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Not really sure where i should post this, but i figured this sounded about right. I found out i was pregnant on January 7, 2014. Shortly after i had an ultrasound at 6w6d. During that ultrasound they looked in my ovaries to make sure all was clear. I assumed everything was fine since no one said anything about it. Around 7w4d i had some spotting. I got into the Dr's immediately and my OB wasn't there, so i had to see another one. He had told me about my results from the last ultrasound. He said there was a cyst on my ovary and he think it is a dermoid tumor. He wanted to make sure things were okay so I got in for another ultrasound at 8w3d at the hospital. Sure enough my little peanut was there and bigger! I even saw his little arms moving. I had a followup appt the day after with my OB. He told me the cyst was more than likely a dermoid tumor because it has not shrunk, but has gotten bigger. He talked to me about the risks of keeping it and the risks of removing it. At the time he just wanted to keep an eye on it because he did not want to remove it in the 1st tri.
I had another ultrasound at 12w6d and my tumor/cyst had gotten a little bigger. Was 5.6cm. My dr had told me how if i wanted to remove it, he would like to do it soon because anything after 20 weeks can be dangerous since the uterus is above the belly button. Him and i agreed on keeping an eye on it for the next 3 weeks and scheduled me another ultrasound at 15w6d. That is when i found out my little peanut was a boy! I was so excited and overjoyed. Then came a little bad news. The dermoid was changing shape and had gotten a little bigger at 5.9cm.
From my 12w6d ultrasound to my 15w6d ultrasound i did a lot of research. I saw many success stories of dermoid removal while pregnant. Also, a couple bad ones thrown in there as well. I was very nervous because i had 2 miscarriages in the past and never have gotten this far. Either way if anything were to happen, i would not forgive myself. Once i started reading the things that could happen if i didn't remove the dermoid, such as twisting, bursting, preterm labor.... i knew what i needed to do. My Dr was 95% confident that everything was going to be okay. He told me i had less than 1% chance of miscarriage. The two worst thing was were the anesthetic and risk of infection. I asked if there was any safer way to do this procedure and he said yes. Instead of just giving me anesthesia, he gave me a spinal and then an epidural.
I ended up doing the surgery at 17w3d. I did the spinal and epidural. I was awake through the whole procedure. I was having conversations with all the assistants and even the anesthesiologist. It was quite weird experience! I didn't feel anything, but i could feel pressure. Wasn't painful, i just could tell what he was doing. My OB told me that it would take 40 mins, but it ended up taking about an hour and 15... maybe even an hour and a half. He told my husband that it was behind more stuff than he thought which is why it took so long. After it was all said and done he even let me see what the tumor looked like (i wanted to see it). I was into recovery for about 45 mins. I could NOT stop shaking from the epidural. They gave me a pill to help stop it. My blood pressure was kind of low, but normal.
The next 48 hours i was kept in the hospital. I had so many wonderful nurses helping me. Before the whole procedure they started giving me magnesium which helped with not having any contractions or preterm labor. It definitely made me sick! I remember trying to sit up and walk for my first time. I was in SO MUCH pain. Then i started throwing up from the mag. I couldn't stomach anything until they took me off of it. I was on a liquid diet for the first 24 hours. Which wasn't bad because throwing up liquid was very easy on the stomach.
The nurses listened to the babies heartbeat with a doppler every 6-8 hours to make sure he was okay. Heard his heartbeat every time!
It's been 4 days now since the surgery. I got to come home 48 hours after. It's weird because you have to learn to walk again. My incision is about 8 inches long from my belly button down. I'm not sure how many staples i've got, but more than a dozen. Every day i'm feeling much better. Dr's gave me oxycodone/percocet for the pain. I am trying to not take it as often as it says. 1-2 tablets every 6hrs. I am taking 1-2 a day. I'm using tylenol the rest of the time. I just want my baby to be okay.
So, if you've come across this thread and are going through everything that i had/am going through and don't know what you should do - i hope this gives you a peace of mind. I was TERRIFIED the whole time of losing my little man. I didn't know if i was doing the right thing. I didn't want to be that 1% that loses their baby. The confidence of my Dr and all the risks made my decision. Once i went ahead and said okay to the surgery, i was starting to feel selfish. Now that the surgery is over and my little peanut is still here with me... i feel like i did the best thing i could. I could have possibly saved his life (depending on how things could have went).
It's a decision only you can make. No one can make it for you. I just hope you find comfort and peace of mind with my story. As for recovery time, my Dr said about 4-6 weeks off from work. I go Monday (3 days from now) to get my staples removed. I'm not going to lie and say this was an easy surgery. It wasn't! I had never even broken a bone... so to be cut open like this was like learning to walk again to me. It hurt so bad the first 3 days. Today is my first day where i can move a little faster.
I had another ultrasound at 12w6d and my tumor/cyst had gotten a little bigger. Was 5.6cm. My dr had told me how if i wanted to remove it, he would like to do it soon because anything after 20 weeks can be dangerous since the uterus is above the belly button. Him and i agreed on keeping an eye on it for the next 3 weeks and scheduled me another ultrasound at 15w6d. That is when i found out my little peanut was a boy! I was so excited and overjoyed. Then came a little bad news. The dermoid was changing shape and had gotten a little bigger at 5.9cm.
From my 12w6d ultrasound to my 15w6d ultrasound i did a lot of research. I saw many success stories of dermoid removal while pregnant. Also, a couple bad ones thrown in there as well. I was very nervous because i had 2 miscarriages in the past and never have gotten this far. Either way if anything were to happen, i would not forgive myself. Once i started reading the things that could happen if i didn't remove the dermoid, such as twisting, bursting, preterm labor.... i knew what i needed to do. My Dr was 95% confident that everything was going to be okay. He told me i had less than 1% chance of miscarriage. The two worst thing was were the anesthetic and risk of infection. I asked if there was any safer way to do this procedure and he said yes. Instead of just giving me anesthesia, he gave me a spinal and then an epidural.
I ended up doing the surgery at 17w3d. I did the spinal and epidural. I was awake through the whole procedure. I was having conversations with all the assistants and even the anesthesiologist. It was quite weird experience! I didn't feel anything, but i could feel pressure. Wasn't painful, i just could tell what he was doing. My OB told me that it would take 40 mins, but it ended up taking about an hour and 15... maybe even an hour and a half. He told my husband that it was behind more stuff than he thought which is why it took so long. After it was all said and done he even let me see what the tumor looked like (i wanted to see it). I was into recovery for about 45 mins. I could NOT stop shaking from the epidural. They gave me a pill to help stop it. My blood pressure was kind of low, but normal.
The next 48 hours i was kept in the hospital. I had so many wonderful nurses helping me. Before the whole procedure they started giving me magnesium which helped with not having any contractions or preterm labor. It definitely made me sick! I remember trying to sit up and walk for my first time. I was in SO MUCH pain. Then i started throwing up from the mag. I couldn't stomach anything until they took me off of it. I was on a liquid diet for the first 24 hours. Which wasn't bad because throwing up liquid was very easy on the stomach.
The nurses listened to the babies heartbeat with a doppler every 6-8 hours to make sure he was okay. Heard his heartbeat every time!
It's been 4 days now since the surgery. I got to come home 48 hours after. It's weird because you have to learn to walk again. My incision is about 8 inches long from my belly button down. I'm not sure how many staples i've got, but more than a dozen. Every day i'm feeling much better. Dr's gave me oxycodone/percocet for the pain. I am trying to not take it as often as it says. 1-2 tablets every 6hrs. I am taking 1-2 a day. I'm using tylenol the rest of the time. I just want my baby to be okay.
So, if you've come across this thread and are going through everything that i had/am going through and don't know what you should do - i hope this gives you a peace of mind. I was TERRIFIED the whole time of losing my little man. I didn't know if i was doing the right thing. I didn't want to be that 1% that loses their baby. The confidence of my Dr and all the risks made my decision. Once i went ahead and said okay to the surgery, i was starting to feel selfish. Now that the surgery is over and my little peanut is still here with me... i feel like i did the best thing i could. I could have possibly saved his life (depending on how things could have went).
It's a decision only you can make. No one can make it for you. I just hope you find comfort and peace of mind with my story. As for recovery time, my Dr said about 4-6 weeks off from work. I go Monday (3 days from now) to get my staples removed. I'm not going to lie and say this was an easy surgery. It wasn't! I had never even broken a bone... so to be cut open like this was like learning to walk again to me. It hurt so bad the first 3 days. Today is my first day where i can move a little faster.
your little boy is gorgeous 
xx
