Monday, December 17, 2007

Meet my uterus (not for the squeemish)

I went to the doctor today because I'd been having some bleeding. I mentioned it a few posts ago when I talked about my sonogram. Well the bleeding happened on Thursday. We had our sonogram on Friday and everything was a-okay. The woman said my cervix looked irritated which could be causing the bleeding, possibly I had a yeast infection. Fine.

Saturday my peeved cervix was in a mood and I had some bright red blood again and a little bit on Sunday. I was still having some itching/burning so figured I'd call the doctor this morning even though there was no blood.

I went to my GP (you don't get an obgyn here unless you're high risk, you get a midwife and mine had yet to call me back) and she took a look. She told me she saw something "coming out of my uterus that looked like dead tissue but didn't look like a fetus either". Not something a pregnant woman wants to hear. She said she didn't feel comfortable making the call as this wasn't her area of expertise and wanted to send me to a gynecologist immediately. She wrote up a little description of why she was sending me and all I had to do was read the words "threatening miscarriage" and I was a basket case. I was there alone as I told Marco he didn't have to come because I was sure it was nothing. Good thinking Sarah. She made the appointment for me and sent me on my way.

We got to the hospital/gyno and waited for an eternity. I held it together in the waiting room but as soon as I was in the little room I broke down bawling. I was shaking like a leaf and just so scared I was going to lose this little one. A few pats on the back from the doctor and Marco and I stripped down to start the show. They immediately did an ultrasound and we could clearly see on the monitor that the baby was fine. The heartbeat was strong and it was moving around like crazy (I'm 9 weeks today according to ultrasounds). I couldn't believe how much the baby had changed since just Friday. He/she grew another 1.7 millimeters! What.a.relief. ANTM's second photo shoot was a great success.

Satisfied that the baby was safe she continued her search mission. She said that what had wasn't dead tissue it was a polyp and it was irritated. I'm really over things in my lower half being so bitchy all the time. Perk up uterus, it's Christmastime. She said as soon as she touched the polyp it started bleeding which was the blood that I was seeing not at all related to the pregnancy.

So she tried to remove it, thinking it would be easy or maybe it was loose (I guess this is what she was thinking) but couldn't get it. She then consulted other doctors and decided to leave it for now. They want me to come back so they can check and see if it has any malignant cells and will decide then if they will try to remove it or not. They don't know how far into my body is goes and are afraid it may extend to where it cold put the baby at risk if removed.

I've never had any problems like this and am totally in the dark. What's a polyp anyway? What causes it? What are the chances that it is/isn't cancerous? I asked her if it was common in pregnancy and she said no, which wasn't what I expected to hear. I expected and wanted was a cheery "oh yeah sure, it happens all the time, it's totally normal."

Good news, baby is fine. Whew. I have to go back either this Friday or on the 4th to get the polyp looked at again where the will determine if it's anything to be worried about and if it is cancerous or not and if they will remove it or let it be. So much for an uneventful pregnancy for me. I'm off to google polyps in pregnancy and scare the bejesus out of myself.

3 comments:

Tiki, Kirby, and StanLee said...

Sorry you're having problems. I had a polyp removed in August. Those things are pokey and irritate whatever they come in contact with, and bleed. Mine was inside, not sticking out, and I'm not pregnant, so some obvious differences. It was an easy surgery. They used a hysteroscope so I didn't have an incision. It was not cancerous. Hopefully yours is not either. It I remember correctly, they usually are not cancerous. I have a history of fibroids which may or may not be related. Good luck!

R&T Mom

Anonymous said...

What a yucky experience for you Sarah! I'm so glad to hear that the baby is ok. Too many people love it already for something to happen to it.
The body is funny at times. I had severe cramping at 24 weeks and thought I was in labour. I rang the Dr and he said get an icepack and lay down and rest the next day. All was good. Evidently strenuous physical activity can cause cramping during pregnancy.
You will be fine Babe, I just know it. Look at pregnancy as an adventure!!

Tiki, Kirby, and StanLee said...

I checked and polyps usually are NOT cancerous. The woman who thought it looked like dead tissue probably thought that because they look like little white trees (I have a lovely picture of mine from the hysteroscope). They cause bleeding and mine felt like it was poking me all the time. They don't show up well on ultrasounds, so the doctor thought she was removing more fibroids until she got in there. I had heavy periods and the polyp bled for a month before I got rid of it. I don't know if they will decide to remove yours yet (I'm not a doctor), but if they do - my surgery was outpatient, and I felt well enough to go to breakfast (on drugs) the next morning. I had 3 days off from work, but mostly I just felt tired. I took a couple of percocets then switched to ibuprofen. If they decide to remove yours there would be some differences because of your pregnancy, but this was by far the easiest surgery I've ever had. Hang in there and Good Luck!

R&T Mom