Anyone Experienced This?

I have fibroids, as well. How much they affect fertility depends on where they are and how big they are. Mine are on the uterine wall, and while they don't prevent conception, they do prevent me carrying to term, as they rob the baby of all the nutrients.

It's definately worth seeking out a doctor's opinion. It may cause a problem later in the pregnancy.

Hi, My sister had really bad fibroids and managed to conceive after 2 years (that's without seeking any treatment). Then 15 months after the first was born she accidentally conceived her second daughter! It may just take some time.

I've recently started reading "Fertility Wisdom" by Angela Wu, an Oriental Medicine Doctor. She's helped lots of people conceive, who were told by mainstream medicine they couldn't have children of their own. She requires a lot of commitment, though, like no wheat/dairy/sweets.

I have fibroids and got pregnant the first time we tried, so as suggested above... I would have your son get checked out and maybe try some of the other suggestions but normally fibroids do not prevent a pregnancy. I know my fibroids did grow during pregnancy because of the extra estrogen but they never hurt, which they did prior to me getting pregnant. They monitored them on the ultrasound to make sure there was no blocking for me to deliver and haven't had any problems with them since giving birth... hope this helps!

I also had problems conceving my first child. The doc's said we had to try on our own for 1 year before they would run any tests. Which after I asked around is normal. It took 5 years before my daughter came along with lots of help from infertility treatments. We are curently trying again and after 2 years still have had no luck. Have your daughter-in-law be very persistant with the doc's and have her do research on her own and ask lots of questions, I figured out what was wrong with me after 4 years of trying, the doc's confirmed my suspisions and at least I know what the problem is. It does not make it any easier, but at least I have an answer. Tell your daughter in-law to keep trying and stay positive, and not to get to stress out about it, it will not help the problem.

I don't have fibroids, but I do have unexplained infertility. The docs usually won't do a full workup until you've been trying for a year to get pregnant. After that, they should start checking things. If her obgyn won't help, check out Seattle Reproductive Medicine for a full fertility workup.

Hi, I had troubles conceiving and finally my regular doctor figured out that my thryroid was not functioning properly after 10 years of infertility. Within two months of taking thyroid meds, I got pregnant. This was not planned. I had some fibroids and since this wasn't planned I didn't have the fibroids removed before conceiving. One particular fibroid grew faster than the baby (5 lbs worth)and just after my firt trimester, ruptured. I had emergency surgery, the end result was great, we all survived but while in surgery it took 3 doctors to get the bleeding to stop. The doctor told my husband that potentially we could have all died, I needed a two pint blood transfusion and took six weeks to recover. I don't mean to scare you but I think she should consider a second opinion. Good luck and my prayers are with you all.

Dear K., Hi, my name is R., I am 49 years old and have 2 beautiful grown daughters. I suffered from fibroid tumors my whole life, they are uncomfortable, but unless they are cancerous, there is no reason why she can't get pregnant. My advice is to quit trying so hard, the stress itself could be the reason why she isn't concieving. My pregenancies weren't without some problems, but they were minor for the most part, and I worked all the way with both of them. I hope this helps, you sound so omonious, some things take time, and as I always say, our only power is in prayer, good luck to all of you, R.

K.,

I would support any decision made by your d-i-l to find a doctor willing to work with her. I was told by several doctors that I would not be able to have a baby without LOTS of help. No fibroids, but other hormonal issues.

One round of clomid to help regulate my ovulation and I got pregnant (after 10 years trying on our own). My twin boys are WONDERFUL..almost 2 yrs. now.

Time, communications with the right medical team, and love will solve the situation.

Good luck!!!

T.

Hi K.

I spent 5 years trying to conceive. After two years I was having heavy bleeding and cramping so the doctor did an ultrasound. This revealed fibroids.
I was encouraged to continue to try to conceive and deal with the discomfort of my periods since surgery to remove them could be risky and result in the removal of my uterus. (that was 12 years ago).
I tried for two more years to conceive without success and the pain, bloating, and inconvience of my periods continued. At that point another ultrasound was done and it was discovered that the fibroids had grown and I elected to have the surgery.
I went into surgery knowing that depending upon the size and placement of the fibroids I may have to have my uterus removed. They removed one fibroid the size of a cantelope. My doctor said my urerus was extended to the size of a women's that was three months pregnant. Usually there are many small fibroids.
They were sucessfully able to remove all of the fibroid and my uterus healed quickly. Within a year of surgery I conceived my wonderful healthy son who is now nine. The only negative consequence was that Alex was delivered a month early by c-section. The doctor was afraid that because the my fibroid was so large there was alot of scar tissue in my uterus that could tear and cause a hemerage if I carried him to term or delivered naturally.
If you have not yet had an ultrasound that shows the location and size of the fibroids I would recomend that you do so. I believe that mine interferred with my conception even when my doctor told me they were not. Mine also continued to grow which is very unusual. Most women have clusters or very small ones spread out in the uterus.
I know that fibroid surgery is not as invasive as it was when I had mine done and the recovery time is much quicker. If you are extremly bloated, have heavy periods, severe cramping and trouble conceiving I would recommend removing the fibroids.
I wish you the best of luck.

J., independant divorced mother of a wonderful nine year old boy.

I have not had fibroids, but I do have a good friend with very large fibroids who conceived naturally twice. I know someone else with fibroids who I'm fairly certain required help of a fertility specialist. The general rule of thumb is that if you are under 35 and have been trying for a year, you should start with your gynecologist and then possibly see a specialist. If you are over 35, you only wait 6 months. I'm not sure what kind of doctor she is seeing, but it doesn't sound like he or she is very proactive. If it is her family medicine/internist doctor, I'd suggest she see her gynecologist. If it is her gynecologist, perhaps she should try someone else who takes her concerns more seriously.

Good luck! As someone who has had fertility issues, I certainly understand what a challenging time it can be.

When things weren't happening for me I just went to an OBGYN and they did ovulation ultrasounds to see if I was ovulating on my own once we discovered I was they gave me some Clomid to help speed the process! It worked!! I got pregnant on my first time :) I don't have fibroids but I do know that my doctor Doesn't like people who want to have children wait any longer then needed. He likes to be agressive and get results! I would tell her to find a OBGYN that also has experience with infertility. I found that they take things more seriously then a Family pratice doctor does.

Hope this Helps!!!
~Jenn~

I have fibroids as well. It does depend on how serious they are as to if they can effect fertility. My husband and I have 3 beautiful children. It did however take us 2 years to get pregnant with our first one. My husband went and had a few sessions with a deep tissue massage therapist - relaxed him so much he forgot how worried we were - we got pregnant right away. They can always give the massage thing a try - couldn't hurt :o) and a lot cheaper than other treatments. Best of luck!

I wouldn't worry until it has been several years! It took me 2 years to get pregnant and neither one of us had a problem. After my daughter was born I had my son 11 months later.

My sister has a 7year old and had an IUD put in after the baby was born. She had it in for 5 years then had it taken out. She is now pregnant and due in Nov. Some people just don't get pregnant right away.

I haven't experienced this, but I do think it's ridiculous that the doctor hasn't run any tests. Seems like a no-brainer. I'd recommend that she see a fertility specialist. I don't know if your daughter in law lives in Portland, but if so, I personally found Dr. Hesla at Oregon Reproductive Medicine to be extremely helpful and compassionate (and he was covered by my health insurance). No reason to wait any longer, especially if she's been doing all the ovulation research & knows her cycles. And be wary of doctors who immediately want to put her on Clomid. I'd think getting an ultrasound would be the first step. Many OB/GYN's don't want to be "bothered" by fertility issues, which is unfortunate. So many of them tell you to just keep trying... I don't understand why they don't refer people more often to specialists, esp sooner. Good luck!

K.,

My husband and I started trying for our first child when I was 23. We were both very healthy no issues whatsoever and it took us exactly a year to conceive..I think sometimes the more she worries about it the longer it seems to take. Send them on a trip for the weekend and try to get them to relax.

She should have another talk with her ob-gyn to make sure everything is okay, but at the same time 'the problem' may not be hers, it could be that your son has some fertility issues. It wouldn't hurt for him to have a physical, being sure to tell his doctor that he and his wife are having some difficulty in conceiving. Lots of external influences can interfere with conception.

Some doctors are more proactive than others. Some would feel several months is long enough to wait.
I may have my conditions confused but I have heard of others who had fibroids so they had their tubes flushed and conceived within a few months.