Healthy Pregnancy after an Ectopic Pregnancy?

[Anonymous]

I'm in the middle of addressing an ectopic pregnancy that we seem to have caught early. The embryo stopped growing on its own at around 5 weeks and there's no sign of damage in the tube. Although my beta numbers are still hovering around 125 or so, the doctors expect to see them fall this week following a shot of methotrexate.

While things look good, I'm pretty stressed out about future pregnancies. So . . . any happy stories from people on here who had a healthy, normal pregnancy following an ectopic? How long did it take for you to get your period back after the ectopic? How long to conceive after that? Any advice?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Through my own experience and a friend's experience, it seems there is some range of opinion on when it is safe to conceive after methotrexate. Some doctors say 1 month; others say wait 3 (even if your beta = 0).

My friend conceived a month after the methetrexate shot and had a perfectly healthy baby. For myself, I recall getting my period in relatively normal time (~4 weeks) after the shot, and the hcg actually wasn't quite down to zero when I got my period. My dr. wanted me to wait 3 months for the methotrexate to completely leave my system. Then it took a couple months to conceive. Am preggo now! Best of luck to you.

[Anonymous]

There are definitely reasons to be positive about the future. I had an ectopic that actually required surgery and a D&C - long story. I got my period back approximately six weeks after the surgery and a couple months after that had two back to back early miscarriages. Went on to have yet another surgery for endometriosis that had developed in those months and then had a health pregnancy a couple months after the second surgery. Bottom line, though there were a lot of discouraging moments, I had a healthy pregnancy within a year. Good luck to you, I know this can be a very trying time.

[Anonymous]

I had an ectopic (also caught early, treated with one shot of methotrexate) and got pregnant about 4 months later. My doctor was very reassuring about prospects for healthy pregnancies following an ectopic. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone. Keep the stories and advice coming!

P.S. I just learned that my betas are now down to 35. Hopefully we can start TTC again soon. (My doctor recommended waiting 30 days after the methotrexate to give it time to clear out.)

[Anonymous]

Also load up on the folic acid (5000/day) once your beta is down to 0 since the methotrexate strips your body of it.

[Anonymous]

same situation here, caught early and methotrexate, i now have two happy healthy children and no trouble in between. good luck to you! hang in there.

[Anonymous]

I had an ectopic, caught early, had methotrexate, tube burst anyway, had emergency surgery and had tube removed...then it took only 2 tries to get pregant and I now have a healthy boy.

[Anonymous]

Thanks all. Did anyone consider having an HSG test after your ectopic? I don't have any other risk factors that I know of, and I had a healthy pregnancy a few years ago. But now I can't help but wonder what's going on in there. Was it just random bad luck or is there a blockage?

Thoughts? Is an HSG a crazy thing to do at this stage? (I'm approaching 40, by the way.)

[Anonymous]

i don't think it's crazy to have an hsg at all, i know two people who got pregnant right after having one ( some say it "clears" things out as well as being diagnostic). i was waiting to have one when i found out i was actually pregnant.

[Anonymous]

My mom had an ectopic that was not caught early - ruptured her tube and the whole bit. She had five pregnancies after that, and that was back in the dark ages! Good luck OP!