Incompetent Cervix - stitch/cerclage - threatened labour

[jadey_fae]

what would happen if my stitch failed? Would my waters break?

 

[Twinkle 3]

i was really aware of my stitch jadey. i felt lots of pains and aches. dont forget you have had an operation on your cervix and it will have been tugged about then a huge peice of thread tied through it. its not just a normal stitch its 5mm wide peice of tape. try not to worry too much. i was always told if your stitch was failing it would be really painful and you would be bleeding... but also remember that you have only just had your stitch in place so bleeding or browny orangey discharge is normal aswel at your stage.. but always get checked out if you feel there is something wrong. id try and stay away from a speculum examination though.. they are said to be safe but i had an internal ultrasound a fww weeks after my stitch placement and it made me really sore and hurt me

 

[Craigswife]

Jadey, I could feel my stitch for at least 2wks after, sometimes it would pull other times is get shooting pains. Definitely ring and check but I suspect it's just healing and settling down. I was told that if the stitch failed you'd really know about it and be in agony with bleeding.
Twinkle, 5mm that's quite wide, I knew it was some sort of tape but not how wide it was. That's reassuring to know. How did you find that out?

 

[jadey_fae]

thanks ladies. Sorry if I am being a pain!
My bump seems to have grown massively over night! Mayb thats why my tummy hurts too!

 

[Craigswife]

Jadey, you're not being a pain at all, we've all been there, Twinkle will agree with that! It's so hard emotionally but if you can get through the next few weeks your anxiety will start to ease.

 

[jadey_fae]

do u get a pressure feeling like u need to poo also?

 

[Craigswife]

Yes I do and sometimes when having a wee I feel pressure. What you'll find over the next couple of weeks is that you will begin to know what's normal for you. It's taken me a good few weeks to work out what my 'normal' is, but now have got to know certain twinges and aches I don't tend to worry as much. X

 

[karenh24]

hey how is everyone?sorry jadey i can't answer your questions but im sure one of the other lovely ladies will.nothing new with me really, i thought i had a uti went to the walk in centre to get checked out because of my history and it showed all clear.
Im not seeing the consultant for another 2 weeks which i think is a bit long since its getting to the stage where i lost my baby boy so i may just take myself into triage next week and get checked out. Consultant has also not put me down for another scan when i next see her which i think is a bit risky, i know my length went up but that doesn't mean that it can't go back down!

 

[shanny]

Craigs wife - really good point about getting to know own niggles/aches/pains etc - you kind of settle into a pattern of @normal@ and when you have done too much you have to sit etc................and evrybody has differences here...........

 

[Twinkle 3]

CW my consultant wrote in my green notes that he used 5mm mersilene tape, i googled it and they are quite wide and like a peice of tape rather than a stitch.

Jadey I have always had pressure, there was one day where I was in floods of tears because the pressure in my bum was unbearable, I really thought my baby was on his way out luckily he's stayed in there (touch wood he continues to) and I think I am now just use to all the aches pains and pressure, it's like what CW said it takes a while to figure out what's normal for you. Also with a stitch I think we are more aware of our bodies as we are looking for things to go wrong

Karen they should be giving you regular cervical length scans until you reach 24weeks.. Regardless of your length going up, I'd keep on thier backs and like you said take yourself to triage

 

[jadey_fae]

I would ring your consultant receptionist maybe and ask for a scan. It's great your length went up. From what I have read if IC hasn't showed itself by 22 weeks it prob wont. So I would want at least one more scan.
Why did u think u had a uti? Hope u feel better soon

 

[whistle]

Faibel I've been using the progesterone, erm, rectally (no nice way of saying that) since a week before my stitch went in.

A question please - my stitch was on Wednesday and this afternoon/evening my discharge has become watery, doesn't smell. The amount of bleeding has gone down as I'd expect it to and I've had my normal 'gloopy' stuff yesterday and today before this started. Sorry for the TMI but does that sound normal? I have no pain or cramps today.[/QUOTE

Whistle I had loads of watery discharge with my stitch last time. First time it happened I thought my waters had broke but got checked out and had swabs done etc and all was ok. Because the stitch is a foreign body it can increase your discharge even more than pregnancy itself can so between both you can have a lot!

Thankyou this is reassuring.

 

[Craigswife]

Whistle, me too. I've had so much discharge that's watery. Sometimes I have to dash off to the loo because I can feel it coming out and worry its blood or my waters! I have heard also that the stitch can create extra discharge as can pregnancy, so the two together is like Niagra Falls!

 

[baby_maybe]

Sorry I've not been on much, have been reading everyone's posts but just don't have time to type a reply most days! Ruben is keeping me on my toes at the moment, his sleeping hasn't been great and we've had tummy trouble so been trying different milks etc to try and get him more settled. I think most of it is down to the gaviscon making him constipated so I've taken it upon myself to try and wean his dose down even though the doctor said we wouldn't do tha until he was 3 months old. Hopefully it works because I would love to get a little more sleep and have him settled and not in pain.

For all the new ladies, welcome. I notice there are quite a few of you who have recently had a stitch placed either electively or as an emergency. I myself had two emergency ones and two elective ones so have experience of both. To quickly recap in case you don't know me. My first emergency one was at 24 weeks on bulging membranes, it was successful to a certain point and got me to almost 33 weeks and that was with no bed rest! The second emergency one was done at a point quite common with emergency ones and was placed at 20 weeks when funnelling was noticed on my scan. I really had to fight to have it placed, actually held a 'sit in' at the hospital, but I got me way and that one carried me to 40+ weeks. The first elective one I had was placed at 14 weeks and took me to 41+ and the last one I had, also elective was placed at 15 weeks and took me to 39+. Before all this my first was born at 24 weeks and didn't survive, she was just too small and her lungs were bad from not being able to get the steroids on board in time.

Thankfully 4 healthy children later, I'm a really good example of how good the stitch can be, so I you have any question please do feel free to ask. I may not get time to read through this thread all the time and may not be able to pick a question out of all the posts so if you want to ask me something directly feel free to message me and I'll always answer

 

[baby_maybe]

With regards to the discharge a lot of you are asking about, I had all types throughout my pregnancies with the stitch from thick and glupey to thin and watery. I would always think I was leaking fluid and never was, so be rest assured that it is probably just a normal part of the stitch being there.

If you have a lot of pain or bleeding or both make sure to get checked out. Just to reassure you further I had spotting on and off a lot in my last pregnancy and it was never anything more than my cervix being irritated from the suture being there. I often felt it pulling and had sharp pains too.

 

[Twinkle 3]

Baby maybe it's nice to see your back popping in and out gaviscon constipated my little girl, she was on it from being first born until about 6 months old and she use to have to have lactulose on top of that. Nice to hear your doing well though.

How much rest did you use to have with the stitch? I'm so scared to move around too much, your an expert on the stitch so thought I'd ask

 

[jadey_fae]

Hi baby maybe wow! U have really reassured me! Thank u for sharing ur positive experiences with the cerclages and I am sorry for your loss.
I had a LLETZ 2 years ago after I had my daughter. At the time the consultant warned me that my cervix could cause trouble if I wanted to have another baby. I actually had stenosis from the scar tissue after the procedure. So my periods couldn't come out because of the blockage on my cervix. So that resulted in me having to have a dilation to let the blood come. Took them ages to work out what was wrong with me and Why I wasn't having periods. Even though I knew from the start, they just wouldn't listen!
After a year of ttc We finally got pregnant and from the start I was worried about my cervix. No one would listen and I was told that they wouldn't give me CL scans. Like u I argued and insisted.
Good job they did as from weeks 16-20 I dropped from 4.5 to 2.3 with funnelling! They put a cerclage in the next day. (Thurs just gone) Now I am just scared that I wont make it to 24 weeks!

 

[jadey_fae]

Pink, any news?
I feel the same twinkle. I am also scared to move around too much!

 

[Craigswife]

Baby maybe, like twinkle I'm curious to know how much you did with your elective stitch. I feel fine to carry on normalish life but I make sure I get plenty of rest, especially days when I get aches and pains, but it would be good to compare with you!
Glad you and Reuben are well x

 

[Twinkle 3]

Jadey, I havent moved at all since I had my stitch placed Ive only gone out for hospital appointments and other than that layed on the settee or in bed, if I do too much in a day I can feel my legs hurting, my back and my stomach pulling, I can also feel all the heaviness in my lower abdomen and pressure, when I rest it helps. Just lately though I have been out thurs fri for steroids, today to take my little one dancing and i have to go out tomorrow to take her to a party, I'm scared I'm pushing myself too much. Fingers crossed Ill be ok I just darnt move though, feel safer when I lay down all day!