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.
NOTE : For the regular advice on Week 31, 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 24 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 there. 31 weeks is an achievement for IC mommies like us. But of course we still want a fullterm baby, as we know what complications may come with a preemie (Read more about a premature baby in Week 30). During these final weeks, we may start to have even more discharge, and there is more and more on our cervix as the little one puts on weight.
Finally perhaps we can start thinking about 'normal' stuff like prenatal classes, our birth plan, and maybe even names for the baby! Well, prenatal classes may not be possible if you are still on strict bedrest or even house arrest, but you can always read up or watch youtube videos to prepare yourself better. As for birth plan, well... can you believe that we can actually plan for our birth after months of worrying about going into premature labour! Ok, technically speaking we are still not fullterm yet, but at least we can see the light now and we can even decide things like : Epidural or no epidural? C-section or natural birth? Yes, if you have a transvaginal cerclage (TVC) you can have a natural birth after the stitch is removed. But with a TAC you will need to go through a C-section, usually on the same incision line as when you placed the TAC (read here for more info on the cerclage). One of the side effects of the TVC is that your cervix may not dilate as quickly as it should - in some cases it may not dilate at all (cervical dystocia). In such cases, you may need to be induced, but if it still doesn't work, you may need to mentally prepare yourself for a C-section after all. But we will discuss this further in the weeks to come.
On the emotional side, the bedrest should really be taking its toll now. After all, if you had been on strict bedrest since your cerclage was placed, (with a TAC you may not need to be on bedrest at all), you may be missing your mobility now. No matter how much you used to hate driving, you may actually miss it! You may even miss work, and your colleagues, even your nasty bosses and clients. If you are like me and you have 2 pregnancies through Christmas, you can only stare at all those pictures of malls with beautiful Christmas decorations and the night lights of the streets in the spirit of Christmas posted by your friends on Facebook. You will long to hit those malls with your credit cards (ok perhaps its a blessing after all, this bedrest thing). I mean, what better excuse than Christmas to shop? But then again, 1 or 2 missed Christmases to hold a darling baby in your arms... I wouldn't trade anything for that.
Fret not, really, 6 more weeks before you ditch the stitch. 6 weeks compared to the last 16 weeks or so which you have endured is nothing. If this is your 1st baby, remember that once the baby is born, you no longer have this luxury of just bumming around with the TV on and the tab on your tummy and dozens of historical romance novels at your bedside. No more luxury sleeping at any time of the day. And the reason you will look dishevelled is not because you are home and there is no need to dress up/make up for anyone, but it will be because you don't have time to and your baby is spitting up on you every hour!
Yes, start thinking about baby names. Make a list of names and its meanings and share with hubby when he gets home from work. Get your older children involved in choosing the name of their sibling. Also, you can start making a list of what to bring to the hospital during your stitch removal. Some women go into labour immediately after, some will carry to due date and even after. I had my 1st one about 10 days after the stitch was removed, and No.2 came by on his due date, about 3 weeks after the stitch removal. Go online and do some shopping for your nursery and baby's clothes, toiletries, feeding equipment etc... You may also want to consider - co-sleeping or baby in his/her own room? I co-sleep with both my children until No.1 turns 5 then he gets his own room. Easier if you breastfeed - they will somehow just learn to find their source of nutrition and you actually don't lose as much sleep!
You should be able to really start enjoying your pregnancy from now on. Yes, the risk is still there - but take comfort in the fact that your baby is past viability, and we deserve some peace of mind after such a long journey behind us. Look out for signs of preterm labour, but try not to obsess about it anymore. Your Braxton Hicks contractions may be more frequent now, but these are only practice contractions so don't worry. It shouldn't jeopardize your cerclage. If it bothers you a lot or if you are bleeding/spotting, you may want to check with your doctor. For me, a change of position or a hot shower usually helps.
You know, women in normal pregnancies are usually told to enjoy their pregnancies during their 2nd trimester, and that would be their 'honeymoon' period, as they are not big and clumsy yet. For us, well, we settle for 2nd best. This should be our 'honeymoon' period, since theirs happened during our most crucial weeks - when baby wasn't viable yet and when the cerclage may fail. Yes we may be as big as a whale by now, but we are strong mommies aren't we? We have survived through all those ordeal, of course we should be able to take on the weight gain and enjoy the pregnancy anyway!
Let's start counting down!
