Incompetent Cervix - stitch/cerclage - threatened labour

[baby_maybe]

Congratulations pink lovely name for your little man too xx

Kim - hunni if you are worried about the pain you should really call and get checked out again. Did they not offer you any medication to try and ease the contractions? I would have thought they would want to try and keep them at bay for as long as possible before taking the suture out to give your LO the best chance possible. Have you had the steroids yet, because those will make such a huge difference if you were to deliver early thinking of you xx

hello yeah i will mention to the midwife and see what she think coz im geting like pressure and sharp pains through my cervix not nice as well as the contractions and general aching just want it to go away. i had my steriod injections at 24 weeks which im so thnakful of. and they said that they would give me 1 tablet to stop contractions but only because i live on and island and would have to be transported to a mainland hospital and they wouldnt want anything happening on the way. i had a lot of those tablets after my emergant stotch was fitted as it made my uterus very irritble and they did help but they are now saying they would only give me one tablet for transfer which i think is strange because like you say the longer he can stay in there the better its all a noghtmare. im worried of telling midwife and they keep me in again but if thats where i need to be then i guess its for the best and on the other side i dont want to mention it and she ignores me lol cant win all i do know is i hope the pains go away thnakyou for replying xxx

I live on the iow as well hun and I've bee given the drugs to prevent immediate delivery whilst being transferred somewhere else in a previous pregnancy too. I'm still not sure why, if you've been given them to stop contractions before, they won't again. It doesn't make sense to me that they'd only want to give you one to transfer you and not bother with longer term when clearly the baby would benefit from staying inside longer? Unless I'm missing something and those drugs have awful side effects for the baby of course. However I'm sure in the US ladies are prescribed drugs like this for irritable uterus the only other thing I can think of is that the contractions you are having are actively dilating your cervix and they would need to take the stitch out to stop any damage occurring to your cervix, in which case those drugs would probably do you no good and the baby would come anyway. These are all bust guesses of course based on what you've said. I actually had a stitch tear my cervix a few years ago and the last time I had a suture placed the consultant said he could still see where it occurred, that was a good 5 years laterso damage is something you want to avoid if possible.

Anyways I've probably rambled on far too much. I hope you're ok and have some answers or are up the hospital getting checked as I type. Fx baby doesn't make too early an entrance

 

[kimbotrav]

Congratulations pink lovely name for your little man too xx

Kim - hunni if you are worried about the pain you should really call and get checked out again. Did they not offer you any medication to try and ease the contractions? I would have thought they would want to try and keep them at bay for as long as possible before taking the suture out to give your LO the best chance possible. Have you had the steroids yet, because those will make such a huge difference if you were to deliver early thinking of you xx

hello yeah i will mention to the midwife and see what she think coz im geting like pressure and sharp pains through my cervix not nice as well as the contractions and general aching just want it to go away. i had my steriod injections at 24 weeks which im so thnakful of. and they said that they would give me 1 tablet to stop contractions but only because i live on and island and would have to be transported to a mainland hospital and they wouldnt want anything happening on the way. i had a lot of those tablets after my emergant stotch was fitted as it made my uterus very irritble and they did help but they are now saying they would only give me one tablet for transfer which i think is strange because like you say the longer he can stay in there the better its all a noghtmare. im worried of telling midwife and they keep me in again but if thats where i need to be then i guess its for the best and on the other side i dont want to mention it and she ignores me lol cant win all i do know is i hope the pains go away thnakyou for replying xxx

I live on the iow as well hun and I've bee given the drugs to prevent immediate delivery whilst being transferred somewhere else in a previous pregnancy too. I'm still not sure why, if you've been given them to stop contractions before, they won't again. It doesn't make sense to me that they'd only want to give you one to transfer you and not bother with longer term when clearly the baby would benefit from staying inside longer? Unless I'm missing something and those drugs have awful side effects for the baby of course. However I'm sure in the US ladies are prescribed drugs like this for irritable uterus the only other thing I can think of is that the contractions you are having are actively dilating your cervix and they would need to take the stitch out to stop any damage occurring to your cervix, in which case those drugs would probably do you no good and the baby would come anyway. These are all bust guesses of course based on what you've said. I actually had a stitch tear my cervix a few years ago and the last time I had a suture placed the consultant said he could still see where it occurred, that was a good 5 years laterso damage is something you want to avoid if possible.

Anyways I've probably rambled on far too much. I hope you're ok and have some answers or are up the hospital getting checked as I type. Fx baby doesn't make too early an entrance

ahh thaats fab ure an isle of wighter 2 yeah its really weird i kept asking for it last time i was in and they said id only get it for transfer weird bless you what did it feel like when ure stitch tore did u bleed or anything? and are they keeping an eye on ure cervix this time dnt know why there not with me whos ure consultatnt? mine is miss aladin p.s the midwifes were useless may as well have told my 7 year old i was in pain would have got same responce lol xxxx

 

[baby_maybe]

To be honest I didn't really feel anything when it tore, I was having contractions at the time so I suppose they could have masked the feeling I did have serval bloody shows over the period of 3 days whilst I was in hospital and being transferred, but that could have just been my plug coming away, I'm not sure how much of it was caused by the stitch tearing if you see what I mean.

I have Mr Kenny as my consultant, I had him last time too and to date is my favourite one over here In rebar to the midwives I do think it greatly depends on who you get, I know a fair few of them as I have been such a regular visitor over the years and most of them know me by face, especially downstairs in the antenatal/scanning clinic.

With my cervix and stitches, I have never in any of my pregnancies had my cervix measured once a stitch has been placed. I don't know if that's because I've never presented with any problems after which have made them want to check or whether that's just the procedure here? I wouldn't be able to tell you if my cervix funnelled or whatever towards the end of pregnancy, the only thing I have to on is that last time I was pg, at a week overdue and a good 4 weeks post stitch removal, I saw the consultant for a sweep and he said that my cervix was still hard, long and not open! How's that for spending weeks worrying about it, only for it not to want to open when it's supposed to! I call it sods law

 

[kimbotrav]

To be honest I didn't really feel anything when it tore, I was having contractions at the time so I suppose they could have masked the feeling I did have serval bloody shows over the period of 3 days whilst I was in hospital and being transferred, but that could have just been my plug coming away, I'm not sure how much of it was caused by the stitch tearing if you see what I mean.

I have Mr Kenny as my consultant, I had him last time too and to date is my favourite one over here In rebar to the midwives I do think it greatly depends on who you get, I know a fair few of them as I have been such a regular visitor over the years and most of them know me by face, especially downstairs in the antenatal/scanning clinic.

With my cervix and stitches, I have never in any of my pregnancies had my cervix measured once a stitch has been placed. I don't know if that's because I've never presented with any problems after which have made them want to check or whether that's just the procedure here? I wouldn't be able to tell you if my cervix funnelled or whatever towards the end of pregnancy, the only thing I have to on is that last time I was pg, at a week overdue and a good 4 weeks post stitch removal, I saw the consultant for a sweep and he said that my cervix was still hard, long and not open! How's that for spending weeks worrying about it, only for it not to want to open when it's supposed to! I call it sods law

lol i cannt believe that lol when did they remove it? ill have to go straight for csection as ive already had 2....have ure stitches been evergent or planned?? and yes thats what they are like with me the only time i had it measured was once when i told them my cervix was incompetent and they found it 1cm dilated and then when i went in last week wiht pains and a positive fibronecting test and my cervix measured the same as befor i had it placed so that was good im just worried its shortened asd having alot of pains and tugging and pressure on my cervix at the moment so may go up to get that checked tonight....mr kenny delivered my last baby whos a year old he was 10 weeks prem hes really nice isnt he thouht i was going to have him this time but i got sent to miss aladin again she seems to be listening to me alot more now thnakgoodness how far along areyou? xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[baby_maybe]

Well I was 3cms when I was transferred and they wouldn't remove it before because they didn't want me delivering in the ambulance. When I got to the next hospital they didn't check it for a while after I arrived and by the time they did I was 6cms and the tear had already occurred :s

Quick history, my first baby was born at 24 weeks, I had no stitch (didn't know anything about IC back then!), she unfortunately didn't survive. The next two pregnancies I was monitored closely with cervical measurements and at 24 weeks in the 2nd and 20 weeks in the 3rd I funnelled and ended up with emergency sutures both times. The first one got me to 32+ weeks and she is now almost 11 and the second one got me to term+ and she is 8 now Last pregnancy was the first time I had Mr Kenny and he looked at my history and agreed to an elective stitch straight away and did that one at 14+ weeks and I went to 41+ with her, she is now 5. This time round I'm currently 16+ weeks and had my elective suture done, again by Mr Kenny, just over a week ago. When I saw him after my 12 week scan he asked me what I'd like to do and I said I wanted another stitch and he just said that's fine we'll book it in, so I trust him a lot and love the fact that he takes what I want to do into consideration when making a plan for my care. Hoping to go to term this time too or if not, at least until Xmas time when I'll be over 30 weeks!

If you don't want to stay with the consultant you've got you can ask to be changed. I didn't ask specifically for Mr Kenny last time as I didn't know him them, just ended up with him and was really glad I did. This time round when I had my booking appointment I did specifically ask to go to him because I knew that he was likely to let me have an elective stitch again like before and also because he's honest enough to tell me if he doesn't agree with what I'm asking for, which I like

 

[angel229]

good afternoon ladie,

Can I ask a question with TMI.

I am now 25+6 weeks pregnant. I have always had quite a lot of discharge which was hard to tell if it was discharge, urine or amniotic fluid. I was checked about 2 weeks ago and my cervix was still closed (just, funnelled to stitch and 7mm closed after stitch) and I had not infections etc. What I have noticed is that over the last week the discharge has double in amount and is thick and creamy, I find this hard to believe because of the amount of discharge I was already having. My question is, is this normal?

 

[baby_maybe]

I've always experienced an increased amount of discharge with a stitch in, especially as I progress further through the pregnancy. However I would say that if you're worried just pop and get checked out, I know it's a pain waiting round in maternity triage to be seen etc, but if it puts your mind at rest it's worth it's weight in gold

 

[bluestarlight]

Hi, update from me. Still going. I had my appointment today. She gave me a sweep. Doc was very surprised to see me, said if she had made a bet I would get this far and she would be stripping my membranes should would have lost. 39 weeks today. It was more uncomfortable than I thought it would be. She said I was still 4cm dilated but now 90% effaced. At least all those random contractions were doing something. I feel like I haven't slept all week between random contractions and peeing. And the contractions aren't just weak ones, they are strong where I have to breath and go "ow" and feel her head getting pushed low against my perineum. They just never stay regular and always drop off or stay random for hours. Is all this normal? My first came just after 37 weeks and I was induced and on an epidural so don't remember much about contractions, just the horrible back labor I was trying to kill with the epidural.
I have been getting contractions now from the sweep, but they are the same as they have been all week...

 

[baby_maybe]

Sounds like you're in early or latent labour hun. Sorry to say but sometimes this phase can last for days until the contractions become regular and sometimes they just don't and you end up being induced anyway. I hope you don't and these contractions get regular enough to set off full blown labour for you

 

[kimbotrav]

Well I was 3cms when I was transferred and they wouldn't remove it before because they didn't want me delivering in the ambulance. When I got to the next hospital they didn't check it for a while after I arrived and by the time they did I was 6cms and the tear had already occurred :s

Quick history, my first baby was born at 24 weeks, I had no stitch (didn't know anything about IC back then!), she unfortunately didn't survive. The next two pregnancies I was monitored closely with cervical measurements and at 24 weeks in the 2nd and 20 weeks in the 3rd I funnelled and ended up with emergency sutures both times. The first one got me to 32+ weeks and she is now almost 11 and the second one got me to term+ and she is 8 now Last pregnancy was the first time I had Mr Kenny and he looked at my history and agreed to an elective stitch straight away and did that one at 14+ weeks and I went to 41+ with her, she is now 5. This time round I'm currently 16+ weeks and had my elective suture done, again by Mr Kenny, just over a week ago. When I saw him after my 12 week scan he asked me what I'd like to do and I said I wanted another stitch and he just said that's fine we'll book it in, so I trust him a lot and love the fact that he takes what I want to do into consideration when making a plan for my care. Hoping to go to term this time too or if not, at least until Xmas time when I'll be over 30 weeks!

If you don't want to stay with the consultant you've got you can ask to be changed. I didn't ask specifically for Mr Kenny last time as I didn't know him them, just ended up with him and was really glad I did. This time round when I had my booking appointment I did specifically ask to go to him because I knew that he was likely to let me have an elective stitch again like before and also because he's honest enough to tell me if he doesn't agree with what I'm asking for, which I like

so sorry for ure loss thats aful but brilliant you have children thnaks to the stitch i hope u go all the way wiht this one and im really hoping to aswell . poor you sounds like an ordeal when ure cervix wanted to open wiht stitch in cant belive they left u a while before you were checked at the other hospital bless u. yeah i have always heard good things about kenny my consultant is ok now as she is listening to me more now which is nice just wish i seen her a litte more im next there in 2 weeks and ill find out a date for my csection/when they will remove my stitch hoping around 35/36 weeks as at the moment seems so far away...i was back up maternity last night due to pains and stabbing through my cervix pressure period type pains and had a few contractions but doc checked my cervix and it was closed which i was pleased about and she did another swab but i have to go straight back if i get a temp or chills as my last swab showed i have growm ecoli so that worried me big time not sure what it means but well see what this swab says still in pain today just dont get why i am hope ure ok and thankyou for sharing your histiry wiht me xxxx

 

[baby_maybe]

Sorry you had to go to maternity again, but great news that your cervix is still closed. I wonder if the pain is related to an infection hun? It is possible, but I am surprised that they haven't already given you antibiotics if the first swab showed something? At least I'm assuming they didn't sorry if you said previously and I missed it!

Yeah I'm hoping for term as I always do, but I'm still very nervous about every aspect of this pregnancy and term seems really really far away at the moment. I'm just trying to take each day as I find it and hope that I get through to the next one.

 

[lch28]

Well I got a huge amount of the same cm that I think is my mucus plug. It was right after a bm... my Dr said last time it was normal cm but I really dont think so. It was a huge string. Has anyone experienec this

 

[kimbotrav]

Sorry you had to go to maternity again, but great news that your cervix is still closed. I wonder if the pain is related to an infection hun? It is possible, but I am surprised that they haven't already given you antibiotics if the first swab showed something? At least I'm assuming they didn't sorry if you said previously and I missed it!

Yeah I'm hoping for term as I always do, but I'm still very nervous about every aspect of this pregnancy and term seems really really far away at the moment. I'm just trying to take each day as I find it and hope that I get through to the next one.

it is weird i dont know why they havent given me any either they said they will only give me antibiotics if i get a temp or chills id rather have them anyways but ill have to see how i go..... and i know how u feel term does feel very far away but hopefully it will go quick for us both we will get there xxx

 

[kimbotrav]

good afternoon ladie,

Can I ask a question with TMI.

I am now 25+6 weeks pregnant. I have always had quite a lot of discharge which was hard to tell if it was discharge, urine or amniotic fluid. I was checked about 2 weeks ago and my cervix was still closed (just, funnelled to stitch and 7mm closed after stitch) and I had not infections etc. What I have noticed is that over the last week the discharge has double in amount and is thick and creamy, I find this hard to believe because of the amount of discharge I was already having. My question is, is this normal?

hi i have been exsactly the same thing and i keep thunking its my waters trickiling but then it dischargy on my pad so maybe not its strange my waters went last time i was pregnant a year ago so knows what it feels like and its the same but last time it then got heavier where as i havent yet so am assuming its not my waters so confusing isnt it sorry wasnt much help id say get checked tough just incase xx

 

[baby_maybe]

That is strange Kim because when I was up there a week ago with a suspected infection, the doc said to me that when she swabbed me, if my discharge looked or smelled infected they would give me antibiotics straight away without waiting for the results. As it was she wasn't worried and said it looked normal and if the results showed the start of an infection they would call me to pick up a prescription. They haven't and the symptoms I had have gone, so I assume the results were clear.

 

[Alisa F]

Sorry you had to go to maternity again, but great news that your cervix is still closed. I wonder if the pain is related to an infection hun? It is possible, but I am surprised that they haven't already given you antibiotics if the first swab showed something? At least I'm assuming they didn't sorry if you said previously and I missed it!

Yeah I'm hoping for term as I always do, but I'm still very nervous about every aspect of this pregnancy and term seems really really far away at the moment. I'm just trying to take each day as I find it and hope that I get through to the next one.

it is weird i dont know why they havent given me any either they said they will only give me antibiotics if i get a temp or chills id rather have them anyways but ill have to see how i go..... and i know how u feel term does feel very far away but hopefully it will go quick for us both we will get there xxx

my consultant and his team (he and his team specialise in predicting and perventing preterm labour) told me if i had vag infection with my stitch in place they wouldnt give me antibiotics because their research and experience showed no benefit and if anything there was a correlation with ptl and antibiotics. I know theyre the experts but im so not comfortable with that approach but hubby and i have decided to trust them on that.

however, they said if i get a UTI they would treat with antibiotics. so far i have had 3 UTIs and 3 lots if abtibiotics and im only 24wks.

i want to stress the fact that every time an infection in my urine was detected, the initial dipstick test the doc did before sending the same sample for culture was completely clear not a hint of anything, then when it was cultured, infection was detected. there are bacteria that dont show up on dipstick so if you havent had a urine culture recently id suggest you ask for one.

also, i did 2 cultures in 2 days. day 1 sample was taken around lunchtime , it came back clear. day 2 sample - the next morning i did a first morning urine sample and that came back with infection. i was later told first morning urine is best for testing....

i know youve not any issues with urine infections but just thought id mention it in case your urine hadnt been cultured and in case the vag infection spread to your urine..... x

 

[kimbotrav]

Sorry you had to go to maternity again, but great news that your cervix is still closed. I wonder if the pain is related to an infection hun? It is possible, but I am surprised that they haven't already given you antibiotics if the first swab showed something? At least I'm assuming they didn't sorry if you said previously and I missed it!

Yeah I'm hoping for term as I always do, but I'm still very nervous about every aspect of this pregnancy and term seems really really far away at the moment. I'm just trying to take each day as I find it and hope that I get through to the next one.

it is weird i dont know why they havent given me any either they said they will only give me antibiotics if i get a temp or chills id rather have them anyways but ill have to see how i go..... and i know how u feel term does feel very far away but hopefully it will go quick for us both we will get there xxx

my consultant and his team (he and his team specialise in predicting and perventing preterm labour) told me if i had vag infection with my stitch in place they wouldnt give me antibiotics because their research and experience showed no benefit and if anything there was a correlation with ptl and antibiotics. I know theyre the experts but im so not comfortable with that approach but hubby and i have decided to trust them on that.

however, they said if i get a UTI they would treat with antibiotics. so far i have had 3 UTIs and 3 lots if abtibiotics and im only 24wks.

i want to stress the fact that every time an infection in my urine was detected, the initial dipstick test the doc did before sending the same sample for culture was completely clear not a hint of anything, then when it was cultured, infection was detected. there are bacteria that dont show up on dipstick so if you havent had a urine culture recently id suggest you ask for one.

also, i did 2 cultures in 2 days. day 1 sample was taken around lunchtime , it came back clear. day 2 sample - the next morning i did a first morning urine sample and that came back with infection. i was later told first morning urine is best for testing....

i know youve not any issues with urine infections but just thought id mention it in case your urine hadnt been cultured and in case the vag infection spread to your urine..... x

thnakyou i will ask them to check i think a couple of me wees ahve been sent of but nothing comes back and when doc checked me internally she said didnt look like an infection either so its all a bit strange but i guess if they were worried at all they would put me on some hope u dont get may more xxxxx

 

[kimbotrav]

That is strange Kim because when I was up there a week ago with a suspected infection, the doc said to me that when she swabbed me, if my discharge looked or smelled infected they would give me antibiotics straight away without waiting for the results. As it was she wasn't worried and said it looked normal and if the results showed the start of an infection they would call me to pick up a prescription. They haven't and the symptoms I had have gone, so I assume the results were clear.

thats what i got told to if it looked infected they would treat me but boht times i had an internal she wasnt worried at all and it looked fine she did say however this time i looked clearer than the last time but both ntimes she wasnt worried thats whats strange but id hope if they were worried they would have me on antibiotics i juist hope its gone i will know by wednesday xxx

 

[chistiana]

Ich- i was thinking of you hun, is everything ok?

 

[lch28]

yeah, i just feel like my dr just told me its normal CM so i dont need to go back in but i just have this feeling its not, it went away.. i get it maybe once a week after a BM. it def looks like mucus plug but not bloody =\ i have my gender scan/cervical length check on thursday.. hoping for a good length so my mind will rest a bit