u/Janeheroine

I received my first mtx shot just about a week ago, last Wednesday, and my hcg was just around 1,000. On day 5 yesterday (couldn't do day 4 because it was Sunday/holiday) my hcg was 1,300, which I was told was generally expected to see a rise.

However now that the first few days' side effects from the mtx (insane exhaustion, nausea, constipation) have worn off and I have a little more energy, I'm concerned because in a way I feel more pregnant than before I got the shot? Like, my boobs hurt, and I feel super sensitive to smells. Similar to how I felt in the first week or two of being pregnant, before I had the brown spotting and cramping and became suspicious of the ectopic. I'm expecting a call from my OB soon so I'll discuss with her, but curious if anyone else experienced this?

I just got home from the ER, diagnosed with a PUL but no real treatment plan except for watchful waiting at the moment. I got a positive pregnancy test on 4/27. I’m 40, and have 3 children and this was an unplanned/unwanted pregnancy. My cycle has gotten much shorter since beginning perimenopause and we only had sex in the day or two after my last period ended, so I believe I ovulated super early in my cycle.

In the days after my positive test I had some dark brown spotting with little grains, and one night I felt some nausea and back pain and was very cold, so I thought I might be miscarrying. I made an appt with Planned Parenthood for a medical abortion on 5/1 and told them I knew it was extremely early, probably less than 4 weeks, but also that I was having this brown spotting. They did an ultrasound and couldn’t find anything (expected) and took my HCG which was 197. I took mifepristone there and the next day took four misoprostol, which resulted in me expelling some white tissue and brown stuff, but it never really turned bright red or clotty as I expected. At my follow up at Planned Parenthood yesterday evening they took blood and said we’ll call you if your number doesn’t drop by 50%.

Of course this morning I get the call that my hcg actually went up, to 597, and they wanted me to come in to a different location for an aspiration. At this point though I’m freaking out that I actually have an ectopic pregnancy, so I said if I’m going to have a D&C I’d rather have it after ruling out an ectopic first, so I said I would just go to the ER (plus my ER is much closer to my house than the location they wanted me to go to, and I wanted my husband to accompany me). At the ER they did a thorough ultrasound and took more blood, showing an hcg of 675. But the ultrasound was clear, no evidence of an ectopic, just the corpus luteal cyst on my left side. I started to get a dull pain on my right side near my ovary, but it wasn’t too bad and on pelvic exam she said I’d have sharp pain on that side. I said I really didn’t want to leave without a plan, but they said the only thing they would do is the D&C to rule out any retained products of conception, but they thought my body might actually be resolving itself, since my numbers went up but not on trend to double. They didn’t want to treat with methotrexate without being able to confirm an ectopic. So they booked me for bloodwork tomorrow afternoon and to follow up with my OB.

I guess I feel like my worst fears came true, that I went through a MA for nothing, that I’m just waiting to pass out and go back to the ER. I felt safe there knowing that if something happened there at least I was close to the OR. Any advice appreciated. I will say I’ve lost most of my pregnancy symptoms I had before, but the dull pain worries me and I am just tired and finding it hard to eat. I also have 3 kids I’m not really able to care for and trying to shield this from (was very lucky to have my entire hospital visit today while they were at school). Thanks for reading.

I love how this song has Bob Seger vibes (the drums remind me of Hollywood Nights). I grew up listening to my dad’s classic rock and this song has such an 80’s Americana feel to it.