Fundal Thoughts?

[MyFillingQuiver]

My EDD based on first PP AF is 8/26, but I believe I was going to have a LOOONG cycle, due to EBF..didn't see any fertility signs. So, I'm going with more like the first of Sept. Anyway, that puts me in the 12.5-13.5 weeks pg range.

About 2 weeks ago, I could already feel my fundus well above the pubic bone. When my bladder was full at that time, it was higher. In the past several days, it has now reached, oh..I'd say just slightly below my naval. Somewhere in the 18 week range. When standing (and I've compared all my prenatal pics) I look the same as I usually do about 6 months pregnant. With the exception of my 3rd baby, who was transverse, I usually measure about dead on, until the end, when I measure a bit bigger and have bigger babies.

I realize measuring bigger at the end is a fluctuation on position and individual size of mama and babe. However, measuring bigger in 1st and early 2nd trimester is usually a result of 1) misdating, 2) multiples, or 3) some other issue like a fibroid or diabetes, or polyhydraminos (rare early on)

At 7 weeks I had a really fast in-OB office old school u/s to rule out ectopic pregnancy as I've had tubal surgery. So I'm sure of my dates. He quickly found a little baby and heartbeat, and yolk sac, and turned off the machine. I'd say about 1 minute..which is all I needed..

My midwife is now going to order me an u/s to make sure there is only one baby, and check on things. She says that twins are missed more often than we think on u/s, prior to 10 weeks-particularly the quick in office scans.

Any of you have any experience with this? I have 5 other children, so I get that my uterus would be more compliant with expansion, LOL! I'm not a big girl, but not skin and bones, either. The "I look huge" argument only goes so far, as we all carry differently. I know it gets rather annoying to hear pregnant mom's say, "I'm so big!" when they look tiny, so I'm seriously not worried about how I look...I'm talking real uterine size here. So, while I look like I usually do at 6+ months, I'm LESS concerned about that than where my uterus actually is.

Any mama's with a fundal height several weeks bigger for known dates? Any of you had this in the past and had twins or some other issue? Any missed twins on early u/s? (I'm a very realistic mom, and twins are welcome but not a novelty I would be naive over risks, difficulties, etc) I know the u/s will let us know for sure, but it's nice to throw ideas around with other mama's.

Thanks and hope you are all feeling great!

[trimestersdoula]

I'm right there with you. At my ultrasound at 11w2d, the baby was measuring right on but my uterus was measuring 16-17 weeks. Just a couple of cms below my belly button. I asked if there was more than one baby when she told me that and she told me, not that she could see. What makes me wonder a bit, is that she wasn't having an easy time getting a good look at the baby she was looking at. Im still wondering if there is more than one, as well. Right now I am 13w4d and my fundus is at or above my belly button. The dr. and ultrasound tech both said they couldn't find any reason for it to be this big but neither of them were worried.

[MyFillingQuiver]

Good to know I'm not alone....perhaps we need a "gargantuan fundus" club, LOL!

My midwife is totally laid back, and knows my pg was dated early-so fairly reliable...so it's a big deal she wants me to have an u/s! I wasn't even going to have any this pg, except that quickie! Her first concern would be a molar pregnancy, she said..but that's ruled out with the h/b being present. Next is twins! I've read it's not uncommon to have the fundus a little higher in subsequent pg's...but usually not weeks and weeks ahead...

Time will tell for us! I hope it simply means a happy laid back growing baby-that's MORE than good with me! My u/s is tomorrow at 1.

Let me know how your gargantuan fundus fares in the weeks to come. I think we'll have to hit a fundus growth wall, so to speak, if it isn't caused by another babe-otherwise we'd be 45-48 weeks when we are 40!

[trimestersdoula]

Hahaha, I was thinking that same thing!!! I mean my uterus HAS to stop growing at some point or things have to catch up otherwise I told DH that I am going to be HUGE and look like I am 47 weeks pregnant at 40 weeks LOL.

I think we should start a gargantuan uterus club hehe. Please let me know how your second ultrasound goes. I don't go for another one until March 4th. I am nervous the ultrasound tech is going to say "there's baby A and there is baby B." I wonder how common it is for them to miss a second baby on an early ultrasound. Well mine wasn't that early but still.

When I found out my uterus was so huge I fully expected it to stay there until the baby caught up but nope, its growing a cm/week still!

[rightkindofme]

With my daughter I measured 3-5 weeks ahead all the way through and I was very certain about dates and I delivered an 8 pounder the day before my due date. I just get a lot of fluid.

[naturalmomma1]

I do have a friend with twins who were missed at the first ultrasound (first tri I believe). Let us know what you find out!

[MyFillingQuiver]

So, no news. I had the world's least friendly/horrible bedside manner u/s tech ever.

She turned the screen away before I even laid down. I could only see the upper left corner of the screen...and it was hard to crane my neck that far. Once I saw EDD of 8/26 13W1D and another I saw fetal heart rate of 150.

So, aside from that, she said nothing except rude things like, "You have how many kids? When was your last birth?" Me: "8.5 months ago." Her: "Wow, OK. Yes, your fundus is really high. Did all your other births go OK?"

So, I don't buy the "they can't say anything" crap. They can sure say the things they WANT to say...like, medically based info to conclude my fundus is high...and then ask leading negative questions about my previous pregnancies-thus indicating maybe something this time is "off"...and then the fun things like, "Well hopefully we'll have a report for you by the end of next week."

I called my midwife as she was expecting to hear the results from me before she even got the report! She's working on getting it from them, as I know nothing more than when I went in.

This is exactly why I hate dealing with the medical establishment. I'll likely pay hundreds of dollars AFTER my insurance for that 30 minute walk in hell with that lady.

Good thing is, I have a baby with a h/b and an EDD that's on the excellent side of my estimate!

[naturalmomma1]

Ugh, sorry to hear that you had such a bad experience.

Today at my prenatal, my midwife and her assistant said they both had a high fundus for a pregnancy (no twins), sometimes it just happens and then catches up to normal later, especially if you've had several children.

[MyFillingQuiver]

Thank you for that information naturalmomma1! From everything I have found it usually is harmless..however, other "things" such as multiples and fibroids should be ruled out. So, that's what we were trying to do, LOL!

I'm sure everything is fine, and I wasn't going to have a problem with my gargantuan fundus! I just wanted to ensure it was the way I was supposed to be.

I've had several u/s over the years, and even with a loss and they aren't supposed to "tell" you anything, and often they don't, but they usually treat you decent because you are a pregnant mama! Sheesh.

Oh well. How did your appt go today? I hope everything is great with you and the baby!

[naturalmomma1]

My appt went great, thanks for asking! Everything looks good.

Yeah, YOU are the mother, you'd think you'd have the right to know what is going on with your own body! Even if they can't tell you anything, at least show you the screen! Who wouldn't want to at least just see their baby!

[MyFillingQuiver]

I'm so glad you had a good appt, and that things are going well!

[randallquiver]

I just found your thread. I'm in the September club, but at my midwife appointment today, she said that I was measuring more like 13-14 weeks instead of 10. I started feeling kicking last week (and right now as I type), and we heard a nice strong heartbeat today. So she wants me to go in for an ultrasound to check on estimated due date, and I guess just check everything out. This is our fourth baby. We've had one about every 2 years, so she said it might just be that.

My question is: I have to cover the cost of the ultrasound. When evaluating it through the cost of the ultrasound, does it seem really necessary? Wouldn't we figure out eventually if he or she was actually an August baby? Or if there were two, wouldn't that become obvious at some point? Or what if I'm just pre-stretched from all the other babies.

I'm not against ultra-sounds if they are necessary. Is this necessary? I need wisdom. I trust my midwife as she wouldn't suggest an ultrasound for no reason. I'm just unsure about the whole thing.

[MyFillingQuiver]

Hiya!

I went more than a week over with my last pregnancy, so I may very well be a September mom anyway!

You know, I'd go with your gut. If you are unsure of your dates, it can be really beneficial to know, since most midwives have a limit on delivering pre-post term babies. The other thing is waiting it out. If you are consistently measuring large by the end of your 2nd trimester, then you could get the u/s then, and rule out multiples, etc. Though, dating is less accurate then.

Mine was totally pointless, but I'm not upset I had it. My midwife is laid back, and generally had questions...so, that's how it went. The report showed a completely normal pregnancy, good dating and did say, "Uterus measures several weeks ahead for gestational age, most likely with no impact on the pregnancy and likely due to multipara and birth within the last year"

So...it was useless in a sense, but positive in that we now know placental position is anterior and high-both a good thing with a VBA2C, and that all is well..now I don't need anymore u/s!

We also pay for ours-we have insurance, but the deductible is 5k, so up till' that point, we pay it all.

If you choose an u/s, please do let us know the findings! If not, you probably just have a gargantuan uterus from your womb hosting many little ones! Join the club! I'll be 14 weeks tomorrow and I'm measuring about 19..

[randallquiver]

I feel like everything is going to be normal, but I think that we'll probably just go ahead and do the ultrasound for peace of mind. It just seems like a really expensive way to have peace of mind, especially if nothing bad occurs even if things aren't normal (right?).

Either the baby's a month early, there's more than one, or is there anything else that I should be concerned about? I think that my body is just stretching into place quickly due to the previous pregnancies.

I'll let you know what we come up with, I'm going to call around today and try to get some prices on ultrasounds. It's frustrating because our previous insurance covered the entire cost of our births for just the cost of our co-pay to our midwife. (We were very blessed.) We weren't expecting to have a baby this year and decided to go with a different insurance plan to save a little money. We got a little surprise, and we will be shelling out a good bit more than we would have . Oh, well.

I just hate for money to play a deciding role in the health care services that I choose to receive.

[MyFillingQuiver]

I was told that being large for dates in the 1st trimester, and early 2nd is most often indicative of:

1) Incorrect dates
2) Multiples
3) Fibroids

And in rare cases, polyhydraminos...again, pretty rare at this stage. Likely it would be due to diabetes mellitus, which I'm thinking by the time one would be carrying extra fluid, they would know they were diabetic!

So, it's probably nothing. I, like you, chose to ensure that was true.

As far as health care costs go, I understand. We used to have full health care insurance that we recently dropped to a policy with catastrophic care (like surgeries, admittance, etc) and OB since we are open to life.

My husband is a business owner, so our policy is private. We WERE paying $789 a month for some pretty crappy Blue Cross. Now we pay less, but it's still a lot. We chose that because we don't utilize health care except in the case of emergencies or possibly OB care. I treat everything at home, we don't vax/well-child, etc.

I'd love to go into the health care issue, but I don't think MDC would allow that OT discussion here. All I will say is that gov't is NOT the answer, and I do not want them at all involved with my health, or the health of my children. I want them OUT of our lives. Gov't involvement never solves anything. We do not need them to care for us, (because they think we are needy and stupid) and I will fight that Marxist view to the end!

Anyway, please let me know what you find. Shopping for health care providers is the best way to go..very responsible! If most insured people had to do that, and to consider what was necessary/not, our costs would go way down.

Blessings, and please let me know how things go. I'm sure everything is 100% normal and great! I'll keep you in my prayers!

[randallquiver]

Well, I just got back from my ultrasound, and baby is measuring a week ahead. That means that the original due date must be correct, because my entire family had a stomach bug the week before my original conception date and there was NO action going on that week. I am very certain of that.

I'm a little disappointed. I would have love to have been a month ahead. But, I guess I'll just have to join the giant uterus club with you all

The cost of the ultrasound worked out better than I expected, since I'm now 11 weeks (baby looks to be 12 and 2 days) I was able to just have the pelvic one. Instead of needing to pay for both the pelvic and transvaginal, so that was a blessing.

Thanks for your support.

[MyFillingQuiver]

I'm glad you got your mystery solved...apparently large fundus' aren't that rare, and more rarely among us gals, do they signal anything like twins or anything!

I'm glad things are looking good, and so glad you didn't end up paying for the 2 types of u/s!

Thanks for keeping us posted, and hope all goes well with your pregnancy!

[trimestersdoula]

Just wanted to post here so you all know that I am still in the gargantuan uterus club. 15 weeks yesterday and I'm measuring about 21 weeks. Still haven't found a reason for the huge uterus. No fibroids or cysts, first u/s said one baby, etc. I have another ultrasound at the end of March/beginning of April. I was supposed to have another u/s on March 4 to check dates, but when I went to my first prenatal at 11w the OB couldn't find a HB with the doppler so she sent me for one right away instead of waiting. When I went to my last prenatal, she moved the March 4 u/s date to when I am closer to 20w because she knows I'm not a fan of multiple ultrasounds unless there is some definite medical reason.

[Taylah]

Just had my gender ultrasound on Friday (18 weeks, 2 days) and started thinking about the fact that the U/S tech said the top of my uterus was about an inch above my belly button - which would mean i'm like 3 weeks ahead of myself based on that from what I've read online.

They said nothing about (though, maybe they will once we get the results?) my uterus being larger than normal, or whatnot. And there was definitely only one baby and no fibroids so I have no idea what is going on. I'm fairly sure of my conception time considering we only had sex once during my fertile period during the month I conceived - so I'm hoping they won't try to advance my due date (the OB told me early on that they wouldn't let me go more than a week past EDD - lovely).

[trimestersdoula]

Taylah, they may talk to you at your next appointment if they have any concerns about your ultrasound. Im sure everything is fine though.

I finally got my definite ultrasound date. April 13th. I will be almost 22 weeks