fibroid at 20 weeks anyone?

[redshoes]

At my 20 week scan the extremely aloof sonographer picked up a fibroid low in my uterus near the os. She took lots of lovely pictures of it(she was more interested in this than the baby) but other than saying if it grew I would have to have a caesarian as it would block the baby's exit she wasn't terribly informative. Has anyone had a similar experience? I am hoping that it will have 'moved' away from the opening as the uterus has grown (I am now 30 weeks) but until I have another scan at 36 weeks I won't know...

Sorry, I can't help re the pregnancy and birth, but I am a medical journalist and I know a lot (too much!) about uterine fibroids.... There are loads of websites, usually US based, about the new treatment for them - a non invasive procedure called uterine fibroid embolisation (UFE) or uterine artery embolisation (UAE). The best one I have come across for women with fibroids is www.uterinefibroids.com - you may find some info on it there re pregnancy.
If you want to know what to do about the fibroid once your baby is born - search the net and /or ask me. Hope it all goes well.

thanks - i'll look there now

I had a fibroid with my pregnancy and was warned that I might have to have a section. In the end, the fibroid outgrew its blood supply and shriveled up so it didn't cause any problems during labour. On word of warning, when the fibroid started to die it really hurt! I spent a night in the hospital and took pain killers for about a week and it was fine after that.

If you start having pains when you wee, it could be a sign that the fibroid is dying. I was treated for cystitis but it was just that when I emptied my bladder the fibroid would move and it would cause me discomfort.

Hope it all works out. From what I've read they're very common in pregnancy and the pregnancy hormones make them grow. It's seems to be only in rare cases that they can cause problems such as taking too much space in the womb so the baby can't grow properly, but that would have to be a very big fibroid!

oo-er! how many weeks were you when it died? I guess that that is best case scenario though - thanks for the warning....

I was around 30 weeks when my fibroid died but they had seen it at my first ultrasound and it grew over time. It was right down at the bottom too and got to be about the size of a ping pong ball. I had a scan at 36 weeks to check its size and location in case it was still there and they couldn't find it! It had just literally shriveled up and gone.

I have a fibroid that was only discovered during my first pregnancy because I could feel this strange, painless, large mass that moved about in my abdomen. I asked the sonographer to have a look at it when I had my nuchal fold scan, and he identified it as a fibroid, external to the uterus, and at that time about 8cm diameter. It eventually grew to 11cm by about 35w (my last scan - I had many, but nothing to do with the fibroid). It gave me no problems whatsoever until about 20w, when it must have twisted on its stalk, because I ended up being monitored on the labour ward as the pains were so excruciating. It settled down again within a month, just giving me occasional twinges. I don't think it ever 'died' because it kept growing, but after the middle of the pg it only gave me positional pain - eg bending or straightening my legs. The fibroid had absolutely no influence on my labour. It shrank a little afterwards, back to about 8cm, and (probably) caused me very heavy periods. It also caused me occasional positional twinges, but not nearly as bad as during pregnancy, more like trapped wind.

Because the fibroid is external it moves fairly freely around my abdomen, but I have only ever noticed it moving during the first pregnancy. With the second pregnancy it was much lower down in my abdomen - I didn't feel it move at all this time. But it gave me excruciating pain (gasp-and-fall-over pain) until about 12w, and then seemed to disappear. Because the fibroid was so low, there was concern that it might affect the labour and I might have to have a caesarian, so I was scanned again at 36w. But by then it was well above the level of the baby's head, so again there were no problems with labour.

Since the birth I haven't any problems from the fibroid, and my periods are lighter than they were before having babies. Perhaps the fibroid died, because it measured 5cm at my last scan.

Redshoes, with no disrespect to the experts, I don't think an ordinary sonographer is the person to rely upon to decide on all the issues relating to your fibroid. If at your next scan the sonographer thinks there is a problem, then you should be refered to a gyne, or at least seen by a senior sonographer, to decide whether the fibroid is a problem.

i've been told i've got 2 fibroids. i don't think they're causing me any pain but i am getting sharpp short pains in my lower abdomen, i don't know if this is related? the scanman said they shouln't cause a problem in labour but they could become v painful. i am 18 weeks

Tex111, I hope I follow in your footsteps, what a relief that would be...
Prettycandles, you are right I must think about where to take advice from if it is still there/a problem at the next scan
Thanks ladies, I love this site!!!

I had a scan in the early pregnancy testing unit. I have two fibroids. The Dr said they are really commen and she see's them all the time. There was even a section for her to circle on the sheets if fibriods were present. I think you have to ask people about them really as she said for me where they were there would be no problem whatsover and I haven't worried about them since. She did say though that they are probably the reason I have always had such painful periods. Speak to the Dr not just some scan person, they are more helpful and try not to worry you too much. It scared my friend when the scan person started giving her the pictures free so she knew something must be wrong. Not very sensitive if you ask me - bringing something up and not explaining it properly.

Thanks - when I have my next scan at 36 weeks I will have my assertive head on and ask to speak to a senior med prof - I do think sonographers are a strange species, I always seem to get one who is uninterested in communicating other than the minimum bare facts...

Thought I'd just update this - had my 36 wk scan today and they couldn't find the fibroid! They looked everywhere...no-one could suggest what had happened to it - possibly behind the baby, the doctor suggested, but in any event no problem to the baby re finding exit. I am so relieved.