NOTE : For the regular advice on Week 38, 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 36 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.
Well what do you know? It's week 38! Let's recap based solely on my own experience :
Baby No.1 : I almost lost him at 23w4d, with no measurable cervix left and dilation of 2cm. It was an emergency transvaginal cerclage, and I came across the term "incompetent cervix" for the 1st time. Was on strict bedrest till 37 weeks when TVC was removed (scheduled for 38 weeks but uterus was very irritable by then). Baby came by at 3.2kgs 10 days later after waterbag burst without any regular contractions but induced by pitocin.
Baby No.2 : A preventive TVC was placed at Week 15, strict bedrest for a month after which I went on with normal activities (except gym, heavy lifting, sexual intercourse and any other pelvic activities) including carolling during Christmas! TVC removed at Week 38, baby was getting too big by 40th week. Due to be induced a day after 40 weeks, but baby decided to make an appearance on due date.
Baby No. 3 : Totally unplanned for baby (I have PCOS and conceiving was always with few rounds of Clomid - so this one is a blessing from God). Preventive TVC was placed at Week 14, at which OBGYN observed a lot of scar tissues around my cervix due to multiple TVCs. Went on strict bedrest but effaced 100% with no measurable cervix left by Week 17. Lots of prayers and continued bedrest, and twice daily progesterone suppositories - by Week 20 cervix condition reversed. All went well ever since - as at the time this is written, am waiting for TVC to be removed on the 16th of March, 11 days from today.
I have been blessed thus far, and I am sure we can all beat the odds and do this. Be it PCOS, an incompetent cervix (well, we are not all that incompetent are we? We have gone through so much yet we braved through the proverbial storm) or anything else thrown at us throughout our journey to motherhood, we are finally here. A mom. Yes, a MOM.
We IC mommies take it by milestones... first, to the point where our pregnancy is viable enough for a cerclage to be placed. Then the 24 week mark. Then we take it day by day thereafter... till we have our little rainbow in our arms. Some of us do not make it through all the way, but we pick ourselves up and go through it all over again. We don't have to do it alone, as we have others to be there for us. The main purpose I started this blog was because I was sick and tired reading through those regular "week by week pregnancy guide" websites which tell us "your 2nd trimester is your honeymoon month, it's time to go have that babymoon". Well, guess what? The only time I had that babymoon it was with my 1st baby. And I almost lost him. Thank God for my very capable, very professional and very caring doctor, Dr Narinder Singh Shadan from Island Hospital, Penang, Malaysia. Today I am a mother of 2 (well, almost 3).
I will end this series of blog here today. The rest of the weeks - Week 39 through to the day baby is finally born - well, it's just waiting. And there are hundreds of regular websites which will tell you what to do and what to expect. I have mentioned before in one of the previous weeks - the only difference is perhaps we will not, IRONICALLY, dilate when the time comes. It makes sense - the cervix is no longer in its natural condition after the stitch. So more often than not, we may need to be induced.
I will miss being pregnant (I'm very sure, and so does hubby) but all I can say is... it's been an exciting journey. I thank God everyday for the babies, the friends I made all over the world (Do check out the Facebook Incompetent Cervix Awareness Group- the ladies are non judgmental, always caring, always listening), the true friends and family who stuck by me through the journeys (the blessing of the incompetent cervix found me true friends, and of course, made me realise there are many fair weathered friends hanging around too). What a great filter indeed!
So I would end this by saying... The incompetent cervix journeys have been more a blessing than it is a curse. Sure, I may sound insensitive towards some of you IC mommies who may have lost a baby (or several) before, and I apologise in advance. But whatever it is, we are all sisters, connected in the most intimate way - our desire to be a mother no matter what.
Take care, and don't forget to share my blog with whoever you think may need a friend to listen to. I welcome comments and questions, but like I said, I am not a professional medical person. Or have any expertise or paper qualifications medically. I practise law by profession, and I'm ... JUST A MOM.
NOTE : For the regular advice on Week 37, 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 36 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.
Some doctors will wait till 38 weeks to remove the stitch, but some will do it earlier, depending on the condition of your cervix and your stitch. Some will keep the KIV approach - and monitor you closely on a weekly basis to see the development of your baby (whether she is getting too big, whether level of amniotic fluid is still stable, whether placenta is starting to calsify) as well as whether the contractions you have been experiencing the past few weeks have affected the stitch. What is of utmost importance at this point is that you do not tear through your stitch.
You will probably want to ditch the stitch earliest possible, as you are done being pregnant. And you are done worrying about tearing through the stitch. You can discuss with your doctor of course, but from experience, my doctor agreed only to remove the stitch earlier than 38 weeks when the CTG scan actually picked up real contractions. Together with all the aches and pains of late pregnancy, and a whole new bundle of late pregnancy worries, we truly just want a healthy baby in our arms. And baby is, after all, already full term.
So by now you have probably ditched the stitch, or you are about to do it tomorrow, or next week. Do read Week 36 for what to expect during after your cerclage removal. People around you are already in their irritating mode of asking you the cliche questions "So when are you gonna pop?" or "Have you got a name for her yet?" stuff like that, you know. And they may think it's funny that you are now WADDLING (boink boink!!!) instead of walking. Being an IC mom 3rd time around, and observing all the pictures IC mommies posted on FB and forums, I can tell you that almost all of us gain more weight than others during our pregnancy. Yes, we have a very valid reason - it's the bedrest. It has caused a lot of weight gain (especially if you are like me, a fitness buff at normal times) and muscle loss. Just turning from left to right (and vice versa) in bed will probably leave you breathless, and that toilet trip 10 steps from your settee is probably gonna get you panting for breath.
So if you do feel like you truly want to get this over and done with as soon as possible, don't fret. You are not alone. You are not a bad mother. And well, eventhough I enjoyed my first 2 IC pregnancies, this 3rd one is taking its toll on my body. Perhaps it's just age. Perhaps the bedrest I had to endure this time around is for a longer period than the previous two, so the physical and emotional effects are taking its toll on me. If your stitch is already removed and you had been so looking forward to holding that baby in your arms but he/she is not yet making an appearance, just take this last few weeks as your opportunity to go walk the shopping complexes which you have not seen the daylight of the last 6 or so months. Go scrub that toilet with a toothbrush, and arrange and rearrange the little pink wardrobe full of little pink dresses and booties. But remember, though, if you do plan to go out, your waters may break (remember, there is no more stitch down there?) so be prepared to for that too. Bottomline is, truly enjoy these last few weeks as a pregnant lady. If you have been stuck with bedrest all these time, you probably didn't get to wear that chic maternity dress you bought when the 2 pink lines turned up on your pee stick. Well, now is the time to do that and enjoy the privileges and attention you may find yourself receiving from strangers around you at the mall and public places.
I have had strangers offering me to cut the queue at the public washroom, and seats at wherever I happen to be standing. I get chatted up by friendly shoppers. People in general would just give me a knowing smile and they don't seem to be able to help themselves from striking a conversation with me about my pregnant belly. It is a wonderful change from having been couped up at home in front of the computer/tab/smartphone/television.
Other sites will tell you to talk to your baby and all that... well, as IC mommies... and I think we owe it to our husbands and older children to pay them due attention now. Carry your 3 year old who has been missing it the last 6 months, or more. Take him to the park, go on that swing with your little girl, do all those things which you haven't been doing the last 6 months with your children, as you know within weeks (or even days) from now, you will be back to being unable to do all those things with them. As for the dear supportive husband, time for some tender loving care. If you are up to it, and if your doctor gives you the green light, perhaps it's time to resume some intimacy. :)
At the same time, always remember that late pregnancies come with its own worries and complications so even though we are totally out of our 'danger zone' (sometimes we IC mommies forget that there is more to a pregnancy than the worry of a preterm baby), it is prudent to still watch our health. Again, if our doctor gives us the green light, maybe time to resume some physical activities like walking, swimming and some stretching. Continue to eat healthily and wait for the arrival of the little bundle of joy.
