Monday, February 2, 2009

Surgery or Pee bag? What would you do about a Stuck Uterus* With update

Ok I need you thoughts/experiences/internet research/2 bit opinions.

Let me start by saying baby is fine. I am fine. Everyone is fine. Nobody's life is in danger. I just have some rare condition that presents itself at this stage of gestation and I need to fix it ASAP. Stuck Uterus.

Starting last Thursday (today is Monday) I began to notice I was having trouble peeing. I'd have to go...felt a big bladder but just couldn't pee. Not every time. I would pee later but it took a lot of pushing and concentration. I noticed I felt like I had to pee a lot more often and then not a lot would come out. Sometimes nothing would come out. I thought I was developing a UTI and decided I'd would call on Monday and get the meds to fix it. I increased my water intake so that I would be flushing out my bladder and reducing the amount of bacteria in there.

But I was missing one symptom of UTI. It didn't burn or hurt to pee.

Last night I was really uncomfortable. My belly was distended but no pee. I was up at least 10-12 times last night. Never a pee. Just a belly getting bigger and bigger. I was in agony. Not real "pain" but that feeling of having to pee and that your bladder is going to blow. So not pain but certainly agony. I stopped drinking water because I realized that I was putting it in but none was coming out; making my discomfort worse.

I got a urgent appointment this morning. They finally decided to catheterize me. Never in my life did I think I would say the words "For God's sake could somebody please catheterize me already!?" The Dr. and nurse kept saying , "Oh my God, You poor thing. I can't believe you weren't writhing in pain". Which I was when I was alone. I don't writhe in public. Of course, I started crying during the catheter becasue I was so relieved. They had to get a second receptacle I had so much pee. Over a liter which, I guess, is a lot of pee.

Ok so the immediate problem is solved. My bladder is empty. That should help for a few hours.

I have a retrograde uterus. It falls back (towards my back) instead of front. In rare cases as the uterus grows it can get caught on the spine. Mine is really stuck and it's closed off my urethra. When my bladder is full it pushes the uterus even further back into the spine.


Dr A is awesome. She tried and tried but could not get it to flip (not a pleasant procedure BTW). At one point I was on my knees with her had up my nether regions. What a trooper.

She thinks she mights have gotten it but if not sure. It feels "looser" but the uterus is still really tipped back.

We are taking the wait and see plan. I drink. If I pee it's probably going to be fine. If I do not pee by 3pm I go back there and get another catheter.

Then have to decide and here is where I need your opinions.

Option A (Standard Care): Epidural and manual manipulation (fingers up the who-ha). Much like I already had three times today but I would be numb so they could try harder.

Option B (Experimental Care) Have a catheter for a few days (i.e. walk around with a bag of pee strapped to my leg). Twice a day get on my knees, put, my shoulders to the ground and let gravity do it's thing. I also get to wiggle and rock in the position for 15 mins. If it doesn't work I still have Option A.

At this point I am leaning towards Option A becasue I know it would be done with. I also don't see how I can live with a pee bag. How does one sleep, bath, give a presentations to the Board of Trustees (yea I have to do that on Tuesday night...it cannot be rescheduled and by state law this presentation must occur). But I have never had an epi so I'm not clear on how the recovery is or any risks to me (I'm pretty sure there is no risk to baby-right? Well, none from the epi...but what about the manual manipulation?) If Option A is unreasonably risky I will try Option B first.

While Option B is more conservative(which I am in favor of in general) there is no guarantee. I might need the epi anyhow.

I'm loath to take extra risks but three days of a pee bag with no guarantee...sheesh. Since mine seems to be "really stuck" that might mean the wiggle method has less of a chance of working. But I have no stats to go by. No experience (either mine or other people's).

Also, just to make things extra fun...Mr. Peeveme is out of town all week. I have in-laws ready to take Piccoliona for the week. My parents are warming up the minivan to come a take care of me if I have the surgery.

So, what would you do What would be your considerations. What are your experiences with epidurals? Have you had this? Do you know anyone who has?

Finger crossed that I pee!


______________________________________________________________

I peed! Unassisted! All by myself. At first it was hard but I'm getting better at it all the time. Dr. A. spoke with the other Dr.s (none of who have had more than a few cases of this in their careers). The consensus seems to be that if I can keep my bladder empty and do my exercises the uterus will grow to the front and it should be fine in a couple of weeks. If I do freeze up again they will catheterize me, teach me to do it to myself, and leave it in there. The Epi/hand manipulations will be left to the last resort. It seems that Dr. A turned the uterus just enough so that I can pee. Also, not having a bladder the size of a bolling ball probably helps. It still seems tilted but it may not be caught. If I keep my bladder empty it should not get caught again. If the bladder gets big it will push the uterus back into the spine.

Self-catheterizing sounds awful but if you are in agony you'll do anything to stop it. I swear to you I was in such agony this morning that if I had a hand mirror and some rubber tubing I WOULD have done it to myself.

And since Dr. A semi-turned my uterus I'm showing. Yesterday I was wearing my regular pants and not showing at all. Now I am am showing and fitting into my smaller maternity pants.

Thanks for all you kinds words, concern and thoughts on my dilemma. It does mean a lot to me that I can turn to you guys in a time of anxiety and for advice.


And a very special thank you to D----y. I know you prefer to lurk so thanks for coming out of hiding. Those are really important questions I did not consider. I hope I don't need to ask them any time soon. They do say that once they do the procedure it does not go back. It should just flip forward into the proper position. But you never know. Weird things happen all the time.

14 comments:

Chelle said...

OMG! You poor thing! I love that you don't "writhe in public"... me either.

I have no advice for you because I've never even heard of such a thing, but if it were me, given the options you gave, I would go for option A. Just because I would want to know that I would not encounter further problems.

Good Luck! I'll be thinking un-stuck ute thoughts for you!

Elana Kahn said...

I went into my pregnancy knowing I had a retroverted uterus (apparently about 25% of women have this and many have no idea), but having your uterus get stuck is actually pretty rare. In any case, I'm glad it can be fixed.

As for a pee bag, my father had one for MONTHS, so it is possible to lead a normal life. You just have to remember to empty it every few hours. You can strap it to your leg and wear long pants or a long skirt and no one will know it's there. And you can sleep with it--just remember to empty it before bed and when you get up in the morning.

However, it may be better to get it over with. The baby will have a very difficult time growing with your uterus stuck backwards, and we don't want anything to interfere with that. That's the option I would go with. But I hope it's fixed already so you don't have to worry!!

Marie said...

I hope you pee!!

I think I would option a.

Shelli said...

Just when I thought I heard it all... ;-)

I too have a retroverted ute, but only after my c-section in 2003. Gosh, I never thought it could be stuck. That must be horrible for you.

I would go for option A. Hands down.

Soapchick said...

I would go for optioni #1 as long as it won't hurt the baby. I have never heard of this, you poor thing - that sounds absolutely horrible. I'm so glad you got a catheter however.

Mermaid said...

Oh no! That sounds awful. I'm glad you and the baby are fine. I don't have any experience from which to offer a recommendation. I honestly don't know what I'd do...probably the surgery. Good luck!

Bella said...

Sweetie that is awful!! I can't even imagine not peeing for that long! Those are two tough options, but the thought of a pee bag stuck to my leg all the time is horrifying. I guess I would probably go with Option A as long as there are little to no risks to the baby. You poor thing, I'll be thinking of you!!

Danaly said...

Hey there,
I realize this is no laughing matter but I had to laugh 'cause C'MMON!!! Can anything ever be easy for you? Anyway, personally, I would do research on effects of an epidural on a 13 week fetus. I bet it's not done often so there might not be a lot of info/studies out there. Epis on full term babies are well studied but in the first stages of pregnancies, I don't know...

Also, can uterus move back again later in the pregnancy... will the procedure guarantee that it will not happen again? I ask because having to have the procedure done more than once might present more risks in terms of exposing baby to anesthesia so soon so often.

Just things to think about... you know I'm all about the natural stuff but in this case wearing a baggie of pee around with no guarantees doesn't sound like a great solution. I would be doing the exercises either way though... sounds like Bradley type exercises. - Danaly

Anonymous said...

Did your doctor give you her opinion about what she thought was the best option for you and your baby? I know its a dumb question, but I'm a doc and sometimes we have an opinion but dont say it.

nancy said...

This happened to me! I just couldn't pee. For 2 days. I thought I was going to die. I cried for the catheter! But for me, it was a terrible UTI and antibiotics worked. She was just going to show me how to self-catheterize, which doesn't scare me in the least, but one of my best friend's is a nurse and said she'd do it for me, which didn't end up being necessary anywho.

Poor thing - I know how it feels. I hope it gets all worked out!

Renovation Girl said...

Oh wow. I'm so glad that you did it all by yourself! I'm a little late to comment, but glad things are looking at least a little better.

tonya said...

Thank goodness you are doing better now, and that the epi is not on the table at the moment.

I, too, have a retroverted ute but was lucky to escape this. Here's hoping this is the last you'll have to worry about this particular problem.

tonya said...

BTW, did they actually check you for a UTI? I had a bad UTI in my last pg that I didn't even feel (had some other symptoms which tipped them off), and my midwife said it was a very common side effect of pg to not feel the pain that usually accompanies a UTI. FWIW....

Nic said...

How terible for you! Fingers crossed you continue to pee!! I have a flipped back uterus so is something to be aware of if and when I ever get pregnant!!