When I was younger I had some lower abdominal issues that resulted in the need for an ultrasound. During that ultrasound the tech noticed that my uterus was misshapen. Subsequent ultrasounds made it seem like my uterus was heart-shaped or bicornuate. My doctor declared it would not be something to worry about until I was ready to get pregnant.
Fast forward ten years. I've met a great man, have a great job and am finally able to start thinking about a family. We went off birth control in the summer of 2009 and were very surprised to find ourselves pregnant a few short months later. With the uterine abnormality we were told it would probably take much longer. We were thrilled and so excited about our little bean. Because my cycles have always been off we had a bit of a scare at the beginning. There was no heartbeat at the first ultrasound, which we estimated to be at 8 weeks based on LMP. However, when we went back two weeks later, there it was, fast and steady and the bean was just then measuring 8 weeks. We were so relieved. We had a follow-up appointment for 10 weeks to check on everything. The morning before that appointment I woke up with some light bleeding and immediately went to the doctor to check on the bean. The little flutter that we had been so excited to see 2 weeks earlier was no longer there. We had no idea why, but were told it happens more often than anyone knows and probably was a one-time fluke with no relation to my uterine condition. We had a D&C on January 26, 2010. We also ended up having several complications from the surgery because, as it turns out, I didn't have just one "heart shaped" uterus.
The doctors wanted to be sure that my body wasn't hindering me and sent me to a specialist to formally diagnose my uterine malformation. After diagnostic surgery it was discovered that I had two completely seperate uteruses, two cervixes and a septate vagina. The right uterus is smaller than the left and the "stretchy" aspect of both uteruses is hindered because of the condition. (updated 10/9/10... from the pathology of the baby it seems that the placenta was not as developed as the baby which would point to the fact that the uterine lining is also thin and does not allow for a proper placenta and proper blood flow to the baby) It was not expected that the condition would increase my risk of not being able to conceive or miscarriage. (update: except now with the placental issues, this is no longer true)... The risk would be in how long I could carry a baby before going into pre-term labor (updated: which is still true)...
I was closely monitored from February-May. We tested to see if I was ovulating every month and all the tests said my body hadn't gotten back to "normal" yet. However, June 1, I had aonther positive pregnancy test. I was floored. And overjoyed. I was monitored from that week (week 3) through week 10 at least once, if not twice, a week by my RE. We had a scare at 6 weeks when I began to bleed because my left uterus (baby was in the right side) hadn't picked up on the signals that it wasn't suppossed to be having a period yet. But we made it through that. The doctor released me to my OB and the baby was active and strong at our 10 week ultrasound. I saw a doctor every week and a half to two weeks after that, reveling in the joy of hearing her little heartbeat every time. I survived being sick as a dog through the whole first trimester and rejoiced when we made it to 14 weeks and could begin officially telling everyone.
I had my 17 week check up on a Monday afternoon. Everything was fine. The baby's heartbeat was a strong 158 bpm and she was jumping around being shy of the doppler or just being plain ornery. I had just begun to feel her move the week before and it brought me joy everytime I felt her. Her daddy was finally moving from the "cautiously optmistic" state he was in to a state of excitement, holding her and kissing her goodbye and talking with her about our future together. The day before I was 19 weeks we recieved our at home doppler in the mail. I was still so nervous and knew having that reassurance would make my life so much easier.
Except it wasn't reassuring. We looked for an hour and couldn't find anything. The next morning I called my doctor, they didn't want to see me because they claimed she was too small to find a heartbeat consistently with a fetal doppler and not to worry about that. But I knew something was wrong so I told them I was having slight cramping. They said I might have a bladder infection and to come in to do a urinalysis. While there, I convinced them I would be so less stressed if I could just hear the heart beat. 2 nurses later, they couldn't find a heartbeat and sent me to get a sonogram, "just to reassure me". 2 sono-techs later and it turns out there is no heart activity. I of course went to the doctor alone, thinking I was blowing things out of proportion and just worrying. After all, I had made it past the "danger zone" and was in that sweet spot where I wasn't suppossed to have to worry!
I was told that, because of how far along I was, I would either need to just wait it out and deliver on my own, or be induced. I couldn't stand the thought of waiting. So on Saturday, September 25th I went to labor and delivery to be induced and deliver our 19 week old child. Over 40 hours later I delivered our little angel at 1:07 am on Monday, September 27th, 2010. Weighing just under 6 oz and 7.5 inches long she was perfect in her miniture state with beautiful fingers and toes and long arms and legs just like daddy. We had complications delievering the placenta, and doctors ended up taking it forceably from me because they were loosing me. I ended up with a pretty severe infection after they discharged me and was back in the ER within 9 hours for an emergency D&C to clean out what they missed with the forced removal and to get a blood transfussion. It was a horrific experience. But, I will be forever grateful for the dignity and respect the nurses there showed me, my family and our little baby. I will always treasure the moments I got to hold our child, sing to her and love on her.
I will have to update this later because as of right now we don't even know what the gender was or what caused the miscarriage. We may never know the cause, but I haven't made it to followup appointments yet to get the results of the autopsy and chromosonal testing they did. There was already some deterioration that made it impossible to say 100% if it was a boy or a girl. Updated: the pathology reports note "visibly female" but are waiting on the chromosonal testing. Pathology also indicates that the only problem currently was an insufficient placenta... praying hard that there was something chromosonially wrong (despite how wrong that sounds) because I'm not sure I can handle it if my broken body killed my babies...
Update again... couldn't get the chromosones to grow for them to do genetic testing so we have no idea if something was wrong with baby mine... we're going with my gut and the doctor's observations that my baby was my Nadia...
