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About Me: Female, 39, Cape Town, South Africa, member since Nov 2011

My oldest son was born in July 2000.  We had fallen pregnant with no complications and it was essentially an easy pregnancy. The birth itself however teetered on a possible emergency Caesarean section, we were constantly monitored and finally my son was born by assisted ... [More] delivery (ventouse) due to fetal stress. Shortly after his birth it was discovered that part of the placenta had broken off and a D&C (dilation and curettage)  had to be performed to remove the retained placenta.  Unfortunately this resulted in a condition called Asherman's Syndrome . Depending on the degree of severity, Ashermans Syndrome may result in infertility, repeated miscarriages, pain from trapped blood, and future obstetric complications. In my case all of the above.

In order to fall pregnant again I had 9 operations / procedures and finally fertility treatment.  I experienced an early miscarriage at 6 weeks, in January 2004. After the recommended waiting period to try again, we decided to try one last time and were again disappointed.  We then made peace with the fact that perhaps it was not in God’s plan for us, to have more children.

We were just getting used to the idea of having only one child, when we discovered that against all odds, I was pregnant! As the last pregnancy resulted in miscarriage we decided to only share our “news” with close family. I began bleeding very early in the pregnancy, and I thought this was leading to yet another miscarriage. Diagnosed with Placenta previa, I was then bed ridden with only certain bathroom privileges (I would bleed if I walked too much). With placenta previa there is a possibility that as your pregnancy progresses, your placenta may move farther from your cervix as your uterus expands, and then there is no longer a problem. We were hoping for this to happen, but later in my pregnancy it became apparent to my doctor that this was not going to happen. My Doctor advised that I should prepare for a pre-term baby, and the date was set for me to go view the pre-natal ward. Naturally as the date loomed closer and closer, God decided to move the placenta!  My last few weeks of pregnancy were wonderful! I booked the date for the Caesarean (as natural birth was not an option). With Asherman's Syndrome there is an increased risk of placenta accreta. This is where the placenta invades the uterus more deeply, which increases the risk of hemorrhage during its removal. At the end of June 2005, in the early hours of the morning, I was rushed to hospital for an emergency Caesarean (I had gone into natural labour). The placenta had invaded the uterus, but the doctor was able to stop the blleding and my son was born  healthy and hungry. My doctor then advised that should I ever want to fall pregnant again, I would need to have re-constructive surgery first.

And that is where the story should end, but it doesn’t.

Happy and content with our two boys, 11 and 6 years of age, my husband and I had no thoughts of any more children.

I had Amenorrhoea (absence of a menstrual period) for a few years after my last delivery. To “kick-start” a normal menstrual cycle, my doctor put me on a low dose contraceptive pill. It worked, at first, for almost a year, but then later began a seesaw of having a menstrual cycle and then not having one. I found that going off the pill worked sometimes and then when that no longer worked I would go back on the pill, and that way I seemed to be able to keep some sort of a cycle.  When I was off the pill, we were careful to use other contraception. Of course, the chances of falling pregnant were almost zero, but we were not taking any chances!  Then just one time, it happened, my husband and I went away for the weekend (unprepared), and a few weeks later, I stood in the pharmacy trying to decide on which test to buy, a menopause test or a pregnancy test. Deciding on the pregnancy test, remembering one night not long ago, I went home and took the test.  It was the quickest two lines I had ever seen appear on a pregnancy test!

What a shock… how could it be? What happened to my Asherman's Syndrome? What happened to my “infertility” and my almost zero chances of falling pregnant? Wasn’t I meant, to have re-constructive surgery first!

The days and weeks went by and I passed the time when I had started to bleed in my previous pregnancy, things were looking good for this baby. As I knew I had Ashermans Syndrome, I was a bit concerned that due to the adhesions the placenta may not have attached correctly.  To put my mind at ease, I made an appointment with my doctor to have an early scan.

the outcome is why I joined this forum . . .

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Interests: Allergies, Family Health, Pregnancy

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