Unplanned Cerclage

 On Sunday, I was a little crampy but I wasn't really worried about it.  It felt like I was having round ligament pain and also that maybe I had a bladder infection again.  I have to remind you that the type of bladder infections I get, do not feel like your typical bladder infection.  I get Group B Strep in my bladder once in a while and usually I don't even know I have one until a culture comes back positive.  I had an 8am appt on Monday so I felt ok about how I was feeling and every week I start worrying and over analyzed things but they have always okay.  

As soon as the u/s pic came up on the screen I knew I had funneling but it took me a minute to ask because I just couldn't get my breath and I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  (I'm hoping to put a pic up eventually with what I saw on the u/s and what the doc explained was happening.  My cervix was apparently measuring 3.06cm still (that is good!) but it was "dynamic" as it would open at the top and then close again.  I was just so upset and scared but trying to be strong.  Dr. P came in and told me we would be doing a cerclage today just to be safe.  She was very busy and was supposed to be doing rounds so she couldn't talk to me as much as I wanted her to but did her best to comfort us. I was barely able to say anything anyway as I was kind of in shock and my mind was racing with millions of different things.  I was admitted to L&D around 8:15am.

She didn't come back until 12:30pm to talk to us.  I wish she would have come back earlier because after talking to her I felt so much better and so did dh.  From 8:15 until she came in dh and I just talked and tried to stay calm, but as you can imagine that was very difficult.  They had me on the toco to monitor for contractions and said my uterus was "irritated" and I had minor contractions and ended up giving me something to help it relax.  Dr. P ordered cultures and other tests to check for infection.  My wbc count was elevated and I had a fever (I thought i just was warm because I got so upset but maybe not?) so they started me on ampicillin, every 4 hours I got a bag.  

Dr. P reassured us that it was going to be okay and that things would likely be just fine.  She seemed really confident that the cerclage would do what it was supposed to and that we caught the infection early.  She actually thinks it was a bladder infection that caused all of this, probably stupid GBS in my urine again but we won't know for sure until at least tomorrow when the cultures come back.  She said my cervix wasn't showing a huge change right now and that it was still closed on the u/s that morning.  DH and I were very relieved to hear all of this.

I had a spinal done when I got into the OR but I was so anxious that they ended up putting me out...I don't remember much of it but I do remember starting to panic and then I woke up in recovery.  I HATED feeling that I didn't have a lower body and started to get panicky again coming out of it so they had dh come back earlier than planned and he really calmed me down.  It was weird coming off of the spinal because I was slowly able to feel my lower half but I felt like it was freezing and it also felt like millions of needles all over (like when you foot falls asleep and it kind of hurts).  

The baby was a little sleepy and my bp was kind of low so I was pretty nauseous for a bit.  They said baby did great and they watched him during the procedure and he was moving all over, flipping and kicking around.  My bag of water was still nice and high and baby was not trying to push on my cervix.  He had a great heart rate too.  :)  

Dr. P said that my cervix was actually open just a tiny tiny bit so they had to place 2 stitches to get it to completely close again.  That probably happened over the time I was waiting I guess??  She said she felt really good about how things worked out and feels that I can still carry this baby to term.  She said we will now be doing WEEKLY cultures and tests, instead of monthly to make sure I don't get anymore infections.  She said that my uterus is just extra sensitive to changes and that pregnant women are more suseptible to infections and I am just extra sensitive.  She does not think I have an incompetent cervix, just more prone to infections and they irritate my uterus and cervix causing major problems.  I am now on cephalexin for a few days to make sure we take care of any infection.  

She said I didn't need to be seen again for another week but has me coming in Friday morning so that I can feel good about the weekend.  I just LOVE my doctor.  She sent me home last night and told me to call the office and she would meet me at the hospital if I had any issues or questions.  She has been taking extra time to talk to me and see us and I appreciate that so much.  I have constant questions and concerns, and so does dh so we so much appreciate the extra care she provides.  

She said that if things look good on Friday and Monday that I should be able to resume normal activity after that.  I am going to be terrified until i get to at least 24 weeks and then I will be doing my best to keep him in until he's full term!  This week I'm supposed to be "taking it easy" and supposed to keep hydrated and my bladder empty.  Those two things don't really go together do that?  Thank you all for your support through text and Facebook!

 I drew this based off of what I remember seeing on the u/s screen and how it was explained to me by the doctor during my ultrasound on 1/23/2012.  The left is the uterus where the baby can be seen and the funneling occurs in the cervix.  The cervix is not very long, mine was 3.06cm during my u/s, which is right around where they want it to be!  My cervix was "dynamic" and was shifting from having funneling to looking relatively normal.  

Here is a pic provided by Laura Oliver.  This was the cerclage used during her pregnancy with Lyla.  I just wanted to give everyone an idea of what a cerclage stitch looks like!