has anyone had any experience of an abdominal suture?

[starlite12]

I would be grateful for any feedback. Thanks

I have one, placed at 13w2d last pregnancy via laparotomy with Nick Wales at C&W in London. Pretty sure it saved the life of DS (I had under 10mm left when it was placed) and it will be saving the life of this one too. Last check at 17 weeks had me with a 37mm measurement

It has an amazing success rate.

What do you want to know?

Thanks crispy, ive got an appointment in about three weeks to get one done in st marys in Manchester by dr bullen and im absolutely petrified. Ive had two cervical sutures in the previous pregnancy and they both failed so I've decided to go for this. It will be open surgery so recovery will be like a c section.

Yep, that's what mine was as well. It was fine - okay, I can't pretend it was a pain-free recovery, but it was pretty textbook as these things go.

Are you pregnant yet or is this a pre-pregnancy one? It was quite scary having it done in pregnancy but DS was absolutely fine.

There is such a great sense of relief once the operation is over and the TAC is in place. Knowing you are locked up forever and never have to worry about cervical issues again is an amazing feeling and worth every moment of discomfort.

I'm sorry your previous two sutures failed - it definitely sounds like a TAC is the way forward for you. I only ever seem to hear success stories about them, but doctors are reluctant to offer them because it's major surgery. Yet half the time these are the same doctors who hand out c-sections (even more major surgery as it cuts into the uterus) like candy. Go figure, because I can't!!

I hope all goes well with your surgery, I am sure it will

Thanks again. ..yeah im 8 weeks pregnant so it will be done while im pregnant, did they put you to sleep? And how did you cope with recovery? I just wanted to be all prepared before I go in for the op.

Yep, I went to sleep (apparently baby goes to sleep too!) I was out for about an hour apparently - longest time I've been under. They checked the baby whilst I was still under. In recovery they gave me morphine, and I was given codeine later on as well. Annoyingly because I was still "early" they wouldn't check the heartbeat with a doppler during my hospital stay as they said if they couldn't find it (and it was early) then I'd panic and they couldn't be doing with a scan. Given I'd found his heartbeat at 8 weeks with my home doppler this was frustrating - you can guess what the first thing I did after I got home was!!

I left hospital after two nights, and just took it easy at home for the next week or so. The worst bit was getting out of bed in the hospital for the first time, it really hurt, but it has to be done! It was all downhill from there though. By the time I got home I was hobbling about fine. It was 2-3 weeks until I felt only small discomfort but as I get SPD that didn't last long!!

My consultant had me on heavy doses of antibiotics prophylactically every six weeks for the remainder of the pregnancy which caused horrible horrible side effects (erythromycine and metronidazole). Not every doctor does this. DS has a discoloured and pitted tooth (one of his canines) which was possibly caused by one of the many many drugs I ended up taking due to the TAC, but it's only his baby teeth and as far as I can tell given he's 2.5 years old now, the only issue!

In terms of outcome, getting the stitch put in with open abdominal surgery during pregnancy does seem to have the best results so you're doing the best thing It's just scary to be put to sleep when you have a baby in there! But they were all really lovely to me the whole time and I am sure they will be to you, too.