A Cerclage Removal Story

9/15/09 – Today was one of the most important days of this pregnancy.  At 36w2d, Dr. G took my stitches out  in the L&D operating room, to be as sterile as possible.  The procedure was scheduled for 10 am (originally 0930) but an emergency walked into the ER and I was bumped to around 12:15p.

Prep: I was not allowed to eat after midnight.  So they starved me for like 12 hours.  However, I did sneak some peanuts and sips of water while at home because the hunger was unbearable.  I checked in at around 0930 after calling the floor to see when to come in.  Because of my dehydration  and stronger contractions, they gave me an IV fluid and a shot of Terbutaline sub-q (ouch, that stings!) to quiet my uterus for the procedure.  I was also given IV Ancef as a precautionary antibiotic. We saw MeMe on a bedside ultrasound just to make sure she was doing well and got hooked up to the baby/uterus monitor. We sat and watched the “Newborn Channel” and answered some health history questions before it my time to go to the OR.  My mom and husb were with me.  Some of my mom’s coworkers were working  and almost all of them had no idea her daughter was pregnant or that she was expecting a grandchild.  The last time I was L&D at my hospital was when my water broke with the twins so mom only wanted to give good news this time. I love having mom with me because she makes sure everything is taken care of.  Husb is equally supportive so its like having two people wait on you hand and foot all day!

Procedure: Signed the consent, of course. Doc said no anesthesia this time and I stupidly refused IV Ativan thinking I could tough it out.  I wished I took it to calm me down because the pain was EXCRUTIATING! I almost jumped off the table and Nurse Annie, who was holding my hand, almost had her fingers broken.  People who say it is “uncomfortable” are barely touching the surface.  All that cervical manipulating, the hard speculum, and the manual check for leftover stitch material is NOT COOL. Gotta remember, nothing large or wide has been in my cooch for months so the muscles in there were not happy to be messed with.  I was tense and needed to be coached to breathe from Annie.  All in all, it took about 10-15 minutes to make sure both stitches were out.

Aftermath: My cervix did the unexpected.  Dilated a fingertip and 50% effaced.  MeMe is high, not even engaged.  I also have some bacteria growing up in there so I have to put Metrogel in my cooch for the next 5 days.  Ladies with cerclages are more prone to BV because of the increase in secretions caused by the cerclage. Go figure.  I should expect some bleeding, but having seen any yet. I finally got to eat after the procedure. We stayed in the hospital and was monitored for about 2.5 hours.  For a while, my contractions seemed stronger and had gotten to be about 5 minutes apart, but then subsided, spread apart, and felt like normal.  Annie sent me home with my prescription and said to call or come back if my water breaks, stronger contractions…etc. Typical labor stuff.

These are what the stitches looked like, but I didn’t get to take a picture of my actual stitches. Looked just like little pieces of blue wire with huge knots. I can see why Dr. S said husb would cut himself if he got close to those things. Ouch.

Placing bets: Husb’s hor0scope said he’ll get great news on Friday, today is Tuesday.  Mom still says by her birthday (9/24).  A says by next week.  Dr G would like MeMe to stay until at least 37 weeks (9/20) but won’t stop her from coming now. We’ll see if these contractions start to make my cervix act right. Next OB visit is on 9/22 at 1150.

I bet my medical chart is exciting reading.  All the things we’ve been through from 1/08 until now.  Everyone is excited and proud we made it this far.  MeMe has a crowd eagerly awaiting her arrival.

Awesome Ultrasound, awesome day

Got to see Miss MeMe and my cervix this morning.  She has baby fat and hair! Yay!  The tech didn’t say how much she weighed, but her measurements averaged 33w1d but I am 33w4d based on LMP.  She has consistently measured a few days behind because I ovulated later than the average 14 days rule, so it’s all good.  Due date doesn’t change for a handful of days!   Defintitely still a girl! We got some awesome pictures of her cute little baby face.  The tech let us watch her yawn and stick her tongue out.  We could see her practice breathing and trying to move in her crammed space.  She has plenty of amniotic fluid and the placenta is still good.  My cervix is a comfortable 3 cm, so not too worried there either. 

I think she has my nose, but mom and husb say she’s gonna look like him.  She has his forehead and overall shape of face.  We won’t really know until she comes out.  Either way, she’s my cutie! 

Our stroller/carseat came today and it’s gorgeous!  Husb took it out of the box and we were so giddy, it almost made us late for the appointment.  Playard is in transit, being shipped from Ohio according to the tracking #.  Should be here next week.

We have a date for the Cerclage Removal….drum roll please…….Sept 15th @ 0930.  Super yay!  MeMe’s shackles are coming off and she will be free to leave the premises! So just gotta hang out these next 3 weeks.  Soooo excited! 

The only thing that made the day suck was that it’s sooo freaking hot! I thought my skin was melting!

8 months now

MeMe is now a Super-preemie! Yay! 32 weeks of baking, so amazed to make it this long. This date was highlighted and circled months ago. I have had my cerclage in for exactly half my pregnancy. 16 weeks since the surgery and 4 weeks until the stitches can be cut. Husb is getting really excited, especially about the stitch removal (then he can finally get some nooky). We see Dr M on Tues and plan to get more details on that process. He’s been my cheerleader on days when I feel crappy and reminds me that she’s coming very soon so hang in there!

Symptoms: extreme hunger, gas, nausea, fatigue, super belly!

My 2 Cents….

Now I know my opinion doesn’t really matter in the situation, but I just can’t keep this to myself.

Debbie Rowe has some nerve! This chick decided she wanted to hand her babies off to Michael Jackson and walk away with millions and now that he is dead, she wants to claim the kids after not being a mom for like 11 years?

 His mom knows them way better than she does. In no way, shape, or form did Michael want Debbie to be involved in those kids lives as shown by his will. Who knows if they even know that she is their birth mother. She left them behind! She could’ve easily decided when he was alive that she wanted visitation or something along those lines, but she took the money instead. He must have put a gun to her head and told her to “hand me them babies, you human incubator!” He could’ve had any woman in the world make him some babies and probably have that woman “made to disappear” to avoid custody issues, but her crazy ass volunteered.

Now she wants full custody. And she’ll take the third one too to keep the kids from being separated. What the hell?!!

25 weeks and counting…

Last week was a busy one, my husband’s cousin was coming to town for business but wanted to hang with us for a few days.  So we had a hell-of-a time getting the guest room ready for her.  The house was a mess for like 2 days trying to go through what we don’t need and reorganize.  Since we’re renting rooms from my folks, it doesn’t always make for lots of space to put our things.  My parents have been great letting us save tons of $ for our infertility treatments and our future dream home. Anyway, I was packing stuff in big plastic bins and my husb had to put them in storage.  I think I packed at least 6 bins full.  But the guest room was beautiful when finished and there’s tons of space for MeMe now.  Also, pops was painting the kitchen and left the downstairs a mess, so thankfully mom cleaned that for me. 

We took our cousin shopping and to the County Fair to walk around and get some of that yummy fair food.  Very fun! But all that walking made me almost need to be carried home!  My feet were burning. Husb was walking too fast at times and I had to yell at him to slow down. He calls me “roley poley” and said that while I was walking, it was the first time I really looked pregnant.  He was soooo proud and keeps rubbing my tummy. Cousin said I still look heavier than normal, but could get away with not looking pregnant.  The only thing is that I wish I got something personalized like engraving or airbrushing, but there’s always next year.

I had an appt. with Dr. S.  on Monday, this time I went by myself.  BP great with weight up 4 lbs in 4 weeks (I weigh as much now as I weighed at 16 weeks with the twins). Dr. S. checked MeMe’s heartbeat via US and she gave us another shot of her bottom.  Definitely a girl.  He left it up to me to check my cervix.  Yes, please.  So he used the coochie-cam and could see it’s still long and closed measuring a good 4 cm.  He’s very pleased at my progress and told me to continue light activity.  I asked if I could go back to my regular OB after 28 weeks and he said that at this point there is less chance of complications and that it’s totally up to me.  He is comfortable letting me go.  I’m going to have one more appt. on 7/23 at 28w4d and do another 1 hr glucose screen, which I passed the first time.  Dr S is awesome, but these appts are boring and the drive down there is not fun, especially if I’m gonna be doing it every 2 weeks until the stitches are cut. I’d rather see Dr M and know that I will deliver at the hospital I work at which is very close to the house. If I stay with Dr S, I would have to go to a hospital like 45 miles down south where I had my cerclage done.  I only want to go there if I deliver super early (like between now and 30w). 

So with all this cleaning and painting, it got me and husb really wanting to set down some roots and buy a house.  I want us to move northeast where the houses are big and cheap, but he wants to stay here by the beach.  If we move up and out, I would have a 30-35 mile commute and can always drop MeMe off here so mom could watch her.  If we stay here, my commute is like 5 minutes and the convenience of seeing grandma and grandpa all the time is great.  But I think we can still drive down here on the weekends or they can come see us since it’s not like we’ll be 2 hrs away.  I will need my mom to watch the baby at least once a week due to my and husb’s work schedules.  So, I’ve been daydreaming and drooling over these fabulous houses and husb wants to keep checking around here where the houses are smaller, older, and expensive.  Boo! 

Husb finally b0ught his plane ticket, but he’s going alone.  He decided it was best to leave Dom behind with his mom, especially if he might be sick.  But I also think it’s because he wants one last freedom-trip before baby comes.  As long as he doesn’t do anything stupid that will cost us $$, then I’m cool with it.  He’ll be gone for 10 days.  During the time he’s gone, my aunt is coming to stay here and I’ll be doing some driving tours with her.  This is her first time in the U.S and in California, so it’ll be fun taking her around. Plus I don’t think she knows I’m pregnant so she’ll get a nice surprise.  My mom has been tight lipped about it, but finally told 2 of her friends at work.

One last thing, mom gave me my 17-P shot yesterday and hit a blood vessel.  I bled all over my new white/grey dress.  She freaked out, but it finally stopped. It was the first time she’s done that in years so I think it hurt her pride.  It’s okay, the medicine is in and that’s all that matters.

So sad!

Yesterday was so sad. The clouds rolled in on such a beautiful day after the knowledge of Michael Jackson’s demise. I hope he is at peace. Stars that bright burn out so sudden and so fast. It just doesn’t feel right.

His voice and music was amazing! I grew up watching all his videos. Remember Captain Eo at Disneyland, I loved loved loved that show. I had the poster by my bed and kissed it every night before I went to sleep. I thought the photos on the Thriller album were so hot.

I found out he was hospitalized on the net and turned on the tv to see he died! My cuz’s and my jaw dropped in shock!

I hope the sick bastard that took a pic of him intubated on a stretcher and sold it to media burns in hell. That’s really not right.

Too too sad.

21 weeks and Facebook

Another week has passed and we are now at 21 weeks. The closer to 24 and 28 the happier I am. For us with IC, the docs tell us about reaching viability so that number sticks in your head always. Dr S measured my cervix and it’s 3 to 4 cm, depending on where you measure it. From inner os to stitch is 3cm but he knows there was more cervix beyond the cerclage. Either way things are good and MeMe is tucked safely. She is getting so big, I feel her kick me every now and then. Coolest thing ever!

So being bored and disabled, I decided to see what the fuss was all about on facebook. Turns out, most of the people I talk to at work are on there. My bro and my closest friend are on there. I’ve been catching up with all of them so I’m not all isolated at home! We’re even having lunch soon since Dr S says I can continue my activity level. I’ve been so antisocial since the twins and the PTL scare with MeMe, time to loosen up even more. I’ll probably be on facebook all the time!

Anatomy scan… Another milestone!

We had our Anatomy scan for the baby at 19w2d (5/19/09) and baby is doing great. Gummy bear is measuring on target and everything looks in order. The sonographer was awesome in showing us all the different structures and carefully measuring things. She was so thorough it was amazing! Our little blob at 6w5d is now a whole being with a brain, 2 kidneys, vertebrae, heart with atria and ventricles. Just amazing! We never got to this point with the twins, so this was a HUGE milestone. Now we feel like we’re halfway home. My cervix measured at 3.1 cm, so it’s steady holding for now.  The baby’s pics were reviewed by the one of the perinatologists and he came in and was like “your baby looks good! Congrats!” That’s it. We’ll take that and go with it.

We got to see a shot of gummy bear’s privates…..

 

(look, she’s one of Rainbow Brite’s homegirls!)

Go Team Pink!!! The sonographer was pretty sure about it with a clear picture. How do we know, you ask? We could see the 3 bright parallel lines that look like a bun.  No hot dog in sight. 

We told the whole family and everyone is excited. I finally got to buy a little dress for her, not someone else.  My husb has settled on her name and isn’t gonna change his mind, instead we can just add names to it.  He says “call her what you want, but that’s gonna be her name on paper.” Okay fine…my family is just gonna call her by her Ghanaian name anyway.

Mother’s Day

Happy mother’s day to all moms, moms with babies baking, moms with babies that have died, stepmoms, childless stepmoms, adoptive moms, foster moms and play-moms!!!!

Let’s be honored for all we do and have endured!

17 weeks….and counting

We had an appointment yesterday to see the nurse practitioner at the perinatology center. Kinda like the initial visit I had with OB where she checks the baby’s heartbeat and then hands me tons of papers and booklets on pregnancy. Duh, it’s not like I didn’t have prenatal care before my care was transferred so she didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know.

The new stuff was that I had need to do an early gestational diabetes screen since diabetes runs in the family. They finally ordered the level 2 ultrasound, but because of the stupid HMO, I have to wait a week to schedule it. Fine, whatever, just get it done. Then the NP was pushing the quad screen on us like it was something we HAD to do. My husb. said “isn’t that optional?” and she was like “yes, but most of our moms want to know if there is a problem so we can all be prepared.” She gave this long speech on how great it is to know. Sorry honey but we ain’t buyin what your sellin. I don’t want to add any unnecessary worries to the worries I already have. Everyday I have to worry about contracting or busting through my stitches. The last thing I need is some test telling me there MIGHT be something wrong with the baby that I’ve fought so hard to keep. I sure as hell don’t want an amnio to confirm it either. If a deformity shows up on the ultrasound we’ll deal with it as it occurs, but none of this other crap. We’ve had tons of medical intervention with this pregnancy, I just want to minimize whatever I can. Women have been having babies for centuries without these tests, it is that crucial? Nope.

Only good thing about this visit was seeing gummy bear again. Getting big in there and baby was sleeping again! I think s/he kicked a foot and that was it.

Next appointment to see Dr. S on 5/11 so he can check my cervix and then I do the glucose test. Until then, I’m eating all the cake and cookies I can find.