I wonder what I did wrong? Did I overexert myself working too many long hours? Did I take enough prenatal vitamins? What could I have done differently? Those are the questions that I berated myself with after having an ectopic pregnancy at nine weeks. I needed to figure out “why” it happened. Why did my fetus get stuck in my fallopian tube? Why couldn’t the doctors fix it? Nothing made sense and I was completely devastated.
The word ectopic comes from the Greek word ektopos and literally means “out of place.” One out of 50 pregnancies is “out of place,” meaning the pregnancy is not in the uterus.
It's human nature to want to blame someone or something when things go wrong. I expected my pregnancy to be a breeze. I was young, healthy and responsible. I took prenatal vitamins, walked for exercise and ate balanced meals. I never dreamed I would have a tubal pregnancy.
Women in my family had never experienced tubal pregnancies, miscarriages or stillbirths. My mother birthed my brother and me almost effortlessly. My maternal grandmother had four children and my paternal grandmother had one child, my dad. And she never had any reproductive issues. So, why am I the "special" one?
It's tough not to blame something or someone because my pregnancy went wrong. The truth is that in most cases of ectopic pregnancies the cause is unknown. About 10 to 15 percent of women having ectopic pregnancies will never be able to have children. For the most part, the cause of tubal pregnancies is unknown. Suspected culprits may be sexually transmitted infections in the uterus, tubes or ovaries which can cause scarring leading to an ectopic pregnancy. Other causes of tubal pregnancies include:
- fallopian tube damage from previous surgeries or scarring
- endometriosis (when uterine tissue implants outside the uterus)
- aging
- smoking nicotine
- fertility drugs
1 comments:
Sorry you have to go through all this. Hugs. Sandie
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