Hi Kara

[Guest guest]

Hi Kara,

Thanks for your response to my message post.

Congratulations on your 6.5 month old baby boy. It sounds like you

had a pretty smooth pregnancy. My husband is always amazed to see a

pregnant woman walking around (I was on bed rest 12 out of 23

weeks).

I was surprised to learn (three years ago next month) that I had a

septate uterus. My Ob/Gyn stated that it is a genetic malformation--

I don't know of any other women in my family who had this problem).

I wish that my previous Ob/Gyn's had suspected a deformity. After my

third loss, she suggested that I see a fertility nurse practitioner

who rented space in their office. We paid $500 for several IUI's

which didn't work, probably because the nurse practitioner injected

my husband's DNA into the non-ovulating side of my uterus.

Thanks again for your kind response.

Looking forward to my surgery scheduled for September 25th.

Kayla Claire (25-weeker 7-16-02)

> > Hello everyone.

> >

> > My name is and I am very happy I found this message board.

> >

> > I am a 42-year woman who recently found herself pregnant again.

> > Although I have been married for 21 years, last year we finally

had

> > our first child, who was born at 25 weeks gestation, a girl we

> named

> > Kayla. Over the years, I had several first-trimester losses. In

> > October 2000, one month short of my 40th birthday, we discovered

> > through exploratory surgery that I was born with a septate uterus

> (a

> > wall down the middle of the uterus). The septate uterus was

> probably

> > the cause of a number of first trimester losses. The surgeon

> > successfully resected the septum, and I conceived 14 months after

> the

> > surgery in February of 2002.

> >

> > A year ago May 17, at 16.2 weeks gestation, we discovered that I

> had

> > an incompetent cervix (I had never gotten to my second trimester

up

> > until that pregnancy), and a cervical cerlage was placed that

same

> > evening. I was on bed rest at home for four weeks for 22-23

hours

> a

> > day. At twenty weeks, I decided to seek a second opinion from a

> well-

> > known perinatologist in San Francisco (at home on bed rest the

> > pressure on my cervix grew increasingly painful). The

> perinatologist

> > (who also performs abdominal cerclages) admitted me into the

> hospital

> > within a half hour of being seen, and placed me on strict and

> > complete hospital bed rest (24x7). At exactly 25 weeks

gestation,

> my

> > water broke and my 1 lb. 6-1/2 oz. little girl was born by

> emergency

> > c-section. Amazingly and thankfully, she survived and is 13

months

> > old today with NO lasting residually effects of her extreme

> > prematurity (she doesn't even look like a preemie!).

> >

> > About five weeks ago, we were surprised to find out that I am

> > pregnant again, especially since I had previous trouble

conceiving,

> > and conceived Kayla with the help of Clomid. In any event, we

are

> > happy, irrespective of my age, and we feel compelled to do

> everything

> > within our power to save this baby. In addition, I also have a

> > personal doctor/patient relationship with one of the few doctors

in

> > the U.S. who perform abdominal cerclages. We have the surgery

> > scheduled for September 25th, and I am nervous about the surgery

> > because I am not the leanest or healthiest I've ever been (not to

> > mention that since giving birth last year, I've been the sole

> support

> > of the family's income--the recession has crippled my husband's

> > employment prospects).

> >

> > If there are any women who'd like to share their experience with

> me,

> > I would greatly appreciate it. I have the following questions

> which

> > are pressing on my conscious every day (especially since my

husband

> > may be getting a day-time job soon, and I'll be on disability and

> > unable to pick up my 22-pound daughter).

> >

> > I'd like to know:

> >

> > 1. How long (i.e, weeks) after the surgery were you able to pick

> up

> > a small child or something over 20 pounds?

> >

> > 2. If you worked prior to your abdominal cerclage, and

thereafter

> > went on disability, did your surgeon keep you on disability

> > throughout your pregnancy?

> >

> > 3. How long did it take to heal to where you were able to get

> around

> > normally?

> >

> > At present, we do not have a baby sitter or a nanny to care for

> > Kayla, and I worry that too much will happen in too short a

period

> of

> > time with respect to our household and Kayla's caretaker (who has

> > been daddy). I have one sister in the my area, a stay-at-home

mom

> > with two teenagers, who is helping us out a bit while my husband

is

> > interviewing and while I'm at work, but probably won't want to

take

> > care of Kayla while we search for a nanny. Of course, I won't be

> > able to lift Kayla after the surgery, which will make it

impossible

> > to care for a little girl who is crawling all over the place!

> We've

> > got a lot on our minds right now.

> >

> > BTW, last year, I was a regular message-poster at the bed rest

> > message board at parentsplace.com. It was very helpful to me as

I

> > was on bedrest for twelve of the 25 weeks.

> >

> > Thanks for your kind replies.

> >

> >