Utrine Fibroid & More...

All babies grow at different rates, in the womb as well as without. Both of my sons were small for their gestational age, and both doctors I had were concerned! My second son, especially, was "getting close to the 5th percentile" at 30-some weeks. Then, from about 40 weeks until birth, the only word I can think of for what both of them did was "exploded". My firstborn, born 14 days past his due date, was 8 lbs., 10 oz., my second was 16 days late, and 9 lbs., 5 oz. They've both continued to grow like little weeds ever since, and have no health problems to speak of. Just because a baby is small now doesn't mean a thing!

I had a large fibroid that was about the size of a grapefruit just above the pelvic bone. My fibroid was in the wall of the uterus which I guess makes a difference in how it affects the space available to the baby. My Dr. kept an eye on it throughtout my pregnancy. We talked about a possible c-section but I was able to deliver vaginally with little problem. My daughter was vacuum delivered though, I don't know if that was related to the fibroids. I'm sure your Dr. is just being cautious. Better safe than sorry, even if it does make you sick with worry.
Good Luck!

Uterine fibroids are very common and do not often cause problems with pregnany. The integrated screening and genetic counseling are routinely offered to most pregnant women- it's a good thing that your doctor ordered it- it shows that he/she is on top of what is currently being offered. So relax and enjoy- your ultrasound should hopefully give you some cute pix of your baby!

J.,

That's awesome they are checking things thoroughly. For some piece of mind, when I delivered my 3rd baby I had a fibroid 8 cm and delivered a healthy vaginal delivery. I've had them on and off for years. After I knew that we would have no other children (husband took care of that!) I had a procedure done but still have all my parts.

Hi,
I am not sure I had the screening tests your doctor is talking about, but I did have 2 fibroids during both my pregnancies (now I am a proud mommy of 2 kids, both born vaginally). It is actually VERY common to have fibroids, but they seem more common in African-Americans and women over the age of 30. Most of the time fibroids will not affect your pregnancy, except that you will feel an extra bump (or in my case, 2) in your tummy. The most important thing to find out is where is it located. I think the location of the fibroid helps the doctor better determine if it might pose a problem to the pregnancy. In my case, they were pretty high up so I think that is ideal. They can grow pretty big during pregnancy. My larger one grew as large as a small grapefruit (yikes!). Now I can't feel it anymore but my doctor says it is still there, just much smaller. I know it is hard, but try not to worry too much (there is nothing you can do at this point). Best wishes to you for a healthy pregnancy.

I didn't have any uterine fibroids with my pregnancies, but with my second child, they kept doing ultrasound after ultrasound, because they thought she was too small. She ended up coming out a very healthy 6 pound baby (probably on the small side today, but a very average weight). Even with all their high-tech gadgets, they can't really tell a lot. It seems like 8-9 weeks is very early for them to be concerned. When I was pregnant, they wouldn't even do their first ultrasound until 12 weeks. Hang in there - I'm sure everything is fine. And, you've gotten some really great advice from moms who have experienced what you are going through.

-K. (mother of three amazing kids)

Hi J.,

I just went through a pregnancy with a really large fibroid (13 cm - bigger than a grapefruit). I had a lot of cramping so they watched me closely. But all turned out fine. My DD was born at almost 38 weeks with 6lbs 2oz. She was on the smaller side but soon caught up and at 5 months she is now 18lbs.

Hang in there!

Dear J.,
Where are you located geographically? I am in Bakersfield, Ca and willing to offer you support. First of all, let me say that I much prefer your 1st doctor's approach to OB care. I teach natural child birth and firmly believe that women's bodies are wonderful for getting pregnant, nuturing the baby, and giving birth without interventions, unless they are indicated by a medical emergency. Having said all that. Why does your present doc think you have fibroids? Do you trust him? Is it possible to find another doc for a 2nd opinion? How experienced is he? Does he have a tendency to want every possible test ever dreamt up to make sure he avoids a malpractice suit? Please keep in mind I know absolutely nothing about you or your doctor, but it's reasonable to ask as many questions as you want so you can give informed consent before starting on various procedures.
Please get back to me if you like.
S.
____@____.com

J.,
I didn't know I had fibroids until I had a miscarriage. The ER dr said that is why I had the miscarriage, but my OBGYN said that is not the case. My fibroids were no where near my ovaries so it was no concern to her, but because I was 35 when I had my 2nd pregnancy she said that she was going to monitor me. I had several ultra sounds and my son grew as well as the fibroids. I had 3 that grew large. 1 was as large as a grapefruit and I never felt them or felt uncomfortable, only felt huge during my pregnancy.
My sons ultrasounds came back good and he was growing , he was 8 lbs 5 oz and they were acurate with his weight and I had a C-section due to how many Fibroids I had and having a tilted uterus as well she didn't want me to have to do through a long birth with no success so we scheduled the C-section. She felt the fibroids would cause my son not to be able to move to the pelvic area. So she was a wonderful dr and kept me informed on everything going on.
I truely felt comfortable during my entire pregnancy. My fibroids are now smaller and I don't even know they are there. She did mention that if I wasn't going to have anymore children I could remove them, but that removing them makes the muscles weaker, so unless I have to remove them I will just leave them where they are now.!

Good luck and try not to worry...........

Hello my fellow prego friend. I really feel for you as I just went through my own personal scare with the genetic counseling and level 2 ultra sound. My issue was blood work numbers so what the counselor talked to us about would probley be different. But I can tell you she did an excelent job explaining and drawing out what was going on. We really gained alot from it and the ultra sound was very through and detailed looking at the uterus and baby. This was done on the tummy but at your early stage I would wonder if they'll use the wand . Going through all this was a huge scare after having 3 babies already with nothing out of the ordenary. This procedure should give you piece of mind that everything is just fine. We almost have more info these days then is good for us. Doctors tend to be through because they can. Try to just believe that everything will be okay so as not to carry that added stress. There is really nothing we can do. Blessings to you and your little baby. R.

Just wanted to offer my support and say that my mother had hugh fibroids with both my sister and I. All was fine and that was over 30 years ago when fibroids were not fully understood. She did end of having to have a full Hysterectomy in her 50s but it was fine. I have not had a baby yet but I have cysts,(2)fibroids and one ovary as well and all the doctors say that when I do get pregant it will be fine. So, if they say that I'm ok I'm sure you and your little one will be too. Also,I have seen a lot of friends get scaried when a doctor wants to run tests just to see even if they know all is well. I will keep you in my thoughts.

Hi J..

I've had all these test and I really enjoyed them. My doctor did an ultrasound every week till 36 weeks for me because I miscarried 6 babies. For me it was a blessing to see the little guy every week and be assured he was fine. I also knew that I had a pretty large fibroid toward the front of my uterus. Sometimes I mistook it for the baby's head, but got used to where to find it. When I had a c-section they found that I had many fibroids, but they didn't affect the baby in any way and he is perfectly healthy.

Just be aware of one thing with the fetal screening (blood test) and genetic counselors. They can only tell you what the odds are of problems. With each of my pregnancies where I carried long enough to get the blood work done, the counselor called to tell me my chances of having a baby with down's syndrom were very high (10% with each one). She also asked me to seriously consider aborting the babies. I was livid. She didn't mention that meant there was a 90% chance that my babies were not down's babies. Of course I did not abort them. None of them were down's babies and the two that lived have no disabilities. My doctor said that my age and weight probably had a lot to do with the outcome of the test, so please don't get scared if the genetic counselor tells you what the possibilities are. They are only guessing.

Though it is hard, try not to worry. 9 weeks is a sweet time to see your little one on ultrasound. We have a whole scrapbook of ultrasound pictures of my two boys from 5 weeks on. I think you'll enjoy the time to watch this little one as he grows.

Hi.
I have a fibroid on the top of my uterus. When I was pregnant with my son I had many many ultrasounds in the beginning. Nothing went wrong with my pregnancy. The fibroid got as big a large potato. It was at times uncomfortable when the baby pushed on it and all. But, it didn't cause me any problems during the prenancy. I had a c-section birth with my son. The doctor was going to remove the fibroid but I was losing too much blood so they left it in. Other than that, the only complications caused by the fibroid was not being able to get accurate measurements at my appointments. I was told that my son was going to be 8.5 pounds at birth. He was only 7.

Good luck!

I have fibroids and they do grow during pregnancy due to the growth hormones being produced, but they will shrink back down some after the baby is born (at least mine did). The placement of mine caused me to have more lower back pain than I had during my first pregnancy. Also, my 2nd and 3rd children both measured small at first due to the fact my uterus had tilted back after the first birth. The internal ultrasound was uncomfortable, but not unbearable.

Dear J.,
Please try not to be too concerned. I know it's really difficult, especially with the extra emotions involved with expecting a baby in the first place. First of all, it sounds like you have a very good and diligent doctor and you should be very thankful for that. They are taking precautions and making sure everything is okay.
I was monitored closely as my daughter was small, but she was born full term, 5 pounds and very healthy. In fact, she was walking at 7 months! I have heard of fibroids in pregnancy. It all depends on where they are located and how big they are, etc. The time I know of caused no harm to the baby who was delivered by c-section and the fibroid was removed at that time. The ultrasound will tell you more about what's going on. The genetic testing and counseling is to see if their are any known health issues with you or your partner or a history of anomoly on either side. Alot of women over the age of 35 have that done routinely as a precaution since there tends to be a higher incidence of certain things happening as a woman gets pregnant older.
Just relax. Go for your tests. Know that you are in good hands. Don't worry unless they tell you that you have a reason to worry. These are all ways of ruling out anything now so that you can enjoy the rest of your pregnancy.
I certainly will keep you in my thoughts and wish you the best.

Blessings!

Hi J.,
I had a fibroid that grew quite large during pregnancy. The pregnancy hormones can cause them to grow. It did cause some cramping for me. They said it was because it was outgrowing its blood supply. The worst part of this was not knowing why I was cramping. That was scary. Once they reassured me that I was fine and the baby was not in distress I felt better. I think the only concern about fibroids is if they happen to grow large and are in a location that could interfere with baby. Otherwise, they can just be a discomfort - or you may not know they are there at all.
Good luck with the pregnancy and try not to worry too much.

Hello!

I have 3 fibroids and had no actual problems during my pregnancy. I really didn't even know they were there, except for the fact that the doctors could see them on the ultrasound and kept mentioning them and stressing me out!

I know in my case, it was very difficult to get an accurate measurement of the baby during the early stages. In fact, they thought my son was measuring about 6 weeks, when I was about 9 weeks pregnant, so my doctor was pretty sure I was going to miscarry. I had to go back for ultrasound after ultrasound every week for the next three weeks, and when they finally got a good shot of my son at around 11 weeks, he was all of a sudden measuring accurately. They think that the position of my fibroids and the baby were making it difficult to get an accurate look, but after a few weeks, my uterus had shifted in order to allow them a better view.

It sounds like your doctor is being extra cautious, which I'm sure is very stressful, but at least you'll have extensive testing to hopefully reassure you that everything is ok. Also, if you're going for a more extensive ultrasound with a perinatologist, hopefully they'll have a better ultrasound machine than your doctor, which may give you a better look at your baby. I know in my case, my doctor sent me to the hospital because their ultrasound machine was more powerful and that was where we finally got a good look at my son (after almost a month of stress!).

Best of luck,
E.

Hi,

I don't have any info on utrine fibroids but ...

I had a Fetal Survey Ultrasound and Integrated Screening/Genetic Counseling. I chose it with my 2nd as it is a little more accurate. The test is a blood test that goes to a special lab (no difference for you) and a in depth ultra sound (no difference for you except it took a little longer). If you get the blood work done early enough you can get your results right after the ultrasound .... if the Genetic Counselor is in the office. This is a SCREENING ... so it is the probability that something could be wrong .... not that that there is or is not wrong.

Hope all goes well.