Pregnant w/ Fibroids?

[annie12350]

Anyone pregnant with fibroids? I have 8-12 small ones...biggest is 4cm. One is possibly slightly pressing in on the interior of the uterus.

I am doing IVF right now and was wondering if it is even possible to hold a pregnancy with fibroids like these.

My doc recommended having them removed- but my husband and I were really not interested in a big surgery. First IVF is next week.

Also- anyone hypothyroid?

Is there hope?

[ainsley]

Hi Annie
I am 23 wks pg and have 3 fibroids, the largest being 6cm. None of them are in the cavity so my RE said it shouldn't be a problem. The length of recovery time plus my age were more of a negative than just proceding with the fibroids. I have had 3 days so far during my pg when I felt what felt similar to period cramps on the lower right side where the largest fibroid is. Other than that, all is well.
I am also hypothyroid and am on a low dose .25 mcg of synthroid. My first IVF did not work. My second one did. Hopefully you will have better luck the first time!

[wintergirl]

I also have a fibroid on my right ovary that wasn't noticed until right after I got pregnant, and my doctor said it's nothing to worry about as long as it's NOT in your uterus! It was 3cm then but not sure if it's grown now. My doctor says it's totally fine and won't have any negative impact on the pregnancy.

I had a polyp in my uterus (really small - pea sized) removed and then BAM! Got pg the following cycle after YEARS of never getting pg!! My doc said anything inside the uterus can act like an IUD preventing implantation, which is likely the problem I had my whole adult life because I went many years w/o birth control.

Are fibroids known to be related to hypothyroidism? I'm borderline low with it. I got pg from the 3rd IUI with injectibles - never did IVF. The minor surgery to remove the fibroid was nothing - it only took about 15 minutes and I was wide awake, no pain afterwards. It only cost me that cycle of trying to get pg because my doctor put me on the pill for that month so I wouldn't have any lining when they went in to do the surgery, but like I said I got pg the very next cycle!

[TRC]

I had a golfball size fibroid in my uterus when I did my 1st and 2nd DFET. The first one failed, but the second one I ended up pg with triplets (they just turned 4 in April). The identical twins placenta also just happened to be right over the fibroid. Although my OB was concerned that the placental blood flow might be compromised, tests throughout my pg showed no signs of any problems. Although I delivered early (29.5 wks) they are health little boys and you could never tell they were that early. The fibroid had nothing to do with my early labor.

[DixieDoolittle]

Annie - I had fibroid surgery a year ago, as my clinic would not take me on as a patient unless they were removed.

Everybody has to do what's right for them, and it depends on the location and the size of your fibroids whether it's advantageous to remove them. If your doctor wants them out, get a second opinion and if that doctor advises removing them, you may want to seriously consider it. Here's my experience:

I had 3 large fibroids removed: a 9cm in the muscle on the top of my uterus - a few more months and it would have invaded the the lining and started causing real trouble; a 6cm that was blocking access to my right ovary; and a 5cm which was on a stalk behind the uterus. My doctor left two smaller ones (2cm each) as she felt the were not worth additional trauma to the uterus.

The recovery was not difficult - they give you drugs and you just have to really take it easy. It was about 5 weeks off work and then by 3 months, I couldn't really tell I'd had surgery, except for the scar. The difference in how I felt, though, was amazing.

The thing about fibroids - they grow so slow, and you get so used to gradual discomfort that until they're gone, you have no idea how much of what you were putting up with was really "normal." I had painful, extremely crampy periods - I would take up to 8 advil a day (and of course, after all I've been through with ttc then found out that you're NOT suppossed to take advil!), had heavy bleeding the first two days, and would feel pretty much like crap 1 week out of 4. I was peeing all the time. And sex had started to get uncomfortable.

After the surgery, when my cycle got back to normal, I was utterly amazed.
I could get through my periods without any pain killers, my pants fit better (my uterus had been the size of a 4 month pregnancy), I didn't have to pee constantly, and sex was back to being somewhat fun (we were still ttc, so there's not much fun in that).

I started IVF treatment four months after surgery. It took us 4 tries. One thing that helped, even though my fertility problem was more diminished ovarian reserves than anything else, was knowing that the fibroids were no longer an issue, and that we hadn't wasted thousands of dollars doing a treatment where the fibroids were an issue. And, as my doctor had said before the surgery - it was going to be difficult to get pregnant in the first place: the last thing she wanted was for me to go through all of this, get pregnant, and then lose the baby. Fibroids, depending on their location, can
pull blood supply away from the lining and from the developing embryo. They can also crowd the uterus and cause further complications with the baby's growth.

Now that I am pregnant, I am also very relieved not to worry about them. Had I gotten pregnant in my previous state, I would have been high risk from the get-go, and it would have been yet another thing to worry about.

IVF is incredibly stressful. Pregnancy with fibroids (again, depending on the size and location) can also be incredibly stressful. Fibroid surgery - not so much. I've got to say, recovering from the surgery was NOTHING compaired to going through treatments. I'm really glad I did the surgery and would do it again - heck, if I'd had any idea how much relief I'd get afterwards, I would have done it years ago! Because ultimately, even if I hadn't gotten pregnant, the difference in how I felt was so huge that it was worth it.

That's my 2 cents. Do with it what you will.

[annie12350]

Gosh- thank you everyone for such a well stated responses and for sharing your experiences.

Congratulations on your pregnancies btw!!!!

Well, I did get the 'we recommend you have them removed' from the rep.endo. but he also said he would do the IVF without it too. Then I went to my ob/gyn and he said at this moment in time that he thought we should do the IVF w/o the surgery. So I decided we would do 1 cycle w/o and if it did not work, then have them removed this summer when I have off. ( I am a teacher).

I do not have any pain during intercourse or have to pee often. I take maybe 2-4 advils on day 2 of my period...,but I have had to do that since I was 13. My periods have gotten heavier, but some months they are not. That confuses me. The doc said my uterus was the size of a 3 month preg.

I also think my fert prob is because of an infection I had in HS. My tubes are clear, but I think they are damaged. I had a laporoscopy and the doc found several adhesions he thought were severe. He lasered some. One was even cutting off a tube like a car tire over a garden hose.

Anyway- those are my reasons to try a cycle without removal. I am scared to death of that surgery though too.

My husbands ex-wife had the fibroid surgery and her IVF never worked. So I guess that is another reason. They only had enough money to do 1 cycle though.

We have enough for 2. You are lucky to have had a few tries.

Did you ever ask your ob/gyn if women with your kind of fibroids (at the time) had babies or were pregnant with babies? I know RE's want them removed- but I wonder if women do have babies with fibroids like ours?

How old were you when you got them removed? How old are you now/pregnant? I worry about my age. I am 37.

Thanks for your time.

~Annie

[Sherb]

I had my 3rd child August 25th and I've always had very heavy and painful periods. The pill really helped them and I never ever thought anything of it or was told that there were any problems.

When I was having my c-section 3 weeks ago with my little guy my OB told me on the operating table that I had fibroids in my uterus. Actually, she asked me if I knew that I had fibroids or if anyone had every told me. I said no, I was never ever told that I had them. I had a m/c in 1989 and one in Oct/07 (just before this pregnancy).

Anyways, she told me that they weren't large and nothing to worry about just that my periods could be heavy, etc... I do wonder now if they were the cause of the m/c in Oct/07 but I try to put it out of my mind since my little guy was born at 39 weeks 4 days at 9lbs 1oz and is incredibly healthy and beautiful. I'm sure that everyone's case is different but some people can and do have healthy/happy pregnancies even while having fibroids!

Best of luck to you!

[dodiedon]

I had the most painful U/S today. My RE told me my fibroids had so distorted my uterus she was having a very hard time seeing the heartbeat. She said she had never had that problem before (she's beeen in business a while so I felt devestated). At 9 weeks I had to do an abdominal and saw a healty developing fetus. But now I am panicked because my RE is non-chalant and flippant. Never really reassuring and that my fibroids have so distorted my uterus makes me fear for my baby's development.

I am glomming onto any reassurance about pregnancy and fibroids, that I can find.

[ainsley]

Are the fibroids inside the cavity or in the muscle? It seems that if she had been concerned before about their location, she would have discussed options with you to remove them before proceeding with a pregnancy. I have 3 fibroids and am due in 3 weeks. Mine were located in the muscle wall outside of the cavity where the baby is. They have been painful a total of 4 times (today included) the entire pg. They haven't grown any more than 6cm. They have actually shrunk during the pg. They have just caused cramping a few times, but otherwise no problems. Try not to worry about them. They do distort the shape of your uterus at times, but shouldn't cause harm to the baby. If you still have doubts, can you talk to your OB about it?

[dodiedon]

I have some very small ones in the uterine cavity but the biggest one is in the intramuscular and not able to be reached by embolism it would have to be surgically removed. My RE is not exactly assuring but I transfer to OB/GYN next week since I am almost to my second trimester (yeaaaahh). I don't need to look for things to worry about I just do. All assurance helps and thank you for yours.

God Bless with your 3ww,