Friday

Friday I wake up to cramping again and I call out of work. I search all over for an elective ultrasound spot that would book me for an appointment today. I knew it isn't a diagnostic appointment but regardless I wanted to see my little one and make sure he was okay.

I ended up making an appointment and I got to see my boy all happy and bouncing around. I got some really cool 3D shots of him and a whole video of the ultrasound. I ended up filling the tech in on my history and she was baffled that I would be released given my history and what is currently happening. During the ultrasound she asked if I had a cerclage in place and I said yes. She also stated that she was worried that my cervix shortened even more and that she isn't a nurse or a doctor even but if she were me she would push to be looked after. (She used to work in an MFM office). I told her I agreed.

After the ultrasound she asked if I minded her looking at my cervix I said no, have at it. She got a measurment of 1.4cm abdominally (which I know has a margin of error) so that was okay with me. She was poking around and asked if I were bleeding and I said no, which I wasn't. I thanked her for being so awesome and asked if she had anyone she could refer me to since she had experience in that area. She gave me a number of a place and I left.

Cramping continued off and on throughout the day. I planned a night out with my boyfriend. We were going to have dinner and go to the nearby casino for a few and head home. We had our dinner and as I was walking to the car I felt a little gush. I thought it might have been just a little discharge so I got in the car and we drove the 5 minutes over to the casino. Once I got out of the car I felt my leggings and noticed I had had blood on my hands so we rushed over to L&D again.

I figured wow now I'm being taken seriously. They get me back there ASAP after taking my weight and vitals. I get undressed and given hospital undies and a pad. I was told I couldn't eat or drink anything (luckily I had just has dinner so it wasn't that big of a deal). An hour or two go by and still no doctor to be seen but now I'm gushing blood and this point and I call the nurse in. At this point she goes someone really needs to get down here.

In a matter of 15 minutes it went from zero people in the room except for my boyfriend and I to 5 additional people in this tiny room. I have 2 OBs in the room, 2 Senior Residents and a nurse. They explain they are going to do a speculum exam to check out whats going on. One of the senior residents informs me to avoid have a child with serious health problems they could perform a D&C and terminate my pregnancy (uh no thank you).

So they check out my cervix it is closed and the stitch looks great (as it has been thankfully) they are seeing the bleeding and are really worried about it and aren't sure if its just blood or if my water had broken. They tell me they will perform a bedside ultrasound to see how baby is handling things and how everything else is looking.

Baby is doing great despite the bleeding, the placenta looks great, his fluid is a decent amount it isn't extrememly low but not very high either. They couldn't tell from my ultrasound for certain that the water has broken or not but they can see blood on the ultrasound. I then was told it would be best to admit me and to be monitored. I was also told Saturday morning that I would have a more detailed ultrasound and we would go from there. As of that moment the cerclage stays put and we're just letting the bleed run its course.

Exhausting

Where do I even begin?
I was released from my MFM to my OB on Monday, February 18th. It wasn't the appointment I hoped for. I brought my daughter along thinking I'd get a final look over meaning checking by ultrasound that placement of the cerclages were good, a final check of the cervical length and to make sure baby's fluids were good where they should be.

What I got was a nurse practitioner asking how I felt, and that I wouldn't be seeing my doctor because he was out on vacation or any doctor because there would be no exam done unless I had a concern. I did, I wanted my discharged checked to make sure all was normal. So the on call doctor came in and she checked my discharge all was normal and my stitches looked good. I expressed my concern about a final ultrasound check and I was refused one so I left pretty angry and hurt due to my history.

Fastforward to Thursday at about 3am I get up to pee with a pretty good soreness in my bladder. I go to work and it doesn't let up I end up cramping off and on all day with no relief after peeing. I leave work a little early to see my OB, at this point the pain really isn't there too much but I keep my appointment. They take my urine, do a speculum exam and tell me that my cervix and stitches look fine and I'm free to leave.

Around 7pm is where the pain hit me again and it's rolling pain come between 3 and 4 minutes apart. I call my OB after hours for the on call OB and get her opinion. I tell her about my symptoms and my visit earlier and she instructs me to go to L&D. They would be able to get a fast turn around on my urine to see if anything is up. I go down and give my urine, after waiting a while the doctor comes in and states there is nothing much they could for my cramping or anything due to me being so early at 22 weeks they wouldn't do anything to help me or save my baby (which is bullshit since the NICU works on 22 weekers). They perform a speculum exam again and all looks good to them. My urine comes back fine and I'm free to go without any explanation or solution.

Wednesday Follow Up

My follow up appointment on Wednesday wasn't a good one. The ultrasound showed baby with a great heartbeat and being cute as anything. As soon as she inserted the trans-vaginal ultrasound I saw the funneling right away. My cervix shortened from 2.8cm to 2.1cm.

I rememeber saying "Oh, that's not good," while the tech replied "You still have some length left though." That doesn't help when you've already been there and done that.

The doctor came in shortly after I broke down for a second and said "So we will be considering a cerclage, is that right? I replied "Yep." The surgery was scheduled 2 days later (Friday) at 20 weeks 1 day. I quizzed him on everything I have come across, studies and what not.

I brought up what type of stitch he would be doing and if it were possible to go higher than a macdonald, a cerclage pessary combo, double cerclages, administering antibiotics, bedrest. I was shut down by their aren't any studies that have proven this or this works BUT I did get my way with a couple requests.

Surgery day I go in fill out all the paperwork and finally speak with the doctor once again. We agree in antibiotics, and he agreed to place 2 macdonald cerclages but after his "studies this and that and higher risks speel" I was on the fence. he left and came back and asked me if I wanted the two because if I did he would do it for me. I told him I was on the fence still, he then said well if you don't say ONE I will do two. He ended up doing two.

Here I am 3 days POST OP and just like before I'm terrified of everything. I have no idea what cervical length was left at placement. I never got to see baby surgery day but I did hear his heartbeat. I have no idea if there is any less funneling or more. I don't know how high he got the stitches. Maybe it's better not to know?

I will go in tomorrow for my follow up and if things look good in his words I will be released to my OB and continue about my pregnancy, no extra monitoring because they have done all they can for me and the hope is that I remain asymptomatic until delivery.

11 weeks since my last scare (LONG POST)

The night of January 29th I had some cramping but I ended up sleeping it off. Yesterday, the 30th I had cramping off and on all day. I put an email in that morning to be seen (cervical check) and they couldn't fit me in until 3:00PM.

I worked all day and made it to my appointment. Baby looked great but my cervix measured just about a cm less at 2.8cm when it was 3.7cm just 6 days earlier at my anatomy scan. I was instructed to begin vaginal progesterone suppositories, and to go over to L&D to be monitored. I told them I would be back for the monitoring.

I came back about 6:30PM, still cramping off and on. My OB ended up being the first doctor I saw (whom I still am not very fond of). She gave me a speculum exam and stated my cervix looked long and closed and that it was "very posterior" which I am told is great. Next came the even more painful part...the manual exam. She felt around and pressed so hard because it was hard to reach my cervix (also a good thing I hear). She tried sticking her finger in my cervix and stated I was probably about a centimeter to a centimeter and a half dilated.

I asked about being monitored for my cramping and she said it isn't something they do because it is so early. That they don't usually intervene until 22 weeks at the earliest. While I am aware of this, I was only being asked to be monitored and if in fact I was contracting or that is something they are picking up it could be something they could surely stop. 

She said she would consult with my MFM doctor on what he would like to do regarding a possible rescue cerclage and that in the meantime she would have one of the senior residents perform a second exam to see if they felt the same thing. The resident said she agreed about my cervix being really high/very posterior and difficult to get to. She also stated being that the exam was so difficult to perform was a good thing. (Oh so painful though) she said that I might be maybe a half a centimeter dilated. 

The resident asked if I was cramping while I was here and I said I was and I don't know why no one is looking into it or monitoring it. She said it might not be picked up because I'm not that far along but we tried it, and I appreciated the effort rather than doing nothing. 

The Toco didn't pick up anything and my MFM doctor decided against a cerclage because if I am in fact cramping it wouldn't be a good idea to place it then, which I agree with. So I have my regular scheduled OB appointment on Friday. (I really need to switch my OB) and then my follow up scan on Wednesday which I plan to consult with the doctor at that point and see what the new game plan is.

I've heard things about the pessary so maybe that would be an option as well to avoid the surgical route...Well it is Thursday morning hello 19 weeks.

Anatomy Scan

I had my anatomy scan last week at 18 weeks on the dot and all was well with baby. He measured ahead and weighed 9oz already! Over half a pound. He was kicking around and keeping his hands near his face. For the 3rd time we verified he is still in fact a boy! THANKFULLY my cervix looked good, it was between 3.6cm and 3.7cm so no changes, which I am happy about! It's crazy to think next Thursday I will be halfway through this pregnancy. I have my follow up ultrasound/cervical check with MFM February 8th. I am counting down the days! In the meantime I have my second OB appointment this Friday. Last time I only saw my OB twice so I wonder what this appointment will be like. Probably urine, weight, and blood pressure I'm assuming. Until next time!

Made an INBETWEEN Appointment

On Friday, and days before I was feeling a lot of pressure, so Friday morning a made a point to call my MFM's office and see if an ultrasound could be scheduled to make sure my cervix didn't decide to act up. They fit me right in thankfully, they more than anyone knows what can happen in mere days never mind almost two weeks.

I was a nervous wreck, as usual. I went in she checked baby's heart rate abdominal, snapped a cute profile photo for me and went in vaginally to check my cervix. So took quite a few measurements and for the first time she took one with applied pressure. I haven't had that with this pregnancy until that day.

All measurements taken were within the 3cm range. I was also surprised that my largest measurement taken over 4cm with with pressure applied, I'll say it one more time...WITH PRESSURE APPLIED. Usually, from experience with my last pregnancy that is when the cervix will change such as displaying funneling and a shortened cervix, in my case that did not happen, thankfully. The ultrasound tech made a point to say "baby is right there" meaning right on my cervix which is most likely causing all the pressure. His big ole 5oz noggin!

All my measurements ranged between 3.6cm - 4cm+ which in the doctor's eyes meant NO CHANGE from last week. I left SO happy and knew that I would be able to relax over the weekend up until my Level II on Thursday, Jan 25th. Here is to hoping Thursday I will be hearing that baby is growing well and everything looks great. Just 6 weeks and a few days until I surpass my last pregnancy. 

Week 17 on Thursday

I will be heading into my 17th week on Thursday. I am glad I am being checked out every 2 weeks BUT the time in between appointments kills me. At my two week check up last week a BOY was confirmed! Also, my cervix had an average measurement of 3.6cm so it appears I am .2 cm up from the previous measurement, which is completely fine with me.

I had to get an EKG done because the doctor wasn't too fond of my heart rate. It has always been high but they wanted to get me tested to rule out any abnormalities with my heart. I'm still waiting on those results. That test was done on Thursday, Jan 10th so If I haven't heard anything I'm thinking I may be in the clear. I also had an early glucose test done. I PASSED with flying colors. I will probably be retested at 28 weeks the nutritionist informed me. It's so crazy to think that I could make it that far and beyond. 

This time last time around shit was already hitting the fan. I was on bedrest with cerclage number 1 already placed. Aside from elevated blood pressure and a higher than average heart rate things are moving fairly well and I couldn't be happier. I just need things to stay this way and all will be well in my world.

My Level II (Anatomy Scan) is scheduled for my 18th week. That means 10 days from today which will include my cervical check. I know things can change in a split second so I'm so paranoid right before my ultrasounds. I don't think I will ever be able to relax until I have my term baby in my arms.