PeppermintPattie's Pregnancy Story
Posted
Tuesday, December 01, 2009 1:20 PM
"I wanted to share my story because the one thing I wished for when I was diagnosed with this was someone who could give me answers, since the doctors seemed to have none..."
Getting pregnant
I have to be honest: I know my story's a little scary, but I thought I'd share it anyway, since so far, it's turned out to be a positive one. My DH and I just knew we were going to get pregnant on our honeymoon. In fact, we joked that LO was going to come out with "Made in Aruba" stamped on his rear end! Well, lo and behold we did it. A little over a week after getting home, I got my BFP.
Handling the news
Everything was absolutely perfect after that... for about two days. Then, the pain and spotting started. I went in for an emergency ultrasond, and the tech told me that I had a 12 cm fibroid. I had no idea I had this, but it made sense, since I could never lose the last little bit of "bulge" in my belly -- no matter how much weight I lost for my wedding. Little did I know, then, that I had an apple-sized, non-cancerous tumor in my uterine wall the entire time.
A miraculous conception
Well, the tech said it was a miracle that we even conceived at all, since the fibroid was right over my ovulating ovary. Then, she said miracle #2 was not having an ectopic pregnancy. She warned me that pregnancies with fibroids of any size are at risk for terminating at any time throughout the pregnancy -- not to mention a fibroid that was probably the biggest she had seen in her practice. This of course sent me into a panic. Miracle #3 was more of a hidden miracle. The perinatologist warned me that what often happens with fibroids is that they outgrow their blood supply and "necrose" late in the pregnancy. The trauma and pain that the body goes through with the necrosis (equal to hundreds of mini heart attacks in the uterine wall) can set women into pre-term labor. Well, unfortunately, mine necrosed during week five of the pregnancy.
The worst of it
After my fibroid necrosed, I was hospitalized for almost a week with unbearable pain. I couldn't sit or lie in any position but on my hands and knees, until my IV kicked in. Even then, the pain was so "pure" that if someone touched my lower back or abdomen, I instantly vomited (TMI, sorry). The medicine that they had me on in the hospital thinned my blood, and the pull of the fibroid ripped a subchorionic hemorrhage, causing me to bleed for weeks and weeks. This was, of course, beyond horrifying.
Soldiering on
Well, here I am after five weeks of bed rest -- and I'm no worse for the wear. LO is one tough little guy. Other than my uterus being at the 26 week mark (though I'm 21 weeks) and looking like I'm carrying twins, I feel alright. The pain is gone, since the fibroid is necrosed. LO is strong and doing well. The fears now are that I have an "irritable" uterus (it goes into low grade contractions for hours or days on end, which sent me to L&D on Friday; but, most importantly, we're okay now) and that the placenta is partially attached to the fibroid, which could
cause problems for future fertility and LO's nutrition. We're still praying all day every day, but so far, so good.
Beating the odds
I wanted to share my story because the one thing I wished for when I was diagnosed with this was someone who could give me answers, since the doctors seemed to have none. I scoured the internet for stories of women having successful pregnancies with fibroids, and all I found were stories that were even scarier than the ones my OB told me! I would have loved to have heard one like mine.
> Read more about PeppermintPattie!
> Want to share your pregnancy story? Email it to kstanford@theknot.com.