Iliana

[Guest guest]

Iliana,

Wow, I am so sorry for what you have been through. I would strongly encourage you to try the ab cerclage. I believe it is well worth trying. Do you have a doctor willing to do this?Love, P.

"Brayden Austin" 06/02/03 }}Angel {{ (14wks) 6/12/00 }}Angel Trustin{{ (18wks) 7/17/02

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My name is Iliana. I'm 39 and originally from Costa Rica. I

currently live in Indiana. I have had very bad experiences with

pregnancy. I have had 11 pregnancies but none carried full term.

Several were early miscarriages (1st trimester), 1 was an ectopic

pregnancy that ended when my tube ruptured and I had to have an

emergency surgery resulting in the loss of that tube and ovary, 1

ended at 14weeks, another ended at 20 weeks after an emergency

rescue vaginal cerclage, and my most recent ended at 24 weeks after

3 failed vaginal cerclages with the birth of my son on August

14th of this year. Unfortunately, only survived for two days.

In my 20 week pregnancy, I was on bed rest with some priveleges from

week 10 on. At 18 weeks, the doctor said my cervix looked fine and

I could quit bed rest, but at 19 weeks I started having contractions

and I went to the hospital. I was dialated to the point that my

sack was protruding. The doctor did an emergency cerclage but 1

week later, the cerclage failed and I had to deliver the baby. The

delivery was a terrible experience and the baby did not survive. I

had a very hard time recovering from this loss and thought I would

never have a baby. This was in 1996 when I lived in Costa Rica.

Last year, in 2002, I became pregnant, but it was an empty sac. The

doctor had feared that it was another ectopic, so he performed a

laparoscopy but could not find it and did a more extensive

exploratory surgery. He never found an ectopic pregnancy, but he

said I had lots of adhesions and that everything was all twisted and

tangled up. I also had a D & C done. My husband and I tried to get

pregnant again for several months later that year but to no avail.

My doctor decided to do a hystosalpingogram (HSG) to determine if my

one remaining tube was blocked. The test showed that it was. I was

devestated. The doctor suggested in vitro fertilization.

But this March, to my surprise, only four days before our first

visit with the IVF doctor I found out that I had become pregnant

again. We were so excited! I thought now that I lived in America

that everything was going to be alright because of the better

medical technology here. This time I went to a different doctor

than in 2002. I told him my story and that I needed a cerclage due

to my past history. He said I had to wait until 12 weeks gestation

before he would do the cerclage. I did not want to lose this

pregnancy and, following my instincts, I quit my job and put myself

on bed rest right away even though the doctor didn't think it was

necessary. In April, I had an episode of severe bleeding while at

home. I went to the emergency room and the doctor said I had

miscarried but that they needed to do an ultrasound first before

they could do a D & C. Much to my surprise, the doctor said the u/s

showed that the baby was still alive and had a good heartbeat!! They

never determined the cause of the bleeding. I continued on bed rest

afterwards and had weekly appoinments with u/s. However, the

doctors were unable to do the cerclage at 12 weeks due to placenta

previa. Fortunately, the placenta moved and they were able to place

the cerclage at 16 weeks. I was so relieved and hopeful! A

subsequent examination, however, showed that the stitch had

partially pulled through my cervix. The doctor had to do a second

cerclage the next day. This was at 20 weeks. I was sent home and

continued with the bed rest and weekly check-ups. After two more

weeks, my u/s showed that my cervix was very short and was funneling

so I was admitted to the hospital that same day. In the hospital, I

was having some contractions and they started giving me magnesium

sulfate. After 1 week in the local hospital (Bloomington, IN) I was

sent to the ICU at the Indiana University hospital in Indianapolis.

They must have known something was wrong because later that same day

an examination showed that I the second cerclage had also torn and

the water bag was starting to protrude. They could even see my

baby's foot inside kicking at it. The high-risk pregnancy doctor at

the IU hospital said I needed another emergency cerclage but she

said there was very little hope. Well, she managed to push the bag

back inside without breaking it, took out the old cerclages,

stretched my cervix and was able to put in 2 new stitches. It was a

great success! I kept having contractions, though, in spite of

higher doses of magnesium. I was miserable after all these

surgeries, the prolonged bed rest, and the medications. One week

after my third cerclage, my contractions got much worse and my

cervix dialted to 6 cm. The newest cerclage was tearing through

and, at 24 weeks, I had to have a c-section (the baby was breech)

before it had completely torn through my cervix. That was August

14th. Sadly, my son had complications and passed away on August

16th.

This has been the most painful experience, both physically and

emotionally that I have ever gone through. I had really thought

that this time my baby was going to survive. I had so many plans

for our family and I couldn't believe that after all of our

suffering and sacrifice that I was coming home empty handed. I felt

like a failure. I felt old and I didn't think I could endure another

pregnancy and another loss. But hope springs eternal, I guess. I

found this group and after reading some of your stories, I feel that

I am not so alone in my experience and you have given me some small

bit of hope. Although I am very scared that I may not be a good

candidate for a TAC due to my age and previous surgeries, I would

like to know what all of you think. Can an abdominal cerclage work

for me??

I'm sorry that I wrote such a long story, but I felt that I needed

to tell it to people that would really understand what I'm feeling.

Thanks for reading it. I hope to hear from you.

Iliana