Woman Survives Rare Ectopic Pregnancy in Her Bladder
When Megan Woolsey and her husband decided to have children, they didn’t expect to be hit with disappointment or the rarity of an ectopic pregnancy.
Megan shared her personal experience of surviving an ectopic pregnancy, to then dealing with being told she could possibly never have children to then having the family of her dreams. Her story is one that can give hope to the women who experience similar heartbreaks while trying to have children.
When Megan became pregnant after a year and a half of trying for a baby, she and her husband were excited. She remembers those first weeks checking the size and due dates on a website. Six weeks into her pregnancy, she doubled over in pain while she was playing with her dog at her local park. It felt like a stabbing pain in her abdomen and it took her breath away.
Megan was able to drive her dog home yet the crippling pain didn’t leave her and the next day she headed to see her OBGYN as she knew something wasn’t right.
And it wasn’t.
Megan’s hCG (pregnancy hormone) said Megan was pregnant but there was no embryo in her uterus.
Megan was told she had an ectopic pregnancy where the fertilized egg settles into any location other than the lining of the uterus where it’s meant to be.
As the pain continued, the doctors assumed the embryo was still lodged in Megan’s fallopian tube. When she was wheeled into hospital for laparoscopic surgery, Megan hoped that the doctors could keep her fallopian tubes so she could get pregnant in the future.
After Megan woke from the surgery, her doctors were excited to tell her where they found the embryo.
“We went in and looked around your fallopian tubes and reproductive system, but we could not find the embryo,” Doctor #1 said.
“It took us awhile to find where the embryo went, but we finally discovered it attached to your bladder!” Doctor #2 said.
“A doctor is lucky to be able to see just one of these kinds of pregnancies in their whole career!” said Doctor #3.
Megan’s ectopic pregnancy was a rare occurrence, having the fertilized egg attach itself to Megan’s bladder wall!
Megan remembers returning home, feeling sorry for herself and the loss of what could have been and then her attitude changed to gratitude. Rather than ask herself ‘why me?’ she grew her hope, knowing her body had the capacity to fall pregnant as the ectopic pregnancy proved that she could conceive.
Megan did conceive again and delivered a baby girl. But subsequent pregnancies weren’t as easy or successful resulting in miscarriages. They were devastating blows to Megan and her husband.
After a visit to a fertility doctor, Megan was diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve and was told she would never be able to have children with her own eggs.
Megan didn’t believe it in her heart. She and her husband went through two rounds of IVF and became pregnant again with… triplets.
Today, Megan’s oldest daughter is 11 years old and the triplets (two girls and one boy) are 8 years old.
Megan shared her story as she believes she is living proof that even as a victim of a rare ectopic pregnancy, you can still come out the other side with babies.
Megan’s life today is very busy with a household of four children, plug juggling time with her husband, housework and paid work, but she wouldn’t trade it because of what she went through to get the family she dreamed of.
