I was recently asked how I came to my decision about pursuing the TAC. I’d like to share my response here. Please also follow the menu for further websites and contact information.

 

  • We researched, researched. I read every single email on Abbyloopers all day long. And that’s a lot! I read all the files several times – there are some I still don’t comprehend yet as I haven’t gotten to use my TAC. (things like the sonos)

 

  • I talked to my mom a lot. I have the fortunate blessing of a mom who was a NICU nurse, a childbirth instructor, and now is in medical management for ante-partum, labor & delivery, and the NICU. She had already raised me to be my own advocate, but I realised how fully she’d taught me to think about medical care and research when I was looking into the TAC. I was able to bounce ideas off her a lot. And, she did all the same research with me. So, it was nice to have somebody come to the same conclusions. Somebody I trusted and knew had my best interest in mind fully. Find somebody you can talk to. I’m most definitely available and I don’t have anything vested in you getting a TAC, but that may be hard for you to trust since I only exist on the internet.

 

  • We met with an MFM after I lost the boys and was considering the TAC. I had not yet emailed Dr. Haney, but I had begun researching. My MFM (who is one of the best in the area and was my IVF doc’s doctor) said he simply couldn’t diagnose IC because there is no test and a line can?t be drawn with only one point. I totally understood that. That made it clear to me why so many women had to have two or more losses before getting a TAC. He didn’t even think I should put in a preventive TVC next time, rather I should have weekly checks and put one in if needed. I knew that was not a route for me to go because if I needed it, then it could be too late (learned that on Abbyloopers). He said I could convince him to put one in at 14 weeks for the ‘mental health’ of my pregnancy. ?Overall, he felt that my pPROM was a ?fluke and that ?twins do weird things to the cervix.

    I asked in what instance he WOULD recommend somebody get a TAC (because he has put in three TACs in his career). He said that if he saw ANY cervical change in my next pregnancy, then he wouldn’t hesitate to tell me TAC after that.

    So…important info for me: I knew he wasn’t anti-TAC.I also told him I felt like I was fighting for my children’s lives, and he chuckled and said I wasn’t in that camp just yet. I understood then that we were coming at it from two different perspectives. From what I’d read on Abbyloopers, if I had IC, I really was in that camp. And, being there, I realised we wanted to fight aggressively. TVC was not aggressive. TAC was aggressive.Finally, I really felt like everything I was reading pointed to the TAC being controversial – and why the heck was everybody going to just a few main doctors for this So, I asked my MFM. AND THIS WAS THE TIPPING POINT. He said that it was simply the “art” part of medicine. He said Dr. Haney was not a witch doctor selling snake oil and that his idea of a TAC was an absolute valid opinion. It also helped me to know Dr. Haney has a high reputation in the medical community (he?d spent decades at Duke University, a prestigious school in the U.S.), my IVF doctor knew of him, AND he wasn?t a young buck doing hasty medical stuff. He is much older and has been doing this for a long time.

 

  • Finally, I did email with Dr. Haney. ?Here is his email response to me:

Dear Ms. Nguyen, I am sorry to hear of the loss of your twins and am sure it was devastating for you. I indeed have a different view than your doctor as twins do typically deliver early but that is at 34 or 35 weeks, not at 16. As far as I am aware, twins do nothing “weird” to the cervix and you simply have an incompetent cervix and had a twin gestation with IVF. I am much happier to place a TAC in someone prior to undergoing IVF as the twining rate will continue to be elevated with your next cycle and I do not want you to lower your likelihood of a an IVF cycle resulting in pregnancy to avoid twinning by transferring fewer embryos. I know this may sound surprising but twinning does just as well with a TAC as a singleton which is not the case with a transvaginal cerclage. Once you have lost a baby, in your case twins, because of an incompetent cervix, you do not have to lose another. Given the stress of IVF, you deserve the optimal treatment to avoid another loss and a TAC virtually guarantees you of a term delivery, albeit by C-section. I look forward to speaking to you on the 26th. Good luck. A.F. Haney

 

  • We had a phone consult with Dr. Haney. ?He explained perfectly clearly how pprom is NOT normal – how there MUST be a defect in order for it to occur. While we were on the phone with him, we drew out the pictures he was explaining. It made complete sense. I also checked again with my mom, and she said, yes, absolutely, that’s how the body works.

 

  • So, we loved Dr. Haney and it all made sense. How did we finally get there We prayed. My husband and I are Christians and we are in God’s word every day. We are constantly asking the Lord what direction we should go. There were a few things that pushed us toward the TAC in this regard:
    • Often God calls us to do what the world would say is illogical – not always and this would be a lot more explanation, but it’s a piece of it.
    • We know that in following God’s will, we continue on the path He has set before us unless He moves us to a different direction. For us, we had frozen embryos that we had committed to getting way before we did IVF. So, we knew that we still needed to get those little babes. Yes, there was the possibility of a surrogate or a TVC, etc, but that was another piece of the puzzle…that we should keep pursuing fertility and having our babes.
    • God is pretty clear all through His word that He equips us with love and wisdom IN ORDER THAT WE CAN MAKE GODLY DECISIONS. We’re not just dumb empty rocks waiting for God to drop an answer in our heads. He’s equipped us with a lot of tools for making decisions. So, when we didn’t feel a clear whisper in our hearts, and we KNEW that we had keenly been seeking God’s will, we had the freedom to make whatever decision we deemed best and ask the Lord please make it the right decision for us and to stop it dead if He didn’t want it.
    • Finally, we met with several older couples who have demonstrated a lifetime of making tough decisions and serving the Lord through it. We explained our situation and our thought/prayer process to them. We asked them if they saw any red flags or cracks in our thinking. We asked them for their wisdom. The biggest thing we got was “how will you feel towards God if you do this TAC surgery and then don’t have kids?” This question really helped highlight the intentions of our hearts: were we truly truly seeking what God had for us or were we only interested in our idea of babies. And not to say God doesn’t want us to have babies at all….just to really break down and look at where our hearts were lying. That’s why we could confidently know we had been genuinely seeking God’s heart on the matter.
  • We did a cost/benefit analysis. The bottom line was that the cost of surgery for the benefit of not losing more babies and a mentally way less stressful pregnancy was worth it. And, for the benefit of not doing surgery, the potential cost of losing kids just seemed outlandish. My engineer husband also looked at it as “if we keep doing the same thing, then we’ll keep getting the same outcome.”

All those moving pieces somehow came together for us to move on to book the surgery. ?And to do it confidently.

A thought here as I look back: When I was initially researching the TAC, Hubby was very hesitant (EVERY husband is!). But after emailing with Dr. Haney and having the phone consult, he was 70/30 for it. What!! I was 99% for it! ?It took that praying and those meetings with our elders to go for it. To him, he wasn’t just making a decision about his children; he was also making one about his wife. Looking back, I think how silly it is all the scare tactics doctors use to deter people from the TAC…”it’s very invasive” (not even as invasive as a c-section, which happens all the time) and “uterine rupture” (really How about you follow TAC protocol and don?t let me go into labor before you do a c-section This has been called a ?theoretical risk by TAC doctors.)

 

I think a lot about Giuliana Rancic host on E! and married to the first winner of The Apprentice. ?She had breast cancer and was going to do radiation treatment. Then she came out and said she’d made the decision to go for a double mastectomy instead. May people called this “radical.” ?Really Moving towards something that definitely takes care of the problem is radical She went on Good Morning, America and shared that in the end, she felt like she was making a decision for life. ?My Dear Sisters, that’s how we felt. We were making a decision for life – for our emotional heart life and for our future children’s lives.

 

I know everybody will tell you this is a very personal decision and you have to do the research and talk to hubby, etc, etc. That’s very nice of them. I look back now and realise I wish somebody had just said what they were all thinking: GET THE TAC. ?It’s a good decision. Period.

 

Please if you have any questions, contact me! ?I have nothing personal vested in this other than caring about people and babies and wanting everybody to have the same opportunity at life that is being afforded my future little ones!

 

14 thoughts on “Deciding on TAC”

  • Tracy McDonald says :

    This is inspiring! I have been struggling with my decision to do IVF again after losing my twins at 20 weeks due to an infection “possibly” caused by IC. Reading about your similar struggle gives me new confidence. I have been praying and pondering as I want to do what GOD is directing me to do, not what I want to do. God has a mysterious way of answering prayers! I thank God for you and Thank you for sharing.

    1. beyondthisdesert says :

      Amen! I’m glad God can use this for you! Feel free to email me or contact me via FB – we have lots of FB groups about all of this stuff, too!

  • beyondthisdesert says :

    I’m really sorry to hear about your twins. I know that ache well. I am glad this blog is encouraging and maybe Dr. H will give you HOPE!

  • beyondthisdesert says :

    You will not regret it. XX

  • Suzanne Wood says :

    Your website has been oh so encouraging. How long after your twins were born did you have the TAC?

    1. beyondthisdesert says :

      I’m so glad! I had my TAC placed and then had my girls 22 months later.

  • karen says :

    I have lost 2 babies due to ic. One June 2014 and recently February 24 2016. I had vaginal cerclage in recent pregnancy which it failed.Now my doctors are telling me I need abdominal cerclage. Why was that not mentioned after first lose. We are looking into a tac I’m just really scared I could not handle loosing another baby.

    1. beyondthisdesert says :

      Oh, Karen! I’m so incredibly sorry for your losses! It’s very frustrating when I hear of women who were never given the option of a TAC! This happens far too often.
      I understand your fear of the future. You have to be prayerful about pursuing more pregnancies for sure, but if you do, then TAC is the way to go for sure! Definitely join Abbyloopers and become heavily involved in daily reading every post so that you can become confident and trusting towards a TAC!

  • Expectmiracles says :

    I lost my twin babies last week and miss them every day. I have been reading on TAC and want to get it before we try to conceive again. We are going to do IVF in June because my insurances pays for it and it expires in August. I want to do a pre-pregnancy TAC. Do you think I could do TAC in April and go through with IVF (ER and ET) in June/July? I’m not sure of the recovery time for TAC. Thank you

    1. beyondthisdesert says :

      I’m so so sorry to hear of your losses. There isn’t anything like this in the world.
      Yes I think you’re fine to do that time frame for a tac and ivf. However, you usually need 3 months from a loss until tac placement. So definitely talk to the tac dr to see what he advises.
      XX

  • Ann says :

    Thank you so much for your blog.

    Last year, I had a very uneventful pregnancy…up until week 18 when I PPROM’ed. It was a total surprise. I woke up that night rushing to the rr because amniotic fluid was gushing all the way out. At the time, I was not diagnosed with IC because my cervix seemed fine afterwards and I wasn’t dilated. I also did not have any infection. I lost my poor son 2 weeks later after trying my best to keep him alive.

    Fast forward to 5 days ago, I lost my twin daughters to IC. I was exactly 22 weeks. I had a rescue TVC done at 20 weeks because I had almost no cervix left (less 1cm). Unfortunately, the risky procedure performed so late in the game caused an infection (chorio), I PPROM’ed and went into active labor and delivered both girls the same day. Needless to say, I am devastated.

    Fortunately, I do have a 3 year old son who I miraculously carried to 39 wks 6 days without any complications. He is the only reason that helps me to get through this grief. I have this incredibly strong desire to get him a sibling so that they can grow old together. And at the moment a lot of my family and close friends suggested that I discontinue my dreams of getting him that sibling. I just can’t stop and want to try TAC to ensure that I will. Just like you I am hoping that God will be on board with this more aggressive approach too.

    1. beyondthisdesert says :

      Oh my goodness! I am so incredibly sorry. There isn’t a lot harder in the world than losing our babies. I hate the wrong medical care given you. The doctors just didn’t know. 🙁
      You need to grieve and heal. For me, part of that included researching and discovering TAC.
      I encourage you to pursue TAC because now everybody knows you have IC. Doctors shouldn’t give any push back at all. I can see them trying to tell you to do a preventive vaginal cerclage at 12-14 weeks, but don’t go down that road again. Pursue TAC.
      And family will be nervous because you are moving outside the traditional system of relying and obeying doctors by advocating for yourself. Plus they’ve never heard of TAC. And, mostly, they love you and don’t want you to hurt.
      Your children are worth this. All of them.
      I’m here to help anyway I can.

  • This Is Us says :

    Your page has helped me voice some of my biggest concerns, worries, anxieties throughout this process. We lost our first child, our daughter, on 28 Oct 2017 at 22+5 weeks. And now about 6 weeks later, I’m at the crossroads of trying to decide on an in-pregnancy TAC vs pre-preg TAC. I am also very spiritual and am looking for guidance, from my God on which route to take. i know ultimately He will be with us on whatever decision we make. We were able to conceive naturally with our first, so the ‘assumption’ is that we will be able to once we start TTC. However, my heart longs for a baby, asap. my heart longs to be pregnant again, asap. And when I think of the delays a pre-preg TAC will cause, and possible conception issues, I immediately lean towards an in-preg TAC, after conception. And I fully believe in the success rates of an in-preg TAC. But I do know that it has slightly added risks because there already is a fetus inside. I’m worried that I am letting my will decide the path to take and trying to control everything. However on the other side, I trust that God will sees us through our journey, regardless of the path we take. How do i know i’m not following a path that is my will from His will? I’d love some spiritual guidance on how to handle this decision.

    1. beyondthisdesert says :

      Hi there! I’m sorry for the delay – I was having a baby when you wrote this! Ha! A SURPRISE baby sent from the Lord Himself. 🙂
      I hope you have found peace and a way to walk with the Lord on this. He gave you your emotions, your desires. Submit those to the Lord and ask Him to show you.
      XX

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