Incompetent Cervix - stitch/cerclage - threatened labour

[lovenoel]

Make sure you update us after your appointment tomorrow! You're SO close to V-Day, too!

Aww so adorable and so glad to hear your cervix is holding up. I have my follow up tomorrow afternoon and I'm nervous but also excited because I think everything is going well so I'm just hoping my instincts are right. They're doing a cervix length and growth check too. I'll be 23+4 so I'm getting so close to v-day. If all goes well I'll have just two more appointments and also be released to the reg ob gyn.

Yay so glad your appointment went well gives me just alittle more hope.

 

[sprite30]

My follow up appt went well today they did a cervix check and a growth scan. Cervix is still holding steady at 2.5-2.7 and baby's estimated weight is 1 lb 5 oz she said right on target for almost 24 weeks so I am very excited. And baby did turn head down just as I had thought. The mfm was very glad. No cerclage is needed and they'll monitor me 2 more times again at 26 weeks and again at 29 weeks which should actually be 28 weeks but I'll be on vacation so the mfm said he'd rather push it later then earlier. But he said now the the cervical length checks won't matter much because they become less accurate. They don't have much data on cervical length after 24 weeks only to prevent preterm labor. And he said they'll probably release me to the obgyn at that point but they have no problem working with them and if signs of preterm labor come on then I'll have to see them again.

I'm very happy right now and just have this sense of peace like everything is going to be just fine and I really hope that ends up being true and I'm not just being naive right now. The mfm agrees that the scare tissue is probably creating a natural cerclage and labor will be very rough when it does happen. Not overly excited about that but I suppose I'll deal with it when it comes.

Nothing but big smiles here.

 

[MamaLa]

I had my 18 week scan yesterday. Found out Im having a little*girl!*And they measured my cervix and they said it was it was Short. It supposed to be 4 and mines is 2.2. They are going to remeasure it next Wednesday, but they might have me do the progesterone inserts and if that doesnt work they are going to sew up my cervix (cervical cerclage) and put me on Bed rest. I run a department by myself I cant be on bed rest!. I am wondering has anyone gone through this, how well does the progesterone work? Did the cerclage work well? Did you go full term? Im just soo nervous!!

 

[sprite30]

Congrats on the little girl.thats very exciting. Sorry I can't be much help i didn't need progesterone or a cerclage (past 24 weeks now) but I wanted to wish you luck and I'm interested to see if you get any answers to the "did you go full term question" . I'm a bit worried if I'll get full term as well and in my research in finding that it's likely you'll go full term if you cervix is short due to a surgery or something like that but your more likely to go preterm if your cervix is incompetent naturally....so we can be nervous together

 

[honeyprayer]

My cervix was short naturally (no surgeries or procedures previously) - my cerclage was placed at 21 weeks and I was on 200mg progesterone daily... I made it to 37 weeks

I was on bedrest from 21 weeks onwards. Also, my cervix was 1.5cm and got as short as 1.2 cm but it held steady with the stitch.

Good luck!

 

[CrunchyJenny]

*

 

[sprite30]

hello ladies!! i just got home from my last and final appointment with the MFM, they were talking about checking me one more time after this time but then decided last week that because i havent had any changes in the last 3 appointments that they would release me to the regular ob. i am very happy to say the least. he joked and said i have the shortest most stable cervix hes ever seen and that i need to just be very careful now and try my best to prevent preterm labor. so no lifting and resting often and he said whatever your doing keep doing it because obviously its working so that is the plan. i see my reg ob tomorrow and i am feeling very good about our situation at the moment. ive been put thru the ringer to say the least and weve had many ups and downs and anxiety about doing preventative abdominal cerclages and then preventative vaginal cerclage and taking the "wait and see" approach was defiantly alittle bit more exhausting then i thought it would be but here we are almost 26 weeks and still holding steady at 2.5-2.7 length.

i just want to wish everyone else the best of luck and prayers for everyone who is going through a difficult time right now. you guys really helped to ease my mind and im so grateful for the support.

 

[lovenoel]

Yay Sprite! So glad to hear good news from you!

I've been wondering about MrsRiot - anyone heard from her?

I'm 30+5 today. We had our last cervical measurement almost a week ago - last friday. Lowest measurement was 2.2cm, so things have been pretty stable throughout the pregnancy. MFM released us and we are now soley in the care of my regular OB.

Here's to hoping we all go full term! They did a growth scan on the little guy last friday also and he weighed in at 4lbs already. I'm trying to eat a little better since I passed my 3 hour glucose but had one high reading out of 4.

Hope everyone else is doing well also!

 

[4 boys]

No news is good news how's everyone

 

[Thumper23]

Hi Ladies,

Im new to the forum and just wanting your thoughts. I am 26 weeks & 1 day pregnant with my first baby. At 20 weeks and 5 days I had a cervical stitch placed as I was funnelling and had about 1.9cm of closed cervix left. Since then everything has seemed fine. I'm on modified bed rest, so am allowed to cook for myself and do dishes, and shower etc but that's pretty much it, my doctor wants me moving around enough so I don't get blood clots but not to over do it. I have been in hospital twice since having the stitch due to having an irritable uterus and have been put on 10mg Nifedipine 4 times a day as well as progesterone pessaries twice a day. I also had steroids at 25weeks and 2 days. I had a scan on Tuesday and I am funnelled to the stitch with 1.8cm remaining on the other side still closed. I am just wondering what do you think are the chances of getting to full term? And if not full term id love to here success stories of preemies born around the same gestation as my little boy. Thanks!

 

[sprite30]

Hi my situation ended up being totally different then yours but I didn't want to read and run. I wish you the best of luck and hope that the stitch holds up for you. When I was drilling my doc about getting the stitch he said if I would have gotten it they would have taken it out at 37 weeks and the main goal would have been avoiding infection. I wasn't at risk for funneling so I don't know if that statement would hold true for you but I wish you the best of luck and it's great they gave steroids and are taking all the precautions they can.

 

[Faerietailz]

So a little about me... I am 39 yrs old, and am about 21+3 or 22+3 depending on which dr. you talk too. They actually were exactly a week apart.

This is my first viable pregnancy, I had one miscarriage when I was 28, but nothing ever made baby. It was just the sac so they did a D & C to clear it all out.

I got married when I was 34, and we always said if it happens it happens. (getting pregnant that is).

My periods had been intermittently irregular from Nov. of 2013 to March of 2014, but I didn't want to get put on birth control because that would defeat the 'if it happens it happens' outcome. I let my body kind of do its own thing for the first little while. Then in April I had no cycle at all. I took a pregnancy test at the end of the month, and it came back negative. Then came may, still no period. This time I took 2 pregnancy tests, and they still showed negative. So I was like wth is going on. At that poing my husband and I were to the decision that we wanted to try fertility since I was getting older and didn't want to wait much longer. Went in for a fertility appt and while there they always do a pea test no matter what. So I waited what seemed like forever, and she said "welp we don't need to talk about fertility you're pregnant". I'm an emotional person so of course I started crying. She started to do a vaginal US, and then pulled the wand out said uhmmm lets do the other kind of US. At that point she had a measurement of 13w+3. i was like I'm 13 weeks pregnant? She said yeap... She said you're just starting your second trimester, and I need you here next week so we can get more tests, etc... I was like wow uhmm yeah okay.. I got home and was just baffled.
Husband was like wow.. great.. cool.. and said 'now what'. Leave it to him... God love him... So i started going to all my appts, and due to my age enlisted a Perinatal specialist. I got to learn the sex super early I did this super non invasive "cell free dna" test and knew what I was having by 16 weeks.

Fast forward to now... last week went in to see my specialist, I bounce between the specialist and my ob every 3 weeks or so it seems like. I had a normal u/s, and then a vaginal u/s. The u/s of the baby showed baby was good, healthy developing on track, etc... Then she asked about the vaginal u/s, and told me I didn't have to have if it if I didn't want it. I was like well I'm already here, and better to check everything since I am here, then to not.

The Dr came in and the stenographer started doing the u/s. The first words out of my Dr were and I quote "Not Good". They did a quick measurement and determined that my cervix was at 1.53 cm. He told me it should be up over 3. He then looked at me and told me that I had some decisions to make. I could go sbr and do progesterone suppositories or I could do the suppositories, cerclage, and sbr for at minimum 2 weeks, but starting that day I could not return to work. It was like someone had just came in, hung me up from my feet and shook the f*ck out of me. I didn't understand anything that was going on at all. Then I calmed down, and said I wanted to go with whatever had the most success rate.

Was scheduled immediately for a cerclage the following tuesday, was given my prescription for the suppositories, and was told to call my work because I would not be returning for awhile.

Early morning Friday received a call, and they switched my appt for cerclage to this past Saturday, and now I am on sbr until the 21st.

Cerclage is seriously the weirdest surgery I've ever had. Being numb from your bum down, having your feet up int he air, and being coherent the whole time is just remarkable.

So now here we are.. I am 21 or 22 weeks a long. (I'm almost certain that my hubby and I conceived on vacation in March). Cerclage went well, bleeding has stopped, but I have what I like to call the 'egg white' discharge. To the ladies that have had a cerclage far along into pregnancy, does the discharge go away? Mine has no odor. It's just clear and sticky. Heavier in the morning, but if I cough or sneeze, I can feel a little leakage (sorry for tmi). I am taking the suppositories, and my antibiotic is this gel I also happen to insert inside like a monistat 7 plunger thing. I have no pain, except for ligament pain, but since all of this is so new I can't tell if everything I'm going through is 'normal' or if the discharge is something I should worry about? My specialist said everyone's different.

For me what I would like is my little Everly Simone to stay right where she is and continue to grow/bake/cook whatever you'd like to call it in this oven of mine.

Dr. said had I not had the cerclage and taken any action, I would have most likely miscarried in next week or two. Thank goodness for me saying wth and having the vaginal u/s done.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I'm a typer/talker/venter.

 

[sunnylove]

Hi Faerietailz! So sorry you've had to go through this. IC is a witch. Discharge is extremely common with IC, especially after you get a cerclage. My doctor said that a lot of times after a cerclage is placed, the cervix gets really "snotty." Not to mention progesterone suppositories can definitely make you more "snotty" as well as IC in general as discharge is one of the main (and only) symptoms of IC.

Good luck to you and keep us updated! 1.5cm is short but it isn't THAT short. Have you had any cervical surgeries or injuries in your past?

 

[Faerietailz]

I had 1 d & c for misscarriage, and 1 d & c for cysts on the ovaries. Other than that, no not really. After reading a lot of stories I'm starting to feel more positive about all of this, but at the same time being tied to the bed sucks. I just ordered coloring books, ink pens, and pencils. Hoping that will let some of my stress be released.

It's weird that the discharge is really only in the morning. I'm not having any pains other than ligament pain. I never thought bed rest could be this hard.

Thank you for the response. I didn't know if anyone still kept up with this thread or not.

 

[sprite30]

Sending best wishes your way faerietailz

 

[Faerietailz]

Sprite30, I read in one of your posts that you had actually lost weight after cerclage. But that the dr's had said everything was fine, and your little one was still cooking in the oven perfectly fine... Btw... congrats, Oct isn't too far away =)

I am only a week now (well not really that until tomorrow) post-op from my cerclage, and I've lost 5 lbs. I've weighed myself various times of the day to make sure I'm not imagining things. I haven't had any weird discharge other than what everyone has said is normal from my cerclage. I'm just wondering how much you had lost. Or for anyone else that happens upon this post same thing. Did any of you lose weight post op within the first couple weeks of having your cerclage placed?

Now being on bed rest, I am not snacking all day at work like I had been. Eating crackers, and chocolate lol.

I haven't called my specialist yet because I don't want to call them after every little nuance since this is all new to me, and I only read one spot that weight loss can be an issue (but it doesn't say how much weight loss). I don't have any of the other symptoms of PROM or amniotic issues, but then again I didn't have any symptoms that my cervix was having issues either.

 

[sprite30]

I actually got lucky and my mfm decided to take the wait and see approach so I didn't have a cerclage. I was measuring I think 1.5-1.7 by 14 weeks or so and he said that measurements that early can sometimes be in accurate we checked weekly and by 18-20 weeks I was measuring around 2.3-2.5 so I'm kind of glad I took the wait and see but my situation was slightly different in that I had surgeries to my cervix and a situation with stenosis so my mfm always thought I was going to have a natural cerclage because of scarring.

But to answer your question about weight loss I just lost another 2 lbs I think naturally when someone tells you bedrest or modified rest you tend to lose some muscle mass because of the lack of movement. I wasn't exercising, walking, lifting swimming or anything that I normally do and I got to a point that I really didn't want to be full either because I was paranoid about having a huge baby and then having issues just because of that. I just had an appt on wed and I've only gained 4 lbs total but I was overweight to begin with. My doc still says it's fine so I'm going with it. Baby is still in there cooking and he told me that my weight and the babies weight are independent of each other and that the baby is a scavenger so she's going to get nutrients first. So for now I just keep eating more small meals and lots of snacks to get those calories in.

I'm glad you have no issues with pprom or amniotic issues that was a huge concern of mine too but so far so good

 

[sunnylove]

I only made it to 26+3 before I delivered but during my whole pregnancy I actually ended up losing 10lbs. I don't think it's an indicator of much. I was losing weight when I first got pregnant, and then I lost most of the weight once I got put on bed rest. I lost a lot of muscle mass. Doctor wasn't worried about it. Baby ended up being born in the 90th percentile!

 

[Faerietailz]

Oh sprite30 sorry for someone reason I thought you did have. Well that's good that you didn't and the little one's almost here. I spoke to my Dr.'s Nurse today and she said the same thing as well, muscle mass, etc... I know I'm not snacking either which is probably a big part of that too.

She said that unless I'm bleeding bright red blood or having contractions that no matter what one of the side effects are, not to worry too much, and to continue to call for peace of mind if I need or if I want to talk. She happened to have gone through the process too. It's nice being able to talk to a nurse that's gone through cerclage. Makes it a little bit more easier.

Anyway, thank you gals for your responses. =) They do help.

Dr. Bohman did give me the 'wait and see' if I wanted, but then I would have to be on sbr the whole entire time. If this gives me just the slightest possibility of being able to get out in the world other then just dr's appts, and allows me to go back to work, that'd be so much better. But if in the event on Thursday next week he tells me no, then well she's all worth it either way.

I'm not a very active person unless you call shopping active =) Our activities pretty much include going to the movies, and that's about it.

 

[sprite30]

That's ok after all this is cerclage thread lol so I can see why you'd have thought it but from very early on I had every intention of getting the cerclage and then it was just always pushed off like ahh well it's .2 more this week so maybe. And they said I could wait it out until 20 weeks I think and by then I was in the 2.5 range so we got lucky that it just worked out for us.

That's great that she agreed with the muscle mass thing and you can call anytime my mfm was the same way I had an incident at 16 weeks where I was feeling pressure and I just had it in my head that I was funneling and I called and they told me to come right in and they did a scan within 15 minutes and I was able to see baby feet down and pushing hard on my cervix with no funneling but the sensation was very awkward and luckily she moved to head down and stayed head down shortly after or I think I would have been a nervous wreck the rest of my pregnancy.

32 weeks was our goal from the get go so it is very reassuring to be at 33 weeks tomorrow. I can breathe alittle. Yeah the wait and see was a little nerve wracking so It's good you got the cerclage and good you can be on modified bed rest and hopefully get out in the world but your right now matter what happens it'll all be worth it.

I wasn't very active either and it was pretty easy for me to just be lazy but the only thing I was dreading was not swimming in the summer time but I just made sure wherever we went had like a splash park part so it ended up working out ok bc I could get wet without being submerged in water.