Fibroid in the way for natural delivery AND caesar!

Here I am again, looking for your invaluable advice!

I'm 21 weeks with my first and have three fibroids - one in the opening of my cervix. It's grown two centremetres since my 12 week scan so is now measuring at 6cms. My Ob is concerned that it will block a natural delivery as it may not leave enough room for bub to go past. The positioning of the fibroid is right where the incision needs to go for a caesar, so he doesn't want to do that because the risk of cutting into the fibroid is extremely high and once cut open, the bleeding is virtually impossible to stop - best case scenario is a hystorectomy, worst case I don't even want to think about it!

So he's talking about a caesar which will be a vertical incision down the middle of my belly. He said it hasn't been commonly done since the 1940s and once I have one of these, there is no chance of having a baby any other way.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this? What's the recovery time? Any advice or stories that anyone can provide will be much appreciated!

Thankyou!

Corelly ;)

:hug: I can imagine it is all a little scary and upsetting at the moment. I dn't have any advice though.

I had a Fibroid but it grew then shrunk when pregnant and by the end they couldnt' actually find it..

I hope your moves for you..

Just some more hugs.
There is still the occasional woman with a vertical c/s. (Can't think of the name of it.)
I really hope everything goes well for you.

That's usually called a "classical" incision - they do usually mean that any future babe will need to be born by casear as there is a higher risk of uterine rupture with a vbac than a lower transverse incision (the one they commonly use now).

Before going down that path, you could think about getting a second opinion. If it's the only way then...nothing lost. But if it's not, it's worth finding out.

All the best.

A lady that comes to my playgroup has had 6 kids & I think 2 where clasic csections.

But what I was going to ask.. Is there any reason why they couldn't just do the incision slightly higher so it was above the fibroid? Surely they don't get out a ruler & make sure every c section in performed in the exact same spot?

Oh, how stressful for you. I don't have any experience, but just wanted to second Tobily's suggestion of getting a second opinion... Let us know how you get on. :hug:

When I read your post I felt like I was reading about myself. I assume you've had the baby by now, so my reply won't be that helpful...

I have a large low lying fibroid which according to the dr prevented natural birth, and was in the way of a bikini cut cesarean. I had a classic cut, starting about 5cm above my belly button, down to my pelvic bone (or thereabouts). My baby was fine, a beautiful baby girl. She is now two and brings us great joy.

To this day I become depressed when I think about her birth. Even if it is true that I couldn't have given birth naturally, and that I needed general anaesthetic and all the rest... there are some things that were really important to me that I could have fought for (eg. immediate skin to skin contact with my baby, waiting for labour to start before doing a cesar rather than booking it in in advance...). No one can change the fact that I wasn't there for the birth of my own baby, but some things could have made it A LOT better than it was.

So, my advice, even though a little late, is to explore all your options, don't just take the advice of your obstetrician he/she doesn't tell you everything. Look into having a doula to help you with your birth plan, even if it is a cesar birth plan. Not sure where you live, but 'birthbuddies' might be a good place to start searching online.

What happened with this Corelly?

I had a fibroid in much the same place. it grew to 6cm at 20weeks scan. I had to have a scan at 36 weeks to check on it and it had vanished without a trace! Possibly impoleded while I was pg but I didnt have the associated pain so I will never know.

You were very lucky pandora. Oh, how I wish that my fibroid would implode!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi ladies,

I'd forgotten about this thread! Sorry!

DD was born in March 2009, ala natural!!! No gas, no epidural. She got past the fibroids :dance: I still vividly remember the relief when after my last scan and examination, when my ob said "your baby has dropped past the fibroid".

The last few days before she was born, I had this thing sticking out of me, you can see it in my belly photos, and I assumed it was an elbow or a knee, but was told later it was the biggest fibroid. As the pregnancy went on, they got bigger and bigger, and I got more and more stressed, but somehow DD managed it and I managed a natural birth.

The only problem I'm facing now is for subsequent pregnancies. I need to have the fibroids removed now that they've shrunk, before I think about having another baby. I miscarried my first at 9 weeks, and the belief is that bub attached to a fibroid and not me. The risk is there that this will continue to happen and that DD was a lucky one. Wish I had of known this before my pregnancy with her because I would have had them removed before I fell pregnant and not gone through the added angst.

Sorry for my very late update on this, and thanks for asking me about it.

Corelly

WOW :o

what is in volved in removing the fibroid's? how scarey...and well done for having a natural birth hon :clap:

Oh, that's awesome news! Congratulations! (for last year, LOL.)

Thanks for replying Corelly. I'm so pleased that you weren't made to go through what I went through. It's great that the baby slipped into place in good time.

I have also had two miscarriages since my first baby, probably due to the fibroid, just like you. Removing it doesn't seem to be an option without hysterectomy for me. I'm trying Chinese medicine and other things at the moment.

You have given me hope in saying that you were able to have a natural birth. I'm so happy for you, and hope I follow in your footsteps next time around (if there is a next time around).

Good luck.

Hello again Corelly,

I hope you don't mind me asking, what type of fibroids do you have? Are they embedded in the wall of the uterus? Your story has given me hope- thank you!

Natalie

Maz, to remove fibroids they do a laproscopic myomectomy - I had mine around this time last year. They make 4 small incisions and use a camera and gas to pump up the tummy so they can see. I had 4, one was a size of a golf ball and another was impinging on my cervix I reckon this is the whole reason I couldnt get preggers the old fashion way!- my surgery took about 3 hrs and they burnt off some endometriosis too.

I have the pictures to prove it too! :o

Its not that difficult, but can be a bit painful. The only problem I found is that because they make so many incisions on the uterus they are not willing to risk you going to natural birth - you have to have a c-section.

The other problem is they grow back - and can cause problems conceiving and carrying to term. Basically my next op will be in another 2-3 years assuming I want to conceive again and dependent on the size.

I got pregnant 3 months post op via ivf - and now have a 3cm fibroid growing again. They also love the very "hormonal" environment of pregnancy and thrive. But I have been told they can shrink post baby.

Krikit - you're the first person that's spoken about having them removed so thanks for letting us know how it all happened. If I was sure that I wasn't going to have another baby, then I'd probably leave them alone, but we haven't ruled out another yet.

Lushkamarx - I was so pleased when I did have a natural birth with all the obstacles thrown at me - have a small pelvis too and they were expecting DD to be a big baby. I wanted to stand up and start singing "I am woman"! The fibroids I have are in the wall of my uterus, which was why my ob thought it was difficult for embryos to latch on. I had bleeding in the early days of DD's pregnancy, so I thought I was going to lose her too, but she was an exceptionally sticky baby!

Corelly

Hi Ladies,
Glad I could locate this thread in the google.
I am 9 weeks pregnant and went for my u/s on 9th July, Baby measuring god, saw the cutest heartbeat and also got the news that I have fibroid developing / growing alongwith my pregnancy, at the moment its measuring 5mm and u/s technician said its not a worrysome situation but I google about fibroids and its giving me some scaring information about pregnancy complication.
What Am i supposed to do? please help, advise with answers.

Thanks,
Ric

Hi Ric.

First of all -- GOOGLE IS NOT YOUR FRIEND!!! LOL!

Lots of women get fibroids during pregnancy. I ended up with four by the time my daughter was born. They grow during pregnancy too. I'd love to say don't stress about it, but I was so freaked out during my pregnancy because of them.

The risks are that you can go into labour early. That the positioning of the fibroids can cause problems with giving birth and/or having a c-section. And if they are already there, pre-pregnancy, then they can cause miscarriage if the baby hasn't latched on to anything but the fibroid.

My ob was extremely concerned by the positioning of my fibroids, as you can probably gather by the above posts. One was near the birth canal, so he was concerned that bub wouldn't get past to prepare for birth. It was a large fibroid. Another one was in the exact spot where the cut would have to be made for a c-section. So for me that meant that if my baby didn't get into the birth canal, I'd have to have a vertical incision caesar. Removing the fibroids while pregnant is incredibly dangerous - because they can grow so much, blood loss can be fatal, so that was a definite no-no. By the time I was 35 weeks pregnant, you could see a lump bulging out of me above my belly button - I thought it was a baby's knee or elbow, but was told later that it was a fibroid. By memory the biggest was about 4cms according to the scans.

I had extra ultrasounds to check the positioning of the fibroids and to measure their size. You may not need this - they might be in completely irrelevant positions for birth.

And the good news after all the angst and worry was that I delivered my baby four days before her due date, ala natural. She got past the fibroids no problems. So even after everything, it all went perfectly. She was 3.5kg.

After birth, the fibroids shrink again and you can get them removed if you wish to, or if they cause problems. Sometimes the problems they cause are bad cramping, heavy/irregular periods, etc. I haven't had them removed but plan to look into it soon. I don't want to have them for another pregnancy. I lost my first baby and we think it may have been because it latched onto a fibroid instead of the uterine wall.

I hope all of this helps. It is a scary time with these rotten things, but as the u/s technician said, its nothing to worry about.

Corelly x