Please Pray --- about my uterus!

If the word “uterus” freaks you out, now would be a good time to stop reading this blog post. Stop right here. Now. Go no further.

Okay, so I want to fill you all (or at least whoever is left reading) in on what has been actually happening in my life the last little while. Oh, of course I’ve told you about some of it, but I didn’t want to make a big deal out of something until I knew it actually was a big deal.

As everyone now knows, I am pregnant. It’s great; I love being pregnant and feeling this little one inside me kick (I’ve been feeling he/she kick since June 19th, when I was 17 weeks!), seeing my belly expand, and anticipating the birth of our little one. However, as this pregnancy has progressed, I’ve discovered (thanks to a vigilant ultrasound tech) that not all things are going well - at least not on the inside of me.

It turns out that I have an unusual shaped uterus. Rather than being the shape of an up-side-down pear, mine is heart-shaped. But according to the obstetrician (OB) I saw last week, they can’t tell whether it is just a small indent at the top of my uterus (bicarnate uterus), or a deep “V” shape (septate uterus). Apparently it’s impossible to tell this once you are already pregnant, because of how your body changes shape to accommodate the baby. All they can tell is that it isn’t normal shaped.

Why does this matter?

Well, having either a bicarnate or septate uterus means that there isn’t as much space for the baby to grow. Which in turn means that chances are, the baby won’t stay in as long. So I am now at risk for pre-term labour (before 37 weeks; 40 weeks is full-term). But it seems that the difference between a bicarnate uterus or a septate uterus is significant. If it’s bicarnate, I have a fairly good chance of carrying my baby to term, and giving birth to a healthy baby. If my uterus is septate, the OB said that I then am at the highest risk of all women, for having a preterm baby. But, again, they don’t know which category I fall into. Until I either have my baby really early, or I don’t.

According to our lovely male OB (which the fact that he is a male weirds me out, to start with!), there is not much we can do to help prevent preterm labour, other than not be ridiculous. (He used jumping on a trampoline, and vacuuming your whole house in one day, as examples. He clearly doesn’t know that I am a classic at over-doing it, and could use a few more examples that are relevant to my life!)

So, there is not much we can do to prevent me from going into preterm labour, except have surgery (which again, freaks me out to start with!). He says they can put a stitch in my cervix, to help hold the baby in longer. I was a bit overwhelmed with all the information he gave us at our appointment, so I have yet to find out what implications this has for the actual birth of the baby. (So much for that natural, medication-free birth I was hoping for!?) And of course, along with the implications of surgery on the labour and delivery, there are risks that the surgery alone will cause preterm labour. And at this point, delivering a preterm baby would mean delivering a baby that won’t survive. The OB won’t--well, can’t--help a baby born prior to 24 weeks. And the baby born between 24-26 weeks, has only a 10% chance of survival.

Back to our options...

In two weeks (on July 14) I am having a detailed ultrasound, done at the hospital. This ultrasound will help the OB know how to proceed, and how to advise us. The next day (July 15) I will see both the midwife, and the OB again to discuss our options. If the ultrasound results aren’t good (specifically, if they indicate that my body is preparing for labour already), the OB will tell us that we need to have the surgery. If the results seem okay, Stew and I will have to decide if we want to have the surgery done anyways.

The result we are actually hoping for?! A miracle. We would like, on July 14, for the ultrasound tech to find absolutely no signs of an abnormal uterus. We know this is possible, because we serve a God of miracles. Our Heavenly Father formed my body this way, back when I was being knit together in my mother’s womb, and He can change it, however He likes.

So, please, will you join us in praying for a miracle? We know that the prayers of God’s people are powerful -- and that’s exactly what we need right now -- the power of our great God.

Please feel free to tell others about this request, and have them pray for healing. And please feel free to link to this post and share our request that way.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. I’ll keep you posted, as we know more.

Charisa