My Extra Special Uterus

Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it. I really do.

I said I would write later about the other issues that are playing into this miscarriage, so here I am keeping my word and writing about one of these issues - my extra special uterus.

During our first ultrasound with this pregnancy it was discovered that there was something wrong with my uterus. After the miscarriage we had another ultrasound done in which my OB told me I either had a septum or a bicornuate uterus. Determining which it was couldn't be done reliably with my OB's regular old ultrasound machine, so I was scheduled for a fancier, 3-D ultrasound which was done last week. I have been diagnosed with having a bicornuate uterus, and there is essentially nothing that can be done about it. At least if I had a septum it could be fixed surgically.

Basically, a bicornuate uterus is a uterus which isn't shaped normally. It kind of looks like a heart (so much so that it's often called a "heart shaped uterus"), where as a normal uterus looks like a balloon. As one type of mullerian anomaly, it is part of a group of uterine abnormalities that occurs in about 3% of the population. My specific anomaly occurs in about .5% of the population, so I'm amazingly unique. Aren't I lucky?

With that diagnosis comes these associated risks - an increased risk of premature labor, an increased risk of recurrent miscarriage, an increased risk of an incompetent cervix, an increased risk of intra-uterine growth restriction, an increased risk of trouble getting pregnant, an increased risk of placental problems and an increased chance of having a breech or transverse baby. So, all that sucks. Like, a lot.

The whole increased risk of preterm labor and an incompetent cervix worry me a lot because of my mother's history - 7 pregnancies, 2 living children (my brother and I). Out of 7 pregnancies, 1 was a miscarriage, 1 was a blighted ovum, and the other 5 had complications from preterm labor and incompetent cervix issues. I have a sister who lived about 45 minutes after being born when my mother's cervix just gave way far too early.

The increased risk of recurrent miscarriage frankly just scares the crap out of me. I mean, miscarriages already scared the crap out of me, and now I find out I have an even higher chance than I thought of having another one. Ugh and also, no thanks. Miscarriages suck and I really, really, really would like to never have another one, like ever.

So, there you have it folks, my uterus is so incredibly special that I get to worry about all kinds of things on top of all the things I already worried about in relation to pregnancy. And I'm a top-notch pregnancy worrier, so I can't even imagine how super awesome my next go round is going to be. I mean, like, I get to worry even more than I do already? Wow, how utterly crap-tastic!