My daughter-in-law wants a child, but is having trouble getting pregnant and staying pregnant. She has been told she has a "heart-shaped" uterus. Anyone else dealt with this? Suggestions?
I have that as well. It comes in a variety of heart shapes though and I'm not sure why it would affect her losing the embryo or baby. Even if's the uterus is split in half the baby should be able to stay in one half of the uterus.
Whenever there is a heart shape uterus there is a large change of having a breech baby and thus a c-section. My uterus is heart shaped but not severe and I carried both my kids to term and had a c-section with both. I'd have her see an infertility specialist. Usually, after three or so they look deeper into the issue. Maybe it's an incompetent uterus or the egg is just implanting in the wrong spot or something. Is there a hormone issue like low progesterone? That will not prepare the uterus as it should for the egg to implant properly. Clomid may help or progesterone suppliments. I'd check with an infertility doctor. I wish her luck and a blessing of a baby soon. It must be so hard to deal with the losses.
We ended up adopting.
Barbara
I have a heart-shaped uterus, have had pollyps and endometriosis which I had surgically repaired. We tried for 6.5 years and were in the process of adopting when I became pregnant. Our answer wasn't the adoption process that everyone wants to claim it was. It was having a new doctor who did a little bit of extra digging. She diagnosed me with PCOS and put me on Metformin. I was on it for a month and took myself off thinking I was sick of playing the game and having more disappointments. I was ready to move on with my life and adopt. I even tried calling the doctor to write a prescription of birth control pills the same week I conceived (it is a good thing she wanted me to make an appointment instead). Anyway, as another person mentioned, you can still carry a baby with a heart-shaped uterus. I did. I carried my baby on one side and even looked a little lopsided. I had pre-eclampsia and had a c-section the same day as my 37 week appointment to get the baby out. I would suggest that your daugther-in-law find an infertility doctor and have them run some tests. The shape of her uterus may be an obstacle, but I think it can be overcome. My doctor was so intrigued by mine that she took pictures of it. There must have been rumor of it, too. The nurses all knew. I wish her ALL the luck and all of the prayers. I truly know what she is going through and it is one of the worst things in the world.
I would recommend Dr. Hilgers with the Pope Paul the VI Institute in Omaha. His reputation in fertility matter is none all around the world. I currently am under his care for fertility issues after burying two preborn children.
My cousin has that. She has a 5 year old and a 2 year old :) I think it took her a long time to get pregnant the first time, but the second time around it went much better. She carried them both to term.
Jess
I have a heart shaped uterus...I had one miscarriage and then I had two successful pregnancies.
I don't really think there are any "tricks" that can be shared to get and stay pregnant. Only to say keep trying and relax....I know hard to do.
I don't know how many pregnancies she's lost, but if she looses 3 or more, I think the doctors will test the fetus for genetic abnormalities, that may give them more insites...also, my OB had me go in and have an ultrasound to make sure that my heart shaped uterus didn't have a closing down the mid-section (sorry I can't remember the real term, but basically he checked to make sure it was "open" from one side all the way to antoher.
My older sister has a heart shaped uterus. She had one miscarrage, but has had 4 successful pregnancies! Make sure your DIL has an OB or midwife that will take the time to talk with her about all of the possibilities. After dealing with some mild fertility issues myself (including a miscarriage) I have to say that switching Dr's was the best decicion I made. Good luck to your family!
I too have a bicornuate uterus. I have 2 wonderful children, have had one miscarriage and am pregnant with my third. She should have the ultrasound to determine how far the septum (between the two parts of the uterus) goes down. If there is a large septum, every time she gets pregnant, the placenta maybe adhering to the septum and not getting a blood supply, thus the miscarriage. There are surgeries to correct this and many have had them and continue on to have successful pregnancies. If that is not the problem, then it may not be her bicornuate uterus and she may need infertility intervention.
Good luck,
Dr. Terra Fleming
Hi Christy,
I posted something a moment ago but I found a response I sent to someone that may help a little better.
The main herbs I used were False Unicorn Root and Vitex. Back in the 1800's Native American's used to chew on False Unicorn Root when they were having trouble conceiving. FUR and Vitex is supposed to regulate your system. They are VERY powerful together. I would google it. There is a lot of information on it. I purchase mine at vitacost.com. That is the cheapest place I have found it. They have a deal if you get both of them together. After s/h the cost is between 19 and 20 dollars. Below is a link to a story of a woman who used FUR and vitex to conceive:
http://www.angelbabybaskets.com/vitex-false-unicorn-root.html
I think this woman took them half and half throughout her cycle. I took FUR and Vitex from day one of my period throughout. The second time I never got my period again. The first time it took 2 months.
Also, we used a sperm safe lubricant called Preseed. It's supposed to actually help the little buggers along.
http://www.preseed.com/products.php
One more thing: I put my husband on Fertility Blend for Men. You can buy that and GNC. Prior to taking it his morphology was low and his boys swam in circles. After one it for awhile everything came back normal.
Please let me know if you have any questions. OH I almost forgot -this is a great book that helped A LOT as well.
The Infertility Cure by Randine Lewis. She put everything in perspective. We tried Clomid and IUI's - From what she says that is the same as dumping bags of fertilizer on your grass. Too much may not do a darn thing. So look at your female reproductive organs as a garden you have to tend to and nurture and gradually they will come alive and wake up!
Again, please feel free to contact anytime!
I am sorry for her losses. I have a bicordinate uterus as well. We found out with the first ultrasound with my first pregnancy. I had problems with preterm labor with all my pregnancies. I lost the first one at 23 weeks, due to preterm labor. Second pregnancy lastest until 34 weeks and was my first living child - he is 18 yo now. Second pregnancy was lost at 26 weeks, due to placenta previa - and a BAD doctor. Third was lost at 12 weeks by miscarriage. After that, we switched to MN Perinatol Physicians by Abbott Northwestern Hospital. I credit them with the births of my last 2 living children. My girls were born at 37 and 36 weeks and are now almost 7 and 5 yo. The docs there are amazing. I had a cerclage placed with both - a stitch to close the cervix, was watched very closely, and on bed rest most of the pregnancy. I had other complications as well, not related to the uterus. I never had any trouble getting pregnant, just staying pregnant. I would suggest a good perinatol clinic and follow their advise. Good luck to her!
Sharon (mom of 3 on earth and 3 in Heaven)
My sister-in-law started with a similar story - 5 miscarriages I believe, surgeries, etc. She and her husband started a website - russianmunchkin.com that your daughter-in-law may find helpful. As the name suggests, they did adopt a son from Russia, but also got pregnant during the adoption process and now have 2 boys that are 13 months apart. Their "home grown" son was born in March. The tab "our story" on the website gives info on how their story began, and there's many other tabs that, when added up, tell an amazing story. I'm not sure if their stories are similar clinically, but knowing others have struggled and made it through may help. Good luck to her!
Christy,
I don't know much about the heart-shaped uterus, but judging by the other responses, it's not impossible to conceive with this condition. I'd recommend that she have her hormone levels tested, etc. as well... When I hadn't gotten pregnant they discovered that I had low progesterone levels (between 5-8 after ovulation- required min. to carry an embryo is 15)... I was pregnant within the second month of adding progesterone (from ovulation and through first 10 weeks). I did have a miscarriage (very early on- which is always a 1 in 3 chance with any pregnancy)- and after waiting three months to try again, got pregnant with my now 20 month old son the first month we tried. We're now currently expecting twins in August- and actually had such high progesterone levels, didn't end up needing to supplement this time. Sometimes, it's just a matter of getting things to kick in and your body takes over.
I see one person recommended someone in Omaha, NE- if you want someone local, I've been to both Abbott and the U of M- and the best out there is Dr. Theodore Nagel at the U of M's clinic Reproductive Medicine Center (www.twincitiesbabies.com). He is starting to cut back his schedule as he'll be retiring down the road, but he helped my mother conceive my brother 23 years ago after discovering she'd developed endometriosis- and has sent more people than she can count to him and he's absolutely amazing. I would definitely wait for him, though, vs. just going to the clinic. If anyone can help her, it's him.
Good luck- and tell her to hang in there.