptured tube. This is assuming that it's a tubal pregnancy, which I know isn't a certainty.


I agree, my Dr took this very seriously. I definitely say if you experience any abdominal pain you should go to ER to have them check you out. Esp if you are 6-6.5 weeks that's definitely far along enough to rupture your tube. Not trying to freak you out, but ectopic preg can be very dangerous.

daydreamernyc

I can speak first hand about the worst case complications. I won't write them here but feel free to PM me if you want the details. Either way I agree with PP in saying you should get scanned now. We began treatment within hours of my beta results. (Not days or weeks)

mrs.willie

Sorry they're making you wait. I also had a suspected ectopic prior to my ectopic where my levels were high enough that they felt they should've seen something on the u/s. Once they didn't see anything, they reran my beta that day and I got the results the following day - it had dropped quite a bit. Could they do a beta if they want to wait for another u/s? That would at least provide some info too.

hopeby2015

So sorry to hear this! But I agree with the other pp - either get some testing done while u wait or see your OB. I wouldn't wait till next week - too much can go wrong!

Take care of yourself!! ((hugs))

carrieharry79

Thanks all. I don't have an OB yet, but if I said I was having pains or symptoms of an ectopic, I'm sure they would move me up, but honestly, I'm not. I'm having symptoms that COULD be that, but they could also be a variety of other things. I have had no bleeding and I have cramping, but no severe pain. I do get pain in one side, but I find that I have pain in the other side at other times. I think she prepped me for the possibility, but although I think it's probably a miscarriage.... I just don't feel that it's going to be an ectopic. If I do feel any sort of pain that is out of the norm, I will definitely call and demand to get in there! Those who have had one, does it cause pretty severe pain?

daydreamernyc

I did not feel any pain with my ectopic that was discovered at 8 weeks. Please do not use pain as in indicator. If you feel pain, then things are already going wrong and you shouldn't wait until that point.

pblge

I said it above, but all I had was back pain, nothing from my abdomen. Someone mentioned something to me about an ectopic at the time, and I thought no way was that possible. I asked my OB later how common it was to not feel pain during an ectopic and she gave a vehement "VERY common!"

Have you not had another beta draw at all since the 3,400 mark? And no bleeding?

Saintelizabeth

I agree with everyone. At the very least they should be closely monitoring your beta levels and even that isn't a reason to not do an ultrasound.

I don't want to scare you in any way, but I went into the hospital for bleeding and pains at 6 wks the tech couldn't see anything in the ultrasound. My beta was over 6,000 so they kept me overnight and checked my numbers again in the morning. In 24 hours my beta dropped to 49. I pleaded for them to do another ultrasound just to be safe but they said because my numbers dropped so fast there is no way I hadn't had a miscarriage. They sent me home on a Monday morning and by Wednesday afternoon I was back in the ER with severe pains and bleeding. It was an ectopic and I lost my left Fallopian tube as a result.

My experience is probably an extreme case and I'm not saying you could have the exact same experience I did. My doctors could have potentially saved my Fallopian tube if I hadn't been sent home.

What I had taken away from the experience if that I need to be a better advocate for myself. If you have any doubts stand your ground and don't back down.

Kam10

Do not use pain as an indicator that something is wrong. With my ectopic I didn't have severe pain, just normal period like cramps. I had bleeding that made me think I was just having a natural miscarriage, but I pushed and pushed my doctors to follow my beta numbers down to zero after they just tried to brush me off and send me home. 3 weeks later after going through beta hell I ended up in the ER with emergency surgery. If my doctors had been more proactive I could have taken the methotrexate and avoided a painful surgery.

Hopefully this is not the same situation for you, but what I learned from my experience is that I am my own best advocate. I am thankful I made them continue to monitor my betas, but wish I had pushed for an additional ultrasound before I ended up in the ER.  

mrs.willie

I did not have any severe pain or bleeding. The only pain I had was sort of near my right ovary, but a little further towards my thigh. I figured it was just muscles stretching and pain from an ectopic didn't cross my mind since my betas were doubling and it wasn't horrible pain and no bleeding like I'd read about in the symptoms on Dr. Google. I also felt like I felt similar "streching" on the other side, but not as much. When I had my u/s the next day, they were concerned since they did not find anything in the uterus and checked everthing out. There it was in my right tube with a heartbeat. My RE called my OB's office to schedule immediate surgery and had DH come pick me up and take me right there. They couldn't take any chances of my tube rupturing. It was too far along for the MTX injection.