Baby no more...

So for awhile I've been in lots of pain (and blood) when it comes to womanly issues. I've just gone on and tried not to complain too much. Since we didn't have insurance I didn't really have many options. 

But then something glorious happened. Jan 1, 2013. 

The day we got insurance after about 3 years without. And the first thing I did was call the doctor to get this checked out. 

I was not happy with the obgyn  I had been going to for several years and decided to try another who came with a good reccommendation. I was not dissappointed. The doctor, after hearing of my symptoms, decided to do a uterine biopsy (OUCH) to check for cancerous cells. He then scheduled an ultrasound as well. He said at that visit that my uterus was enlarged (turned out to be approx size as if i were 10 weeks preg-which i wasn't pregnant) and he said for me to think about whether or not i wanted to keep my uterus.

Today was the ultrasound and follow-up visit. I am surprised how the techs can tell what they are looking at with that! to me it just looked like one big fuzzy mess! After that was over we had the consult with the doctor. First thing he said was "well, now we know why you've been in so much pain and bleeding. The pattern of your uterus has gone haywire". The answer is two-fold:

1) fibroids-Uterine fibroids (leiomyomata) are non-cancerous growths that develop in or just outside a woman’s uterus (womb). Uterine fibroids develop from normal uterus muscle cells that start growing abnormally. As the cells grow, they form a benign tumor. 

2) Adenomyosis- a disease that occurs when the cells that normally line the uterus grow into the muscular tissue of the uterine wall

(just Google these to learn more about them)

The solution in my case is to have a hysterectomy. My doctor did not want to treat it with hormones, cause I'm already pretty messed up with my natural hormones and it could actually make things worse (the estrogen). Ideally he will only do a partial hysterectomy taking out just the uterus and cervix. But, should he discover that I also have endometriosis (endometrial cells that implant and grow outside the uterus) he will remove the ovaries too. My previous obgyn thought i may have had endometriosis a long time ago but never did a procedure to check, so it would be no surprise if that is going on too. And finally should he see scar tissue from my cesarian section he will clean that up. only thing missing is a tummy tuck! :) 

Before we can schedule the surgery I have to get clearance from my cardiologist. Tomorrow I am taking another stress test. After that she will give me clearance and we will schedule the surgery sooner than later. I am really looking forward to getting rid of this pain. sometimes it's quite debilitating. the major down side is the recovery time is similiar to my c-section: 6 weeks. boo. we are not sure what we are going to do about Caitlin either esp cause I won't be able to drive and Chris works nights..i'm trying not to get stressed out about all those details. 

So, no more natural babies. This tears at me sometimes, but most of the time i'm ok with that. Caitlin is a precious girl, a good girl, and just enough for me to handle. I'm sad that I won't get to go through actually being pregnant (i loved being pregnant!!) again. but my health is more important so i can be around for my family.

And that's all I have to say about that.