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My name is Kathryn, I’m 34 & my husband is Neil, 33. We got married in 1997 & 18 months later, in May 1999, I stopped taking the pill. Like everyone else, I had grown up being told how easy it was to fall pregnant & that you can more than likely expect to get pregnant more or less straight away.
After a year I was getting increasingly upset about it, as one by one, my friends had 2nd or 3rd children & we were getting nowhere. Neil persuaded me to go to the Drs & although I wasn't keen, as I didn't want to accept that we really had a problem, I knew he was right. We both saw our GP, who was great, arranged SA's & blood tests etc. Everything came back normal, except my hormone levels were borderline, but apparently not too bad to cause a problem.
He referred us to an NHS hospital, for further investigation, & my appt came through for 9 months time! We managed to see a fertility nurse before then, who sent me for more blood tests & said she would prescribe Clomid at my next appt. When that came around, she changed her mind & said that they didn't think it would work & I should wait the remaining 5 months until my 'proper' appt. I was SO upset at another wait, but duly went back in 5 months (by now March 2001), when I was prescribed Clomid for 6 months. To cut a long story short, I responded well, but still wasn't pregnant, so I was scheduled for a lap & dye test to check my tubes, in Dec 2001.The results of this were that my tubes ect were all perfect-we fell into the 'unexplained infertility' group. At our follow-up appt, we were told that we could either, forget about it & go away, adopt, or go on the NHS waiting list for IUI & IVF. We chose the waiting list.
In the meantime, I decided to start acupuncture treatment & quit my stressful job (with all its maternity benefits), to work for myself. By May 2002, after 4 months of acupuncture, I had regular periods for the 1st time ever & had started to ovulate. At the beginning of Sept, we were getting impatient again, so were referred to The Park, for private treatment. We had our initial consultation & went away to wait for my period to start, so I could begin the blood tests ect., Well it didn't start, but I didn't think to much of it, as it is typical of my body to go haywire when you really don't want it too.
After 6 days of waiting, I was getting increasingly annoyed-so decided to do a pg test-as everyone knows; doing a pg test is a sure way to get your period to start! Well, when I picked it up to throw it in the bin, I nearly passed out-it was positive. I honestly could not believe it-after all those years! Neil was overjoyed when I told him, but cautious. He was right to be, unfortunately I started bleeding & had what felt like period pains, and so my GP booked me in for an early scan.
By the time the scan came around, the bleeding had stopped & I felt fine, so you can imagine our shock when the sonographer announced that she couldn't find the baby & that it was likely to be ectopic! I ended up being rushed into hospital that night & had emergency surgery the next day, to remove my baby from my right tube. I still didn't believe them, even as I went down to theatre-I was convinced that they had made a mistake & that my baby was fine.
The first thing I asked when I came around was if they had taken my baby away & I was devastated to find that they had. I was lucky enough to have a great surgeon, who managed to save my tube & a great GP who referred me in time, it is scary to think what might have happened if he hadn’t. But at the time, I didn't think I was lucky at all-no one could tell me why it had happened & I just wanted to curl up & die. After a month or so, I had sunk into a deep depression & was prescribed anti depressants.
7 weeks after my op I realised that my period hadn't arrived, but put it down to the effects of the trauma my body had been through. I did a test the next day, as I had been told that if I thought I was pregnant again, I would need careful monitoring in case it happened again-it was negative. I thought no more about it & didn't test every other day as recommended, as by now it was Christmas Eve & I didn't want to ruin everyone’s Christmas by being down about a negative test. By the Friday after Christmas, it still hadn't arrived & I woke up early & crept into the bathroom to reluctantly do another test. I was petrified it would be negative, but petrified that it would be positive & we would have all the worry of waiting for scans & tests etc. Anyway what were the odds of ttc for 3.5 years & then getting pg twice in 7 weeks?
Well, I got one hell of a shock when I looked down & saw those 2 little lines! I went back to bed & told Neil that I had a late Christmas present for him. Happy was an understatement! My Dr couldn't believe it when I told him & neither could the nurses at the hospital, who had only seen me 7 weeks previously. We had an anxious 11 day wait for a scan but thankfully, this little one is in the right place. I have had a good pregnancy so far, with no m/s at all. I did have to give up work after a couple of episodes of bleeding at around 10-11 weeks, but scans showed everything is fine.
My baby is due on 30th August, & is kicking me as I type this, we still have the 20wk scan next week to get through & I am nervous about it, but I am sure that the wonderful people on this site will help me through it. I just wanted to let people know that there is always hope - miracles DO happen; this little one is living proof of that.
Our story is dedicated to our little lost angel - 26th September 2002- always loved, never forgotten.
Love
Kathryn
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