Anyone else with preterm labor due to bicornuate uterus?

Merspriggs

I gave birth at 34 weeks, 2 days, preterm labor was due to me having a bicornuate uterus.  I had to have a c-section due to baby being breech, so the OB confirmed shape of my uterus at that time.  Has anyone else had a baby with a history of a bicornuate uterus?  Did you have surgery to correct the septum prior to having another baby?  Did you have problems with infertility or miscarriage?  Were you able to carry any babies to term? 

I had struggles with infertility and an early miscarriage prior to this pregnancy.  I wonder if I try to get pregnant again, if the infertility will continue to be an issue, and fear having another miscarriage, and also fear having a preemie baby requiring a NICU stay again.  My husband does not want to have any more children because he shares these same fears.  I have an appointment with my OB to discuss these issues, but wonder about other people's experiences.

Pips09

Not me, but I had a girlfriend with the same issue. She has two children, and both were born prematurely. She has not had treatment to get it corrected. Good luck with your decision.

Nita14701

I had a bicornate uterus (one of the things that they found early on when I started infertility tx). I had the procedure to remove it. The procedure isn't that bad- my place used a robot arm and recovery was pretty quick. I think I had to wait a cycle afterwords before ttc.

liz080808

hi - i just wanted to mention - please be sure of your diagnosis.  bicornuates - septates - unicornuates - didelphys - these are all different versions of mullerian anomalies.  i personally have uterus didelphys.  i carried twins to 30w4d in july in one of the uteri.  it was a rough 10 weeks in the nicu - but they are doing great now!!  bicornuate was actually a misdiagnosis i had at one point, clarified to be didelphys by mri.  bicornuate is not typically "fixed" by surgery, but a septate is.  bicornuate is a portion of the fundus of the top of the uterus that is pushed down to cause a heart shape appearance.  septate actually has a septum that can go a teeny bit down from the top, to completely separating the uteri.  the septate can be fixed, and generally has very good success rates with pg afterwards.  please look into the mullerian anomaly yahoo group as well as the facebook group.  it is a wealth of info!!!  please make sure you have a doctor who is experienced with mullerian anomalies help you.  it makes all the difference

OleMissBride

My second viable pregnancy sounds just like yours. I had a MC, then had DD#1 at 39 weeks, CS because she was breech and they saw that I have a bicornuate during my CS. When TTC #2, I MC'd again then got preg with #2. For my second preg, I was seen by a MFM and everything was very uneventful until my water broke at 30+1. Was admitted that day and stayed on hospital bed rest until I delivered by RCS at 34+2. MFM and OB didn't want me to go longer due to infection risk. While on bed rest, I had 2x week US's and 2xdaily monitoring and everything stayed pretty calm the entire 4 weeks except for some minor contractions here and there. I think we are done having babies, but I'm curious to speak to my OB at my 6 wk follow up on risks that I could expect if we decided to go for #3. I feel like we dodged a bullet with LO #2 because she was 6w early and she only had a 6 day NICU stay for monitoring and weighed 5lb11oz. Otherwise is healthy as far as we know. None of my doctors have said that the MC are because of the bicornuate, but I do think that has a lot to do with it

ludali

I have a unicornunate uterus and have the same fears of another NICU baby. Our girl was healthy, just small at 33.5 weeks. We didn't have any issues conceiving and never a miscarriage...I found out about this issue after my water broke and had an emergency c due to breech and then a foot making its way out. In the end though, we're sure we want to try again on a couple of years. In the end, we'll have our family...even if it means hardship.

My thoughts are with you guys...you're not alone in your feelings.

BLPL101

I have an arcuate uterus and I'm really scared of having another preemie. My midwife said its minor and she doesn't believe that's why my water broke early, I still am worried it will happen again.

OMGTree

I have a bicornuate uterus. The difference between a septate and a bicornuate is that a septate is a piece of tissue in the uterus causing a divide. It can be removed rather simply. A bicornuate uterus is one that is shaped like a heart. The whole uterus is shaped that way as opposed to a piece of tissue. In order to fix it, it's almost reconstructive uterine surgery. They cut out one horn and sew it up. It creates one horn that is bigger then the two divided but still smaller then a regular shaped uterus. The only people who preform these surgeries are some reproductive medicine specialists most don't do this surgery anymore. It does carry a risk that a septate uterus does not. If you choose to have the reconstructive surgery it can cause scar tissue and you are more at risk of uterine rupture and/or your uterus becoming a hostile environment and never being able to carry a child again.  This is of course a rare risk but one that was big enough for me to opt out of it. I had my daughter at 30 weeks. The OB feels it was more likely my cervix giving out then my uterus. Although my daughter was breech and didn't have room to turn. If surgery is something you are considering I would talk to your OB about a referal to a specialist who preforms these surgeries. Also make sure to have an MRI or a dye test done to confirm that it is bicornuate not septate.

Mamamonzo

Merspriggs said:

I gave birth at 34 weeks, 2 days, preterm labor was due to me having a bicornuate uterus.  I had to have a c-section due to baby being breech, so the OB confirmed shape of my uterus at that time.  Has anyone else had a baby with a history of a bicornuate uterus?  Did you have surgery to correct the septum prior to having another baby?  Did you have problems with infertility or miscarriage?  Were you able to carry any babies to term? 

I had struggles with infertility and an early miscarriage prior to this pregnancy.  I wonder if I try to get pregnant again, if the infertility will continue to be an issue, and fear having another miscarriage, and also fear having a preemie baby requiring a NICU stay again.  My husband does not want to have any more children because he shares these same fears.  I have an appointment with my OB to discuss these issues, but wonder about other people's experiences.

New here from April 14.  I found out at week 6 I had a bicornuate uterus.  I've been watched and all seemed to be going well.  We had an U/S at 18 weeks and my cervix length was at 4cm our A/S was last Wednesday and it measured 2.7 I was put on bed rest and went for a recheck today I'm at 2.9 now.  They are still referring me to the High risk doctor because of the uterus cervix combo.  We're just trying to make it to 24 weeks at this point, then we're taking it week by week.

It took us a year to get pregnant, and this is our first pregnancy.  My OB assured me that our fertility struggle had nothing to do with the shape of my uterus.

OMGTree

karissamonzo I think it's interesting your OB told you it had nothing to do with it. Before IVF reproductive specialists used to preform surgery to fix it in order to increase odds of pregnancy. It can cause a higher risk for losing the pregnancy and can take longer to get pregnant because blood flow to the inner "heart" shaped parts may not be as great as the outside parts.

Mamamonzo

OMGTree said:

karissamonzo I think it's interesting your OB told you it had nothing to do with it. Before IVF reproductive specialists used to preform surgery to fix it in order to increase odds of pregnancy. It can cause a higher risk for losing the pregnancy and can take longer to get pregnant because blood flow to the inner "heart" shaped parts may not be as great as the outside parts.

Mine is not an extreme case. It's there, the baby has room to move to both sides (which he did during my A/S) so it may have to do with the degree of the separation. They are now more concerned with my cervix but it's all tied together now.