NOTE : For the regular advice on Week 19, 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 20 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.
We are almost halfway there. If you are reading this because you have been googling the internet after you have just been diagnosed with incompetent cervix, then you are at the right place. I just pray and hope from the bottom of my heart that you have not lost your baby, but you have just had your cerclage placement, and you are either bedresting at home or at the hospital. You may want to read this series of my blogs from the beginning, as I document what to expect, physically and emotionally, in this journey of an IC mommy.
Some of you may have been following through this journey as a 2nd time IC mommy (I'm a 3rd time IC mommy myself), so we know exactly what is coming ahead of us. Well... do we, really? Every pregnancy is different, and every IC pregnancy is different. Other websites will tell you that Week 19 is really a good week to travel, have that 'babymoon', because once a new baby comes along you won't have that luxury anymore. Well, what babymoon? We can't so much as walk to the bathroom for a simple toilet trip without worrying that our cerclage may give way there and then! Ok, so for those of you who had a preventive cerclage, you are probably in your 2nd month of bedrest. Our emotional wellbeing aside, we are probably noticing some changes in our body, particularly where the stitch is. A lot of discharge? Twinges? How does a cerclage look like in a first place and how much trust should we put in it?
There are several types of cerclages, but I am not about to discuss the technicalities and medical aspect of that here as I am no doctor. But what I do know is the cerclage gave me my 2 boys (I almost lost my 6 year old at 23w4d but for an emergent cerclage, and I had a preventive cerclage at Week 15 with my 2 year old. I carried both till fullterm, both cerclages removed at Week 37. Currently I am pregnant with No.3 (a little girl at last!) and had a cerclage placed at Week 14. I was told that I was already funnelling (read more about funnelling on Week 18) and there are scar tissues on my cervix due to previous cerclages, but so far, the cerclage is holding up. That doesn't mean I have never worried, or I am not worrying. With the progesterone vaginal suppositories, there is a lot of watery discharge, and being an IC mom, the main worry is always the leaking of our waterbag. So what is this discharge? Why is there so much discharge? Well, I am going to give a few explanation, but remember, if it really troubles you or your gut instinct is telling you to go to the ER... PLEASE GO.
Otherwise, here may be some reasons why there is so much discharge (speaking from my experience and observation of others with the same condition):
1) There IS a foreign object in there namely the cerclage, it's nature's way to flush out any foreign objects for the safety of the pregnancy (but don't worry, it's not going to flush out your cerclage
2) If you are on vaginal suppositories, again these little pills are foreign objects, and if you do a quick google search now, you will see all these websites will tell you that it is normal to have vaginal discharge as one of the side effects of the vaginal suppositories. I have spoken to my doctor as well and he did say it's normal but if it is troubling me (well, I was so troubled for weeks I did not get a good sleep as I was checking and checking whether the discharge would suddenly be a gush of water) then perhaps I should swallow it instead of inserting it (I was on Utrogestan, one of those you can take orally, so before you down any of your vaginal suppositories please speak to your OBGYN)
3) You may have an infection. How do you know what's the difference then? Well, this discharge is probably yellow or green, or whitish (not clear) and it SMELLS. This one calls for the ER as I was told by my doctor that if we have an infection, our body will release prostaglandins, the same hormones which will accompany our onset of labour.
4) Very unlikely, but yes, you may be leaking amniotic fluid (your waterbag is leaking) and of course this is serious!!!! Like I said earlier, if you are gushing water or you have changed a few soaked pads (not the pantiliners, but the thick sanitary pads) then go to the ER!!!
5) Or finally... relax. Ask ANY pregnant women, even those with normal healthy no risk pregnancies... they will tell you they have discharge as well. This is for the same reason as No.1 - it's our bodies flushing out anything which it thinks harmful for the pregnancy, so the discharge is actually good for us!
I hope this week's blog allay some of your discharge fears. At the same time, remember to eat well, swallow those prenatal vitamins and enjoy your baby. Yes, especially those little movements which are reminding you that she/he is in there waiting to snuggle in your arms :)
NOTE : For the regular advice on Week 17, 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 18 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.
How's the bedrest coming along? Whether it is a modified bedrest, strict bedrest or simply told to 'take it easy' after the cerclage placement, your lifestyle would have changed quite a bit. If you were a health freak to begin with (read : 3 hourly 5 day weekly intensive gym sessions) then any form of 'take it easy' will be enough to make you cringe by now. After all, it has been 3 weeks. I felt totally incompetent after my strict bedrest with No.1 (it was an emergency TVC at 23w4d that no one saw coming) but at the end of it when I held my full term baby in my arms (truly, my miracle baby, as I didn't even know the implication of being 100% effaced and 2 cm dilated at that point of time), it was all worth it.
Listen to your doctor. Even if you feel upbeat, anything can happen anytime. Your cerclage is not foolproof. You don't really want to take a gamble, because once it happens... there is no way to stop it. And there is no turning back. You would have lost a baby, as your baby is not yet viable at 17 weeks, and you really don't want to be going through what I went through (and am still going through) (read Week 16). You just have to be mentally strong, for the sake of your baby. I agree that no amount of preparation would prepare you for a prolonged bedrest, but see it as an opportunity to gather your thoughts, indulge in your hobbies like reading, crocheting, or maybe just being a couch potato for once. I mean, since the birth of your oldest child, when was the last time you caught up with the latest season of CSI and CSI: New York and Law & Order : SVU?
Well, you may even want to catch up with friends, arrange for them to visit, or a simple chat over the phone or over the internet. Learn to meditate, pray, start a blog, and what I learnt 19 weeks into my 3rd bedrest is... HAVE A SCHEDULE! If you can get yourself into a routine, time will pass faster. I have even arranged for my miracle 6 year old to be home after school instead of daycare so that I can spend some time with him. He can even help with fetching me a glass of water or picking up the toys he and his 2 year old brother left behind the previous evening. Once there is a routine going, it wouldn't be so bad. Here's an online forum which offers great help, advice and sharing from moms who are in the same boat as you! http://mamasonbedrest.com/2011/01/2100/
Also, this week, especially if this is not your first pregnancy, look out for the familiar flutter in your tummy. You may begin to feel the little one moving, and it is another milestone where you are suddenly reassured that there is actually a little human being inside you. Continue to eat well, and be alert and aware at all times of any tightening, and any discharge. Many of us worry about colourless discharge at this point, as we often worry about leaking amniotic fluid due to our incompetent cervix. But bear in mind that you may be on progesterone suppositories, and this may increase some watery discharge. If the tightening persists over long periods of time, or becomes too often throughout the day, do mention to your doctor. In normal pregnancies (and you may read this on other normal pregnancy guide websites), this is called the 'practice contractions', or the Braxton Hicks contractions, which, in NORMAL pregnancies, may not affect your cervix. But we already know don't we, that our pregnancy is far from normal. In fact, it is a high risk pregnancy. And an incompetent cervix means you dilate without symptoms in the first place. So any form of contraction is no good.
The take home this week is : Stay alert.
