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Pregnant after a Loss
uterine septum surgery (repost from TTCAL)
Hi Ladies,
I've never posted to this board before, but I need some advice and encouragement.
My story (Cliff Notes version): When I had my first ultrasound in November, my doctor found a septum in my uterus, and the placenta partially attached there. Since I was already pregnant, there was nothing they could do about it. I had some slight bleeding from 7 weeks on, and then my water broke at 19 weeks, probably because the blood in my uterus irritated the amniotic sac. After 3 weeks in the hospital, I lost my daughter Grace on Feb. 25th at 22 weeks. After her death, I had a couple awful months, then a week or two where things started to feel a little better. Now that Grace's due date is approaching (June 30th was the big day) I'm starting to feel awful again. Knowing that she'd be fine if she were born today KILLS me.
But on to the medical question:
I'm having metroplasty surgery next week to fix the septum, and I was wondering if anyone here has had this procedure. My RE says that the recovery time is minimal, but this is the first surgery I've ever had, and I'm pretty freaked out about the 50 things that could go wrong (uterine puncture/fluid overload/DEATH!) that we discussed in the pre-op appointment. Since I've already been on the bad side of statistics, the "everything is fine 95% of the time" doesn't give me too much comfort. I'd love to hear from someone who went through this.
Also, how long was it before your doctor cleared you to TTC?
I hope you all have a WONDERFUL day!
:)Lindy
This discussion has been closed.
Re: uterine septum surgery (repost from TTCAL)
Yes, no laparoscopy, my RE is using ultrasound to see the depth of her cut.
And by the way, I LOVE your nursery.
Thanks for the compliment!
The REs I work with usually tell their patients they can TTC after their first period after the resection. The actual resection is typically very easy to do, minimally invasive (depending on the size of the septum) and heals pretty quickly from what I am told.
I hope you have a very speedy recovery and we hope to see you over here very soon.
Thanks for the info and the well-wishes! I see that you're 28 weeks- woo hoo! Hooray for the third trimester
Lindy, there's a group on Yahoo called Mullerian Anomalies that can offer more information. They thought that I had a septum, so after my loss I had some testing done, and it *looks like* I only have an arcuate uterus. I know the ladies who have had the surgery done have had the LAB/Hyst (I think thats what its called) - a scope in through the belly button plus one through the uterus so you can see the inside and outside of the uterus at the same time.
I think the most important thing is that your doctor has done this MANY times before and is comfortable with it. Also, you will need to have it checked after the surgery to make sure it is all resected.
There's another member on here who's had it done: teach727. She's pregnant in Nov. with me.
Hi Lindy! Your story is similar to mine. With my last pregnancy, at the last u/s the doctor saw the septum and told me it was "not a big deal" and if I made it to 20 weeks, I should be fine. Well, I made it to 20 weeks, but then had bad report after bad report, and ultimately ended up having a stillborn at 27 weeks, all due to the septum.
That was January of last year. 6 weeks post-partum I had a saline u/s and an MRI to get a better view of everything when there was no baby in there. Then in June, I had my surgery. Same as you, I just had the metroplasty, no laproscopic cuts. It was super easy and the recovery time was really not bad. I was out of work for 2.5 days total. I also had a balloon in place for five days after the surgery. Will you have the balloon catheter? I was also on estrogen for about 2 weeks, I think, to help build up the lining. Both the balloon catheter and the estrogen are kind of a "doctor's call." Some doctors do both, some do neither, some do one. There's evidence on both sides as to whether it actually helps.
About a month after the surgery the doctor gave me another saline u/s and MRI to make sure that everything was healed up. Everything was and three months post operation I was cleared to TTC again. I think three months is on the long side, and I've heard of a lot of people who only had to wait one month.
And with my newly remodeled surgery, I've had none of the issues so far with this pregnancy that I had last time! This baby is already bigger than her sister!
Please let me know if you have ANY questions. I kind of make this my mission to educate people and share my story, since I had never even heard about this before I had it.
Good luck, and let me know how everything goes!
Thank you so much for the info, girls.
krate24, I'll probably have a bunch of questions for you- my RE hasn't told me that I'll need another saline ultrasound or MRI, but she has told me that they're going to check for any residual septum or scarring that could happen. My septum is pretty small, 1.5 cm, so she doesn't think the balloon (she called it a stint?) would be necessary. She told me that balloon/hormones might not even help and she doesn't want to increase the risk of infection by having a 'foreign' thing in there. But obviously it worked for you!
She also said I'd need to wait 2 cycles to try, and I wanted to see if that was typical. Three sounds like a long time! I'm on BCP right now to keep the lining thin and the doctor says I can stop taking them immediately after surgery, and that first period that comes will count as cycle 1! We'll see!
Congrats on your LO!
I am sorry for your loss. I had 3 early miscarriages before being diagnosed with a septum (I had an MRI and a 3D ultrasound). My septum was also quite small. I had the surgery last June, was on estrogen for 2 weeks and was told to wait 2 cycles to TTC. Three months after that I was pregnant and am currently 30 weeks...no problems
Good luck, surgery and recovery were a breeze!!!!
Thanks, October! It makes me feel so much better to know you're having such a successful pregnancy. You girls give me hope- and I totally need it right now!