Pregnancy and fibroids

[peps2917]

Hi everyone

im hoping for some hand holding here. I’m 12 weeks pregnant and have had 3 scans so far, all showing a healthy baby. The last one was at 10+2 and I have my NHS one tomorrow.

I also have 7 fibroids; two of which are 7-8 cm in size. They are all either on the lining of the womb or just outside it and before pregnancy they caused me A LOT of discomfort. I had to go to A&E once due to the pain.

Over the past 2 days, I’ve been feeling this dull ache that hasn’t gone away around my uterus area. I can visibly see when I lie down that my uterus (I think??) is bulging out too. I am a little worried of course. There’s been no blood or anything, just this non stop aching. I did get told at the start of the pregnancy that these fibroids may cause me discomfort, which I can now feel.

has anyone experienced this? Not much information was given to me by my midwife and I won’t have my obstetrics appt until September so I have to wait until then. I am considered high risk due to the fibroids which will mean I get more scans every etc. not sure if this is the fibroids or something else too…

Words of wisdom are more than welcome!

Hi @peps2917 i don’t have any words of wisdom, other than I’m 11+4 and have 5 fibroids. My biggest are 5cm, so smaller than yours.

I’ve had some dull aching too and was told the risk is post labour as the fibroids prevent full constriction of the uterus and so the placenta isn’t easily delivered and there’s a bleeding risk.

I really hope you get on ok tomorrow, my 12 weeks scan is Thursday. Please update me on any pearls of wisdom you get told, from one fibroid girl to another. And please try not to worry, I’m sure there’s nothing untoward going on other than these pesky fibroids and a little babe blooming away.

xx

@AiRoo oh really! Let’s stay in touch as it would be nice to have some hand holding. I will definitely keep you posted. My obstetrics appt isn’t until early September but going to try and see a gyno tomorrow as I need some guidance on how to navigate this - it hurts!!

@AiRoo they checked my fibroids and I got some answers and some strong meds!! Got hydrocodeine. He said the fibroids feel very normal. Two of them are sitting on top of my womb so he said that’s what the bulge is - he said it’s normal for women with fibroids to start showing earlier as the fibroids make it look like the bump is bigger than it is. He also said that as the pregnancy progresses unfortunately the pain can increase and I’m at risk of something called red degeneration which is when the baby is using up all my blood supply and the fibroids don’t have any left so they’re making degenerate and this cause EXTREME pain and often women need to be hospitalised to ease the pain. There’s nothing you can do to prevent it or to treat it apart from IV drip for pain. Hopefully this won’t happen but at least I know now that if I feel terrible pain that could be happening. Anyway it was helpful to see him and he gave me some useful information at least. Lots of monitoring and for now, lots of resting!

Hi @peps2917 ! I'm just wondering how you've been going with your fibroids. I've also got a huge one (11cm) atm which has grown in pregnancy. I'm 17 weeks now and worried about it getting even bigger! I just learnt about fibroid degeneration yesterday and gosh it sounds awful. Crossing fingers neither of us experience it!

Hi @SamVan ! I’m 28 weeks now and luckily all good and baby is growing well and fibroids don’t seem to be increasing in size. They are close to my cervix though so we have made a decision to go for a c section to be safe. Have they been painful for you? I had a flare up in week 12/13 then that’s it thankfully!

I had a large fibroid during pregnancy. It was the size of a babies head and was positioned anterior just above my bladder. Every midwife who examined me mistook it for DS’s head. So it wasn’t until a growth scan at 35wks he was located as transverse breech and elective csection was planned.
I had a complicated pregnancy but apart from confusing everyone the fibroid was symptomless. It shrank back after pregnancy only to reappear when growth was stimulated by HRT. Then it caused major problems with sciatica. I now take hormone blockers after breast cancer treatment and they have shrunk again so no longer causing pain

@peps2917 Glad everything has been going well so far! I'll be having a c section anw too and always planned to. I think it is safer with fibroids as I heard there might be excessive bleeding. Mine hasn't been painful so far but I do feel quite a bit of pressure in that area now and then and if I lie in the wrong position it can hurt (I suspect it must be pressing on something). Did your doctor mention anything about a second child and whether you must remove it before then? Doctors weren't concerned before I got pregnant as it was only 4cm or so. But I'll need to talk to my doctor about what happens if I want to have another.

My obstetrician seems to think it’s fine and didn’t say anything about a second child. This is my first too - I will cross that bridge when I need to!! Yes I know about the excessive bleeding - doesn’t sound great but I think a c section sounds like the safest bet! Let me know how you get on - hope all goes smoothly for you.