My Ectopic Pregnancy: The Symptoms, Causes and Risk Factors

What is an Ectopic Pregnancy?

An ectopic pregnancy happens when a fertilized egg becomes implanted outside the uterus. While this can happen in the ovary, abdomen or cervix, 95% of ectopic pregnancies are within the fallopian tubes. Since the egg needs more space to grow and develop, it cannot continue to increase in size without eventually bursting the organ in which it is growing. If the organ ruptures, the Mother's life will be in danger. It is important to realize, that no classic ecptopic pregnancy can ever grow into a live birth. The developing cells must be removed to save the mother's life. This is a hard fact to deal with because as a Mother, your first instinct is to save your child. But, for those who have suffered through an ectopic pregnancy (and their loved ones) they need to take comfort in the fact that there would be no way to save that birth and if action is not taken, the Mother may have horrible complications.

An ectopic pregnancy results when the egg doesn't advance quickly enough down the fallopian tube and into the uterus. There are different reasons why this may happen. If a women has a blocked tube: either partially or entirely, the egg wouldn't be able to continue. This may have happened because of a prior infection or inflammation of the tube such as pelvic inflammatory disease. The tubes can also be blocked by scar tissue from a previous abdominal or fallopian surgery, there could also be some type of birth defect causing it. Many times the cause is unknown.

My Story

I first got pregnant when I was 23, in the first month we tried. Other than two weeks of morning sickness, the pregnancy was smooth sailing. She was born early, after I foolishly moved a marble table while my husband was at work. They tried to stop the labor, but she was ready to be born and there was no stopping her; a trait she still has today! Four years later, I had another child and four years after that a set of twins. ALL of my pregnancies were problem free. Since I would be 30 when the twins were born, they were monitored a bit more but like the 2 before them, every sonogram showed them active and thriving.