Molar Pregnancy-Have you heard of it? 

Easter Saturday 2012, we got those 2 blue lines we had been trying over a year for and we’re completely over the moon!

I phoned my doctors and made an appointment, and told our immediate family, in our excitement we even naively started to buy odd little clothes as we saw them. 

As the weeks went on I got very big very quickly, I was so ill, I remember when I couldn’t get out of bed mum saying, and I quote ‘its good you feel so sick, it means everything’s going well.’ I knew to expect to be tired but this was something else, and so battled on, after all I wasn’t the first person to ever be pregnant! 

We became convinced that we were some weeks ahead or having twins due to the size of my stomach! Booking appointment with the midwife and bloods all fine…. 

24th May 2012, we had moved into our new house the day before and woke up bright and early for our first scan, supposedly 12 weeks, I remember sitting feeling so ill but never  thought anything would be wrong, my name was called.

She began rubbing the cold jelly onto my belly, it felt like forever before she said she couldn’t find a pregnancy and wanted to do an internal scan as I may not be far along, we knew this was not possible!

After what seemed like a lifetime we were taken to a ‘comfy’ side room. The next few hours were a blur. I remember the words “no baby” “mass of tissue” “surgery” and “chemo”. Within 2 hours I was in surgery having a d&c, nothing had sunk in, as far as I was concerned I was in surgery having my baby removed. 

It wasn’t until I had come round it was explained to me that there was no baby. When a sperm meets an egg but there is an imbalance in genetic material it becomes a molar pregnancy, sometimes there is a foetus that cannot survive- a partial molar, and others there is no foetus at all- a complete molar. 

The body produces HCG in very high levels giving off very strong pregnancy symptoms, hence the severe sickness, so for 12 weeks I had been ‘pregnant’ but was now grieving for a baby that didn’t exist. My head was in a right mess!

It was then explained that sometimes the tissue can start to regrow so I would need my hcg levels monitored by the specialists at charring cross hospital in London and if the levels didn’t come down as they should there was a possibility of needing chemotherapy. 

I was one of the lucky ones, although I became very ill and spent a week in charring cross ready to start treatment, I never needed it. My levels lowered on their own. After weekly and monthly blood and urine tests confirmed there was no longer any HCG in my system, we then had to wait another 6 months to try to conceive again. That felt like forever, being told you can’t try for the one thing you want most of all.

Molar pregnancies are very rare, but after having one you have higher chance of having another so all future pregnancies need monitoring, I went on to miscarry after this but now have 2 happy, healthy, gorgeous boys!

Please don’t give up hope!