After the operation, I was hospitalized for a week. My painful incision was huge. I wondered why doctor R had not come to see me. I later learned that after the surgery, he had left for a vacation! His associate doctor L was left with telling me and my husband, Willard, the "good news." I didn't have a tumor, I had a bicornuate uterus. I asked, "What's that? His answer? I had a divided uterus.
The following year, during World War ll, my husband was drafted into the army. After some months of his basic training, I was able to join him in Montgomery, Alabama. While traveling with my husband, my monthly "period" had become irregular. Army doctors were rarely available to civilians. Finally, I was able to be seen by an excellent gynecologist. Following his examination the doctor said, "I'm sorry to tell you that you will never be able to carry a baby to full term. Because of the congenital abnormality of your uterus you will have repeated miscarriages."
But, the Lord has other plans!
Unfortunately that doctors prophecy, regarding several miscarriages, came true. I shall never forget one, three-month-miscarried pregnancy. After a hospital procedure, the nurse told me I had given birth to a boy. In my heart I named that baby David.
In time, I wanted to adopt, but my husband was hesitant. Then, two months later, surprise! I was pregnant again. Who could help me? Was it not the Holy Spirit that led me to a remarkable doctor who with a smile said, "We can do it! You will stay in bed for seven months, and I will prescribe a steroid hormone, synthetic progesterone injections and you will have a full-term baby!"(I later learned that an African American chemist had developed the synthetic form of progesterone and I wrote a letter of gratitude to him.)
Subsequently, my mother came to be with me every day while my husband worked. She crocheted a beautiful smooth, wool, afghan during those seven months. Today, at ninety, I still use it as a coverlet on my bed.
After my enforced bed rest, when my water broke, my husband rushed me to the hospital. My doctor and a group of fascinated interns were waiting for me. This was their first bicornuate uterus- full-term baby.
After the birth of our beautiful, six pound-seven ounce baby Beth, the nurse placed her at my breast, I was experiencing a miracle. Totally awed at the realization that another human being had emerged from my body. Without question, I, like mothers all over the world, had become a co-creator with God.
But, the next day I struggled with infection and a high temperature. Hospital regulations required that I be moved from the maternity floor to another location. Upon hearing that, I experienced severe dizziness. I did not want to be separated from my baby.
Then suddenly, like angels, two nurses appeared at the foot of my bed. With a loving smile, one nurse said, "I am Catholic." The second nurse said, "I am Protestant- we heard that you are Jewish, and we thought that if we prayed together for you, your temperature would break." Thus, with prayer, and a large dose of aspirin, my temperature broke and I was allowed to stay on the maternity floor.
Following Beth's birth her dad was standing outside of the glass window nursery window, looking for Beth in the bassinet. Suddenly he saw her dimples and called out "That's her, she's mine!"
A month later I was reading Psalm 147 and was magnetized by the phrase "I will bless the children within you." It didn't say child, ie Beth already born, but it read "children." Little did I know that we were to be blessed with another child despite many challenges to be overcome. I remember Willard and I sitting in the doctor's waiting room, anxious to know the test results of the "rabbit test" (A urine pregnancy test at that time). When the doctor announced that I was pregnant again both Willard and I wept. We had just lived through a serious fire in our new home. Beth suffered from gluten intolerance (celiac disease), requiring constant attention. Thus, I was on my feet night and day. Again miracle of miracles, during Beth's delivery, the surgeon removed a dividing septum in my uterus, which allowed for Les' expanding weight, without causing a miscarriage. Neither Willard or I ever considered an abortion. Les became another love of our lives; laughing, he was a pure delight.
During my lifetime, I was privileged to do volunteer teaching among the poor. I had been a pro-choice advocate for several years. My heart went out to women who had been used and to those that felt they could not take care of another child. But since my adult conversion to Catholicism, I came to the realization that abortion is the killing of an innocent life.
I believe that all life is a divine gift. As a peace activist during the Vietnam War I thought of killing, whether during war or abortion, an abomination. There are however, circumstances that require serious consideration, regarding the concept that it takes a village to raise a child. Therefore, I also believe, that if we are truly pro-life advocates, we must advocate for the well-being of all children. For each of them are in fact a miracle.
For the sake of readers interested in the research and treatment of a bicornuate uterus
I found Wikipedia's information regarding the Pathophysiology, Classification, Epidemiology, and Effect on Reproduction, to be amazing. I was particularly fascinated with this Epidemiology statistic:
"A bicornuate uterus is estimated in 0.1%-0.5% of women in the U.S."
Effect on Reproduction:
- Pregnancies in a bicornuate uterus are usually considered high-risk and require extra monitoring because of association with poor reproduction potential.
- A bicornuate uterus is associated with increased adverse reproductive outcomes like recurrent pregnancy loss, preterm birth, and/or breech birth.
As to diagnosis- we now have gynecologic sonography, but probably not during my 1946 pregnancy.
I highly recommend interested readers to check out Wikipedia for more information on a Bicornuate Uterus:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicornuate_uterus
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| A Bicornuate Uterus is commonly referred to as a divided-heart shaped womb. |
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