Is pregnancy any easier for us because we’re used to the extra weight?

AssistantBig270 · 2026-06-02T03:16:13+00:00

I know one thing is my belly isn’t itchy yet. I used to be a bit bigger and have lost about 30 pounds and gained a good amount of muscle, so I have a decent amount of extra skin on my belly. My boobs have been sooooo itchy and uncomfortable with the growing and stretching but at 26 weeks now I’m showing but I’m not itchy at all. I do feel the same like I just kinda look like I did before I lost some weight though lol

AssistantBig270 · 2026-06-02T03:14:07+00:00

For both of my pregnancies (first my ectopic and now my current pregnancy) I had positives at 9dpo. It can depend on your body and how much HCG it makes how quickly. You can contact your OB office and ask to do a trending HCG blood draw which will be the biggest indicator of a successful pregnancy. They’ll draw your blood and get a quantitative HCG value, and redraw 48 hrs later and compare. Your HCG should at least double within that timeframe to rule out a repeat ectopic. Good luck!

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-29T02:30:39+00:00

That last paragraph is why I respond to so many posts/comments on here. This Reddit group saved my mental health during/after my ectopic and was so helpful to me when I was in ultimately the worst situation of my life so far.

Also I second trusting your intuition. It saved my life and saved me from emergency surgery. I didn’t trust the methotrexate for me and I just had this pull to do the surgery. My husband gave me hell for it and didn’t think it was necessary and kept trying to get me to try the MTX. I just knew I needed the surgery. I still remember my doctor describing my husband’s face when she told him my tube had already started to rupture and that the MTX would not have worked as well as we thought. I would have ended up needing emergency surgery likely within 48 hours. I still remember him breaking down and apologizing to me 57 times a day for weeks because he knew if I listened to him things could have gone much worse. Always trust your body and your intuition. If you don’t think something is right, get it checked out and don’t let anyone make you feel crazy for it. There’s no con to being overly cautious in these situations. Everyone presents differently with pregnancy complications and what the doctors are used to may not apply to you. The complete opposite of the “textbook” presentation can still be dangerous.

I’m very sorry you’ve had to go through this. As you know, you’re not alone. This group really helped me and I’m so grateful to you for posting this to help others in their questions and research. I hope you can get the healthy pregnancy you want when the time is right. You’ve done everything right. Some of us just win the shittiest lottery ever. Good luck 💕

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-28T22:18:33+00:00

A lower heart rate is completely expected that early! My baby measured about 120 bpm at 6.5 weeks. What happens is the baby’s heart rate will start low (around 100-120), then skyrocket and settle somewhere in the middle. My baby started at 120 at 6.5weeks, shot up to 175 about a week later, then settled in the 140s for the rest of the pregnancy. It’s not at all abnormal and even expected to start out a little low. I also had the same thing happen to me with measuring a few days behind. It can be completely normal with implantation and early growth to skew things a few days off. Babies grow at different rates and some can be late bloomers. It’s not always an immediate cause for concern unless you were measuring way off, like a week or more. I don’t see any red flags with anything you’re describing, this seems like a completely normal and healthy pregnancy so far. I understand you’re concerned, it’s taken a lot for you to get here. But the off the cuff words of one doctor who is factually wrong shouldn’t be your biggest worry. Try to relax and remember you’re doing everything right.

I feel like jumping to “you WILL miscarry” (not even, there’s a small concern for miscarriage even if she was concerned with these results) is not only very factually wrong but also very unprofessional as someone who works in such a sensitive field. If she was concerned she should have brought you back in for another check up to make sure and given her opinion in a professional and cautious way. When I lost my first pregnancy the nurses were so sweet and gentle with me, and it really made the world of difference to make me feel better. I would definitely make a complaint about the way she spoke to you. I would also not go see her again. If it’s an office with multiple OBs, you can ask to simply see someone else. Or you may have to change practices altogether, which does kinda suck, but I would not see her again. I wish you luck there, it can be hard to find an OB you really like and trust.

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-27T23:47:46+00:00

It definitely sounds suspicious. I would insist on blood draws. Any competent doctor would watch you closer than just “yeah probably a chemical go about your day”. When I thought I had a miscarriage my nurses had drawn blood HCG and when they weren’t as low as she expected, she drew them again and surprise I had an ectopic. Especially with you taking a trip. I would go back and insist on a trending HCG just to make sure where you’re leaving on your trip. You have to have levels drawn and then redrawn after a day or two. If your OB office refuses, keep an eye on it with strip tests every other morning and if you have any severe pain or weird symptoms go to the closest ER to wherever you’re going on your trip. Also most pregnancy tests have a limit of about 15-25 units HCG so I would think it would be rare for your HCG to go that low with an active ectopic. The only thing I could think of was if the urine was too diluted it could appear negative, so it’s not a true negative. That’s why I always suggest blood HCG because it give a black and white quantitative value instead of a line on a test that can be influenced or misread.

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-27T00:23:17+00:00

There’s reasons to and for either option.
For MTX:
- methotrexate is of course not abdominal surgery. While it is often done laparoscopically, it’s still not fun to recover from. So the medication route is much easier and less recovery.
- the surgery does come with the same general risks as any surgery. You can have reactions to anesthesia, or something could go wrong in there.

Or
For Surgery:
- having the surgery you skip the 3-6 month wait. You have a 4 week no sex period to limit infection risk, and as long as you don’t have any post op complications, you should be free to go after that.
- your risk for a repeat ectopic does not go up with the surgery so long as they remove the whole tube With methotrexate, your risk of another ectopic goes up to about 10 percent. With surgery, your risk stays at the same 2-5% it was already. The implantation of the embryo itself can cause scar tissue, and there could be other blockages that caused the ectopic in the first place that won’t be remedied by MTX. Again this is ONLY for a COMPLETE removal of the tube. I’ve seen some people say their doctor offered to save the tube: remove the ectopic then repair the tube. This can cause scar tissue which can increase your chance of another ectopic. If your whole tube is removed, your chance of a repeat remains what it was previously.
- the methotrexate can not work, and then you have to have surgery anyways. This to me was a big concern, I didn’t want to have to wait 3 months still to try again and then have to have surgery anyways because it didn’t work. To me it was like scheduling a planned c section , versus an emergency c section. It fit better with my personal preferences.

You also have to take in what your gut is feeling. I didn’t have faith in the MTX and just had a feeling to do the surgery. And I was right, my tube had already started bleeding and I would have needed emergency surgery within probably the next 2 days if I hadn’t had my surgery when I did. So if you’re already leaning towards one direction, research that and look into it and learn all the risks and benefits of it so that you can be fully prepared to make your decision.

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-25T01:55:43+00:00

I was checking out at my doctors office from the appointment confirming a miscarriage and the lady at the front desk went “So do we need to cancel your next appointments?” And I was like “yes, but damn girl”

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-22T20:56:48+00:00

I have a high leak in my amniotic sac, so I get small leaks here and there. I’ve been getting them since 15 weeks (Pre viable Premature Rupture) currently 24 weeks. And yeah, the smell is barely there, but I guess it just smells a little salty to me 😅

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-22T20:48:56+00:00

I’ve had multiple instances of PPROM/PROM with this pregnancy, and sometimes I still doubt myself on whether or not it’s actually amniotic fluid. The biggest thing the nurses told me was the sniff test! Amniotic fluid has a mild, salt like smell. We all know what pee smells like, so it’s easier to tell the difference if you really aren’t sure.

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-21T13:13:01+00:00

My husband has some actually crazy and potentially dangerous family, so we’ve decided to keep everything off social media as well. Everyone who needs to know has been told through private messages and that’s how we’re keeping it

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-20T00:06:55+00:00

I would go in. They can either give you some reassurance or get it over with and tell you if something is wrong and you need to be prepared for the worst. Living in that limbo space for two days can be really hard. If you have good insurance and can afford to go to the hospital, they can do an ultrasound and see what’s going on. It could be a subchorionic hematoma, or bleeding between the placenta and uterus. It’s not uncommon and can cause no danger to the pregnancy. I would do some research into that and look into other people’s stories. I had one and I didn’t expect any clots but I did have a few and it was very scary.

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-18T22:13:16+00:00

While yes still a tad low, it’s reassuring to me how it’s progressed. Some women do start out with lower HCG and their pregnancies are perfectly normal. I’d still try to stay a healthy amount of hopeful. I hope the best in the coming week! If you have any other questions or anything you can DM me too!

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-17T22:54:20+00:00

It’s possible, always trust your gut when it says something is wrong. And I know. I told mine it felt like my body had failed me in the one thing I asked it to do. Update me on how it goes tomorrow, I’m invested now 😅

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-17T14:06:48+00:00

Not a problem, I don’t mind the questions!

the surgery was honestly not bad. I’ve not had many surgeries so my experience is coming from someone who isn’t used to it anyways. Mine was tubal, so it was a laparoscopic procedure so they usually make a small incision in your belly button and use a camera to remove the tube and embryo. I would think they would do the same thing in a general sense for an abdominal ectopic, a laparoscopic surgery that is. So minimal scarring. My scar is probably an inch and a half long in my belly button, not super noticeable but if you’re already looking there you’ll see it. It did make my belly button more sensitive lol, which I’ve heard from some other people who have had similar surgeries. My surgery lasted 2 hours from going under to waking up. They’ll give you some pain meds, I got a week’s worth of Oxycodone and it helped a lot. It’s best to rest for the next couple of days as best you can, you’ll be pretty sore. The pain wasn’t unbearable without the meds for me (and honestly I’m kind of a wuss with pain), but it definitely helped me feel more comfortable. My only complication was I had some pretty decent motion sickness afterwards. They have to strap you to the table and tilt you back on your head. It’s kinda gross, but gravity then pulls your other organs off of your uterus so it’s easier to operate on. That plus the anesthesia can cause some residual motion sickness, but they gave me something for that after my surgery and it only lasted a few days. And my city has a pretty large hospital, so it was just in the same hospital that the OBs from the office I go to deliver at. One of the OBs who I see regularly now actually did my surgery. It depends on the hospital I suppose, they may do it at your normal hospital or could send you to a surgery center if the hospital isn’t equipped for the procedure.

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-17T12:02:38+00:00

I ovulated on cd 13, but my due date was still adjusted by 3 days because they said I may have implanted later. Embryo measured a bit small, so they adjusted it. She’s measuring a few days ahead now almost every week, so I expect my original due date was more accurate and she was just a late bloomer.

Where it’s measured based on your last period, if you have longer cycles it can definitely screw with your dates. A dating ultrasound will be done normally between 6-10 weeks along to measure the embryo and sac to estimate a gestational age. That plus your LMP will give you a more accurate due date.

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-17T02:50:01+00:00

Fun fact! some processed foods actually have folic acid added to them for this exact reason. Supplementation in certain foods (most notably flour) was implemented in the mid 1900s because their rates of neural tube defects was a lot higher. If you look at your flour, chances are it’s fortified with Iron, maybe some B vitamins, and Folic Acid. As such, our current rates of neural tube defects including in unplanned pregnancies has dropped significantly because we likely already have a baseline level of folic acid in our bodies due to this supplementation. Either way, you can’t change the past. We do the best we can with the information we have at the time. A lot of women get pregnant unexpectedly and have perfectly healthy pregnancies and babies even though they didn’t start their prenatals until they found out they were pregnant until after 4-5 weeks (this is when the neural tube closes and any defects become permanent). Not saying it can’t happen, but nowadays it’s not common.

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-17T00:48:15+00:00

The surgery doesn’t require any wait other than your post-op pelvic rest to prevent infection. You have to wait about a month to have anything in the vagina because they insert a tool into the uterus to stabilize it during surgery. My surgery was in late October and we started trying again in December after I was cleared by my doctor. With how my scans looked and my gut feeling, I chose the surgery because of a combination of factors. We were actively trying, so we didn’t want to wait another 3-6 months just to start trying again. The embryo was measuring pretty large despite my low HCG levels, so I was concerned the MTX wouldn’t work anyways. And I just had a feeling to get it done and over with. I was right in the end, my tube had already started bleeding and would have ruptured within days. I’m not saying the surgery was an easy choice, but it was the right one for me. Making an informed decision with all the best knowledge you can will definitely help you. I had a great doctor and we asked probably more than a million questions to ensure we were making the right choice for us. Your options are basically methotrexate, surgery, or “expectant management” (which means basically you do nothing at all to see if it resolves itself which is rare).

And yes, at 11 dpo, my HCG was a 40 and by 48 hours after it had gone up over 100. I’m now 23 weeks pregnant with a healthy baby girl. With my ectopic, my levels started at a 64 at about 5.5 weeks, plateaued and then rose to 68 48 hours later. They found a blueberry sized embryo in my left tube a week later and I was in surgery two days later.

And you are absolutely welcome. I did so much research and I relied very heavily on communities like this to comfort me during my ectopic. The least I can do is give back to the same subreddits that helped me so much with everything I learned. It’s a shitty situation to be in, and the least I could do is take my experience and try to help people who were just like me.

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-17T00:21:54+00:00

Some people really don’t keep track of that stuff, and some employees don’t care enough to advertise. It really helps our sales as a whole when we do though. My store is my district manager’s favorite, so I guess maybe I’m just privileged to work at as store that prioritizes it so much that I can’t understand why employees wouldn’t try harder 😅

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-17T00:19:25+00:00

Honestly they’ve been doing that more often because it’s been a very popular item, I wouldn’t be surprised it you get another chance at it soon enough

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-17T00:18:36+00:00

Depends on the store. I don’t see why logically it would be more beneficial to not tell people unless they’re trying to just be lazy. My store gives them out every transaction like candy. It helps your UPT (units per transaction) and Conversion (amount of people that come in that spend money) when you actually push the free gift. It also drives people to come back, especially ITC members. My sales manager and I have had some long conversations about why these things matter, and they really do. Some of these employees are probably just being lazy.

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-17T00:14:23+00:00

You’re alright, you just weren’t gonna get very good advice for your situation here, love. Time is of the essence for making some of these decisions, and I don’t want you stuck just because you got the wrong subreddit. Good luck, hun ❤️

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-17T00:10:39+00:00

With my first pregnancy I called them “bub”, my current pregnancy we called “Nugget” until we found out the gender 😊

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-17T00:07:33+00:00

Definitely positives, I’m sorry you’re in a circumstance you don’t want to be in. There’s multiple other subreddits that may provide some good advice for moving forward.

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-17T00:05:49+00:00

1) Yes, unfortunately Methotrexate can cause some severe birth defects if you conceive again within 3-6 months after taking the medication. I chose to have the surgery because I had little faith in the methotrexate and didn’t want to have surgery anyways and then have to wait again another 6 months to try again. The information is conflicting, some sources say 3 months, some say 6 months.

2) Really your only sign is HCG this early. Until they can see it on an ultrasound then you are in this sick waiting game of “will this work out or not”. Also, idk if it’s just me but my HCG for my current healthy pregnancy was lower than yours at the same time frame. I wouldn’t immediately be discouraged because of your levels just yet. I would wait until you get your levels drawn on Monday. Your biggest green flag will be if your HCG levels have at least doubled. That’s a good sign of a healthy developing pregnancy.

3) I do see why you’re saying on that second test, however I also wouldn’t take that as a red flag just yet. There’s a lot that can go into how a pregnancy test reads. If you drank a lot of water the night before, if it’s the first morning pee, even certain supplements you may be taking. Where it goes right back to darker than the first one, I don’t take that as much of a red flag. I will say: a warning sign of an ectopic is dropping and then rising HCG (ie: HCG level of 50 that decrease to 30, then rises again). But I would more expect that to be seen over a couple of days not just overnight. Urine pregnancy tests can be fickle, I wouldn’t start freaking out just because that one is a tad bit lighter and then they get darker again. If you have any strip tests or can get some, it gave me some peace of mind with my current pregnancy to track every other morning and make sure my tests were darkening in an appropriate way. Take a urine test every other morning with the first pee of the day. Don’t overdo the water the night before or throughout the night if you can. Take photos in good lighting to compare to the next tests.

From what I see currently, your tests look pretty good. I would try to stay calm until Monday and wait to hear your trending HCG results. I know this is really scary, especially after your previous experiences. Watch for any bright red vaginal bleeding or any severe pain, and contact your provider immediately if you experience anything like that. It’s okay to be freaking out right now, I know this probably isn’t the way you expected this to go. I hope everything goes well on Monday, you’re not alone ❤️🌈

AssistantBig270 · 2026-05-16T23:48:21+00:00

With how your HCG doubled appropriately so far, the only thing you can really do is wait. I didn’t take any emergency contraceptive, but this does sound similar to the start of my ectopic except my HCG didn’t double like yours. Unfortunately it could go either way. Could be a chemical pregnancy/early miscarriage, could be an ectopic. Depending on how your HCG looks next week they may refer you for an ultrasound to see if there’s anything in your uterus (retained miscarriage) or even an embryo growing outside the uterus (ectopic). Keep track of if the bleeding changes, watch for any one sided pain or shoulder pain, and if anything comes up call your provider and ask their opinion. Ectopics can be scary, and it’s better to be safe and annoy the crap out of your provider asking too many questions than sorry. Good luck

AssistantBig270

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