WEEK 11 : Week by Week Incompetent Cervix Pregnancy Guide - FINANCES AND OTHER CONSIDERATION

NOTE : For the regular advice on Week 11, 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 17 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.

Heartburn, constipation, fatigue? Yea you are probably still at that stage at Week 11. The morning sickness may be waning off, but it may still be causing a lot of trouble.  My appetite was ferocious for my 1st 2 pregnancies.  With the current No.3, I have no appetite for anything other than tomyam.  It's that spicy and sour soup originated from Thailand, and there is this belief among the Chinese that sour is not good for early pregnancy? But well... eating only tomyam is better than not eating at all!

Some of us IC moms may already be preparing for our TVC. Read Week 10 here.

What all of us have to remember is of course to eat healthily.  I am not a good example, but I was still conscientiously taking my folic acid, as well as plenty of fruits to avoid constipation. As IC moms, one thing we will soon learn is that bowel movements are to be as easy as possible - bring on those prunes and bananas! Well, I developed an aversion to sweet things (I gag at the smell of sweet things) during this 3rd pregnancy so I had no choice but to buy bland fruits like guava and pour lots of salt or saltines on it.  But again, don't take my advice on food! In fact, do read some good websites on healthy food during pregnancy like this http://www.webmd.com/baby/guide/eating-right-when-pregnant

 Do a final take on finances before the day. Check if your insurance covers the cerclage procedure, and whether your company allows hospitalisation benefits, and of course, the cost of the procedure.  I paid not more than RM2500 (USD750) for each of my 3 cerclages, but the cost may differ from state to state, hospital to hospital.

At Week 11 for my current pregnancy, the subchrionic hematoma had already bled out on its own, thanks to plenty of water, bedrest and prayers.  I was put on duphaston 3 times a day, and continued to do so until after my TVC.

I was still reluctant to break the news to anyone, including my own family.  Hubby decided to tell his mom, sis and bro, but that was about it. I told a handful of very close friends, but only because I needed the support emotionally.  Many thought resting in bed doing nothing is a wonderful thing, but if only they peeked at my daily calendar, they would know that REST was never on the schedule and I haven't grown accustomed to it eventhough this is the 3rd time.  I tried as much as I could to finalise my children's affairs, made plans with hubby on chauffering the kids and preparing them to school every morning.  What I do know is by the time I got my preschooler prepared to be out of the door by 8am, I was dead tired (even pre-pregnancy) but I had to continue to prepare myself for work after I drop the toddler off at the babysitter.  So we truly needed help to at least takeover that few hours in the morning from me. Mom in law is the answer, and she has been a fantastic help thus far!