Regarding pregnancy risks
An ectopic pregnancy is a pregnancy in which a fertilized egg implants somewhere other than the uterus. This is a bad thing. Usually the egg implants in the fallopian tube; occasionally it implants other places. 2% of all pregnancies are ectopic. That’s 1 in 50. Certain factors increase your risks–tubal scarring, abdominal surgery, endometriosis, fertility treatments, IUDs–but it can happen to anyone.
An even scarier statistic than the one-in-fifty? Ectopic pregnancies are the number one cause of pregnancy-related death. Part of the problem is that many women with ectopic pregnancies don’t even know they’re pregnant. Because your body doesn’t produce as many hormones, you might continue having periods like normal, ignore the sudden pain, go to bed because you’re feeling tired and dizzy, and never wake up.
I know that sounds terrible and scary. It is. It happens. So even if you don’t think you’re pregnant, or if you think you are just having a standard miscarriage (which was what I thought), always, ALWAYS call the doctor if you have any of the following symptoms:
- Sharp pain on one side of your lower abdomen. When you press down on it, it will be a stabbing pain that you will feel reflected in the other side, but one side will be more tender. Once your tube actually bursts the pain will lessen considerably–DO NOT IGNORE THAT. All it means is that you are now bleeding internally.
- Feeling dizzy and lightheaded when you aren’t lying down. This would be because of the internal bleeding. Also, difficulty and discomfort breathing.
- And finally, the key symptom: when you lie down, you have a sharp, stabbing pain in your shoulder. This is called referred pain, and is caused by the blood filling up your abdomen and pushing on your lungs. (This is also a symptom of a burst appendix and often happens after abdominal surgery, in case you were interested.) If you EVER have abdominal pain that is reflected in your shoulder when you lie down, go to the hospital immediately. And have someone else drive you.
Like I said, you may not think you are pregnant, but if there is any chance whatsoever you could be and you have these symptoms, have someone drive you to the hospital immediately or call 911. If I had ignored my symptoms and let my husband go to work that day, I probably would have fallen asleep on the couch and never woken up again. I was in surgery within two or three hours of the pain starting, and at that point I had lost so much blood I nearly needed a transfusion.
But, because I am obsessive and had researched every pregnancy-related topic under the sun, I knew something was wrong. And I’m not dead. And that’s a good thing.
Here’s hoping you never have to recognize the symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy. But now you can, and that’s the important thing.