WEEK 37 : Week by Week Incompetent Cervix Pregnancy Guide - Coping With The Waiting Game

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.