Sherri81
Mom to Greg and Angel Bab
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I'm very confused right now, and I'm not sure if I will be joining this forum or not. Honestly, I hope I don't have to... I'll explain the situation, and please, if anyone has any insight into it, let me know.
I will be 22 weeks pregnant tomorrow. This is my 7th pregnancy. I have had 1 live birth; Greg. He was my 3rd pregnancy, and I went into labour at 24+2, and he was delivered at 25 weeks exactly. All of my losses have occurred between 5-13.5 weeks, with the majority falling around the 10-12 week mark... despited heartbeats being found and heard for the majority of them.
Greg's pregnancy was very complicated with bouts of red bleeding, requiring bedrest for much of the 1st tri. They determined it was an extra chorionic hemmorage, and it did heal by 12 weeks. He never moved much, although I did feel him at 15 weeks. By 19 weeks movement had decreased. By 20-21 weeks I believe, I was put on a non stress test to see if he was ok; he was. It gets fuzzy after that. I seem to remember feeling very off and having lots of diarhea etc by 21ish weeks, and I didn't feel comfortable leaving the house. I saw the Dr alot in week 22 I believe; he thought I just had the flu. I think I was in the ER at least 3 times in the 23rd week for a thick yellowy discharge and just a general feeling of illness. They kept saying I had a yeast infection. 24 weeks exactly, I had pink spotting. Waited 2 days to see if it would stop, but it didn't and picked up instead. Was flown to Victoria at 24+2 after an ultrasound image showed my cervix was 'very' short.
I don't know what they mean by 'short' as everyone's stories were different. I was pput in a labour room immediately as they thought I would deliver that night. One nurse said I had lost my water, another nurse said I hadn't. One nurse said my cervix was at 1.3 cms, and another said it was like 3.2 cms. Needless to say, the last few days of Greg's pregnancy were very confusing. There was alot of bleeding, alot of pain, but they said it was unproductive... I was confined to my bed and told I wouldn't be sent home until after the baby was born... Ended up delivering at 25+0. He had no fluid left apparently, weighed 1lb 9 ounces, and was healthy with no reason given for the prematurity. He was transferred to a hospital closer to home 6 weeks after birth, and was kept in that one until 3.5 weeks past his due date as he had feeding and breathing issues. He is fine now.
I've lost a few pregnancies since him and was told to give up by many Drs as no one knew what the reason for the early birth or the miscarriages was. One OB decided to help me. All of my blood work is fine, except a clotting test performed after a late trimester miscarriage, in which case it was elevated. Tests also showed alot of annovulatory months.
One round of Clomid later (this year, I've done Clomid in the past but not for 2 yrs), and boom I'm pregnant! Obviously it has been a very trying pregnancy as I have done nothing but worry. In this pregnancy, I have been on aspirin since 4.5 weeks, prometrium suppositories since 4.5 weeks, metformin since before conception, and Fragmin injections since 5 weeks.... and AMAZINGLY, I haven't been plagued with ANY of the problems I have experienced in the past!! Knock on wood and praise God!! There has been no spotting, no bedrest, and I have felt GREAT! I had a cerclage placed at 14.5 weeks with no complications. A lenght was not taken, but I was told my cervix was long and hard. I've had ultrasounds by my OB done every 2 weeks; they are not for public record, just her own personal records.
20 week scan was done by a licensed tech. Everything is great! Baby is fine, a girl, everything checks out. BUT... he gets quiet when I ask about my cervix, and says that he will be needing to call my OB to find out the measurement of my cervix post cerclage. I ask him whats wrong, and he says he can't say, just that it doesn't look as long as he'd like. He switches to an internal ultrasound and says that it is longer than it appeared externally, and is 3.1cm. I see my OB later that day. She is happy! She TAKES ME OFF THE PROMETRIUM!! I question her but she says there is no need for it anymore. She finds out there is no cervical funneling or beaking, and so she is happy. Sends me home.
2 days later I am in the ER because I have been having pains that were coming and going all day long, right at my cervix. Was worried it was either an infection in my stiches, or a reaction to coming off the prometrium suppositories. An internal check is done, and he says my cervix appears long and hard. Calls my OB, she says no need for the progesterone anymore, but if it will ease my mind, he can give me another prescription for them. He gives me the prescription, but I don't take them as I can't get them filled at my regular pharmacy, so kind of wary of taking them...
Fast forward to 21 weeks 5 days (basically 2 days ago). I have been feeling good. Baby girl is still moving TONS!! Way more than Greg ever did! I can actually see my stomach move, which I never saw with Greg! So she is obviously very strong! I've been feeling good... every now and then I can feel little pains down there, but was told it could be ligaments streching. I see my OB because she is leaving for 3 weeks on vacation and wants to check me before she leaves. She does an external ultrasound. She said my fluid levels are great, and everything looks good. My cervix... she measures it at 4.5 cms!! Ummm, how did it grow a cm and a half?? Especially since she has said previously that cervixes don't grow after about 6 weeks pregnant or so.
So she does an internal checkup, and now she looks concerned. She said that my cervix feels as though it is only half as long as what the ultrasound showed, AND it feels soft and thin.
WHAT?!!??! So she does an internal ultrasound... and I mean she has that thing rammed right up there and is moving it all around for about 5 mins. She said she was having a hard time visualizing my cervix. Eventually she says that she is getting a measurement of 3.5 cms on the internal scan, and there is no funneling or beaking when she applies pressure to the top of my cervix. So now she looks a little confused since she said the cervix is way softer than when she did my cerclage, and it feels thinnish. So then she said what she is feeling is really just the tip of the ice berg, and that she thinks I will be okay for a few more weeks.
Until she gets back though, she wants me on strick bedrest. When she gets back I will 24+5, and she wants to give me a steroid shot then. I asked her if she thinks I will make it that far, and she said yes, with my cervical lenght I shouldn't have a problem... But what is my cervical length?? Is is 2.5 as she felt it, 3.5 as per the internal ultrasound, or 4.5 as per the external ultrasound? And how long can a person stay pregnant once their cervix has started to soften? Shouldn't I see my GP here in town at 23.5 weeks to get the steroid shot, just in case? I heard that is the earliest they will do them, and it seems to make sense that I have it as soon as possible rather than wait on her to get back....
And since my exam and internal ultraosund, I have been crampy, whereas before I was fine. I don't know whether this should concern me. I feel uncomfortable, and its even uncomfortable to get up to go pee. the cramping has subsided since yesterday, but I still get sharp pains off and on at my cervix. Is this just irritation from the exam and ultrasound?? Or should I be worried that my cervix is changing again??
Also, I put myself back on the prometrium suppositories. Technically, I was still under the original prescription timeline as they were prescribed for 15 days, and it hasn't been 15 days since I was given the script. So I put myself back on them, 1x a day instead of 2xs. I had weaned myself down to 1x a day in the weeks before coming off of them completely anyways. I tried calling Dr to see if this was ok, but she is already gone on vacay so no answer.
Seeing as I was fine up until I went off the progesterone, do you girls think its a good idea that I re-started them today without the express permission of my Dr? Keeping in mind that she did approve a 15 day course only 11 days ago? And how long do you girls figure my cervix can hold out if it is already softening and the length is debateable?
Sorry for the long post. Just thought I'd give all the details.
I will be 22 weeks pregnant tomorrow. This is my 7th pregnancy. I have had 1 live birth; Greg. He was my 3rd pregnancy, and I went into labour at 24+2, and he was delivered at 25 weeks exactly. All of my losses have occurred between 5-13.5 weeks, with the majority falling around the 10-12 week mark... despited heartbeats being found and heard for the majority of them.
Greg's pregnancy was very complicated with bouts of red bleeding, requiring bedrest for much of the 1st tri. They determined it was an extra chorionic hemmorage, and it did heal by 12 weeks. He never moved much, although I did feel him at 15 weeks. By 19 weeks movement had decreased. By 20-21 weeks I believe, I was put on a non stress test to see if he was ok; he was. It gets fuzzy after that. I seem to remember feeling very off and having lots of diarhea etc by 21ish weeks, and I didn't feel comfortable leaving the house. I saw the Dr alot in week 22 I believe; he thought I just had the flu. I think I was in the ER at least 3 times in the 23rd week for a thick yellowy discharge and just a general feeling of illness. They kept saying I had a yeast infection. 24 weeks exactly, I had pink spotting. Waited 2 days to see if it would stop, but it didn't and picked up instead. Was flown to Victoria at 24+2 after an ultrasound image showed my cervix was 'very' short.
I don't know what they mean by 'short' as everyone's stories were different. I was pput in a labour room immediately as they thought I would deliver that night. One nurse said I had lost my water, another nurse said I hadn't. One nurse said my cervix was at 1.3 cms, and another said it was like 3.2 cms. Needless to say, the last few days of Greg's pregnancy were very confusing. There was alot of bleeding, alot of pain, but they said it was unproductive... I was confined to my bed and told I wouldn't be sent home until after the baby was born... Ended up delivering at 25+0. He had no fluid left apparently, weighed 1lb 9 ounces, and was healthy with no reason given for the prematurity. He was transferred to a hospital closer to home 6 weeks after birth, and was kept in that one until 3.5 weeks past his due date as he had feeding and breathing issues. He is fine now.
I've lost a few pregnancies since him and was told to give up by many Drs as no one knew what the reason for the early birth or the miscarriages was. One OB decided to help me. All of my blood work is fine, except a clotting test performed after a late trimester miscarriage, in which case it was elevated. Tests also showed alot of annovulatory months.
One round of Clomid later (this year, I've done Clomid in the past but not for 2 yrs), and boom I'm pregnant! Obviously it has been a very trying pregnancy as I have done nothing but worry. In this pregnancy, I have been on aspirin since 4.5 weeks, prometrium suppositories since 4.5 weeks, metformin since before conception, and Fragmin injections since 5 weeks.... and AMAZINGLY, I haven't been plagued with ANY of the problems I have experienced in the past!! Knock on wood and praise God!! There has been no spotting, no bedrest, and I have felt GREAT! I had a cerclage placed at 14.5 weeks with no complications. A lenght was not taken, but I was told my cervix was long and hard. I've had ultrasounds by my OB done every 2 weeks; they are not for public record, just her own personal records.
20 week scan was done by a licensed tech. Everything is great! Baby is fine, a girl, everything checks out. BUT... he gets quiet when I ask about my cervix, and says that he will be needing to call my OB to find out the measurement of my cervix post cerclage. I ask him whats wrong, and he says he can't say, just that it doesn't look as long as he'd like. He switches to an internal ultrasound and says that it is longer than it appeared externally, and is 3.1cm. I see my OB later that day. She is happy! She TAKES ME OFF THE PROMETRIUM!! I question her but she says there is no need for it anymore. She finds out there is no cervical funneling or beaking, and so she is happy. Sends me home.
2 days later I am in the ER because I have been having pains that were coming and going all day long, right at my cervix. Was worried it was either an infection in my stiches, or a reaction to coming off the prometrium suppositories. An internal check is done, and he says my cervix appears long and hard. Calls my OB, she says no need for the progesterone anymore, but if it will ease my mind, he can give me another prescription for them. He gives me the prescription, but I don't take them as I can't get them filled at my regular pharmacy, so kind of wary of taking them...
Fast forward to 21 weeks 5 days (basically 2 days ago). I have been feeling good. Baby girl is still moving TONS!! Way more than Greg ever did! I can actually see my stomach move, which I never saw with Greg! So she is obviously very strong! I've been feeling good... every now and then I can feel little pains down there, but was told it could be ligaments streching. I see my OB because she is leaving for 3 weeks on vacation and wants to check me before she leaves. She does an external ultrasound. She said my fluid levels are great, and everything looks good. My cervix... she measures it at 4.5 cms!! Ummm, how did it grow a cm and a half?? Especially since she has said previously that cervixes don't grow after about 6 weeks pregnant or so.
So she does an internal checkup, and now she looks concerned. She said that my cervix feels as though it is only half as long as what the ultrasound showed, AND it feels soft and thin.
WHAT?!!??! So she does an internal ultrasound... and I mean she has that thing rammed right up there and is moving it all around for about 5 mins. She said she was having a hard time visualizing my cervix. Eventually she says that she is getting a measurement of 3.5 cms on the internal scan, and there is no funneling or beaking when she applies pressure to the top of my cervix. So now she looks a little confused since she said the cervix is way softer than when she did my cerclage, and it feels thinnish. So then she said what she is feeling is really just the tip of the ice berg, and that she thinks I will be okay for a few more weeks.
Until she gets back though, she wants me on strick bedrest. When she gets back I will 24+5, and she wants to give me a steroid shot then. I asked her if she thinks I will make it that far, and she said yes, with my cervical lenght I shouldn't have a problem... But what is my cervical length?? Is is 2.5 as she felt it, 3.5 as per the internal ultrasound, or 4.5 as per the external ultrasound? And how long can a person stay pregnant once their cervix has started to soften? Shouldn't I see my GP here in town at 23.5 weeks to get the steroid shot, just in case? I heard that is the earliest they will do them, and it seems to make sense that I have it as soon as possible rather than wait on her to get back....
And since my exam and internal ultraosund, I have been crampy, whereas before I was fine. I don't know whether this should concern me. I feel uncomfortable, and its even uncomfortable to get up to go pee. the cramping has subsided since yesterday, but I still get sharp pains off and on at my cervix. Is this just irritation from the exam and ultrasound?? Or should I be worried that my cervix is changing again??
Also, I put myself back on the prometrium suppositories. Technically, I was still under the original prescription timeline as they were prescribed for 15 days, and it hasn't been 15 days since I was given the script. So I put myself back on them, 1x a day instead of 2xs. I had weaned myself down to 1x a day in the weeks before coming off of them completely anyways. I tried calling Dr to see if this was ok, but she is already gone on vacay so no answer.
Seeing as I was fine up until I went off the progesterone, do you girls think its a good idea that I re-started them today without the express permission of my Dr? Keeping in mind that she did approve a 15 day course only 11 days ago? And how long do you girls figure my cervix can hold out if it is already softening and the length is debateable?
Sorry for the long post. Just thought I'd give all the details.
