9 weeks, ovarian torsion and the absolute worst pain of my life...

Woke up yesterday morning with a slight headache, but otherwise felt totally fine. I decided to lay down and try to sleep a bit to help my headache. I woke up around 11am with an achy, dull (but strong) pain going across my abdomen, hips, and back. It lasted for about 10 minutes, but felt like forever. My husband called our Dr and they had me come in immediately. Getting on the exam table and enduring a transvaginal ultrasound was very painful. They were able to see that baby was ok, saw a heartbeat and even some movement.

As a result of the stimulation meds from IVF, my ovaries, especially the right one, were still enlarged and filled with fluid. But they were able to see that I was still getting blood flow to them, which was a good sign, but didn’t rule out torsion.

After the ultrasound, the pain became absolutely unbearable. I was on all fours on the floor of the exam room screaming in pain. My Dr called an ambulance and had me transported to the hospital asap. During the ambulance ride, the pain subsided again. Once I arrived at the hospital, they thought it was likely kidney stones causing the pain (They hadn’t seen me at my worst yet). The pain came back like a freight train, screaming in agony again. They gave me Demerol for the pain, but it would take about 10 min to begin working and then would only provide relief for about 30 min. At 6pm, after a second EXTREMELY painful ultrasound, and hours of the Drs debating what it could be, I was finally admitted for emergency surgery to look for either appendicitis or ovarian torsion. About an hour later I came out of surgery feeling SO much better. The pain was instantly gone and I felt so relieved. It turned out that I had ovarian torsion. My right ovary had twisted twice which caused the extreme pain I was having.

I am so grateful for the team of Drs from my fertility clinic who quickly recognized the severity of the situation and who ended up being with me in surgery. I am beyond relieved that so far baby doesn’t seem to have been affected at all. We’ll have another ultrasound this week just to check in and make sure baby is doing ok.

Lying in bed this morning still in disbelief of yesterday’s events and how quickly I went from waking up and feeling fine to being in the most agonizing pain of my life.

For those who also did IVF and have enlarged ovaries, be overly cautious with your body and trust your instincts. If something doesn’t feel right, call your Dr ASAP.