Incompetent Cervix - stitch/cerclage - threatened labour

[ShelbyLC]

Lizzie, can a shortening cervix CAUSE contractions? Or does the cervix usually shorten "silently"?

 

[DAYDAY24]

Ladies this week I have started getting contractions omg so annoying I think my lil ones will be hear in next couple weeks

 

[monro84]

I get BH and started getting them since 21 or 22 wks. It is painful but not bad feels like mild to medium af cramps for about 30 seconds along with a tightening and a feeling of like I just got the wind punched out of me and it feels like my heart is racing and pounding when I have one. I think I have had 3 or 4 in an hr before but it is not rythmic but sporadic dr said as long as I don't have 6 or more in an hr and it is not more intense with each and not rythmic I should be ok.

I had also not been drinking as much water as I should and now I have upped my water intake a good bit so I am thinking that was something that might had ben triggering them. I have not had as many since drinking more water.

 

[Craigswife]

Monro, I'm curious to know how much water you're managing to drink. I'm trying to drink lots but find it hard. I think I'm getting through 2.5pints plus the odd glass of fruit juice and de-caff tea.

 

[jadey_fae]

Karen I'm glad you are having another scan on Tues

Lizzie, u are so good at calming us all. I had no
idea that at 26 weeks if your stitch has held that far the risk of IC being a problem is less? Did I understand that correctly?

 

[jadey_fae]

Day, when did u start getting contractions?

 

[jadey_fae]

So I just ate at pizza express. The pasta dish I had had grana padona on. This is a unpasteurised hard cheese. The nhs website says that hard cheeses are ok even if they are unpasteurised. I am still freaking out though, dammit!

 

[DAYDAY24]

The last couple days are ones that I actually feel

 

[ShelbyLC]

So I just ate at pizza express. The pasta dish I had had grana padona on. This is a unpasteurised hard cheese. The nhs website says that hard cheeses are ok even if they are unpasteurised. I am still freaking out though, dammit!

You'll be okay. I ate all kinds of crap you're not supposed to eat and my two turned out just fine.

 

[d_b]

Lizzie, u are so good at calming us all. I had no
idea that at 26 weeks if your stitch has held that far the risk of IC being a problem is less? Did I understand that correctly?

I've heard this too, with the reasoning that as the baby's head gets bigger it puts less pressure directly on the cervix.

 

[CIM]

I feel like my baby is playing around my cervix, it's stressing me out.

 

[AmyLouise89]

Sorry I haven't updated in forever ladies! Hope y'all ain't forgot me lol well I did NOT get a Dr Davis TAC but I DID get my pre-pregnancy TAC by a mfm here in Oklahoma. I'm happy, excited, nervous, scared & everything else in those catagories lol! I got my TAC last Monday April 22nd. Recovery was a little rough but well worth it. Today will be 11 days post op & I'm still a bit sore but getting around tons better. Going for follow up appt on Tuesday May 7th. Dr wants us to wait Til January before getting pregnant again so I figure ill quit birth control about October/November. I'm not to worried about waiting Til then cause I desperately want to lose a bunch of weight before getting preg again..I'm miserable! Lol I hope things are going great for all of y'all!

 

[ShelbyLC]

Sorry I haven't updated in forever ladies! Hope y'all ain't forgot me lol well I did NOT get a Dr Davis TAC but I DID get my pre-pregnancy TAC by a mfm here in Oklahoma. I'm happy, excited, nervous, scared & everything else in those catagories lol! I got my TAC last Monday April 22nd. Recovery was a little rough but well worth it. Today will be 11 days post op & I'm still a bit sore but getting around tons better. Going for follow up appt on Tuesday May 7th. Dr wants us to wait Til January before getting pregnant again so I figure ill quit birth control about October/November. I'm not to worried about waiting Til then cause I desperately want to lose a bunch of weight before getting preg again..I'm miserable! Lol I hope things are going great for all of y'all!

I've been thinking about you! I'm so glad you were able to get your TAC, that's so great. Have you changed doctors or did the MFM just do the cerclage because of having more experience?

 

[lizziedripping]

Lizzie, can a shortening cervix CAUSE contractions? Or does the cervix usually shorten "silently"?

Hi shelby It's always a bit of a 'chicken and egg' scenario with IC but in general, once cervical changes have reached a critical point full blown but preterm labour can be triggered if baby hasn't already delivered before that point.

Initially an incompetent cervix changes 'silently' but sometimes some women do have associated symptoms which look and feel like very early preterm labour, often they don't recognise it as such because it creeps up and isn't as painful as full term labour (nowhere near). Women who labour for other 'non IC' reasons tend to have prom and contractions which cause the cervix to dilate. Without those mechanisms their cervixes would have held up fine.

Contractions tend to be a secondary symptom of a cervix opening purely as a result of uterine stretching/baby weight. A process which happens to all women as they approach term and probably one of the triggers which signals the body it's time for labour. Obviously to do this around 20wks isn't normal but a natural progression if a cervix has dilated beyond a certain point. Hard to explain but hooe that makes sense? It's why Docs don't always diagnose IC after a first loss becausethey are not confident of it when a woman inevitabley contracts after early cervical changes (contractions seem to challenge a true IC diagnosis, but are usually oart and parcel of it in the later stages).

To reach 28wks without significant cervical changes bodes well because a) the cervix has clearly held it's own at a critical point baby weight-wise, and b) full blown labour is necessary to dilate a cervix beyond 3cms to deliver a larger baby. 3cms is typically where an incompetent cervix opens to without contractions.

None of this is an exact science, and there are lots of unknowns involved in the process, but in general IC is a condition which oresents silently and between 16-26wks. To hold to and beyond that point means it probably will continue to do so.

Hard to explain but hope that makes sense xx

 

[lizziedripping]

Day - don't assume that honey, I had lots of 'contractions' towards the end, babies showed no signs of coming before 38wks You can 'gear up' for the main event like this for weeks before it happens - especially with twins xxx

 

[jadey_fae]

lizzie, thanks for that post! If u have a stitch already and u have funnelled to it but are still pregnant at 26 weeks does that also bode well for carrying to near term? Or only if your cervix have held by them self without help from a stitch?

 

[lizziedripping]

No Jadey, stitch or not getting to 26wks and funneling to the stitch with no further changes is a very good sign. If the stitch holds beyond that point then it will likely continue to do so unless you have other pregnancy issues which predispose you to ptl that is xx

 

[Twinkle 3]

No Jadey, stitch or not getting to 26wks and funneling to the stitch with no further changes is a very good sign. If the stitch holds beyond that point then it will likely continue to do so unless you have other pregnancy issues which predispose you to ptl that is xx

Ooh Im glad i read this! Good question jadey,

I hope my stitch continues to hold now iv made it to 26weeks I'm still not happy though until I reach 28weeks I would like to know what my cervix is doing at the minute but don't want to know because Ill be scared if its had a drastic change from last time, fingers crossed its still long and closed.

Lizzie your the person who has given me so much hope through this pregnancy, especially with you carrying twins funnelling to the stitch then going past stitch removal! Everything you wrote to me that was reassuring I screen shot so I can read it when I fly into a panic. It calms me down and make sme have a positive mind set, especially helpful in the times when I was on the verge of losing the plot with worry lol! You should write a book

 

[ShelbyLC]

Thanks, Lizzie. It seems like this is something that is always on my mind, especially now that I'm having to come off of my birth control (due to many bad physical reactions to all 3 that I have tried) and I am so scared of what will happen in my next pregnancy (which I hope is in the far future!). I didn't know what contractions felt like in the beginning, but looking back, I recognize contractions happening at 17 weeks, along with back pain. When I was first checked at 18 weeks, my cervix was already down to 2.2cm. I had a really stressful time from 16-18 weeks and I always wonder if that stress caused contractions, which caused my cervix to change, or if my cervix started changing early and that caused contractions.

I want to be able to get the best possible care in my next pregnancy, but I feel like that can't happen if I don't know what caused all of my problems.

And of course we're planning on having a nice, big gap between T&B and our next baby (or babies, as OH says. he thinks we get twin boys next, which only stresses me more, because I know it's possible!) but you know it's impossible not to worry about things like this.

I know that no matter when my next pregnancy happens, I won't be able to be on bed rest. Not with two little ones to take care of already, OH working full time, and no family near that would help us. So I feel like if I need a stitch, I need to get it early, before I start having problems, but what if I don't have IC, just PTL, and the stitch irritates things and brings on the PTL?

I am very hopeful for a singleton pregnancy. I think that would be way less stressful for me. My body has already carried twins to almost-30 weeks. At 27 weeks, I was measuring 45 weeks. So surely one baby will be just fine. I hope.

I worry too much. Sorry for going on and on.


In other news! T&B have started holding their own teethers and bringing toys up to their mouths to chew on! They still don't grab for them, but if I put the toy/teether into their hands, they'll hold onto it. Britton has also started "talking". She's been saying "ahh" quietly for 2 or 3 days, but yesterday she found her voice and just EXPLODED. Lots of noise, loud screeches, and so on. It was SO cute.

 

[Twinkle 3]

Shelby after having my daughter at 29weeks the hospital didn't even think about me having cervical problems, they just put it down to spontaneous preterm labour. I never thought much of it after that, just that my body went into labour too early and in my second pregnancy no special care plan was made, i was under a consultant and classed as high risk for preterm labour but the only thing they did was offer me more scans which I never got to have as I gave birth at 22weeks.

It was only then that they realised that I DO actually have trouble with my cervix, which is unfortunate that I had to lose my little boy to find this out.

I think in your next pregnancy the key would be not to brush off incompetent Cervix as your problems might have started earlier than normal IC as you was carrying twins and your cervix is even weak in the second pregnancy (that's if you do have it)

I would certainly ask for close monitoring next time or even try and have a talk with an OB before you plan on becoming pregnant to discuss options for your care? And if it's likely to be IC ?

That's what I did. I had a talk with mY consultant and drew up a care plan I was happy with before becoming pregnant again, just some had peace of mind before becoming pregnant again

I know that question was for lizzie but that's my advice from my personal experience hope it might help a little