I have a 'Unicornuate Uterus'!
- Thread starter jewlia88
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I've also got UU, got pregnant first try but then lost my boy at 25wks+2, I had a similar situation as you in so far as it seemed to me that they did absolutely nothing to save my boy.
We have now been TTC for around 9 months but each month i have ovulated from my non-communicating side so no pregnancy. We are calling to make the IVF appointment tomorrow.
I was told in future pregnancy I would need a cervical stitch as UU is generally associated with weak cervix (mainly cos i dilated so quickly though) and most likely c-section as babies dont have much space in UU to turn so tend to be breech (my boy was footling breach, they couldnt turn him - attempting tuning a baby is very dangerous but they didnt know i had UU at that stage).
There is a great support group with more success stories than bad stories - UUSisterhood on yahoo groups.
Alisa,
I also had UU with a non-communicating rudimentary horn.
I tried to conceive my second baby for 17 months.
My doctors told me it was impossible to get pregnant in the non-communicating side.
But I got pregnant there. I ovulated in the non-communicating ovary e the embryo implanted in the rudimentary horn. It happens by transperitoneal migration of spermatozoa.
I wish I was warned of the risk of ectopic pregnancy (cornual pregnancy) while I was TTC...but it didn't happened...
I got pregnant inside the right horn, which really was rudimentary and noncommunicating. It is considered an ectopic pregnancy (cornual pregnancy), with no chances to the fetus and high maternal mortality.
My doctor decided to terminate my pregnancy at 14 weeks, because of the imminent uterus rupture. My baby was still alive when I was submitted to the surgery and believe me, it was very very difficult to me to accept there was nothing I could do to save him...if I kept trying we both would die, so "the best" to do was save at least my own life and don't let my girl be an orphan. It was a very dangerous surgery. It happened 9 months ago and I still miss my baby boy everyday.
Now I know the correct procedure in our case is to do the excision of the non-communicating shorn by laparoscopy before initiates the TCC. Its a very simple and quick procedure.
Besides the rarity of the condition (cornual pregnancy) in the "normal" population, it is relatively common to women who have non-communicating horn. It happened to me and can happen to anyone who have the rudimentary horn. I dont want to anyone to feels the pain of losing a baby as I did.
That is why I am sharing my experience. And if you want to get pregnant I strongly recommend to look for another medical opinion and information about the rudimentary horn excision.
I hope you understand my worry and good intention.
Best wishes,
Fabiana
(sorry for the English, it is nor my native language)
FABIANA - I'm so sorry for such a late reply but i didnt see your message until now. I'm so sorry for what you went through, my heart breaks for you I just hope you are doing better now.
I was told that there is no way I can have an exopic pregnancy becuase my rudimentary horn is non-communicating i.e that there was no fill into the fallopian tube when they injected the blue dye. So that means sperm cant get in there and therefore cannot have a pregnancy in the tube. Also the undeveloped side of my uterus doesnt have any endometrium lining therefore an embryo cannot implant there.
I asked doc if egg/sperm/emryo can enter from my good tube and then travel out into the rudimentry tube/horn and she said no thats impossible and something along the lines that i would die first before getting pregnant if that happened (that doc was a corrible cow of a woman, not good with people, but she is considered one of the best with this in the UK so i believe her).
As i said you should join UU sisterhood yahoo group if you havent already.
Wishing you all the best
Alisa xxx
I was told that there is no way I can have an exopic pregnancy becuase my rudimentary horn is non-communicating i.e that there was no fill into the fallopian tube when they injected the blue dye. So that means sperm cant get in there and therefore cannot have a pregnancy in the tube. Also the undeveloped side of my uterus doesnt have any endometrium lining therefore an embryo cannot implant there.
I asked doc if egg/sperm/emryo can enter from my good tube and then travel out into the rudimentry tube/horn and she said no thats impossible and something along the lines that i would die first before getting pregnant if that happened (that doc was a corrible cow of a woman, not good with people, but she is considered one of the best with this in the UK so i believe her).
As i said you should join UU sisterhood yahoo group if you havent already.
Wishing you all the best
Alisa xxx
Alisa, I heard exactly the same diagnostic: it was IMPOSSIBIBLE to me get pregnant in the rudimentary horn because it was non-communicating. Both the horn and the fallopian tube were not filled with contrast when I did the Hysterosalpingography and the noncommunicability was confirmed surgically (the rudimentary horn was totally independent from the other cavity, attached only by a fibrous band).
I also asked my doctor if the sperm could get there using the other tube and she said NO.
Actually, I looked for 3 different doctors before get pregnant (one of them is a specialist internationally recognized in human reproduction). All of them said it was impossible to get pregnant in the non-communicating rudimentary horn.
But, it is not impossible, it happened to me. If you read this article you will see that exist the event of transperitoneal transmigration:
Preventing ectopic pregnancies: how often does transperitoneal transmigration of sperm occur in effecting human pregnancy?
Gerard G. Nahum, Harold Stanislaw, Connette McMahon
According to the study, the chance of pregnancy occur in a non-communicating horn of unicornuate uterus is 50%, very high as you can see!
Of course it's rare in the normal population, because the unicornuate uterus is a very rare condition. But ectopic pregnancy is common inside the group of women who have the malformation.
I don't have the images of exams here at work, but I can post latter the image of the HSG and MRI if you want to compare.
Best wishes, Fabiana
I also asked my doctor if the sperm could get there using the other tube and she said NO.
Actually, I looked for 3 different doctors before get pregnant (one of them is a specialist internationally recognized in human reproduction). All of them said it was impossible to get pregnant in the non-communicating rudimentary horn.
But, it is not impossible, it happened to me. If you read this article you will see that exist the event of transperitoneal transmigration:
Preventing ectopic pregnancies: how often does transperitoneal transmigration of sperm occur in effecting human pregnancy?
Gerard G. Nahum, Harold Stanislaw, Connette McMahon
According to the study, the chance of pregnancy occur in a non-communicating horn of unicornuate uterus is 50%, very high as you can see!
Of course it's rare in the normal population, because the unicornuate uterus is a very rare condition. But ectopic pregnancy is common inside the group of women who have the malformation.
I don't have the images of exams here at work, but I can post latter the image of the HSG and MRI if you want to compare.
Best wishes, Fabiana
Alisa,
As I promised, this is the HSG image:
https://img827.imageshack.us/img827/3257/histero.jpg
As you can see, the contrast material only passed through the left uterus and left fallopian tube.
I got pregnant in the right uterus and ovulation was in the the right ovary confirming the sperm migration.
This is the MRI image:
https://img593.imageshack.us/img593/7237/mri1.jpg
As you can see, the uterus at left is totally separated from the right rudimentary horn (which was mobile and went up on to settle in the abdominal cavity).
I do not want to scare you ... I'm just doing what I wish someone had done for me, to spare me the greatest pain of the world (losing a baby). I wish I have had at least an option of remove or not the rudimentary horn...
As I promised, this is the HSG image:
https://img827.imageshack.us/img827/3257/histero.jpg
As you can see, the contrast material only passed through the left uterus and left fallopian tube.
I got pregnant in the right uterus and ovulation was in the the right ovary confirming the sperm migration.
This is the MRI image:
https://img593.imageshack.us/img593/7237/mri1.jpg
As you can see, the uterus at left is totally separated from the right rudimentary horn (which was mobile and went up on to settle in the abdominal cavity).
I do not want to scare you ... I'm just doing what I wish someone had done for me, to spare me the greatest pain of the world (losing a baby). I wish I have had at least an option of remove or not the rudimentary horn...
I'm so glad you told me , thank you. I am feeling really let down by doctors lately because they tell you things with all certainty and then they turn out to be wrong. How can you tell if you are pregnant in the noncommunicating horn and how soon? I'm hopefully starting IVF in next couple of months and if i get pregnant i want to make sure its not ectopic.
alisa x
alisa x
Alisa,
If you already have the diagnosis of unicornuate uterus, it's possible to tell if the pregnancy is in the rudimentary horn as soon as it's possible to see the gestacional sac by ultrasound (at 5 or 6 pregnancy weeks).
I was diagnosed at 6 weeks 4 days by transvaginal ultrasound. The embryo was at right side. As I knew the right sided uterus was rudimentary and non-communicating, It was immediatly obvious something was going wrong.
At 14 weeks doctor did the MRI to verify the conditions of the uterus and was by this exam that we realizaed the uterus wall was too thin (2mm) and could rupture at any time.
I think it's much more safe get pregnant by IVF, cause the embryos will be put directly inside the good uterus, and will implant very fast. I think the chance of migration to other side is smaller than conceiving naturally.
How many embryos are you going to tranfers by attempt?
When I was trying to conceive I thought about ovulation induction and IVF. I think it's a good idea, but you should avoid the risk of triplets, maybe transfer 2 at each time if doctor believe it can be successful.
Best wishes! I hope you get your baby soon!
If you already have the diagnosis of unicornuate uterus, it's possible to tell if the pregnancy is in the rudimentary horn as soon as it's possible to see the gestacional sac by ultrasound (at 5 or 6 pregnancy weeks).
I was diagnosed at 6 weeks 4 days by transvaginal ultrasound. The embryo was at right side. As I knew the right sided uterus was rudimentary and non-communicating, It was immediatly obvious something was going wrong.
At 14 weeks doctor did the MRI to verify the conditions of the uterus and was by this exam that we realizaed the uterus wall was too thin (2mm) and could rupture at any time.
I think it's much more safe get pregnant by IVF, cause the embryos will be put directly inside the good uterus, and will implant very fast. I think the chance of migration to other side is smaller than conceiving naturally.
How many embryos are you going to tranfers by attempt?
When I was trying to conceive I thought about ovulation induction and IVF. I think it's a good idea, but you should avoid the risk of triplets, maybe transfer 2 at each time if doctor believe it can be successful.
Best wishes! I hope you get your baby soon!
Fabi - Doc said he would only transfer one embryo becuase of the risk with multiples. I agree with him and although i wish i could transfer 2 (i would love if it was possible to carry twins) i will not risk it. We saw the doc yesterday and I will start stimulation drugs this Sunday or Monday (day 2 of my cycle) so should know in a month or so if the IVF has been successful.... I'm cautiously optimistic....
chocolatecat
2nd Tri, IVF rainbow baby
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Hello ladies,
Now that I'm 12 weeks (one milestone out of the way) I'm starting to get worried about my UU. I'm trying to focus on the people with postive outcomes, and I hope that with the long journey we've had to get here somehow fate will let us keep this baby.
The FS always said I had unexplained infertility, though as we all know UU reduces your chances of conceiving naturally (only one tube and all that). But we got lucky on our 2nd IVF (we also had 2 FETs).
Our first apt with the consultant was a waste of time as he'd never heard of it and was clueless, so refered me back to the doctor who originally diagnosed me. I told him my cervix should be measured, which he agreed with. he did seem to trust my research, so although the first thing he said when I told him what I had was "I see you've been on the internet" it really did pay off to have done some research.
I havea scan in 2 weeks to measure my cervix length and see the other doctor. I'll let you know what plan of action she comes up with for me. I'm kind of hoping for a stitch, as it sounds liek that can help so much.
so far from scans they've said my uterus looks a normal size. but to me it looked tiny on the HSG - but it's a long time since Ive seen that!
Good luck to you all x
Now that I'm 12 weeks (one milestone out of the way) I'm starting to get worried about my UU. I'm trying to focus on the people with postive outcomes, and I hope that with the long journey we've had to get here somehow fate will let us keep this baby.
The FS always said I had unexplained infertility, though as we all know UU reduces your chances of conceiving naturally (only one tube and all that). But we got lucky on our 2nd IVF (we also had 2 FETs).
Our first apt with the consultant was a waste of time as he'd never heard of it and was clueless, so refered me back to the doctor who originally diagnosed me. I told him my cervix should be measured, which he agreed with. he did seem to trust my research, so although the first thing he said when I told him what I had was "I see you've been on the internet" it really did pay off to have done some research.
I havea scan in 2 weeks to measure my cervix length and see the other doctor. I'll let you know what plan of action she comes up with for me. I'm kind of hoping for a stitch, as it sounds liek that can help so much.
so far from scans they've said my uterus looks a normal size. but to me it looked tiny on the HSG - but it's a long time since Ive seen that!
Good luck to you all x
Jasmine2012
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Hi-
I am new to this forum. I was recently diagnosed with UU. I have PCOS, and had two miscarriages in last two years( both 6 weeks). I went through two cycles of IUI with no success. We were planning to go for IVF when I learnt about UU. My biggest hesitation before I try to conceive again is chance of having pre term labor or another miscarriage. I am so afraid of child's health that if I have pre term labor(given there is a higher risk of that with UU), how would I live with the guilt in case child is born with complications and has to face rough outcomes for life. I do not know if trying to conceive will be a good idea, so I am debating between surrogacy and IVF for my self.. I am torn because I want to experience it at my own with IVF but I am unable to ignore risks associated with trying at my own with IVF. What I have read so far, people with UU do not really look into surrogacy which makes me think am I being overly paranoid about the outcome? it is an emotional rollercoaster and any support will be helpful.
I am new to this forum. I was recently diagnosed with UU. I have PCOS, and had two miscarriages in last two years( both 6 weeks). I went through two cycles of IUI with no success. We were planning to go for IVF when I learnt about UU. My biggest hesitation before I try to conceive again is chance of having pre term labor or another miscarriage. I am so afraid of child's health that if I have pre term labor(given there is a higher risk of that with UU), how would I live with the guilt in case child is born with complications and has to face rough outcomes for life. I do not know if trying to conceive will be a good idea, so I am debating between surrogacy and IVF for my self.. I am torn because I want to experience it at my own with IVF but I am unable to ignore risks associated with trying at my own with IVF. What I have read so far, people with UU do not really look into surrogacy which makes me think am I being overly paranoid about the outcome? it is an emotional rollercoaster and any support will be helpful.
I totally felt the same as you Jasmine. I had a loss at 25+2 and was convinced there was no chance of me carrying a baby to good gestational age. Until I found UU sisterhood on yahoo groups. Join the group as all but a few women have carried very close to term. They give great advice and know so much about their UUs. Wealth of knowledge!
You will need to take it easy during pregnancy, and have your cervix checked regularly, but there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to carry to good gestation.
Good luck x
You will need to take it easy during pregnancy, and have your cervix checked regularly, but there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to carry to good gestation.
Good luck x
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