Trying to Conceive, Pregnancy and COVID-19

I know it's been a while since the pandemic started, and many states have reopened, but here's how the Covid-19 virus has impacted our journey to start our family.. We had to postpone a surgery I needed to remove a fibroid impinging my uterus cavity. Something we needed to address before beginning IVF.

I had a laparoscopic myomectomy scheduled for March 19 that we postponed when the virus began to spread and as hospitals shut down elective surgeries. I still would have been able to have it done, but we felt uncertain of the situation at the time.

When restrictions loosened and cases went down, we rescheduled the surgery for May 18 (last Mon). I'm now a week into recovery, and moving around much better. I found tidbits from this group's previous posts really helpful! I've mentioned these at the end 🙂

Here's an update on how the procedure went, findings, and our future plans.

I went to the hospital 48 hours before surgery to be tested for the virus. It came back negative for the virus and anti-bodies.

Dr Khan requested I have an MRI prior to the surgery so he could see for sure what we were dealing with. This was good because he found what could be an adenomyoma, something like a fibroid, but that differs in structure and consistency.

With this in mind, he braced us for the potential of an abdominal myomectomy (open surgery/c-section), but he would first try to perform the procedure laparoscopically, which is what we had hoped for.

Dr Khan and Dr Kim were able to complete the surgery laparoscopically. They removed a 6 cm fibroid, an adenomyoma, and even endometriosis, which we didn't even know I had. With these findings, we're choosing to take a more aggressive approach to our IVF plan.

In one month, I have my post-op visit and will start on Lupron for two months. Then, we will do IVF in Sept.

I didn't know anything about endometriosis before this.

I wanted to thank @airey2 for sharing advice on using a pillow while you cough or sneeze following surgery. That helped! And thanks to @karenolac for bringing up the topic on laparoscopic for endometriosis.

Thanks to @loren12 for sharing that there is an Endometriosis Awareness Month and @colleenyoung for bringing up this topic as well.

Also, congrats to @loren12 and family! Praying everything goes well in July!

Also, congrats to @paddingtonk and family! Praying for you as well!

As for endo, I had no indications I had it during any of my exams, ultrasounds, or MRI. I wasn't even aware it could be a possibility for my severe cramps. We're hoping this surgery will have helped. I would like to help create more awareness of this disease for more women in the future.

Thanks for letting me share my story!
Happy Memorial Day to everyone.

Thank you!!! Best of luck with your recovery and procedure in September.