My Story

Here goes…

I was born with a retroverted and prolapsed uterus. Retroverted, or ‘tilted’ uteruses are pretty common but prolapses are pretty rare in women who haven’t delivered a baby or two. I was born with a prolapse. It wasn’t too much of a big deal but it made wearing tampons impossible and I would get frequent urinary tract infections. In my early 20s I had a uterus suspension that lifted my uterus off my bladder. RELIEF!!! The surgery was fantastic and everything was great… until I got pregnant last year.

I have always wanted children and was thrilled to find out that I was pregnant; however, I knew that something was wrong from the start. I had really bad cramping and my ultrasound dates didn’t match the conception dates. The doctors kept telling me that I must be wrong about when my husband and I conceived but I definitely wasn’t. I KNEW. Unfortunately we lost the baby at 12 weeks. It was awful and I don’t like thinking about it; however, I’m mentioning the loss because my uterus, which WAS suspended nicely, came back down.  Helllloooooo urinary tract infections, painful sex, low back pain - goodbye comfort.

My husband and I knew that we wanted to try to have another baby as soon as it was safe to do so. After getting the ‘okay’ from a fertility specialist we started trying. Three months later we were pregnant!! Turns out that having a prolapse or retroverted uterus doesn’t really affect fertility. So there’s SOME good news J

This pregnancy felt different from the beginning. Our dates matched up and the baby was developing normally.

Then, about 16 weeks in, the contractions began. I know that it’s ‘normal’ for women to experience Braxton Hicks contractions throughout pregnancy but I was getting about 3 an hour and they were (are – I still get them) painful. I had to eventually take leave from work and I’ve been on modified bed rest since.

I’m now 26 weeks pregnant (Hallelujah!) and have been told I have an irritable uterus.  That means that I have frequent contractions but they don’t change my cervix. I’ve had many ultrasounds to measure my cervix length and everything looks good on that front.

What doesn’t look good? My amniotic fluid levels. My last ultrasound at 25 weeks revealed that the cervix was good and closed (3.5, woo hoo!) but my fluid levels were low. When my midwife told me this I assumed that it was no big deal but then I researched what it means and started to PANIC. Will my baby be born without functioning kidneys and lungs? Do I have a slow leak? I have so many questions that will hopefully be answered NEXT Thursday (6 days!!) after my ultrasound.

So there, you’re all caught up! Please feel free to contact me with questions about any of these issues. I’m in no way a doctor but I’ve been through a lot and would love to share my experiences with you.