Lazy uterus?

[sgmom]

Has anyone heard of this? I can't find much online.

I don't know why I didn't remember it earlier, but when my daughter was born (20 months ago via C/S), the surgeon told me that my uterus was lazy and "soft". She was 13 days late, my water broke at noon (w/mec), and I never did go into labor on my own. I had to be induced later in the evening (due to fever), and went through 26 hours of labor before having the c/s.

I literally shot up in bed in the middle of the night last night with this memory (maybe I had a dream?), and now I'm worried that labor might not start on it's own again (I'm 40+3 today).

I lost my mucus plug 2 days ago (and a little bit more this morning), but contractions have not started.

Has anyone dealt with this before? Is it possible to have a successful VBAC with a lazy uterus? What does this mean?

[MNHall]

I have no idea, but could the doctor have just been joking with that comment??

I know often times when women's water break, it does not spark them immediately into labor. A friend going for a VBAC had her water break first, so she waited a long while til going to the hospital, so that she wasn't put on the clock, before contractions even started.

So, I just wonder if this was a little sarcastic type comment???

[JessicaS]

Was he saying your uterus wasn't producing strong contractions? That is possible.


I would try and relax as much as possible, maybe take a nice bath? Get a massage?

[sgmom]

Apparently the "medical" name for it is "uterine atony". Something about loss of tone and hemorrhaging, but I can't find much more about it and how it relates to childbirth.

*shrug* I don't know much more than that. I'm concerned about how it would affect a VBAC though.

abimommy: I wasn't producing strong contractions before the induction with my first. Then they were VERY strong, but not working in the way they were supposed to... of course I also blame that on the epi I decided to get more than half way through... The whole labor was a nightmare.

I didn't know then what I know now, but this one kind of throws me for a loop.

[cairomama]

Maybe your baby is trying to reposition. Have you been doing pelvic tilts or spending time in the knee chest position (20 minutes as at time at least)?

You can't judge your uterus by the contractions they were producing before the induction. If your body was warming up or trying to reposition the baby, the contractions won't be as strong. If your baby was in a bad position and/or not ready, it is not surprising that the pit didn't make a difference.

The non-progressing contractions you are currently having with this baby could be baby trying to reposition.

Good luck! I know you are tired but you can do it.

[MsBlack]

Lazy uterus????

I'm so sorry that you had to hear that perfectly ridiculous and hurtful comment--especially from a doctor since so often their words carry so much weight for us. True uterine atony is just not very common, especially DURING labor in reasonably healthy women (though it doesn't happen often to any one at any time, it's more likely to occur after birth when mom is tired--making placental expulsion and uterine involution more difficult--yes, leading to postpartum hemmorhage).

Now, after 26hrs of induction, your uterus might have been losing steam--especially if you had not eaten during that time....and other things were done that would only naturally have sapped your strength. In that case, your uterus was NOT LAZY! Abused and exhausted perhaps....but in any event the OB might have seen signs of weaker contractions, and just carelessly called it lazy. Or even purposefully chose that word to describe your uterus, in order to avoid blame for your csec: I mean hey, if you believe that you just have a lazy uterus, kind of an inborn defect, then the doc can't be blamed for your failed induction, right?

Anyway--sounds like various things led to your poor progress in labor, and I suspect that much of this had to do with medical interventions. For instance--you say you had a fever, and that is why induction was initiated after your water broke. I'm curious--did you go to the hospital soon after the water broke? Or at least go to your doc's office to get checked out, and have vaginal exams? Infection is most likely to set in, if vag exams are done--particularly if exams are done prior to active labor (strong, close contrax). I've known women to go several days with broken waters and no infection/fever at all--but NO ONE PUT HANDS in their vaginas!

Well again, your uterus may have been tired by the time the OB saw it--and it may have had very good reasons to be tired by then, due to medical protocols such as starving laboring women (and other). But your uterus is a beautiful, strong, very very ABLE and WILLING organ! You will go into labor when it's time, no worries! And if you can avoid most of the med interventions, and make sure to eat, drink, move and rest during your labor as needed, your uterus is by far most likely to do it's job wonderfully well

Do you have a doula, or other reliable, knowledgeable labor support lined up?

[RedOakMomma]

I also got the lazy uterus comment, but it was from a very loving OB. He used the words when he was explaining why my uterus wasn't helping much in the pushing contractions, and why I had no urge to push in well over three hours. In my case it's because I was carrying twins (or at least that's what I suspected/was told). My uterus just could not coordinate itself.

I had some worries going into my second birth that my uterus would be uncoordinated again in its contractions. NOPE. In fact, it was so "un-lazy" that it pushed my baby from 9cm to crowning in ONE contraction. It did the job with no effort from me. Totally crazy sensation, especially after the first birth. I also had very recognizeable pushing contractions, which was great.

Long story short, I think each birth is different. Having a uncooperative uterus in one birth doesn't mean it won't shoot the baby out in the next birth.

Best of luck to you!

[sgmom]

It was anything BUT a natural childbirth. SOOO many things went wrong, starting with being 13 days past due and my waters breaking with mec.

Looking back, there were SOOOO many things that I should have done differently, starting with INSISTING that my midwife be contacted (she was sleeping). She had just done 5 births in 3 days (one of which being twins with complications) and so her pager was fwd to her partner (who, for the record, is no longer her partner). She wasn't notified for approx 8 hours after I arrived at the hospital (which I was pressured and scared into doing by her partner), and I wasn't educated enough to know how to react in this particular situation.

They wanted to do all sorts of things (continuous monitoring, vaginal exams done by several different people, induction after several hours, epidural, etc), and hospitals can be pretty scary for a first time mom... so I let a lot of it happen (believing the risks were too high to not do anything), and ended up with chorioamnionitis.

I pushed for 5.5 hours (coached, thanks to the epi), and was never given the chance to help my body correct itself (positioning, etc). She turned posterior during labor (she was OA), and was asynclitic.

I have the same midwife for this birth (she was great the last time, once she got there), and 2 doulas... one of which is a very close friend of mine (I will be her first birth) and the other is another friend who started her doula training last year (but she has done several births every month, so I feel fairly confident having her there). Regardless though, I've done so much research that I think I know more than the two of them put together.

Anyway, this lazy uterus comment caught me off guard (once I remembered!), so I wanted to ask if anyone's has any experience.

RedOakMomma: Thank you for telling me your story. Labor hasn't started for me yet (I'm 40+4) and I'm getting increasingly nervous of a repeat event (my body has never gone into labor on it's own), or how to prevent it.

[RedOakMomma]

Try not to get nervous. I think my first labor was probably a lot like yours in some ways...my water broke (no mec, though) and then NOTHING happened for over 12 hours. Nada. We chose to stay home and wait it out, but had we gone into the hospital I think it would have been intervention city...between the broken water, my GBS status, and my "lazy" uterus...yeah.

With my second birth, my water broke and nothing happened for 9 or so hours. Again, we stayed home. I started to get nervous, but sure enough...when my uterus got going, it REALLY got going. Active labor was incredibly short and intense...and like I said...it practically spit the baby out! The only thing I did differently this time was drink a lot of strong RRL tea during labor. I can't give all the credit to RRL, but I do sometimes wonder how much it helped.

Did your water break on its own last time? Then I would count that TOTALLY as your body working to bring labor on. Sometimes, and this is just my personal theory, I think our bodies break the water and wait a while before getting coordinated. I'm not sure why. Your body will know what to do. Good luck!

[sgmom]

Originally Posted by RedOakMomma

Did your water break on its own last time?

It did break on it's own. I didn't intend to induce, but I did take a small dose of castor oil (because I was suffering from constipation). It gave me some mild diarrhea (4 times in one hour, I think), so it's hard to say if that was the cause or not.

I've also been drinking the RRL tea, but I only started a few days ago and so far I'm only drinking 1-2 cups a day, or when I think of it (I'm a HUGE fan of cold water, so remembering to make and drink tea more than once/day can be a bit of a challenge).

I lost the mucus plug on saturday, so I know labor is coming... I just don't know when.

[RedOakMomma]

I like it cold, too. What I do is brew a very strong batch of RRL in very hot water, then fill up the rest of the container with cool water (or ice cubes if I need to cool it down fast). Then it's easier to drink.

[MNHall]

I'm a cold RRL drinker too! I really do not like tea, at all, so cold was the only way I could take it! I only had 2 cups a day (I would just down it in one big huge cup) for the last maybe 4-5 weeks. Who knows if it helped, but certainly can't hurt!

And I agree, my theory is, water breaking is your body's way of working...even if you don't start contractions right away, it is your body moving in the direction of having that baby!

Stay strong, stay confident and remember, YOU CAN DO THIS!

[sgmom]

I've read that in order for it to work in toning the uterus, you have to drink it hot. The hotter the better, I've read... Is that not true?? I'd drink WAY more of it if it were handy in my fridge, for sure!

[sgmom]

Oh, and how much should I be drinking right now? I'll be a week past due tomorrow...

[seagull]

Best wishes with your upcoming birth.

I probably had a similar experiences with my first child. My ob told my that my uterus was "boggy" which I suppose could be liken to soft or lazy. I had a great deal of hemorrhaging during and after a csec. I never had a contraction that I could feel. I had been running a fever for 2 days before my water broke and once I had AROM there was heavy meconium. So when the induction timed out with FTP, I was at peace with a csec.

I chose my ob because she does support VBAC for most patients, but in my case with my second pregnancy, she didn't support it for me. As life turns out, that was a totally correct recommendation but I'll save the details for later.

[MNHall]

Originally Posted by sgmom

I've read that in order for it to work in toning the uterus, you have to drink it hot. The hotter the better, I've read... Is that not true?? I'd drink WAY more of it if it were handy in my fridge, for sure!

Hmmmm, I've never heard! All I knew was none of that tea was getting in me hot, so cold was better than nothing!

[Just1More]

I drink it cold. And I add sugar. I know, I know. But, I can't stand it straight.

So, I drink it with sugar, over a glass full of ice cubes. It tastes about like kool-aid. And the last two pgs, I drank probably 2 or 3 gallons worth over the last 2 or 3 days of my pg, and had very quick and easy labors. Was it the tea? I dunno, and it's yummy and doesn't hurt anything, so I'm going to do it this time, too.

[sgmom]

Interesting. I'll try it cold! Thanks!

[erin elizabeth]

I also have a "lazy uterus". It doesn't contract back to normal size after birth. I had my son via c-section and had to take pills to "shrink" it back to normal size. They don't let you dilate normal either.

i had a c-section because I have a small pelvis and my son was 8lbs 15oz. A large baby also does not help a lazy uterus because it weakens it. My Doctor said because of his size and i am short my uterus actually could not contract around him, so I went in to labor but it was no more painful then menstrual cramps. I dilated to a 2 and that was all she wrote. I had my lil fella at 40 weeks and 1 day because he was measuring 9-11lbs on the sonogram. Then my Doc said my uterus just laid there stretched out. A lazy uterus can be dangerous if you have the kind that doesn't keep your cervix tightly closed during pregnancy and some women require a stitch like thing to keep it closed. 

[TiffanyToo]

Originally Posted by erin elizabeth 

I also have a "lazy uterus". It doesn't contract back to normal size after birth. I had my son via c-section and had to take pills to "shrink" it back to normal size. They don't let you dilate normal either.

I wonder did your OB induce you? Many women who are induced and not allowed to eat and refuel this will impact how the uterus is able to do the work it must to birth baby. 

i had a c-section because I have a small pelvis and my son was 8lbs 15oz. A large baby also does not help a lazy uterus because it weakens it.

An 8# 15oz baby is not an abnormally large baby it would fall into the average.

 My Doctor said because of his size and i am short my uterus actually could not contract around him, so I went in to labor but it was no more painful then menstrual cramps. I dilated to a 2 and that was all she wrote.

What happened at 2cm that required a c-section?

I had my lil fella at 40 weeks and 1 day because he was measuring 9-11lbs on the sonogram.

Notice your #9+ baby was not that ultrasounds at the end of pregnancy are not reliable in measuring or determining if a baby is "Big"

Then my Doc said my uterus just laid there stretched out.

Why would your OB lay out your uterus and expect for it to do something? Your poor uteri was traumatized, the normal hormonal activity that would occur during labor and delivery was interrupted this disallowing for your uterus to respond the normal way. To expect a c-section uterus to respond the same as if it were not c-sectioned is rather ridiculous!

A lazy uterus can be dangerous if you have the kind that doesn't keep your cervix tightly closed during pregnancy and some women require a stitch like thing to keep it closed. 

Has your OB suggested that you will need a cerelage for any subsequent pregnancies?

The thread was started over a year ago yet I wanted to speak to your specific response as I believe some of the things your OB told you is BS.