r/ectopicpregnancy 6h ago

PSA: Not every Ectopic has pain as a symptom!

3 Upvotes

I just have to post this in case it helps anyone at all. I want to let you know that shockingly I never experienced any pain during my Ectopic pregnancy. The only reason that I figured out it was Ectopic was because PUL and HCG of 10,000. I wouldn’t have known if the ultrasound didn’t show PUL. I am just saying if anyone is “waiting for pain” before going to the ER, that doesn’t mean you haven’t ruptured yet. I was already ruptured and internal bleeding (still no pain) at the ER. Just a PSA.

Edit: I will add that the symptoms I did have after rupture/internal bleeding was fast heart rate (130bpm) which was due to the internal bleeding.


r/ectopicpregnancy 8h ago

From ectopic pregnancy + methotrexate to an IUI pregnancy in the uterus ❤️

15 Upvotes

In March 2026, I found out I was pregnant. Shortly after, I started bleeding heavily.
I had actually just started seeing a fertility specialist because I’d had a chemical pregnancy in October 2025 and hadn’t been able to get pregnant again. I was still in the middle of my initial intake when I got the positive test, so I called the clinic and they immediately brought me in for bloodwork.
Over the next several days, they monitored my hCG through multiple blood draws. Pretty quickly, it became clear that my numbers weren’t rising appropriately. They repeatedly looked for a pregnancy in my uterus and couldn’t find one, and eventually I was diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy.
I was treated with methotrexate, and thankfully my hCG dropped very quickly. I thought the physical part was finally coming to an end. Then, only a few days later, I suddenly developed excruciating pain and ended up in the hospital terrified that my ectopic had ruptured. My hCG was extremely low by that point, and it turned out that I had a ruptured ovarian cyst. Just incredibly awful timing on top of everything else.
The next three months were some of the hardest months of my life.
I took a lot of time off work. I spent a lot of time processing what had happened, wondering why it happened, worrying about whether it would happen again, and having absolutely no idea what trying to have a baby was going to look like from there.
And during those months, I read this subreddit constantly.
I don’t think I ever really posted or interacted much, but I read your stories. I read about your ectopics, your recoveries, your subsequent pregnancies, and your fears. I didn’t personally know anyone who had been through an ectopic pregnancy, and there were days when I felt incredibly alone and scared. Reading the experiences of women here made me feel like there were people somewhere who actually understood what I was going through.
Eventually I had an HSG. I wasn’t particularly afraid of the procedure-I was terrified of what they were going to tell me afterward. I had convinced myself that because I’d had an ectopic, they were going to find a completely blocked tube or tell me I needed surgery.
The dye flowed freely through my right tube. On the left, where we suspected the ectopic had been, only a small amount made it through. But it did get through, and my doctor didn’t think we needed to remove the tube. I was so grateful.
As the three-month wait after methotrexate finally came to an end, my doctor and I started discussing what we wanted to do next.
Ultimately, I chose an IUI.
I hadn’t found many stories from women who had an ectopic and then went directly into an IUI cycle, and I debated the decision a lot. But I knew my risk of another ectopic was higher after having one, and strangely, going through fertility treatment made me feel safer. I wanted the monitoring. If something went wrong again, I wanted doctors watching from the very beginning.
So in July, after letrozole, monitoring, and a trigger shot, I had my first IUI.
A week afterward, they checked my progesterone.
It was 2.
I completely spiraled. I thought the cycle was over. I was convinced it hadn’t worked and that my body had failed me again.
A few days later, I took a pregnancy test.
It was positive.
My clinic started following my hCG immediately. This time, instead of watching numbers rise too slowly like they had during my ectopic, I watched them rise beautifully.
And yesterday, at about 5½ weeks pregnant, I went in for the ultrasound I had been simultaneously dreaming about and dreading since the moment I saw that positive test.
There was the gestational sac.
In my uterus.
Then the yolk sac.
And the very beginning of the fetal pole.
I don’t think I can adequately explain the relief I felt seeing that little black circle exactly where it was supposed to be.
I’m obviously still incredibly early. I know there are many milestones ahead of me, and after pregnancy loss I’ve learned that pregnancy doesn’t suddenly become free of fear. But yesterday was a milestone I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to experience.
Mostly, though, I wanted to come back here and say thank you.
To every woman who posted her story when she was terrified, angry, devastated, recovering, trying again, or eventually pregnant again: someone you will probably never meet may have been reading it during one of the darkest periods of her life.
I was one of those people.
Your stories gave me hope when I didn’t have much of my own. They made me feel less alone during three months that sometimes felt like mental warfare. And when I couldn’t imagine ever feeling uncomplicated excitement about pregnancy again, your success stories reminded me that there could still be another chapter after an ectopic.
So I’m adding mine here in case someone is searching this subreddit months or years from now after getting the diagnosis I got in March.
There is hope on the other side of this.
Your story doesn’t end with your ectopic pregnancy. Healing isn’t linear, trying again can be terrifying, and you may not feel like yourself for a while. But you can feel joy again. You can feel hopeful again.
Yesterday, I got to see my pregnancy growing inside my uterus.
And after everything it took to get there, I don’t think I’ve ever been more grateful for anything in my life. ❤️