Hi there
I was so relieved to find this website and read your story-cannot thank you enough!! I feel like a bolt of lightening has just hit me and jolted me into action.....even more so than before.
I so empathise with your situation-I am 15 weeks 4 days of my second pregnancy (lost my first baby in 2003 at 16 wks due to incompetent cervix)
At 5 weeks the consultant decided i needed the cerclage stitch and booked me in. I had this last wednesday. I had read up re the op and how it should assist to keep my bubs in this time but on the day of surgery....it was not as easy as they or I had expected.
The consultant told me after the op that my cervix had started to dilate and open and that my cervix is only half a cm where it should be 3cm. They did the stitch and closed the cervix but no guarantees and only time will tell.
I was asked if I had surgery to affect my cervix or my womb. I had lazer treatment for pre cancerous cells several years back but they said this should not have caused the shortened and soft cervix. Consultant was blunt and said I have a 50% chance of miscarrying still. I was and am gutted as I thought this gave me an 80-90% chance of success once it was in.
To top it all this saturday after the op-I thought my waters had broken and spent 7 hours up A&E and seeing my surgeon/drs to clarify my situation.
Am on two weeks bed rest from work. My boss is not impressed but my baby comes first! I really am trying to rest-they said, no sex, no swimming, no ironing, decorating, gardening, jogging and basically the whole pregnancy will be like this. I feel like a freak and so anoid and angry but now realise how common this can be
It is only today that I have really realised I have to REST however hard it is...not go to work and give my bubs the best chance ever. I am scared of losing this baby and the mental affect that would hit me if I did and I am so relieved to hear that although my baby will be prem. it has a good chance of surviving from reading so many stories.
I am on anti biotic cream and pessaries too and didnt realise how vital this treatment was until coming on this website. I cannot thank you enough for your wise words and heartfelt stories. midwifes and doctors are so rushed when you see them I don't feel I understood everything until today!
I am waiting to feel my baby move for the first time.............never got that far before.
My friends and I are praying my bubs arrives in September when its due but me feels that she or he could come way before and I want them to have the best chance so REST REST AND REST IT IS !!
Please take care of yourself and keep in touch.....
Chrissy
x
Hi Everyone,
I know there are several threads on this but just wanted to capture any up to date advice if possible.
I am 24 weeks + 3 days with my first baby. I had a cone biopsy done in 2002 for abnormal cervical cells (cin 3).
As soon as I knew I was pregnant I told everyone who would listen that I had had this invasive op and would potentially require a cervical stitch as my cervix may be weak. But they seemed confident that I would be ok as the op had been several years ago.
However, I started bleeding at 5 weeks. This continued right up until 19 weeks. (Apologies in advance for info but it seems relevant!). Sometimes there was just light pink spotting, other times brown/red blood and sometimes bright red blood. All varying amounts but with maybe only 2 or 3 days respite in between. There was also a considerable amount of mucus/discharge at times. No pain or cramps.
I had several scans in order to check the baby was ok and these were always fine. They could find no reason for the bleed. Eventually at around 17 weeks I was sent to see obs/gyn at John Radcliffe in Oxford. They took an internal scan of my cervix which showed it was within ordinary limits but was slightly short. He suggested because of my history and in view of the bleeding that I have a colposcopy in order to check there was nothing going on. My colposcopy was performed at 19 weeks + 6 days. All went well, no abnormal cells, no bleeding. I had follow up scan the following week and they said my cervix actually looked longer than before so we were really encouraged.
My next internal scan was booked for 3 weeks later. In between I had occasional hard tummy and that pulling sensation, but I just thought this was ordinary pregnancy complaints.
I continued on but just last week at 23 weeks + 3 days, I started to have a pulling/heavy sensation in my tummy when walking (stomach felt like it weighed a ton and moving was slow and laboured) and also some uncomfortable light pains in my vagina/cervix. By nightime, my tummy was rock hard and I found it difficult to sit up, or turn over. I also mentioned to my husband that I felt "strange". Couldn't quite put my finger on it, wasn't unwell but I didn't feel right.
I was extremely restless in bed but eventually went to sleep. The next morning I woke up and felt absolutely fine. Tummy was soft again and all pains gone. Walking was back to normal.
It just so happened that I was scheduled my internal scan the next day. I drove myself to hospital alone thinking all was ok. As I was arriving I began to feel that tightening again in my tummy, a little bit like a stitch on my left side and that downwards pulling sensation too. But it wasn't too bad, just a little uncomfortable. I went in to the scan room and the doctor noted that I seemed to be uncomfortable. First up was my cord scan, to check blood flow to the uterus. This showed that the blood flow was above average i.e. my uterus was up to something! Also my amniotic fluids were less than they had been. We then went through to do the internal scan and my cervix had shortened to 2.1cm. Whilst this is still within limits it was below the 2.4cm they see as minimum. The doctor said I would need to see the consultant and off she went.
The consultant decided that in view of the uterus and shortening cervix that I was in "threatened labour" and that I should stay at the hospital for further monitoring. It was imperative that I have a stitch put in to stop the cervix shortening further but this could not be done whilst I was still having tightenings/contractions.
So I was put in a room and waited for my rather worried husband to arrive from London. The tightenings continued but did stop overnight so they were able to do the stitch the next day.
But by the time the theatre etc was organised it was already 4pm, and by the time they got in there my cervix had dramatically shortened to 1cm at the front and 0cm at the back - they sewed what they could but said it hadn't been ideal. I began medication "Indometacin" to stop contractions and "Progesterone - Cyclogest pessaries" to strengthen the cervix.
When the consultant came round she said that the next day I would be given a steroid injection "Dexamethasone" which would help mature the babys lungs. A second dose would be given 24 hours later. This would give the baby the best chance if its arrival was imminent.
Luckily the stitch and medications have stopped the contractions. I was kept in for two days after the stitch was put in and am now on bed rest at home.
Basically it is imperative to keep the baby in for long enough for her lungs to mature (with the help of the steroids), so if we can get to the end of the week that is great.
However, it is obviously still much much too early for this baby to arrive. If we can just get another 4 weeks even that would increase our chances so much.
Its so scary. I just don't know what to think and there's so little information given to you.
I had some tightenings/contractions yesterday but the pills stopped them again and I have been fine so far today. But I want to know, what signs should I really be looking out for? Afterall my cervix had shortened overnight from 2.1cm to practically nothing and I had hardly any symptoms/pain. What happens if labour starts properly whilst the stitch is in? There have been no signs of "show" or waters breaking but I understand this doesn't always happen or can happen when you go to the loo so you might not realise.
Also the baby has definitely stopped being as active as she was, she used to kick and move all the time but she is only moving lightly and far less active than before.
Whilst I don't want to overeact and be at the hospital every 5 mins in a panic I also don't want to be so brave that I put myself and my unborn baby at risk.
If anybody has been through this any advice would be so greatly welcomed.
Thank you in advance.
M
The others in here are a wealth of information and I know they'll have answers to your questions.
i was wondering what happens when the do the stitch 2 are u put to sleep or epidural and how long will i be in hospital for thanks xxxx
I'll have her write a slip for a couple more so insurance will pay for them and I'll have a couple on hand. Thanks for the tip!!
to you all. Praying everyone of you is doing better and NK, I really hope this issue subsides somehow. 
I have lived with the terror of bleeding/cramping after stitch, longing to go to term but fearing that I may not even make it another day. No one knows what this feels like unless they have actually been there. For me it was the utter feelings of helplessness and lack of control that got to me most.............that and a longing to have a full-term pregnancy. 
You have been through so much already and now this...........there is nothing I can say hun 
