Hi I have been searching for a long time on this subject so I know there is not much information available to sufferers. So I would like to share my experience and hope it helps someone.
I had 3 c sections, the first 2 emergencies and the 3rd planned. During the second the surgeon said the amount of scar tissue meant it was very difficult to get to the baby and they had to remove a lot of tissue. To make matters worse, both myself and the baby had sepsis so recovery was extremely difficult. Anyway, this caused my stomach muscles to deteriorate and I had a pretty bad diastasis recti. I tried light exercise but I felt a painful pulling so stopped.
Three years later, to our surprise, I was pregnant again and I was terrified to think how could my stomach hold the weight of another baby. My GP had no advice and so I tried physio therapy but again find the advice useless in my situation. As my belly grew I found walking increasingly painful and at 8-9 months the BHicks was unbearable. So the last 3 months I spent in a wheelchair.
After having my beautiful baby i could insistently walk with no issues and the back pain had gone. But I was left with a huge, hard, painful bulge. I saw 3 different doctors to express my concern but they all thought my concern was superficial. Then I saw a consultant during a routine check up who felt the muscle gap and agree the size was extreme and couldn't be left like this. She referred me to a surgeon after 12 months recovery from pregnancy. Once again the surgeon was in no doubt the gap was far too big and very high so surgery was my only option. This was a relief to hear and yet a difficult decision to make. I could not lift anything for at least 6 weeks, including my daughter, and recovery would be much hard than a c section as I would need a vertical incision.
I could see no alternative as I could feel the gap getting higher and bladder control was ridiculous so I went for it.
I am now 3 weeks post surgery. The damage was a lot worse than they thought and a second hernia was found above my belly button. I ended up with mesh to cover the gap as my muscles were too weak to repair and a small amount of excess skin was removed. Recovery has been extremely painful but manageable. I had seromia under the incision (build up of fluid) which made things harder again but think I'm over that now and it's getting easier every day. The hard bulge is gone which is amazing but it's still swollen so difficult to know what it will look like. I can't wear a bikini due to the huge scar but that doesn't bother me. So far so good.
Hope that helps someone. If you have any questions please feel free.