Incompetent Cervix - stitch/cerclage - threatened labour

[LaRockera]

Kate babe, the waters leaking is one of my constant obsessions. I even went as far as to buy litmus Ph strips from ebay to check the Ph of my discharge. Every little trickle down there sends me into a panic mode.

As for infection, do you feel itchy? My discharge dries quite yellow and sticky sometimes. If it doesn't smell funny or you have any burning/itchy it may be normal discharge. Mine got out of control after 17 weeks, and at 20 I was all over the place.

Yeah, google is evil. Yet, it's always better to be safe than sorry. If you're worried, get yourself swabbed. Also eat tons of yogurt and drink plenty of water.

 

[lizziedripping]

Hi chucky eggs

Kate - urine looks for infections in urinary tract, and swabs check for bugs in the vagina. The discharge you describe is normal in pregnancy, and so is the achey abdomen. I have aching in mine from as early as 5wks into pregnancy.

I totally share your need to google yourself into insanity - I do it all the time, pregnant or not!! I read the worst of stories, and then worry myself to sleep that the same thing will happen to me. The thing about IC is that it is purely a mechanical problem, which most of the time can be fixed with a stitch. Other pregnancy complications are much more difficult to identify and 'solve' and some women are plagued with recurrent PTL for no identifiable reason.

Aside from your IC you haven't yet had issues with PTL (please forgive me if you have and I have missed that somewhere) and there is no reason why you should suddenly start hun. You have gone several weeks since stitch placement without any further problems, and the further you get the less likely these are. I was convinced I would encounter every possible pregnancy complication going with the twins, and didn't enjoy one moment of it - I only wish I had and could have 'known' how well things would turn out in the end............if only.

Pregnancy is a tough journey, especially when you've had problems before, but complications are actually still relatively rare. Now your IC is essentially under control, your chances of any other problems are no greater than in any other pregnant lady. Yes the stitch theoretically can be an added source of infection, but again this is relatively rare hun.

An IC pregnancy is horrid and fraught with anxiety, and I know that despite everything I say you will still worry. Just know that I have seen far more women here have a succesful outcome than not and many of them have been in a much worse position than you when they've had their stitches placed. Big hugs, and I'll keep away from google if you will lol

Hi LaRock hun, you doing ok? That goes for everyone else too. MA, haven't seen you here in a while, you coping ok? xxx

 

[vaali]

Sorry, having a bad bed rest day today

Two things - i read a heartbreaking post in another section about a lady who was 18 weeks. Her waters had just broken, and she had almost no fluid left. After a few days her baby just couldn't survive, and so the worst case scenario for her happened. Just awful. And now, selfishly, I feel terrified that my waters will break too. Irrational worry, I know! I just wish i could allay my fears.


x

Kate bud! i hear you!! you sure you dint read my older post? i had my membranes ruptured spontaneously @18+5 weeks last pregnancy & bub had to be brought out by inducing thrice with pills due to fear of uterine sepsis coz my scan showed uterus if full of a day old clots all around the baby & behind the placenta with literally no amniotic fluid around..
This time around when i crossed my 18th week i was so happy that everything was so normal around me & TUV done a week ago showed 4.1cm cervix.. but my world turned upside down @ 22+5W when i knew i was down to 3mm! believe me 'I wish i could fall asleep and wake up mid Jan, when i'm 28 weeks!! i really really wished this every minute of the day from 22nd to 28W & every sneeze, cough, sleep jerks kept sending me the shock & was telling me 'omg!i ruptured my membranes'
Thankfully & luckily i survived this prego so long & ya 28w really gave me immense hope & confidence. Also which was like a pat on my back to allay my fears & start enjoying the prego..
About the discharge, sorry i really dont have much experience & i guess other buds have already given their expert views.
So stay tight & ya read only good stories.. i sure time will fly away & you will reach 28w in no time
May we all bake it & make it to term!

 

[LaRockera]

Hey, Lizzie.

All good my side, managed to catch a stupid cold but thankfully no fever, just a runny nose that makes look like Rudolph and sound like a porn star. Was on antibiotics for UTI this week, have given another sample today to confirm they worked.

Having my 28-week appointment a few days early, this Thursday, at my private obgyn Helen sent me to hugs curious and a bit nervous to see how the stitch is going as well as whether my fluid levels have risen towards the median a bit more. Last time they were 10cm plus a little something.

Hope you're okay too?

 

[Susanah]

Kate - few days late but ...
I have never had any cervical length measurements since 15 weeks - when the stitches went in, with all three pregnancies.
It is thought by my team to be unnecessary and not alter anything - as even with no cervical length remaining - with a stitch already in place - there would be nothing further to do. I argued the toss at first but I got nowhere and have come round the belief that my docs are right.
If i didnt have a stitch already in - then it would be a different matter completely !

If its any consolation, I spent all of my last pregnancy googling every single little thing and scaring myself stupid and driving myself to insanity. its really hard waiting.... and its a slow wait.
This time I have no time to worry too much - which is a good thing i guess. Worrying doesnt change the outcome.

As for us:
We are nearly at 34 weeks. C-section booked - preop assessment on thursday. Cannot believe how quickly this has flown by compared to last time !!
Charlie is now 9 months old and keeping me busy and optimistic. Im having quite a few contractions and have a pretty active little thing inside - so i hope she stays put until the 16th of Jan, section day.

Is anyone else completely not bothered about xmas? I know I should be but im just focusing on January....

Anyway, good luck to all

Susie

 

[truthbtold]

Congrats Susanah on making it to 34 weeks. I was just wondering how many of us are due soon.

 

[LaRockera]

Congrats, Susanah honey, you must be all over the place now. It must feel amazing having made it- and you have! Well done, babe, well done!

I'm trying to keep my mind busy pertaining to Christmas. I'm waiting for the Xmas sales to start preparing for Xanthe's nursery- which will arrive at the 9th January. This is a bit less than a month away so hoping this will distract me from obsessing over month 7 weeks going by. Will be staying in the UK again this year. If all goes according to plan, we're leaving mid-February for Greece. I'll be 35 weeks then. So I have about two months to finish up everything- nursery, baby clothes, baby things, stuff I'll take to Greece, and work a bit on my PhD and my novel. I'm far more relaxed now that I'm third trimester, plus, I have a 27-week scan this Thursday, and I'm hoping to leave the private clinic relaxed, and not agitated. My baby has now developed regular moving patterns which really help put my mind at ease.

Sending my love to everyone.

 

[Mummy of Ange]

Just an update girls with me. Had my cervical length scan today at 18+4 and its measures 4.8cm, so i think im pleased with that.

She said no sign of funelling and im back there in two weeks. Fingers crossed for a keeper xx

 

[Mummy of Ange]

sorry, same post twice

 

[LaRockera]

Just an update girls with me. Had my cervical length scan today at 18+4 and its measures 4.8cm, so i think im pleased with that.

She said no sign of funelling and im back there in two weeks. Fingers crossed for a keeper xx

Excellent length- I'm sure it will stay as such, hon. Well done!

 

[lizziedripping]

Brilliant length Mummy, there is no reason for it to shorten significantly over coming weeks hun

Susie - I can't believe it, 34wks!!! And with almost zero anxiety and stress...........a true inspiration, and I will be 'picking your brains' on the matter very, very soon So pleased things went well for you this time, and that you got a near normal pregnancy which you might actually have been able to enjoy?

La rock hun, don't worry about the cold and fever, it has to reach 103f before it is a threat to the pregnancy (the last time I ran a fever that high I was 8 ) Are you drinking plenty of water? I had atleast a glass an hour, and even then my pee was like sludge!!! I was so sick (literally) of the bloody stuff by the end, and struggled to force it down, but managed to keep the UTIs at bay.

Wishing you lots of luck for your next scan, tho I'm sure you won't need it. Lovely to hear you sounding so positive now, maybe you like Susie will get to enjoy the reminder of the pregnancy

Take care everyone xxx

 

[LaRockera]

Thank you so much Lizzie, you're wonderful.

Luckily no fever, it was just a simple cold and it seems to be subsiding. Dropped a pot of urine at my GP's today, hopefully this will come clear, too. On the other hand, the stupid discharge started again. Gah.

Looking forward to the scan. Hopefully it will help me maintain my optimism.

 

[Mommy's Angel]

Hi ladies, just wanted to pop in to say hi and wish everyone a Merry Christmas! We're dealing with some acid reflux and now a household cold. I'm waiting until after the holidays and then I plan to start dieting to lose weight and try again in a year for a sister or brother for Amelia. I'm looking forward to no hormones and an opportunity to live a normal life without being on edge all the time. LOVING our baby bear even more than I could imagine.

Mind if i ask.....Have any of you formula fed your baby?? I'm bf'ing and I'm hesitant but I think we're leading up to it. It's almost been 3 months and she's doing okay. Still has latching issues and with the reflux we're giving her meds and supplementing with "special" formula. Just wondering how many in here have formula fed.

Love to you all. Can't wait to hear more lovely birth stories!

Hi Lizzie, Susannah, Helen! Big hugs to you all.

 

[Praying4her]

Hi ladies,
I have been reading everyone stories on here and have found alot of it helpful. I wanted to see if anyone was going through what I'm going through. I'm super scared,sad and worried about everything and am hoping for a great outcome... Well here goes my story...

I had a u/s scheduled on Decemcer 6th with my high risk doctor... Was suppose to be a normal visit... We had just had a doctors visit 2 weeks before and everything was great. My husband and I arrived to our appointment and were waiting to be called... We were finally put in a room after a hour of waiting. The ultrasound tech came in before the doctor. Started to put the jelly stuff on my tummy...she immediately noticed something w the cervics... She said she would have to use the wand to get a better look at the cervics... My heart pounded and I began to get scared... This is my first pregnancy and I've been wanting to get pregnant for so long... So news like this made me nervous. I looked at my husband and said I'm scared... He told me everything's going to be ok... Then I looked up at the monitor as the tech began to talk... She said we do have a problem... Your baby is wanting to come out... It went black and silent for me.... I began to cry.... I thought to myself... I've been so careful... I've tried so hard for this baby...why? Then she said we needed the doctor in to evaluate the problem. He came in and the nurse explained to him what was going on... He then looked at me and said... Amy we have a big problem... He went over the bad details and then said we are next door to valley hospital...you need to get over there now and I will meet you. He said he would go into details further, but right now there was no time. I didn't know what to think... My poor husband...the look on his face, yet trying to hide it. We drove next door and as soon as I walked into labor and delivery they knew who I was. I couldn't believe it. Everything was happening so fast. I was only 21 weeks and2 days. I was put on all sorts of meds. My doctor arrived and said I need a emergency cerclage. I didn't even know what that was, just agreed and went forward w it. All I was thinking about was please save my baby. I was moved to the surgery room and within 30 min I was done. I stayed at the hospital overnight and was released the next day. I was told to be on bed rest for the remainder of my pregnancy and to only get up for 30 min every 2 hours. I was prescribed the progesterone cream and not do anything. Before I was released the doctor did another ultrasound.. I had a 3.5 gap between the baby and cervics and the water sac was great. The next day which was Thursday my normal obgyn called me and said he was informed about what happened. He wanted to schedule me on Monday. Which was yesterday. I was excited because I thought one week w him then the next week with my high risk doctor. But when I went in to see my normal ob all he did was check the baby's heart beat. I asked him if he was going to check my cerivics. He said no because it's been a week already and I had no sign of blood. I wanted to scream because if I would have seen him the week prior he would have no seen that I had dilated because all he has been doing is listening to the baby's heart beat. Sorry that my story is so long.. I want to know what are the signs that it's going good or even going bad. I would I know if there's a infection or not? Does a emergency cerclage have a good outcome? I know a normal cerclage has a better success rate, but what about 21 weeks? I'm sorry ladies for the questions I'm just worried and want to try and do everything right so my baby girl makes it... God bless to everyone!

 

[Mommy's Angel]

Welcome.

First of all dear, try not to worry. That in itself doesn't help and the baby can feel it. I had an emergent cerclage at 19 wks because my high risk OB refused to do a cerclage at 14wks. I made sure they measured my cervix and I'm glad I did because at 18wks I was 3.2cm's of cervical length and a week later I was 2.0 and in for a cerclage the next day.

I wasn't really understanding your post all that well, are you seeing a high risk ob? It really wouldn't matter what he thinks as long as your seeing your high risk ob regularly. Once the stitch is in, you really don't want anyone going up there unless it was to measure the cervix and now that you have the cerclage in there, it really shouldn't matter because it's in and keeping you nice and closed. Going in for any kind of speculum test could hinder that.

You'll know if you have an infection because you'll smell it, see it...white gunk, green gunk, dark gunk, etc. You'll itch or burn down there. You'll just know. Once you have the symptoms you can have a swab test.

Try drinking water regularly and your Dr. was right about bed rest. It's helped many of us get to term on this thread.

As far as I'm seeing, you don't have any bulging amniotic sacs so there's no cause of concern but maybe LIZZIE will chime in with her experience.

Praying for peace for you and that you'll find yourself holding that little one safely to term.

 

[truthbtold]

Ma.....I have formula fed both my boys there lactose intolerant and couldnt even digest breast milk well. This time I plan to formula feed again.

 

[Mommy's Angel]

Ma.....I have formula fed both my boys there lactose intolerant and couldnt even digest breast milk well. This time I plan to formula feed again.

Thank you. Amelia has had acid reflux and I'm bf'ing and supplementing but it's looking more and more like she's stopping all on her own and my breast milk is starting to dry up. I'm sad, but I want whats best for her. It's been horrible because I hear so much about formula feeding not being what's best but majority of the people I know have gone a couple months and then ff'd their kids or completely ff'd. I don't know why I'm so hesitant because I see all these people who've been ff'd including myself and we're all fine. Thank you for sharing with me!

 

[truthbtold]

Ma your welcome. Try not to be too hard on yourself. I think my formula fed boys are just as healthy and intelligent as bf babies. Do whats best for Amelia.

 

[Susanah]

MA - I stopped BFing Charlie at 5 weeks! She was lactose intolerant and had significant reflux and was not thriving, still jaundice etc
Putting her on formula was life changing for us both. She slept ! She stopped vomiting ! and she gained weight and started looking healthier, lost her jaundice etc
and I got preggers again lol !!!

Lizzie fingers crossed for you you can pick my brain anytime !!

xx

 

[Mommy's Angel]

MA - I stopped BFing Charlie at 5 weeks! She was lactose intolerant and had significant reflux and was not thriving, still jaundice etc
Putting her on formula was life changing for us both. She slept ! She stopped vomiting ! and she gained weight and started looking healthier, lost her jaundice etc
and I got preggers again lol !!!

Lizzie fingers crossed for you you can pick my brain anytime !!

xx

Yes, this is what's going on with Amelia. She wasn't gaining weight at all, has pretty bad refulx and is lactose intolerant. I'm exhausted and feel beat. I'm glad it worked for you and think this is my decision. It's SO EMOTIONAL! I think it will be better for us all overall though.

Thank you!