Heart-shaped Uterus
Printed From: OHbaby!
Category: Support
Forum Name: Coping with infertility
Forum Description: Have you been trying to conceive unsuccessfully? Dealing with primary or secondary infertility? Get support, advice, and help coping here.
URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=24973
Printed Date: 26 April 2024 at 10:27am
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Topic: Heart-shaped Uterus
Posted By: Crakleys
Subject: Heart-shaped Uterus
Date Posted: 04 March 2009 at 12:06pm
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Last week I had my first FA appointment, and I was referred to a radiologist to check if my tubes were blocked.
So, I had my hysterosalpinogram (sp?) on Monday, and it has shown up some alarming news. My tubes are not blocked, but... I have a heart-shaped uterus, which means one of two things: 1. a septum uterus 2. a bicornuate uterus. I also have a fibroid on my uterus (which i think is not as serious as the other issues). I am anxiously awaiting my next appointment with FA to find out what this all means. But from my research, it seems that the best case scenario is it's a septum, as you can have an operation for that, but bicornuate uterus sounds a lot more dire. :( :( :( Also, there seems to be a very high risk of miscarriage with these conditions. You can imagine how stoked I am about that, considering I have been TTC 14 months with no pregnancy to speak of - to then find out that if I do get pg there is a high risk of miscarrying, and also a dangerously prem birth. It turns out this is something I was born with, so at least it's not my fault! I think the best case scenario is that I have surgery for the fibroid and septum (please be a septum!) and then I do get preg. Either way, it's going to be a looong road involving operations, and all the charting, and BDing and eating right and Elevit in the world isn't going to help me. I have never even heard of this problem before, and was wondering if anyone else has it? It seems quite rare. Thes types of uterine problems also seem to be called "Mullerian Anomalies". I spent all day Monday sobbing (alarming googling had thrown up surrogacy as a possible solution - hello my life has just turned into Shortland Street!) but am now trying to be positive, and at least wait until I know exactly what the hell the story is. My FA appointment is still a month away!! Sorry for the novel. |
Replies:
Posted By: ElfsMum
Date Posted: 04 March 2009 at 12:28pm
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i don't know anything much at all except a girl in my AN had heart shaped uterus and had healthy baby girl 4 weeks early but she was fine...so there is hope.. ? ------------- Mum to two amazing boys! |
Posted By: busymum
Date Posted: 04 March 2009 at 12:33pm
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We used to have a member on here (not any more) who has a bicornuate uterus and is mama to a 2yo. She had a lot of monitoring during her pregnancy but I don't think anything serious came as a result. As far as I recall, they were able to conceive naturally too. -------------  |
Posted By: GuestGuest
Date Posted: 04 March 2009 at 12:40pm
| Hi, sorry to hear about the news! However I had a friend a few years back who had a heart shaped uterus and had a healthy baby with no issues. I don't know much about the condition other than that there is a higher chance of miscarriage. Good luck and try to take one day at a time. |
Posted By: emz
Date Posted: 04 March 2009 at 12:41pm
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Firstly, hugs hun as it's not nice to find out news like that. Secondly, google is NOT your friend so don't go googling info on it as it has all the worst case scenarios.
It really depends on how severe the heart-shape is. I have a slight bicornuate uterus (basically a very slight heart shape) I was monitored more closely during pg and did have a bit of a scare at 26 weeks which turned out OK and then my boy was born at term. Other than that, my TTC issues have been completely separate. Also, my friend's mum has a severe bicornuate uterus where it's so bad it basically forms to seperate wombs. She managed to carry all of her kids till at least 36 weeks as the side she wasn't carrying on would just get squashed by the side that had the baby in. I hope you get some good answers when you have your next appt. But I strongly suggest not doing what I did - I went through my whole report and googled every word I didn't understand - not a smart move! 
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Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 04 March 2009 at 12:43pm
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Elleroo, sorry to hear that. I think it is best to take 1 step at a time, & I know that is easy to say but sometimes the picture is too overwhelming.
You can make plans when you know thing for sure but don't rule anything out. There is always hope & you know you will get the best care ever. So fingers x'd for you & keep us updated so we can be a support group for you. 
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Posted By: Crakleys
Date Posted: 04 March 2009 at 12:51pm
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Thanks everyone for your support - awesome to hear that some women have had normal pregnancies/births with heart-shaped uteruses (uteri? LOL).
I am going to try and stay positive until I find out what the next step will be. Dh has been wonderful, and won't have me talking about my "bung uterus", LOL. I guess at least I now know why I have not been able to conceive (well kind of). It could well be the fibroid preventing implantation, as apparently it sort of acts like those contraceptive devices some women have implanted. Thanks again you guys!!!!!!!!!! |
Posted By: Crakleys
Date Posted: 04 March 2009 at 12:54pm
| PS: Emz, you are so right, Google is NOT my friend! |
Posted By: asicsgal
Date Posted: 04 March 2009 at 4:46pm
Elleroo still sounds like there is hope hun and although it is easy for us to say, try to take one step at a time. Yip, stay away from google, I know it's tempting cos we all do it but it gives you so many more questions than giving you answers and throws all this scary info at you which may not apply to you. Lots of hugs and keep us posted. ------------- http://lilypie.com">  
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Posted By: catie
Date Posted: 04 March 2009 at 5:34pm
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Hi Elleroo
I have a bi-cornuate/sub-septate uterus too (not sure which), and did a lot of googling when I first found out - and also was horrified by what I found! But I also found out that no-one actually knows for sure how many women have one or other of these conditions, so rates of miscarriage etc aren't very accurate. Maternity carers often only find out that someone has it if/when something goes wrong, so there could be a whole lot more women out there, who have had perfectly normal pregnancies and neither they nor their doctor ever find out about the uterine abnormality. A gynaecologist I saw said that he'd recently performed a caeseran on a woman (for an unrelated issue) who had had three previous completely normal pregnancies and births, and they only found out about her bi-cornuate uterus at this 4th birth. Secondly, lots of women carry twins (or even more) to full-term, so if they can manage that, then your (and my!) uterus will probably be able to manage to carry one 
I know this is upsetting news, but I personally don't belive the situation is as dire as google woould have us beleive. Hope this helps. |
Posted By: tiptoes
Date Posted: 04 March 2009 at 6:26pm
Sorry to hear about your news Elleroo and having to wait another month to get any more news must be so frustrating I'm glad to see so many replies of others with the same thing and that they've gone on to have babies fine, such a relief. I hope the wait for your operation isn't too long. ------------- http://alterna-tickers.com">  
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Posted By: Crakleys
Date Posted: 09 March 2009 at 12:31pm
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Thanks guys, have just been away so am catching up on your posts.
Catie I think you are right, and thanks for your kind words. Chelle, thanks for your support also. :) I am feeling a lot better about it all now - partly because I have had a long weekend away with no time to think about it, and partly because I received an email back from my FA doctor who basically said "don't panic, it's not a big deal. We can take the septate out if that's it." So yay. Am sitting tight and waiting until my April 3 appointment, and in the meantime trying to relax. :) |
Posted By: Nutella
Date Posted: 12 March 2009 at 7:12pm
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Good luck Elleroo, I have normal shaped uterus as far as I know but have had a polyp in uterus which like your fibroid was acting like a contraceptive device (IUD). So you might find that is the reason you are not conceiving...by the sounds of what others are saying re heart shaped uterus it might not be an issue at all.
I have also been trying for some time (16 months?...crap i think it is 18 months when did that happen!) and only just found out in December so it was very frustrating to wait to get it fixed even though I had op in Feb. Pretty crazy to think that all along your naughty little uterus was stopping all the spermies ay! ------------- 
 Oct 11
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Posted By: crakars
Date Posted: 23 March 2009 at 11:42am
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Hi Ellaroo - when i had my hystero...... thingy - they told me i had one as well - but they were wrong - so make sure you have it confirmed fully - when they do the internal scans at FA they can sometimes tell from those - all my scans showed a normal shaped uterus - so who knows?
at least your tubes arent blocked! -------------  http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: Crakleys
Date Posted: 24 March 2009 at 8:44am
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Thanks crakars! Am heaps more chilled since I wrote the original post, as I am waiting to find out exactly what is wrong. Appointment is in 10 days now, yay! :D
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Posted By: Crakleys
Date Posted: 06 April 2009 at 8:58am
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Hey all, just an update in case it helps anyone else out there with similar issues. :)
I had another Fertility Associates appointment on Friday, and the next step is to book in for an MRI to find out for sure if I have a septum/fibroid. It's frustrating I had to wait a month to be told that, which I already knew! We are going private for the MRI to speed things along. ($1000) Once the MRI results are in, I will either have a surgery to remove, or else go ahead with other options like clomid/IUI/IVF if they don't feel the uterus is the problem. I definitely think it is though. We are paying for the FA appointments, as the public funding doesn't cover this problem - seems like a ridic loophole. If I have to have the op, we can go public but that will take months, so we are trying to weigh up if we should pay $10k to go private. If we have to have IVF, looks like private will be our only option unless we want to wait out the 5 year period. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: mummymegs
Date Posted: 06 April 2009 at 12:38pm
| fx that it is all fine and we can be clomid popper buddies. |
Posted By: mummymegs
Date Posted: 06 April 2009 at 12:39pm
| Oh, and when do you find out? |
Posted By: Crakleys
Date Posted: 06 April 2009 at 1:35pm
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Hey Megs! Yep I hope we can be clomid pill popper buddies too! hehe.
Good news is MRI had a cancellation so I am getting it TODAY! No time like the present huh! Then it will take a few days to find out what the results are - possibly not till after Easter now. Yay! ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: mummymegs
Date Posted: 06 April 2009 at 2:27pm
| yay and fx for you!!!! |
Posted By: mummymegs
Date Posted: 06 April 2009 at 4:37pm
| So how did it go? Ooooh I so hope that everything is fine. Although, clomid just increases your chances of conception by 2% (from 15% to 17%). not husge odds but atleast it is a step in teh right direction. |
Posted By: Crakleys
Date Posted: 07 April 2009 at 9:04am
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Well I had the MRI - it was a lot more full-on than I was expecting!!! I think that is mainly me being a wuss though - I'm not good at that kind of thing. I had a bit of a 'turn' afterwards and had to stay there for a few hours until I was okay again.
Fingers crossed for some results on Thursday!! :D Yay Megs that you are good to go on clomid - another step forward! it feels so good that we are actually moving forward now, even if it is somewhat traumatic. LOL. ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: Princess_Bubs
Date Posted: 27 April 2010 at 2:22pm
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Hey Elleroo! I was just googling Septate/Bicornuate uteri (?) in NZ and your post came up! Small world as we were October Buddies!!
How are you going now ? What's next ? I don't know if you saw but I've been told I have a Bicornuate or Septate uterus too! I was going to go Private to get it checked out but at the moment I'm on the public system waiting to be seen! (Unless I get too impatient then I will look into the private system)! I'm so sorry you're going through this and I hope that they can fix the problem! Keep us posted ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow">  Two Precious Angel Babies 2010 / 2011
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Posted By: Crakleys
Date Posted: 05 May 2010 at 8:59pm
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Hey Princess Bubs! Sorry I only just noticed your post.
My heart shaped uterus scare was over a year ago now - it turned out to be a red herring, and my uterus was not the problem! (after lots of expensive tests!!!) here's hoping tha tis the same for you love. How are you doing? xoxox ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: Bombshell
Date Posted: 18 May 2010 at 2:29pm
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i have a bicornuate uterus too... not a spetum tho....and altho they suspected it was a false one halfway thru my pregnancy they have again confirmed - 3 years later that it is def still there....as are my lovely hormonal fibroids that feed off any pregnancy...
wonder how many of us there are on here with them???? |
Posted By: Princess_Bubs
Date Posted: 18 May 2010 at 2:57pm
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Hey Bombshell,
Sorry to hear you have a bicornuate uterus, looks like you've had children though ?  Did you have any complications with it ? ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> Two Precious Angel Babies 2010 / 2011
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Posted By: Bombshell
Date Posted: 24 May 2010 at 2:58pm
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ive had one daughter....complications were risk of having her before 28 weeks and every week we went post that was a blessing....she sat breech which is another "risk" and so i prepared for a c section from day dot! when she turned once late in pg and specialist suggested we might go natural I freaked out...i was soo prepared for c section...which we did have!
I also grew hormonal fobroids which made me HUGE and one got taken out when she was delivered. Others are still there. She was delivered at 38 weeks but weighed a VERY healthy 9lb 8! horns on my uterus and the bicornuate have been confirmed again as we are unexplained secondary infretility now....and i cant help but wonder if it does have something to do with the bicornuate that noone can explain |
Posted By: Princess_Bubs
Date Posted: 24 May 2010 at 3:04pm
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Thanks for sharing your story! Sounds like pregnancy was a very scary time for you. I miss the innocence of thinking it was easy to get pregnant, stay pregnant and deliver a healthy baby at the end of it.
I'm still waiting to be seen at North Shore Hospital, I had been told I'd be seen within a month, but then I had a call from the Specialist who said that he still hadn't graded me as they have a backlog, and he'll get back to me. I've been waiting 8 weeks now and still no nearer. I hope that you get lucky with TTC number 2! It's a long road but it'll be worth it in the end. Maybe we'll end up a due date thread together one of these days! ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> Two Precious Angel Babies 2010 / 2011
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