IUD failure: I'm pregnant!

[mum2sarah]

After 4 years of effective protection, my copper IUD has apparently failed, and I learned this morning that I am pregnant! I immediately called my Mr. Midwife and he had me come in and remove the IUD, because if left in, the chances of miscarriage are 50%. I have had no bleeding all day since the IUD removal, but I am still in shock! I was totally unprepared for this possibility. My partner and I have been together for 4 yrs and were talking about having kids in the future (he is a stepdad figure to my two children from a previous marriage), but we wanted to save up money first so we'd have a nest egg to help facilitate me taking a year or so off of work to stay at home with a baby. So the timing is not at all what we envisioned since we've only been able to save a tiny drop in the bucket of our goal, but we're generally o.k. with this idea. However, I'm so paranoid now about the added complications of having the IUD in place when I got pregnant. Even though it's removed now, my understanding is the risk of miscarriage is still slightly more than the general population, as is the risk of ectopic pregnancy. And after having the IUD removed, should we be careful not to engage in intercourse for a while? I had a homebirth with my last child and I had wanted to go that route, but is my pregnancy now considered high-risk? I wouldn't normally have wanted an ultrasound either but under the circumstances I want to get one as soon as possible to rule out the possibility of ectopic pregnancy. So many questions and worries and anxiousness on my mind. If anyone has been through anything similar or has any words of wisdom for me, I'd be happy to hear them!

[jcregan]

I have not been through this but *hugs*. I would say you should mainly talk to your midwife and see what he says about all these questions... but I would image that even if there is some increased risk early on that by the end of pregnancy that would have passed. I would think it would be mainly the uterine irritation etc. from the IUD and removal that might potentially affect implantation. Once everything gets established I would imagine no issue... but I really don't know, just guessing!

Good luck!

[Aliy]

hope everything works out okay.. but wow what a surprise.

i'd speak with your midwife but I don't see why you wouldn't be able to have a home birth

[mum2sarah]

thanks for the words of encouragement everyone. I guess I just need to take a deep breath and relax and draw on the support of my midwife, but wow... all I can say is wow...

[LSUtwinMama]

Heh... you sound like me a couple months ago...

I had a Mirena IUD and got pregnant. My OB had me come in immediately- like the same day I called- to remove the IUD and did a quick u/s to check for any bleeding around the embryo. I was only 6 weeks pregnant when I found out and thankfully I had zero bleeding or complications from the removal.

I'm now almost 20wks with a big healthy boy due in Feb. Even though DH and I weren't planning on adding to our family (we have 18 month old twins), I'm still glad I didn't miscarry from the IUD.

Goodluck! In answer to your question, no, you're not high risk now if your pregnancy is in the uterus and not ectopic.
My OB did monitor me after the actual removal and I had a follow up 2 weeks later to check that the baby was growing and the placenta hadn't been damaged by the IUD, but other than that- this has been a very normal pregnancy.

[MyFullHouse]

Other than getting an ultrasound/s ASAP, and maybe a bit of extra monitoring in the beginning, I can't imagine why it would effect the rest of the pregnancy and/or delivery.

But please do get a scan ASAP! I didn't have any of the usual ectopic signs with my IUD (Mirena) pregnancy, and it didn't show up until my 3rd scan at around 6 weeks. It even took more than 24 hours for anyone to realize I had ruptured at 8 weeks, after we thought I was all clear.
Not to be all doom and gloom! But it IS imperative that you rule out that life threatening possibility.

[mum2sarah]

@MyFullHouse: Thanks, yes, I plan to do the ultrasound asap. Mr. Midwife said that, after discussing my situation with an OB/GYN that I'd be too early for an ultrasound to show anything yet, since I'm not quite 5 weeks, but he said we would do one no later than 6 weeks. In the meantime, I guess I just have to be patient and hope for the best!

To MyFullHouse and LSUtwinMama, thanks for sharing your experiences! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one this has happened to!

[myk]

i don't imagine your pregnancy would be high risk if there is no foreign body in with it anymore. i would second the recommendation to get an u/s, to make sure it's not ectopic.

i actually grew in my mother's uterus along with a copper. she never had it removed. weird eh?

[Jenne]

No, btdt with IUD, but it is my understanding that once a uterine pregnancy is confirmed and the heartbeat is seen via ultrasond, the risk of loss decreased significantly.

I wish you and your new love a wonderful and healthy 40 weeks!

Jenne

[mum2sarah]

update

Just wanted to update that sadly I miscarried just a few days after having the IUD removed. I really think the miscarriage was caused by the IUD removal, but I'm not sure if leaving it in would have been any better... My partner and I were devastated by this have come to realize from this experience that we are actually ready to conceive... We were thinking of just waiting a little bit for now to allow ourselves some emotional recovery, and were using nfp to avoid pregnancy for the moment.

However, there was one day this cycle where we were not as careful as we could have been, since I was showing some signs of the beginnings of fertile cm... We initially weren't too concerned, though, because we'd read that you can't get pregnant for 4-6 weeks after a miscarriage. Yet a couple days later, I felt the pains of what I normally feel during ovulation! A subsequent temperature rise two days later seems to confirm that I did ovulate. Thus there is a chance we could be expecting again already. 9 more days and I plan to take a home pregnancy test if my period hasn't come--it will be day 28 of my cycle and our 4-year anniversary... So I will update again on the 26th for anyone curious

[javilu]

I'm so sorry about your miscarriage, Sarah.

Keep us posted, though!

[WifeofAnt]

and for a healthy baby (whether now or in the near future)

[myk]

i am sorry for your loss. i hope you have a healthy baby when the time is right!