This past Sunday a week ago I went to worship in the morning time but was in alot of pain. By the time I got to Longhorn afterward I could barely walk. My lower abdomen was hurting soo bad and I was almost in tears. I got home and called the on call doctor which of course was the doctor I had just switched from. It took him an hour to call me back and then he said instead of going through the hospital that I could just come into the office and he would meet us there. Well we got there and he left us sitting in the hot car for about 10 to 15 minutes because he was on the phone. We finally get in and he says "Wow, you are in alot of pain aren't you?" He apparently saw the way I was walking. Well we go upstairs and he checks my urine first of all since he was convinced that the intense pain I was having was simply a urinary tract infection. My urine was clear! So we go in and he gets the Doppler out to listen to Savannah's heart rate. It takes him FOREVER to find it! I have never had it take that long. So of course we were panicking. He proceeds to then say "Well I'm confident your baby is alive" and then almost gives up but I guess can see the panic in our eyes. Then he says "Well I've had to send you for an ultrasound before when we couldn't find the heart rate haven't I?" I said "Yeah when we lost our first baby". He was just so insensitive which reinforced our decision to switch from him. I still don't understand how he went from being such a caring doc to what he is now. Finally he found the heart beat. Let me just say that it wasn't even that hard to find at 12 weeks and while in the hospital this last time they always found it right away unless she was really active, but at least then you could hear her kicking the Doppler. So anyway, he then examines me. He told me that everything was fine and that my cervix was closed, a little soft but closed. He proceeds to tell me that even though my urine is clear that he thinks that my bladder is irritated and causing my pain so he prescribed me a medicine that would relax my bladder and some darvocet. I of course could not stop thinking about the "little soft" cervix. I kept questioning him and he told me that it was probably nothing to worry about, some women have a soft cervix throughout their whole pregnancy, and that even if it were a problem that there is nothing they could do. He told me he could not even treat me until 24 weeks because before then it just meant something was wrong with the baby. (we recently had our anatomy ultrasound which showed everything with the baby to be perfect). I kept insisting that something be done so he said I could come in the next morning for an ultrasound to determine my cervical length. Of course at this point we really did not trust him so I called first thing the next morning to get an appointment with my new doctor. We went in to see him Monday afternoon. First of all we had an ultrasound but he said he doesn't like to even do ultrasounds in this situation because feeling is way more reliable. He examined me and said that my cervix was not only VERY soft but very short. I started freaking out because the other doc had said there was nothing that could be done. My new doc then said that we could have a cerclage put in. A stitch around the opening of the cervix to keep it closed) He said they have a high success rate and cannot be done after 24 weeks. What?!? Didn't the other doc say there was nothing that could be done UNTIL 24 weeks? Anyway, he went over the risks of the surgery which included preterm rupture of membranes, miscarriage, infection, and some other things but explained that this was our only option at saving our little girl. Without it I would deliver her pretty soon and she would not be able to survive. So we left there and went straight to Baptist East. We were both in a state of shock, very scared, nervous, and just overwhelmed. We arrived at the hospital and were checked in pretty soon after. Things from there happened very quickly. First of all, my bed was put in a position where my feet were in the air and my head was down. This was to allow gravity to move the baby away from my cervix. I had an IV started, after being stuck 5 times, I had a catheter put in, which was not fun, and then I had a magnesium drip hooked up. I was told that this was gonna make me feel horrible. Boy did it. I felt extremely hot all over, my eyeballs were even hot. I had to be given Zofran for my nausea, which did not work. I then got a bad headache which I was given Phenergan and Stadol which allowed me to rest a little. I was hooked up to a monitor that would show if I was having contractions or not. I was. Or as they called it my uterus was very irritable. That's why they gave me the magnesium. My uterus needed to be calm in order to have the surgery performed. I was told that if my uterus did not calm down by morning that I would have to wait til the evening to have my surgery. It took a while but it eventually calmed down by morning. I was taken to the surgery area around 8 am. Daniel was able to go with me there and I was able to see my family shortly before the surgery. Now this surgery required that I have a spinal. If you have talked to me about this issue at all you know that I am planning on going through natural childbirth because I am so scared of epidurals and spinals. I have bad scoliosis and on top of that I freak out when I can't move my legs. So the thought of having a spinal was just terrifying. Now it was a necessity. So they wheel me back to the operating room, transfer me to the operating table, roll me on my side and then give me the spinal. And of course they had a student do my spinal. Over all it wasn't horrible. It hurt and he had to wiggle it a bunch but he only stuck me once. Then the numbness started. I hated it! On top of that I stayed nauseated and they kept giving me stuff and it wasn't working. The doc came in and got started on the procedure. I was terrified of being awake because I didn't want to be alone if my water broke or something. The whole time I was looking at every ones faces trying to decipher how things were going. Looking for any sign on their faces as to how things were going. I later found out they had given me a little something for my nerves. The procedure was over pretty quickly and the doc told me things had went well. He said my cervix was very spongy and that we had done this procedure in the nic of time. He said the next few days were very crucial and that I would stay in the hospital that long. At this point I was still nauseated and even started to throw up. It took them a while to get me stopped but then they wheeled me into recovery. It wasn't long until Daniel and Carol Leah were able to come back. Soon I was wheeled back to my room and put back on magnesium for a few hours. I had some cramping and was given some pain medication. Every time my catheter would need emptying I would have a contraction, every time I would have pain I would have a contraction. It was very scary. The next morning, the doc came around and said that my uterus had calmed down quite a bit. He said I could have my catheter out and that I could get up to go to the bathroom, shower, and sit in the chair for lunch. That day was rough, had some spotting, very painful, and got even more painful after being up some. Told the doc about it the next morning and that's why he decided to keep me an extra day. He sent me home on Fri. But I have to keep an eye on alot of things. Very Scary being at home. Every little twinge worries me.
Since being home I am still having some contractions. He said this is fine unless I have 6 or more an hour for 2 hours straight. I've had six in one hour but no more than that. I still have some cramping on and off and some shooting pains. I have alot of pressure from the baby from where I don't have alot of cervix left. This also causes the soreness. I have to stay on bed rest, I can sit in a chair for a little while a day, and I can take a VERY quick shower. I go back to the doctor Monday, the 24th. He said if things are healed enough then I can go on very short outings as long as I stay off my feet. Such as church. So we will see. Daniel and I are constantly on edge because any little change could signal labor. Our doctor has been great though and said that there would be ALOT of communication back and forth until Savannah is born. And he said I would probably be in and out of the hospital because he would rather be over cautious than under cautious. That really comforts me. I will have the cerclage removed at 36 weeks if I make it that far and will probably have her soon after. Our first goal is to make it to 25 weeks, which is 3 weeks away, because that is the earliest she would be able to survive outside of the womb. We obviously want her to go alot farther than that but that is our first goal. This is also when he would be able to give me medication at home if the contractions became to frequent. He could start them now if absolutely necessary but he said they don't act long term so the longer I can go without them the better.
Alot of people are wondering if this is a result from coming off of bed rest this last time. Not really. Coming off of bed rest is probably what helped us find this before it was too late because of the pain I was having from the pressure. This is not something that they routinely check for because checking your cervix this early can cause this to happen so we never would have known it. Most women don't know they have an incompetent cervix until after they have a second trimester miscarriage. So we were lucky in this aspect. I however think that this has been in the works since the last time I was in the hospital. I complained to my old doc then that I thought I was having contractions and was told that it wasn't possible since I was so early. Apparently that was not true. My new doc says that while it is not common to have Braxton Hicks contractions until 24 weeks it is not impossible especially since my uterus was already irritated from the tear. I also read online that they can start in some women as early as 2 months. The doc says that braxton hicks contractions alone are not harmful, they are actually helpful but when they happen to often they can cause the cervix to soften, shorten, dilate, or all of the above. So I think it has been in the works for a while.
On a good note, Savannah is very very active. While in the hospital she would kick the heart monitor every night and the nurse could feel her lift it off my stomach. Here lately it has been soooo cute. She loves hearing her daddy talk. She gives him a high five all of the time. Last night he would say, "Savannah do you love your daddy?" and she would kick him. He just talks to her and she responds all of the time. Her kicks have definitely gotten harder. Sometimes they scare Daniel because he is caught off guard. Last night we were even able to see my stomach move when she kicks. She is most active time is from 8pm to 12am. She has a party then. She loves music and is alot more active when its on. She is definitely not a morning person, she sleeps til about 11am..lol We cannot wait to hold her in our arms. As much as I can't wait to hold her, I am so looking forward to seeing her in Daniels arms. He is already such a good daddy and she is going to be soooo lucky to have him in her life. They are going to be so close.
I just ask that you please continue to keep all of us in your prayers. Especially little Savannah. Pray that she can stay in my tummy for at least 14 more weeks.
Today was my 24 week appt. I will be 24 weeks tomorrow. We have reached our first goal. This is the point that Savannah would have a chance at survival if delivered now. Things are still looking good. Still no sign of the placental tear. My cervix is closed. And apparently we have a little chunky monkey on our hands. The average weight for a 24 week baby is 1lbs 3oz. Our Savannah weighs 1lbs. 10oz! The nurse was shocked at that number and said that if I gave birth at 36 weeks when the cerclage is taken out then she predicts her to be 8-9lbs. If full term she predicts 10-11..WOW! Now Doc. Dupre was a little more reserved with his guess. He said that if she continues to grow at the rate she is now (which could increase or decrease) then he thinks full term she will be around 8-9 lbs. Still a chunky monkey in my book. I discussed quite a few things with him and since things seem to be going good now I don't see him again until Sep. 15th. I will have my glucose test then too. Hopefully I will pass this one the same as I did the last one. And Thankfully I had not gained any weight since last week. We had an ultrasound but didn't get any good pictures because she was facing away from us but at least she is head down. Hopefully she will stay that way.
This next one is another view to show us she is a girl. She is gonna love me flashing her girly parts everywhere. lol
