WEEK 2 : Week by Week Incompetent Cervix Pregnancy Guide - ONE IS ENOUGH?

NOTE : For the regular advice on Week 2, I suppose there are hundreds of other websites to tell you how it goes. This blog serves to supplement those sites, my personal favourites being What To Expect, Baby Centre UK and Parents. Do take note, however that I am not a professional physician, I practise law for a living and the only thing I know about incompetent cervix is through my own experience as a mother of 2 and a 16 week old baking in the oven! :)  The purpose of this blog then is just to simply share the joys and heartaches, the blessings and curses, the sadness and happiness and the disappointments and the pleasant surprises of our journey as a mom with an incompetent cervix.

Your period has stopped. You are feeling like a brand new woman (at least, for another cycle till PMS sets in again, unless, of course if this is the week you successfully conceived, then it will be PMS for the next 36 weeks or so!).  The sun is shining and you are prepping yourself up for the lovemaking sessions that is to come.  Some of us may be preparing for IVF, yet some of us may be frantically measuring our basal temperature, checking our cervical mucous for that 2-inch stretch, or buying all the ovulation kit you can find in the local pharmacy.  This is an exciting week!

But hey... RELAX.  From my experience, when I was told to 'do it every other day from days 7 to 15'... it didn't work.  If you are like me and you have PCOS, you may be put on Clomid and Metformin.  Then told to do the deed when it's time to do so.  Both times, it didn't work for me. With No. 1, I gave up after 6 rounds of Clomid and plenty of crying on the toilet seat when the first signs of period showed up.  I conceived the following month without any meds.  For No. 2, I conceived after 4 cycles of Clomid and Metformin, but lost the baby at 9 weeks for some unknown reasons.  After my D&C and lots of crying, I conceived within the next 2 cycles, again, without any meds.  No. 3 (the current 16 weeker) was the best.  I'm supposed to be PCOS right? So what's the probability of conceiving without any meds? No.1 and No.2 may have been 'triggered' by the meds.  But No. 3 made an appearance unexpectedly 3 months after I weaned off my 2 year old without any meds.  Just plenty of gym sessions and stress free lovemaking sessions!

Ok so I guess moral of the story is... a little bit of exercise, a lot of love and intimacy, and medicate if necessary. But miracles do happen.  Of course, if this is your 1st, you still have no idea that the incompetent cervix may be lurking behind the shadows of the excitement and anticipation, but if you are trying for a 2nd pregnancy, well, you know the cerclage will be coming in handy and the success rates are high (80% if I remember correctly from the websites I scoured).  If you already have a TAC (transabdominal cerclage), don't fret. You already know before you did it that it will barely affect your chances at conception.  Let worries worry themselves.  Don't forget those all-important folic acid, it doesn't matter if you do not conceive this month.  It won't harm you. Read Week 1 here

Of course, there may be some apprehension on hubby's side.  He may still be worried about your first loss, or your first bad experience with a preemie, or even if it was a full term pregnancy you may have gone through a traumatic emergency cerclage - whatever it is, lift each other up. Support each other and pull this through together.  Don't ever let that outsider tell you that 'one is enough'.  Keep your head up, maintain your stoicism, and have fun!