Tilted/tipped uterus

[MammaB21]

I had an ultrasound at 6 weeks which showed nothing in my gestational sac at all. I had another at 9 weeks to follow up. We got good news and saw a little bean with a beating heart However, babe was measuring at 8 weeks instead of 9. I'm pretty certain on my dates.

The doc told me that I had a tilted uterus. I have never been told that before, but I've read it's fairly common and most docs won't even mention it. At the appointment I told her that DD1 measured small my whole pregnancy and they continually wanted to change my dates even though I knew when I had ovulated. She said in that case I could just make small babies. DD was 6lbs 4oz at birth (full term).

What I'm curious about is if the tilted uterus can play a part in how you measure and how the baby is viewed on ultrasound. I'm thinking this may have been why they didn't see anything at my first appointment. At the second app, she had to kind of dig around a little to get a view of the baby. Since babe is positioned differently and further back, can it measure smaller? It doesn't really matter too much, as I'm not all that concerned about dates. I'm more curious to see if anyone else has measured small and also had a tilted uterus. If maybe there is a corrilation. Also, has anyone experienced any other difficulties in pregnancy/labor/delivery due to a tilted uterus? I know stats say it evens out and doesn't cause problems.

[MaerynPearl]

I dont think being tilted will have anything to do with it

you are pretty sure about your LMP date... are you also 100% sure on your ovulation date? Did you chart? going by external symptoms? OPKs?

if you Ovulated a week later... its totally possible that you are a week less than you thought.

it matches up pretty well to not see anything but a sac at 5 weeks and then see a heartbeat at 8.

[ed_tricia]

I had been wondering that recently also. Apparently my uterus is very tilted, but I don't know at what point that happened. It can be caused by pregnancy/birth or be a genetic thing. It was never mentioned in my 1st pregnancy. I was measuring small this time and an early u/s changed my due date by a week. I can't confirm O date b/c I was having fertility problems. I'm curious to see if anyone else knows of a correlation...

[Jenica]

I don't think I have a tilted uterus but just wanted to say my baby was measuring a week small and they changed my due date based on an ultrasound at 7 wks. I am absolutely sure their due date is wrong because I wrote down every time DH and I DTD and I couldn't have conceived as late as they say I did. DH left on an extended business trip 5 days before they say I conceived. Good thing DH trusts me or else they could have caused us some marital problems So anyways, I think ultrasound dating is not as accurate as doctors like to think it is.

[MaerynPearl]

Originally Posted by Jenica

I don't think I have a tilted uterus but just wanted to say my baby was measuring a week small and they changed my due date based on an ultrasound at 7 wks. I am absolutely sure their due date is wrong because I wrote down every time DH and I DTD and I couldn't have conceived as late as they say I did. DH left on an extended business trip 5 days before they say I conceived. Good thing DH trusts me or else they could have caused us some marital problems So anyways, I think ultrasound dating is not as accurate as doctors like to think it is.

did you DTD the night before he left? sperm can live up to 5 days. so it sounds pretty possible.

[MammaB21]

Originally Posted by MaerynPearl

I dont think being tilted will have anything to do with it

you are pretty sure about your LMP date... are you also 100% sure on your ovulation date? Did you chart? going by external symptoms? OPKs?

if you Ovulated a week later... its totally possible that you are a week less than you thought.

it matches up pretty well to not see anything but a sac at 5 weeks and then see a heartbeat at 8.

This is another possibility, although I'm doubting it.

I'm positive on LMP, October 25th, which would make me even further along. I have cycles that are a bit longer, though. I charted for a while, but wasn't "charting" when I got pregnant. I was observing some minimal things, and I always have O pain. I had O pain and assumed O on Nov 14th (CD 21). This matched up perfectly with the 6 week prediction at my first ultrasound. If I was really only 5 weeks, I would have had to O on CD 28, and my cycles have never been more than 32 days. (I have a shortish LP but not that short.....lol).

It's possible my O is wrong, but to be that off would be really shocking to me. It is also possible that the measurements were off one or both times. Even so, it showed a growth of 2 weeks in a 3 week span. It's all got me a bit but at this point I've pretty much decided that I'll just go by my O date and assume baby is cooking at a little slower rate.

I did find some things on the web that said that there seems to be a larger number of misdiagnosed early miscarriages/blighted ovum with tilted uteri. I don't think there have been any official studies on it. But it got me thinking.

[ivymae]

I have a tilted uterus, and it was a factor in some misread ultrasounds I had with my first pregnancy. (They missed the healthy twin, who was tucked back into the shadows, and saw only the nondeveloping twin, leading to a lot of pressure to get a D&C).

Early measurements are harder to get with a tilted uterus, since the internal wand has a limited range of motion. If your uterus is sitting nicely on top of the wand, they can get accurate measurement, but if they have to crane it around (and cause a patient discomfort), they are more likely to be off by those tiny, tiny amounts.

Other than the ultrasound issues, my tilted uterus has never given me any concern. At a certain point it's like a balloon - no matter which way it flopped when it was empty, once it is blown up, it sits up and takes up as much space as it is given.

[To-Fu]

I have a tilted uterus and had a completely normal pregnancy and birth with my first. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 12 oz., which is slightly above average for babies in my family.

[moonglowmama]

I have a tilted uterus also and I was on a board where it was well-known that a tilted uterus can cause inaccurate early measurements. I can't remember which board it was, but the point was that they were trying to inform women of that, because women have been told there was no healthy baby and to go ahead and schedule a d&c only to have another done later that shows everything is normal.

So yea, I think it's possible. Although it may also be possible that your babies grow at a different rate than what's expected.

Congratulations!

[Peony]

Another tilted uterus here. While it certainly can cause inaccurate US in the first tri, after the 1st tri, the uterus straightens out. THe ligaments that hold it can't continue the tilted position because the weight in the uterus now. It appears and is just like an regular uterus at that time because it is. Once it is empty then it will return to its regular position, for someone that would be straight for others that is tilted.


My last baby was 8lbs 12ozs so not exactly a tiny little thing.

[HiItsMeSandy]

I have a tilted back-and-to-the-left-side uterus. I had a vaginal birth with my son, but I was induced on my due date . . . had not effaced dilated (that's a whole other angry story). In the end though, I had a pretty nice labor and a beautiful baby boy, even if his head looked like Gumbi. I think his positioning in me may have had something to do with my uterus' left tilt. I also did not look pregnant till I was 8-9 months. Even then, everyone commented on how small I looked. Despite this and my concerns to my OB, I always measured exactly where I was supposed to. Baby weighed in at 7 lbs 14 oz.

This time around I've "popped" much sooner . . . at 5 months. I'm measuring 1-2 weeks ahead of where I'm supposed to be, and I'm certain of my conception date.

[MammaB21]

Originally Posted by HiItsMeSandy

I also did not look pregnant till I was 8-9 months. Even then, everyone commented on how small I looked. Despite this and my concerns to my OB, I always measured exactly where I was supposed to. Baby weighed in at 7 lbs 14 oz.

This was me with my first too. I showed sooner than 8 months, but I was always being told how small I looked. At my birthing classes I was one of the furthest along and the very smallest there. But she was measuring behind.

Thank you all for the replies. It looks like this could have well been a factor.