Tag Archives: bicornuate uterus

I’m a Little Overwhelmed Right Now

Posted on by
7

Holy crap, where to start, right? I finally feel like I can take a deep breath and maybe – just maybe – get my normal life back. Well, normal life +1.

In the last few weeks we’ve had Christmas, a birthday, and of course, little baby Ruby! I have so much to tell you I just might vomit all over this computer. Needless to say, the next few days are going to be full of news, pictures, stories, feelings, and even more pictures. I warn you, though, I just had a baby – I could break into tears and have a complete emotional breakdown at any moment. If this should happen, don’t panic, just send chocolate. Lots of it.

Our little girl was born Thursday, December 30th, at 8:04am via C-Section. Not my birthing method of choice, but the safest one for little Ruby as she was breech due to my bicornuate uterus. Good thing we decided to go ahead with the C-Section, she was a tough little gem to remove as her head was stuck way up in my right horn. Scott said he couldn’t believe how long they held her by the feet up in the air while trying to remove her head! Apparently she made them work for it. If you are unfamiliar with this condition, see my article on having a bircornuate uterus in pregnancy here.

She weiged 7lbs 9oz at birth and measured 19 1/2 inches long. Aside from the Jaundice, she is a perfectly healthy little girl. All three of my babies ended up having Jaundice, Hunter is the only one that had to be treated.

We ended up staying in the hospital until Saturday, a typical length of stay for a C-Section patient. The recovery from the C-Section has been much more challenging for me than the vaginal births were. I was up and around the next day after my first two children were born, this time I am only now able to be up and around without experiencing a great deal of pain. The evenings are difficult after a day of moving, my whole belly feels like one giant bruise. I can’t wait to be pain free and completely back to normal! You know, aside from the bowl full of jelly that sits where my stomach once was.

Hunter and Sophie are doing great, we are trying like hell to get them back into their normal routine. Hunter of course knew what was coming, Sophie on the other hand is struggling with some jealousy. She is mommy’s little girl (daddy’s little girl in progress if you ask daddy!) and doesn’t like this new idea of sharing me. Also, her idea of being helpful is pretty much everything but!

I have only begun to see the challenges ahead. Daddy was gone for a couple of hours this morning and it took me almost that entire time to try and take a shower. Not until he returned was I finally able to jump in. Two tired babies who refused to sleep = one tired and showerless mommy. Scott goes to work on Monday, so I’ve got one more day to figure out this juggling act on my own.

Cheers to new baby! Boo for having to face reality and start losing all of that baby/peanut butter weight!

PS: Notice that first pic? The one with me right after I had a baby looking like I got ran over by a dump truck? Yeah – who loves you?

I love new followers! Please follow my RSS feed for regular updates.

Baby Ruby is a Slacker Already

Posted on by
10

Its been a while since I’ve posted about baby Ruby and our recent progress. I say “our” progress because I figure she does half the work. She’s supposed to, anyway. However, at our routine visit to the doctor a couple weeks ago, I found out that Ruby is apparently slacking on her duties. She is breech and not likely to turn before delivery.

It is common for those with a bicornuate uterus to end up with breech babies at term. The reason being, baby doesn’t realize its time to turn until there is no longer room for them to. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this condition, here is a quick explanation to get you up to speed.

A bicornuate uterus or bicornate uterus, commonly referred to as a “heart-shaped” uterus, is a type of uterine malformation where two “horns” form at the upper part of the uterus.

Effect on reproduction
Pregnancies in a bicornuate uterus are usually considered high-risk and require extra monitoring because of association with poor reproduction potential.

A bicornuate uterus is associated with increased adverse reproductive outcomes like:

Recurrent pregnancy loss: the reproductive potential of a bicornuate uterus is usually measured by live birth rate (also called fetal survival rate). This rate is estimated around 63% for a bicornuate uterus.

Preterm birth: with a 15 to 25% rate of preterm delivery. The reason that a pregnancy may not reach full-term in a bicornuate uterus often happens when the baby begins to grow in either of the protrusions at the top. A short cervical length seems to be a good predicter of preterm delivery in women with a bicornuate uterus.

Malpresentation (breech birth or transverse presentation): a breech presentation occurs in 40-50% pregnancies with a partial bicornuate uterus and not at all (0%) in a complete bicornuate uterus.

Previously, a bicornuate uterus was thought to be associated with infertility, but recent studies have not confirmed such an association.

Although I am terribly disappointed with the news, I am grateful to have been able to deliver both of my first two vaginally. Hunter in particular, as he was premature. According to my OB/Gyn, a vaginal delivery for preemie babies is best because the trip through the birth canal squeezes all the crap out of their under-developed lungs.

The idea of having a C-Section is less than exciting for me. Mostly because I’m a big baby. The thought of being cut open while awake makes me want to pull my blanky out of the top drawer and throw back a few shots of vodka. Unfortunately, my doctor seriously frowns upon such behavior and I pay him a lot of money to tell me these things.

If only I could turn back time about a month and know what I know now. I’d have used hand-walking as my method of travel and removed the headboard from my bed to create an upside down slant for sleeping.

Added bonus: I’m fairly certain my husband would have slept on the couch, making plenty of room for the baby belly and body pillow. Also, a lot less snoring in my ear.

So, I’m sitting at 4 cm dilated now with 10 baby toes kicking the crap out of my cervix. My water is bound to break sooner rather than later if things continue to progress the way they are. Doctor is checking me regularly and a C-Section will be performed next week, assuming Ruby doesn’t decide she’s ready before then. Which, knowing my children, I’m counting on.

I love new followers! Please follow my RSS feed for regular updates.

And then there were 3

Posted on by
5


(Star Wars theme music playing)

There’s a fresh, hot, Cinnabun in my oven and the timer’s set for January. January 6th to be exact. Although, taking into consideration the way the eclair and the danish cooked up… we’ll need to be prepared by December 1st, at the latest.

*Star wars theme inspired by Princess Leia’s cinnamon roll hair, of course.

I have waited to make the “official” announcement due to many factors, the main one being that my pregnancies always seem to be as much fun as a cake-less birthday party and as difficult as pushing a car with square wheels up a hill – both ways in the snow, of course. In other words, I wasn’t sure we were gonna make it this far and once that card has been dealt… well, you’ve licked the back of it and stuck it to your forehead. Continue reading →