Septum Resection 05/14/10

I had my surgery yesterday morning. Dr Rakoff warned us that it may not work, the septum (muscle) may grow back. He was able to cut 90% of it. He wanted to open my uterus as much as he could to make us able to carry a baby. I have a follow up in 2 weeks and then from then on out he wants to monitor it to make sure it doesn't grow. He said we would know immediately if it grew back. 

Surgery went well, I am in some pain cramping mainly but bad cramping. I am also super tired. 

Over all I am very happy with San Diego Fertility Clinic and my 2 doctors. They have been very attentive and done a great job. 

We dont want to try until after the wedding, which is in 3 months! Wedding plans are coming along nicely, I can not believe it is right around the corner!

Thank you for all your support and well wishes.  I will post more when we find out at my post op appointment. 

Septum Resection!

Well tomorrow 05/14/10 is my surgery date! 1030AM I will be under the knife! Hopefully all will work out, hopefully the doctor will be able to cut enough of the septum to open my uterus enough to have a baby full term. We wont know anything until tomorrow afternoon.
I will be leaving for the hospital at 7am, have to check in at 830AM.

Thank you for all your well wishes!

Crysta and Tony

here is a picture of a normal HSG

not mine but i found it on http://www.cincinnatifertility.com just to help you see what a normal one is. 

Another day another test, it frickin hurt!

Well today was the hysterosalpingogram (HSG) is an X-ray test that looks at the inside of the uterus and fallopian tubes and the area around them. (taken from webmd.) I have read a lot on this, how you feel, if it hurts, what to take. Many women say it isnt bad but OMG the pain was horrible. It was for a few minutes but even after taking a Valium ( Tony was there to drive me) and Naproxen it hurt. My OB, Dr Edwards was in the room inserting the die while the Radiologist doctor read the x-ray. At first they thought my left fallopian tube was blocked, but then the second time they inserted the die (which is when it really really hurt) it went through. You can see the die spots to the right of the uterus (heart shaped thing).  Below is what my uterus looks like, Dr. Edwards as well as the radiologist doesnt think this can be re-sected. BUT he didnt say I can not have kids. If you google uterus or look at other postings you can see this isnt normal. My Doctor has always thought this is how it looked but was hoping it wasnt. 

The baby has been implanting on the right, the bigger of the 2 uterus's which is good but still not a lot of room. I have made an appointment with Dr. Rakkoff a fertility specialist in San Diego through UCSD as well as Dr. Morales in San Diego. I told Dr. Edwards I made an appointment for April 7 today and he said he was going to see him this afternoon. He asked the radiologist tech to make a copy of this for him to take to Dr. Rakkoff's open house of his new facility. I really was impressed, I knew I liked my Dr. but for him to be this into my care I think is very cool. He was going to talk to him about my case at an Open House for his new facility.

Dr. Edwards said there are a few options, although he doesnt think it can be surgically fixed. I asked him about implanting into the right side to make sure the baby goes to the right side and he siad that is a possibility. He also says there are women who carry. I will definitely be high risk though.

I know it is bad of me to think why me, but I do. I know I have my health and an amazing fiance and family as well as friends. But this is a lot to take in.
Im sorry if I come across as selfish, but sometimes I just wonder. I wonder how things will turn out, what decisions we will have to make in the future. This is getting harder on me as we find out more and more.

Again I am sorry if I dont go to your baby shower or something like that. I will get over this, there are so many babies being born around us. They are all so adorable and I can not wait to meet them all!

Thank you friends for being there and understanding. Tony and I appreciate everyone's support.

For now we need to concentrate on our wedding!
Wedding dresses, decorations and the fun stuff!

I will post again in a few days but for now that is our update.

Thanks for reading!
Love
Crysta and Tony

Consultation with OB (beware picture)))

So today at 4PM we had a consultation with my OB Dr. Edwards at Scripps in Rancho Bernardo.  He told me that the MRI wasnt what he was looking for. He would of rather me have a small septum that would be easily repaired, basically he suggested I see someone else to have them fix it. I have to have a hyst.....whatever x-ray in a few weeks where they inject dye in me. He has seen 10-20 women with this issue in the many years he has been practicing. He even brought out a book from 1970's (medical school).
He is going to send the pictures of this x-ray as well as the MRI to a UCSD fertility specialist. In the mean time I am going to try and get some other suggestions or consultations with a few other specialist to see what the say.

I know on Facebook I was pretty disappointed, but it sucks when something like this happens to you. I know I have my health and family and friends..and the dr didnt say I have to get a few more cats :-). Above is what my uterus looks like. I will post about this when I find more out, for now should be wedding stuff which is going nicely!

MRI tomorrow!

Tomorrow is finally here! It seems like it has taken forever to get here! My MRI is scheduled for 1030 AM but I wont get answers until next Wednesday afternoon :-(. I am hoping to get a copy of my MRI and have a few doctors look at it.

After my MRI i am going to look at wedding dresses FINALLY! Everything is coming along well though!

I will post more next week when I know whats going on!

Been a long week....

January 27 was our first due date, I wasn't sure how the week was going to go. It definitely started out crazy. I worked Mon-Wed 12 hours, Monday morning the lady who cleans the rooms on our floor asked me to do something and I for once said no. I know she doesn't understand and probably didn't know we lost two babies this past year and she didn't know it was our due date this week. But she asked me to create a flyer on the computer for her daughters baby shower. That was Monday morning, work was crazy busy which was good kept my mind off things.
Work was busy those 3 days and I was exhausted emotionally as well as physically.I am upset I missed a good friends CD Release party at the Belly Up in San Diego, it was Wednesday. I really hope she isnt upset, just wasnt a good week. She is an amazing person and starting to do well in the music industry.
February 10 can not come soon enough, actually February 17! The 10th is our MRI and the 17 is the follow up with the Dr..
Im glad the week is over, I need to focus on Relay and the wedding!

203 days until the big day!We are registering today finally! I cant believe Rachel Ray doesnt have a registry or her stuff in stores that do!
I hope everyone had a good week and weekend!

MRI has been scheduled....

On Friday I was told that my MRI was being sent to the insurance to be approved, I called just now and it was approved.
I just found out that the MRI is going to be with/without contrast through my veins! MRI is an hour long, after the MRI I will see my doctor on another day to go over the results of the test. MRI is scheduled for February 10 at 10:30am. I just made my follow up for the doctor to review the results for February 17 at 3:50PM. I wont really know anything until the 17th, thats another month of wondering!!

In the mean time I will have to keep myself busy with wedding stuff! I am looking for invites right now as well as dresses online.

Big game this weekend! Go Chargers~

back to work I go....

I have been off of work since November 14, and tomorrow I am going back to work. I will be on day shift and I hope it goes well tomorrow.

Mulleran Anomalies

Yesterday I went to my 2 week check up from my D&C. My doctor said I am doing great and ordered some blood test, chromosomal testing for both Tony and I as well as miscarriage panel which I do not know what that consists of. I will know the results of all but chromosomal testing soon. Until Tony gets his blood drawn; which some of us know he faints! :-); we wont know for a few weeks. I am sure the blood work is normal as are the doctors. They are pretty sure that I am miscarrying due to my uterine birth defect.

I got all this information from http://mulleriananomalies.blogspot.com/ as well as the yahoo group connected to this blog.

What is a Mulleran Anomalie?
The uterus, fallopian tubes and upper vagina are made up of two partially fused tubes, which, in the embryo, are known as müllerian ducts, named for physiologist Johannes Peter Müller, who first described them in 1830. They are also known as the paramesonephric ducts, and are at first present in embryos of both sexes.

Normally, these ducts run down vertically from flank to pelvic floor in the young embryo and eventually fuse into a double-barreled tube with two loose ends, known as the uterovaginal primordium, or UVP. The double UVP will eventually merge into a single-barreled uterus, cervix and upper vagina, while the loose ends develop into the fallopian tubes. In adulthood, these organs are referred to as the müllerian tract and congenital malformations of this tract are called müllerian anomalies, or MAs.

In the male embryo, in the presence of anti-müllerian hormone (AMH), the müllerian structures disintegrate during early development. They persist in the female because she does not produce AMH.

In the embryo, the müllerian ducts act as scaffolding for the mesonephric ducts, which give rise to the kidneys. Because of this parallel structural relationship, it is common for a kidney or other urinary anomaly to be present with a müllerian anomaly.


My Dr who is just a regular OB seems to think I have one of two issues ;




A.  Uterus didelphys (UD): The müllerian tract fails to fuse along all or most of its length. There may be complete duplication of the vagina, cervix and uterus, and the two halves may be divided by a ligament of connective tissue. UD is reported to have the best pregnancy outcomes of all the MAs. SEE IMAGE BELOW.

 Bicornuate uterus (BU): The uterine fundus fails to fuse and a myometrial division extends down to the cervix in a complete bicornuate uterus, or part way to the cervix in a partial bicornuate uterus. The division is visible on the outside of the uterus, evidenced by a groove or cleft in the uterine dome exceeding 1.5 centimeters. Cervix and vagina are usually single but may be septate or duplicate. BU has relatively few pregnancy complications when compared to SU or UU, with breech presentation being one of the most common. SEE IMAGE BELOW.

 We wont know until February when the MRI is scheduled but for now this is what may be going on. 
I go to Scripps Hospital and my OB/GYN is very knowledgeable, he has only known of 1 other doctor besides the one he has seen do this surgery procedure. So we may have to get many different opinions,,. My doctor said he can do the surgery and will with another Doctor present if he has too. We wont know anything until February.


I just read on Ivillage.com that 15% of women with bicornuate uterus have recurrent pregnancy loss. they  said 65-85% have normal pregnancies.  I will get more statistics on everything later on. It just amazes me as I read that I never had abnormal periods, more pain with periods or anything different until I got pregnant. 
My doctor told me he looks forward to delivering a baby for us but obviously we need to fix whats going on. I will get a few opinions and have subscribed to a yahoo group solely for Uterine defects. 


I never knew until August this was a case, it is crazy to  me. I used to think you get pregnant, carry for 9 months then boom a baby. Not in my case or many others. I just hope my friends and family will understand if  I dont attend a baby shower or something of that nature. I know it will pass, but for now this is hard for Tony and I. It seems so easy for many couples, but for us it is not. 
I do not know what is in store for us, I hope I will be able to carry a child of my own one day, but i know there are other options out there. 


I will post more as I know, but will probably post more wedding stuff for now until we know more about me! 


Thanks for caring, understanding and following us in our adventures! 

Its been a long few months..

So all of this started in May when we found out we were expecting, our due date then was January 27, 2010. Yup so in 3 weeks were suppose to expect "Baby G #1." After complications off and on through out the first 14 weeks we found out on Aug 4( not sure on date) that we had lost it. We do not know what the sex was or why we lost it. We were told it just happens. I took a month off work and returned, only to find out that a month later  we were expecting again! In the meant time I had switched back to Scripps physicians and found a new doctor. I started having complications again, much like the first time around. I was put out on "rest" to be returning to work on December 30, 2010 hopefully getting out of our 1st trimester. 


My new doctor, I didnt like to start our with. I should of switched! We had been seen every two weeks, saw a heart beat and were told everything was going fine. This doctor as well as ultrasound techs noticed something on my ultrasounds. I was asked in Urgent Care one night if I had two horns? What the heck was two horns, I had never been asked that. The tech kept asking me all these questions and I kept saying no I am fine. The Urgent Care doctor then told me it looked like I had what is called a Bicornuate Uterus, I had no idea what this was. She reassured that many women have this and carry just fine. After seeing my OB and doing research on a bicornuate uterus I decided to elect in the 1st tri-mester screening since I would be able to see the Perinatoligist sooner than I would if I were to wait until my 15th week or so.  So I scheduled the testing of neck thickening on the baby, which does no harm to the baby just a more in depth ultrasound. I did this so I could ask questions about my so called birth defect. 
December 18 Tony and I went to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, we were expecting to get some answers and see our baby maybe even find out the sex, since the ultrasound is that good. We were suppose to be 13-14 weeks, when the ultra sound tech asked me when my last ultra sound was...I knew thins weren't right. Sure enough we had lost it, the Perinatologist came in and double checked. After I tried to settle down she brought us in and talked to us. With out more tests and exams she wasn't able to tell us everything right then and there. She did say I definitely have a uterine birth defect, which she thinks is why I miscarried two times. She said I would have to go through blood tests and a few other xrays in order to find out exactly what was going on and possible a surgery down the road. I first had to have another D&C for what was going on that day. After I recover from this procedure I will be able to start testing... Ill post another blog in a bit about what happened yesterday at the doctors! Im off to the gym or a run for now in this lovely weather we are having in San Diego! 

Just getting used to blogging!

I am not sure how to work this thing! Dont know how to format it like I want.. but I will be posting about our wedding updates as well as doctors appointments.  


I know some of you think im crazy to post but I feel this is the easiest way for me to tell those who want to know what is going on with out having to repeat myself over and over. Also by writing it down I think it will help me deal with it. Yes I know it isnt the end of the world, but it is a big deal. This is a private blog, so dont worry the whole world will not know. This is for close friends, and family to keep updated on our, my status. 




As most of you know I do have a uterine birth defect or a bicornuate uterus; I will post more tomorrow about it. I did see my doctor today and found out a few things that I could possibly have and what tests I will have to go through. 
Im doing great though, just have to take it day by day!  I will post everything tomorrow, but REMEMBER I will post some pictures to explain things so join if you want, 


More tomorrow!