Hi My name is Shannon and I had our miracle baby girl 7 1/2 months ago. Although all babies are miracles - to us she is especially so. I had to have a TR to even get pregnant, then had 3 m/cs over the next 3 years before finding out I had an autoimmune problem where my body was attacking my babies. Two weeks later I was pregnant with her, and with continued meds she was delivered healthy on her Daddy's birthday by scheduled c-section. Both DH and myself are older parents (DH 46 and me 41) and each had 2 older children from previous marriages. Because our other kids (27, 25, 20, and 15) are so much older and all but one are out of the house, we had hoped to have one more child so that Ava wouldn't have to grow up alone.

That takes me up to why I am here. After Ava's birth I had very irregular bleeding for the first time in my life. No pain involved in any of it - even though I had opted for an IUD for b/c until we were going to TTC again once she turns a year old. (I'm not able to use b/c pills or any hormone therapies due to what it does to my b/p - so IUD is one of my only options.) When I went in for a 6 month follow up and mentioned the lengthy, although light AF, my OB/GYN did a pelvic exam and noticed my uterus was enlarged. He did an u/s and noticed a fibroid 2 3/4 cm X 2 1/2 cm (I know not much compared to some here). I asked about the location (surface, wall, lining) and he said mine incompasses all 3 and said that was more than likely the cause for my irregular bleeding. Well, I opted to have the IUD removed just to see what would happen. My feeling was that it was the IUD that was causing the problem. He immediately started talking hysterectomy and said the fibroid was more than likely due to my age. In my heart I don't want to have a hysterectomy. I mean I went through a lot just to be able to have my little girl by having my tubes reconnected. Since having the IUD removed, I had about a week of bleeding heavily, but it seems to have stopped now.

I'd love some input from you ladies that have experience with Fibroids and TTC. I don't know if I want to go through a surgery to remove the fibroid, since I've already had so many surgeries (3 c-sections, TR, and a procedure to open a blocked tube after the TR). I think I'd rather just take my chances and if we don't conceive, take that as a message that Ava is the only one we were supposed to have. Anyway, I hope to get some insite to this fibroid thing and any information you can share will definitely be appreciated. Thanks so much for allowing me to post.

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Hi and welcome to the board!

First of all- I wouldn't do a hysterectomy unless medically necessary. I would get a second opinoin for sure. Since you want another child you will probably need to have the fibroids removed. - just based on my experience of course....It would stop the bleeding and put your uterus back into the proper size and shape. I OR you can ttc and see what happens.know those type of fibroids will lessen the chances of implantation.

I'd go and talk to another doctor and see what your options are. Preferably an RE (Reproductive Endochronologist). They will probably have some other solutions for you.

Good luck and keep us posted!!!

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Thanks for the advice. My bleeding has stopped completely for the past 3 days. It's getting close to time for AF (calculating from last month) so I'm interested to see what happens this month. Since I only have the one fibroid and from scanning posts here, it looks like it is relatively small compared to a lot of posters, I think we are just going to see what happens. Not preventing, although I did hope to wait until DD was a year old to start trying. I'll just leave it in God's hands and if nothing happens by the time I'm 42 (next July) we'll call it quits and make a decision about permanent b/c or hysterectomy from there. If I do start to have bleeding problems again, I'll try to get back in to see the RE I went to before when I was having trouble conceiving and maintaining pregnancies. He was great and ranked in the top 5 in the US. I'm pretty sure I could get back in to see him without a referral since he's seen me before. Thanks again!

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A fibroid that extends into your uterine cavity not only interferes with implantation, but also causes miscarriage if the baby runs out of room. There are numerous procedures that can be done to remove the fibroid. One option might be having a series of hysteroscopic resections. I know that they can shave down the part that's inside the cavity, but I also think they make a small incision that "delivers" the remainder of it into the cavity so that it can be removed. There are TONS of websites out there with information and detailed pictures and video. Sometimes they can't get the whole thing out at once, so it takes a couple of surgeries (which are generally about an hour long with hysteroscopic because there's no abdominal incisions).

In my case, it didn't end up being a fibroid, but they didn't know that until the pathology report came back. Talk to your gyn or RE, and ask them to recommend someone who specializes in myomectomies. If nothing else, you can have a consult with someone who will take care to preserve your fertility and then make your decision.

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DD: 09/17/98

06/14/06: First appointment with RE
07/06/06: HSG, abnormal
07/13/06: Hysteroscopy
08/02/06: Hysteroscopic Resection of adenomyoma
09/01/06: Hysteroscopy follow-up GREEN LIGHT!