Incompetent Cervix - stitch/cerclage - threatened labour

[jadey_fae]

Twinkle, I am so excited for u and can't wait to hear how it all happens! I was told, no pain relief just a quick snip on maternity assessment?! I am so nervous it's going to hurt or be embedded or something. When I have smears they hurt me a lot so I am dreading this. I've heard some people have a spinal or gas and air.

 

[BabyLuv88]

I really need some anwswers if anyone knows anything about it

 

[ShelbyLC]

BabyLuv - if you are having contractions, a stitch won't be put in. Some doctors (like mine) will not put a stitch in if you have been contracting at any point during your pregnancy. Others will put a stitch in if contractions can be stopped for a certain period of time.

Incompetent cervix is a really tricky thing. For some people, it's hard to tell if you have IC or if you are dealing with preterm labor, which is causing your cervix to shorten early. With preterm labor, you would have contractions, and depending on the severity of the contractions, it may be confused for IC.

If you pay attention to your body, you should be able to carry your baby to viability (and hopefully beyond). If you have contractions, drink water and lay on your side for a while until they stop. If they don't stop, or continue at the rate of 6+ per hour, go to the hospital. If you feel pressure, drink water and get off your feet. If you start cramping, drink water, get off your feet, and if the cramping doesn't go away, call your doctor or go to the hospital.

 

[BabyLuv88]

thats really hard

 

[Twinkle 3]

Babyluv, if they are proper labour contractions and are painful the stitch will tear but if they are Braxton hicks the stitch will be ok. I have suffered with constant Braxton hicks for the last few weeks, they come every 5mins everyday all day long but they have never changed my cervix and I get a lot intense pressure with them aswel

 

[Twinkle 3]

Twinkle, I am so excited for u and can't wait to hear how it all happens! I was told, no pain relief just a quick snip on maternity assessment?! I am so nervous it's going to hurt or be embedded or something. When I have smears they hurt me a lot so I am dreading this. I've heard some people have a spinal or gas and air.

Thank you Jadey, I'm so nervous to see what happens with stitch removal. I think I am going to theatre as it it's sterile and there's stirrups there, as he said if theatre was busy he would have to have a room set up with stirrups etc. he Said I will feel a tug as he pulls my cervix and snips the stitch but will only take a minute. I'm trying not to think about scar tissue or it being embedded as knowing my luck I'll have it lol. I'm hoping I instantly dilate as I have heard sometimes you fail to dilate due to scar tissue from the stitch aswel. Fingers crossed all goes well though. I just want to meet my little boy now xx

 

[lizziedripping]

Hi ladies, just popping in and see that there are a million posts since my last message. Does anyone need my thoughts in anything? Please post again if so, my life is a blur at the moment so seldom have time to catch up properly, but always here if anyone needs me

I did notice Loveseel had her twinnies Fab news honey and thanks for letting us know. Will no doubt give our other twin lovelies a boost in confidence to hear you made it all the way to 34wks with no stitch! Go girl xxx

Twinkle, good luck for Monday sweetie, but you won't need it - you're gonna do great

 

[lizziedripping]

Babyluv, can I help at all honey? You can have contractions with IC, they typically come after significant cervical changes which in turn trigger ptl. Some ladies don't feel anything until the very late stages, some have mild contractions which they pass off as normal pregnancy aches and pains. Do you know the status of your cervix? How long have you been experiencing contractions? Are they full on or mild, and how frequent are they.

To reassure you, I didn't really feel anything in my IC pregnancy until I was already 3/4cms dilated, except maybe for some pressure and low back ache. In the twin pregnancy with a stitch I felt lots of contraction like aches and pains which amounted to nothing and my cervix remained pretty much closed. Irregular bh contractions may well be nothing at all to worry about, but given your history should be monitored closely. Let me know some more detail and I'll pop back in to answer ASAP xxxx

 

[Radiance]

I had my appointment for the 18th, but the ultrasound tech. couldn't see me that day so if I don't get an ultrasound before than they can't see me! I called my doctors office and I got in on Wednesday, to see my OB for him to talk to me and do another exam- long story short the ER sent the specialist the wrong files and apparently an ultrasound that was not mine because I never got an ultrasound!! My last ultrasound was 3 weeks ago, in another city for my nuchal scan

My OB appointment is on Wednesday, but my scan can only be done by radiology at the hospital, they only do appointments!! I must leave town Wednesday after my appointment since I'm being seen at least 5 hours away and my appointment is suppose to be early morning on Thursday!

The girl at the front desk said she would try to get the OB to order it before hand but wasn't sure. I'm stressing out now.. I've been having cramps and pressure the past few days and now I'm being told I might not be able to get seen because of an ultrasound. Plus, they're not even specialist here in this town! The girl that does the ultrasound at the hospital is only 20, and just started.. she actually told me I had miscarried when I was actually just too early (this pregnancy)!!

Question: This is personal but today my vagina feels swollen and I think even looks slightly swollen, is this normal with IC or should I be worried? I have gotten a few really bad pains in the last few days, and during my shower I felt down there and it felt like my cervix was even lower.

 

[lizziedripping]

Aww Hun, so sorry that you're stressing and totally understand your pain

Firstly, the swelling you describe does not sound cervix related at all. It's totally normal to have this in pregnancy and is purely as a result of all the extra blood flow to the area. You've likely had this before but weren't micro managing every symptom in the past so didn't really notice. Some women get varicose veins down there too which look really gruesome and sinister.

I know you're worried, but please try to avoid examining yourself internally. How high or low your cervix feels has no bearing on its length or status. Women (including myself) can have quite significant prolapse during pregnancy. The uterus itself can drop and the cervix be outside the body (in severe cases). This rarely has any impact on the pregnancy, and doesn't trigger or cause cervical changes/labour. As you progress, any slight drop of you pelvic organs will actually improve as your baby and uterus grow up and into your abdomen more. I can't be certain if this is what's happening with you, but feeling slight differences in the position of your cervix does not reflect it being closed or open hun.

Lots of love, and hope that helps xxx

 

[sunnylove]

Radiance, that is frustrating! I see you're in California, is there not another (bigger) hospital you can make a trip to? It may be inconvenient, but I (believe) started getting significant cervical changes at around 15 weeks. That's usually the time IC presents itself because the baby is getting bigger at this point. I didn't know anything about IC at the time, but when I was complaining of pain, the ultrasound tech checked everything except my cervix. If it had been caught then, rather than one month later, the stitch probably would have been more effective than it was. (Because I had almost no cervical length when I finally got the stitch.) Don't freak out though, like Lizzie said, cervical "lowness" is not an indicator of much (plus you already have 2 children, so your body knows the routine), and vaginal swelling is extremely common in pregnancy and not at all an indicator of cervical issues.



Little JD is 4 weeks old today! (30 weeks gestation) He's doing great. The doc said he's kind of on "cruise control" right now. He's gaining about an ounce a day (currently at 2lbs 14ozs) but his lungs are doing about the same; he's on high flow doing OK. He's kind of working hard, but isn't requiring a ton of oxygen. The nurse thought she heard a heart murmur so he got an echocardiogram today, but the doctor doesn't seem concerned about it. The nurse practitioner ordered the echo, and the doc later said he wouldn't have ordered one at this point. So hopefully it's nothing.

 

[Twinkle 3]

Sorry lots of questions about stitch removal....


Trying to prepare myself for Monday

For the ladies who have experienced stitch removal and had baby's after how long was it after? My consultant said I won't last long and thinks labour will follow quickly after. My baby's fully engaged and I have constant Braxton hicks so I think once the stitch is out my cervix is going to give way that day or day after... Wishful thinking I know lol was everyone else's baby fully engaged at the time of removal?

 

[shanny]

Twinkle

My doc always expected me to go straight into labour with my last 2 after stitch removal but I did not. With Archie I was booked for a c section but waters went and then I was enduced at 40+ 5 . Hazel was the same ish monitoring after stitch removal and then nothing she cma edue date again waters (hind) went was (enduced).

Any way I have always been offered potential spinal if cant get it out under nothing or gas and air ---------- My consultant is really nice and pretty much fills me with confidence and if he does removal then I am ok ----but last time it was not him and although I had gas and air I was not relaxed ----------this time I am hoping to be more relaxed as I guess that the key to internals -- I hate them at any stage.

I have a really nice nurse that does my smears and I never feel a thing but I think its the person who relaxes me and that makes it easier.........

my babies were never engaged - this one is - so that might be a factor.............

Best Wishes with it all .....................any more questions just ask.............

 

[katyb1982]

Lizzie it ressures me about your twin pregnancy. Am more or less 27 weeks now and having lots of random pains and irregular tightening. Was kept in hospital earlier this week but all was fine and they sent me home after 24 hours of obs. Tmi alert but also getting lots of random goopy discharge did you have that too? Again hospital checked stitch and swabbedd for infection all was ok.
Just feel like I'm on edge all the time all though I realise that 27w with 2lb+ twins is a a much better place to be than 24 weeks with 1lb 8 oz twins!

 

[katyb1982]

Radiance, that is frustrating! I see you're in California, is there not another (bigger) hospital you can make a trip to? It may be inconvenient, but I (believe) started getting significant cervical changes at around 15 weeks. That's usually the time IC presents itself because the baby is getting bigger at this point. I didn't know anything about IC at the time, but when I was complaining of pain, the ultrasound tech checked everything except my cervix. If it had been caught then, rather than one month later, the stitch probably would have been more effective than it was. (Because I had almost no cervical length when I finally got the stitch.) Don't freak out though, like Lizzie said, cervical "lowness" is not an indicator of much (plus you already have 2 children, so your body knows the routine), and vaginal swelling is extremely common in pregnancy and not at all an indicator of cervical issues.



Little JD is 4 weeks old today! (30 weeks gestation) He's doing great. The doc said he's kind of on "cruise control" right now. He's gaining about an ounce a day (currently at 2lbs 14ozs) but his lungs are doing about the same; he's on high flow doing OK. He's kind of working hard, but isn't requiring a ton of oxygen. The nurse thought she heard a heart murmur so he got an echocardiogram today, but the doctor doesn't seem concerned about it. The nurse practitioner ordered the echo, and the doc later said he wouldn't have ordered one at this point. So hopefully it's nothing.

Glad to hear he is doing so well. Just wanted to let you know that my brother, who was a premmie (not majorly, he was about 33 weeks but that was a bigger deal in the 80's) had a heart murmur at birth. He was followed up on it when he was little but it went by itself and he is now 27 with a baby if his own!

 

[whistle]

Hi girls, I'm sorry to jump in without having posted for weeks, but I'm 25+5 today, had stitch in at 13 weeks and I've found a little bit of brown spotting, not much, but should I get it checked out or wait and see if it settles or goes red/heavier? Has anyone else had spotting this far after the stitch? It was a routine stitch and I've had no spotting since and no cervical exams or anything recently. Thankyou ladies

 

[lizziedripping]

Hey Whistle. Usually brown spotting is nothing to worry about because its old blood and could well have been dislodged from the stitch site which has lots of scar tissue. I wouldn't be concerned if its a one off, but if it happens again or increases then it might be worth a look xxx

 

[whistle]

Thankyou - that was my gut instinct, but wasn't sure. I will keep an eye on it and get some rest.

 

[lizziedripping]

Katy, you have done so well to get to this point. I hated weeks 20-27 and cried almost daily because my uterus was so irritable and cramped, ached, tightened frequently. Ironically it settled down as it got bigger mainly because with twins your uterus gets so over distended that it almost 'tires' of contracting. That was certainly true for me anyway.

As for relaxing, I really didn't until I hit 37wks when I knew that a NICU stay (even for one night) was unlikely. I grew in confidence as the weeks passed but totally understand how edgy you must feel. None of us here want our babies to be even a week prem in an ideal world. Twin pregnancy is certainly challenging Hun, but it can be done and ptl is not a foregone conclusion.

Mucus discharge is very common and increases as you progress so again nothing to worry about. Bleeding with cramps is the main thing to watch for, but so far I can't see any reason for you not to make several more weeks yet. Ptl is obviously a greater threat with twins, but IC-wise you've certainly passed the main danger zone. Lots of love xx

 

[Radiance]

I notice a lot of women on her that got the stitch needed c-section. Do you have to have a c-section if you get the stitch? I've never had one and I'm terrified of them.