What you talking 'bout Wilson?

So just before I became pregnant I was diagnosed with a uterine fibroid. It measured 5.5cm and was easily felt from the outside. Humffgh, ok, well, how do I get ride of it? This began my very strict diet, that I called the fibroid diet and regular treatment of acupuncture and herbs to reduce its size and hopefully get ride of it. I had eliminated all sugar, caffeine, alcohol, eggs, dairy and wheat. Whoa and it was just starting to feel ok when....

Five weeks later I was buying a First Response pregnancy test at the drug store! One big YES later and it was "adios" to the fibroid diet! It seemed simply more important to be getting proper nutrients and fats at this moment! My first ultrasound, at 13 weeks, showed that the fibroid had increased in size, by 3cm. So it had grown approximately one cm a month. Holy Mega Myometrium! It was going to get as big as the baby I thought! Or bigger at this rate! I joked with Andrew I was going to have a ball sized fibroid sticking out of my belly before too long. And we laughed that perhaps the baby would enjoy having company in there. Andrew said it could be the baby's Wilson, like in the movie Cast Away with Tom Hanks. Maybe a little twisted, but what else are we gonna do but laugh a little!

And so Wilson was born.... well, so to speak! For so long Wilson held my attention much more than the baby. I could use Wilson, fully palpable from the surface of my belly to gauge where my uterus was. It was amazing how much movement was already happening, but I never felt the baby really. Most of the day Wilson remained tucked low falling well below my underwear line. But each morning I awoke and began to notice Wilson had moved. He would be way up by my belly button. Huh.....strange. And when I would roll to my side I would often feel a subtle shift, a flitter, or swoosh, along side Wilson. This I do believe now was the baby. When I would finally get up out of bed Wilson would settle back down low and I would pretty much forget about him until the next day!

Fast forward to ultrasound no. 2. It seems at 20 weeks Wilson hasn't increased in size and continues to look as though it's degenerating a little. In our first ultrasound, the technician showed us Wilson and it appeared to have a grimacing face. It really looked like a scary monster, with 2 dark blob eyes and an open jagged mouth. And our technician had to go there.... and said, "OOooooo, look at that scary fibroid crushing your baby!" Nervous laughter.... ahaha! And when she brought the baby to the screen we saw its hands up in little fists. I would too if I had a monster hovering over me! Back off, Wilson!

At this point it seems I'm not out of the clear with this fella. Wilson was always a concern to me. I thought how could a mass embedded in the musculature of the uterine wall not effect its efficacy in labor. Will it be able to get enough push power to push out a baby, am I going to have a huge dead zone during contractions? No one ever seemed to comment or have any concern about the fibroid. Except me. Until today.

Today we had our second visit to the Bryn Mawr Birthing Center. Everything was moving along, all was sounding good, heart beat, baby movements, my heart rate, weight, etc! And we began to discuss the many finding of my latest ultrasound. All mostly positive, with a couple of concerns. The first was Wilson. He's big! And he could cause a problem during labor! Ah ha! I'd always thought it might be the case! Second, it was determined I have partial placenta previa. Possibly due to big ol' Wilson taking up prime real estate in the upper uterus! And the other findings were the slightly enlarged kidneys of the baby! This will be of greater concern if they continue to be enlarged in later term.

BUT, it seems Wilson and the partial placenta previa are enough of a concern to potentially keep me under medical supervision and therefore birth at a hospital and not the birthing center. Bummer. For my next ultrasound here's hoping that Wilson has started shriveling up and my uterus has stretched and pulled my placenta up with it! And of course, that baby has no issues with its baby kidneys baby plumbing.

In the meantime, keep those fists up baby! It's time for Wilson to get the hint!