do you have fibroids?

[greenzebra]

I have fibroids, Im 24 weeks and have just had a fibroid consultation to discuss if they think there will be a problem during childbirth. Luckerly doc thinks I will be alright but still makes my think I might not be. I have several and they tell me I dont have any around the cervix but I know I have one at the back of my cervix because thats how I found out I had fibroids.

Was wondering if anyone else in the same boat.

I have suffered from red degeneration already, my god never felt pain like it and couldnt move at all!

Hi, I have fibroids. Am in my second pregnancy now, nearly 30 weeks. Have had no problems with them at all this pregnancy, but with my first, I had major pain in second trimester, including four days in hospital, up all night in pain crying out. However, I had completely fine third trimester and normal vaginal birth (of a nearly 10 pound baby!). So it doesn't have to be a problem! Hope all goes well with you and baby and try not to worry too much. :-) They also may shrink a bit - apparently baby can squish them.

I have a big (13cm across) one - it's at the top of my womb so no problems with birth but some problems with breathing/Acid as it's pushing on my diaphragm.

Am 33 weeks now and it's still bearable. I have a consultation at 36 weeks to see if early induction is necessary but I feel like I'm going to be ok.

It's scary because they're just shrugged off at the hospital but the further I get in to my pregnancy, the more I think they're probably not worth worrying about - there's nothing they can do about them during pregnancy so it's best to just put yourself in the hands of the consultant and take guidance.

Hope you're ok.

cheers girls thats nice to hear. It is true midwife thinks they are a problem and looks concernly at you when you mention them, but yeah you mention them at hospital and they just dismiss them. I hope I am ok, Im sure I will be. Theres just that doubt in your mind that on labour day your be there doing your best and then the doctors start taking them serious and saying you'll need a c-section.

Oh welljust have to wait and see.

cheers again guys

I also have a few that have been monitored from the beginning. My consultant was especially concerned with the one near my cervix and had already determined that I should have a cs early on. However, at my 33 week scan, the radiologist noted that it grew but stretched further away from my cervix, so the baby's head may be fine going through the canal for a natural birth.

Oddly enough I don't feel the pains (unless the bruising feeling across my bump is just that) and I'm so sorry for yours, GZ and MLH, eeks!

Though my consultant didn't think there was anything I could do for it, I went on an all organic meat/dairy/poultry/eggs and sometimes fruit/veggie diet to minimise the hormones I ingest. May have been a futile (and expensive!) attempt, but gave me piece of mind.

If they are monitored and not located in areas where they are squishing your baby, it should be fine. Good luck with this and enjoy the next 16 weeks! :)

I have fibroids & have a DS, now nearly 3yrs. I was advised I could be at a slightly higher risk of bleeding during/after the birth due to the extra vascularity of the fibroids & the fact they can interfere with the normal contracting of the uterus so they knew to have some blood ready on hand when I was giving birth.

I experienced degeneration pain at 6mths - hideous!! I had read that fibroids can interfere with the effectiveness of the contractions & I think this may have occurred with me, as I had a stop-start labour for the first 48hrs & had to be augmented with syntocinin. Babe was also posterior, so I wonder if the fibroids stopped him turning but plenty of babes are posterior anyway. After the birth I had a retained placenta &, as predicted, a PPH, but can't say whether that was definitely attributable to fibroids.

I was very keen to breastfeed in order to help shrink things down after the birth! Recently I thought the fibroids had grown alot as my tummy looked big but I had a scan & they were not too different in size - I was just fat! I haven't had anything done with the fibroids yet & am planning at least one more child.

One was noted in my last pregnancy - around 4cms, I think, so not too big. Certainly didn't interfere with my very rapid labour/natural birth of a 9lb 12oz-er, with no unusual bleeding afterwards.

It was also noted in my early viability scan yesterday although now it's 2.5cm (hurrah!) BUT with a calcified rim. I looked it up and calcified fibroids are usual in elderly women (I'm 37, ffs) or those with low estrogen/high calcium diets (my diet has woefully little dairy in it...).

Wow, thanks fibroid. Way to make me feel like an old shrivelled crone...

(hoping the calcification doesn't mean worse news durin pregnancy even though it's shrunk)

I have a big fibroid, about 15cm across. DS was born in october by planned C-section as my obstetrician was concerned that i would have reduced contractions and not be able to deliver naturally. also i think my age was was a factor - 40 on delivery.

Obstetrician was going to try and remove it, but due to vascularity, it bled a lot at delivery and I ended up anaemic.... still have it so looking at having it sheunk by cutting off the blood supply. hoping that then i could have a natural birth second time around....

manda - I'd say the calcification will most likey have occured during your pregnancy. It is what happens when the fibroid gets too big & outgrows its own blood supply. The tissue effectively dies & is calcified by the body so it is inert. This is sometimes described as degeneration & can cause hideous pain (similar to cardiac infarction when blood supply is cut off in the heart) but can also occur gradually. I would have thought it shouldn't bother you in future pregnancies as the calcified bits are essentially inert.

Romilly - are you thinking of having UAE? Is it ok for large fibroids like yours & if you still want to get pregnant afterwards? Last I heard it wasn't usually recommended for either of those cases but I think things have moved on a bit in the last few years with more experience of women having had this treatment.

I have five fibroids, the biggest is about 5cm. The hospital told me not to worry about them as they were only likely to be an issue if they were blocking the cervix. I'm now 31 weeks and so far have had no problems. Still waiting to see if they'll cause any issues during labour, but as others have said there's nothing they can do about them during pregnancy, other than monitor you and take action if problems arise.