The big news today is that Steve and I have been undergoing some fertility testing, and today we had our "what now" meeting with the doctor. At the appointment today, he confirmed that I have what's known as a unicornuate uterus (UU), which is basically half a uterus and only one fallopian tube. I have two ovaries, but my right one is just floating around in there without a tube attached. Unicornuate uterus is often associated with recurrent loss, second-trimester loss, incompetent cervix, lots of bedrest, an inability to carry twins, and a 40% live-birth rate. How does this happen? About 3 in 10,000 women have this condition (2-4 % of women have any uterine anomaly, and only 1% of those anomalies are UUs), and it's something that happens when we're fetuses ourselves and one half of the uterus just fails to form. So, those of you who know me in person: You always knew I was unusual ... now you know exactly *how* unusual.
The doctor recommended a medicated cycle, which we'll look at starting after the first of the year, when our new insurance starts. It's good to have a plan. Even though my condition has a really stupid name.One positive piece of information I received today was that even though a lot of women with a UU have just one kidney, I have two. So that's something.
This news scares the crap out of me re: a potential future pregnancy, but all we can do is press on. And I figure, I've already lost two pregnancies, so with a 40% success rate, the odds have moved into my favor, right? (I'll just keep telling myself that.)
When I learned a month ago that I might have this condition, I started looking for info online. There's not a lot of stuff out there -- there's not even a wikipedia page -- but I did find some good resources. You can also find good information by searching for "Mullerian anomalies," of which UU is one type. In case anyone stumbles upon this page while seeking info after a diagnosis, here's a list of some useful resources.
Good Information
- http://www.emedicine.com/radio/topic738.htm
- http://home.earthlink.net/~hrair/introuni.html
- http://radiology.rsnajnls.org/cgi/content/full/233/1/19
- Image of a UU: http://www.uhrad.com/mamarc/mam001.htm
Yahoo Groups (membership required to read and participate in message boards)
- http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/MullerianAnomalies/
- http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ttcmulleriananomalygroup/
- http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/uusisterhood/
1 comment:
Hi, just stumbled onto your blog because I have a UU too (and am in DC too, btw). Sorry you have to deal with this diagnosis on top of infertility. No fun. Don't get too scared about the statistics. They're skewed because they only take into account the women who know they have an anomaly. There are probably many who have normal pregnancies and never even know there's a problem. Here's hoping yours will be uncomplicated (and come soon!). Insist on being monitored more often, and see a perinatologist if you can. You'll feel better about it. Hope these comments are helpful.
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