- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
2nd Trimester
Anybody else with fibroids? Vent
Ugghhh, these things have caused me such agita! At first, they thought I only had 2, but at my nt scan, they found 4. I spoke with a perinatologist who gave me a lot of scenarios as to what can happen with them- they can get bigger or smaller or die off and cause a lot of pain. There's one near my cervix which may make vaginal delivery impossible. However, sometimes they get so big that there's a risk of cutting into them when performing a c-section (causing hemorrhaging). The dr. also said that they can cut off blood flow to the baby and placenta, although unlikely. There's one on the top of my uterus that really freaks me out because I can feel it. It literally feels like a baseball in my abdomen. It was on the right side, but today it has somehow shifted to the left. I always find the baby's h/b on the left side so now it's basically right above the baby. The uterine wall is separating them but I'm really freaked out about this now. At my last Dr.'s appt, he felt the fibroid and didnt seem too concerned so I am trying not to be too concerned either but it's hard, esp. now that it has moved.
Is anyone else going through anything like this?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Anybody else with fibroids? Vent
I had fibroids removed (abdominal myomectomy) before I got pregnant. Though I know that they left some small ones in. I would not worry if the doctor isn't worried. They will shrink back before delivery and usually don't cause any complications for vaginal delivery. Not sure the size of your fibroids, but you may want to consider a hysteroscopy to remove them after the birth if you want to have more children without complications.
It's a huge headache I know..it was preventing me from being able to conceive.
I dealt with this with my first pregnancy, and it was a PITA! It seems like both of them would not stop growing, and as a result, I had to get an u/s with a peri every month (sometimes every 2 weeks) to monitor. By the end, they were painful as hell, and tylenol did nothing to help. Thankfully, they did shift (they definitely did not shrink during pregnancy), and I went forward to have a normal vaginal birth.
On the positive side, they shrunk considerable after I had my baby. This time, at 22+ weeks, they are not growing at all, and are the same size they were before I got pregnant with DD. I have no issues this time, and the peri released me a few weeks ago.
All of that to say -- don't worry too much. Our OBs deal with this all the time.
I have one fibroid (7.7 cm.), but as of now, the doctor doesn't think it's going to get in the way of a normal vaginal delivery (based on the location). Of course, I have a long way to go, so that could change.
Fibroids don't change positions in your uterus. They are similar to a piece of grissle in meat and they are IN the uterine wall, so unless your whole uterus shifts positions the fibroid isn't going to change positions either. They can be intramural - middle of the muscle layer.
subserosal - just on the outside of the muscle layer, under the outer covering of the uterus
or Submucosal - just on the inside of the muscle layer, next to the endometrium which is the inside layer of your uterus that the placenta attaches to. These type are the type they worry about cutting off blood suppy with, but I am pretty sure that is only if the placenta is overlaying the fibroid.
The estrogen in our bodies during pregnancy causes them to enlarge. Once the pregnancy is over and the hormones start to return to normal, they can shrink back. If they get large enough they can die on their own, because they are too big for their blood supply. They are very common. I don't know the exact percentage atm but next to ovarian cysts they are one of the most common neoplasms seen in the female pelvis.
There are a lot of ways to get rid of these (after pregnancy). I wish you luck. I do not have these myself but I see them a lot during ultrasounds.
Thank you for your response. I don't know which one I have (I will definitely ask next time) but I have heard the risk about it cutting off the blood supply numerous times from my doctor, although it's usually followed by "but it's not likely". I know that the one fibroid that I can feel has moved up as my uterus has gotten larger. It is up to my belly button now. I don't understand how I can feel it on the left now when I distinctly felt it on the right before. It feels exactly like a ball and hard to miss. After googling, I found that pendunculated fibroids (fibroids with a stalk attached) can move. I wonder if that's what I have.
My last u/s was at 12.5 weeks and I'm not scheduled for another one until I'm 20 weeks. Do you think I should request another one b/c of the fibroids? I don't want to 2nd guess the dr. but I am loosing sleep over this.
I thought about pedunculated fibroids after I left to go eat brunch... yes these can move some. These are subserosal fibroids that are still attached to the uterus by a stalk or neck. Yes they can move some. These are the least likely to cut off blood supply to the baby and the most likely to kill themselves when they get too large or the stalk cuts off blood supply.
Sorry I should have added that. I don't know how far this thing moved for you, but it is not impossible for you to feel them externally especially when you are pregnant or they are very large, or they are subserosal or pedunculated. I have ultrasounded some pretty large ones I could feel myself.