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JandM524

Hi All, 

I am currently 20 weeks along with my second pregnancy.  My first born child came early at 27 weeks 6 days and spent two whole months in the NICU before being able to come home.  She is now 16 months old and doing well.  The doctors could not figure out why she came early.  Well, with this pregnancy we took extra precautions and did a cervical length check at my last ultrasound.  

We found out that my cervix is short and already funneling...two big red flags indicating preterm labor.  I was immediately put on strict bed rest, only allowed to get up to use the bathroom and shower as little as possible.  As a full time stay at home mom I went from doing everything for my child to not even being able to lift her up.  Thankfully we have a great support system and immediately have help around the clock, whenever we need it.  Basically, I am now dealing with the worry of losing my baby or going through what we did before but while juggling a little one.  When I try to google bed rest support, etc. I freak myself out because there is a lot of scary content out there and right now I am at the point where I need to get into a positive mindset, for me and the baby.  

This week I have another cervical check, if I am not too far dilated then I will be getting a cerclage (stitch in the cervix) and then my second progesterone shot that is also to help prolong the pregnancy.  I have heard so many positives and negatives to the stitch and am nervous going into it.  It brings me hope that we are doing everything that we can and I have to look at it in the sense that we caught it early on and it wasn't a big surprise this time around like the first one.  

I am just wondering if any of you had any good success stories similar to mine, good resources, positive affirmations, etc.  I hope I don't come off whiney, I'm just truly scared at this moment.  I hope to connect with other parents to give support where I can and to also receive some support.  

Thank you and looking forward to your responses!

mcgeeva

No experience with this but welcome! Hope your little one stays put and keeps cooking. Bed rest is tough for sure. Try and stay positive an even though your stuck in one spot all day find things to do to keep your spirits up.

morgandegan

Hi there and welcome!  I am pretty new to these boards as well.  I have a pretty similar story to yours.  I had two boys, both fairly uncomplicated pregnancies, so when I got pregnant with my third, a girl, I didn't think twice about it.  Unfortunately I went into PTL around 25 weeks due to infection and delivered her then.  She spent two days in the NICU before passing.  I am now 20 weeks with my fourth, another girl, and was admitted this past Thursday for PTL again.  Like you, I had an U/S that showed funneling and shortening Wednesday.  Late that night I started having contractions that would let up.  They gave me Procardia and Indomethacin which stabilized me.  I had another bout of contractions yesterday and ended up in L&D.  They had to add a shot of Terbutaline to stop this time.  I've been stable for 12ish hours now.  I'm hanging onto the positive because we were able to catch it earlier.  With my other daughter I showed up 4cm and there was no turning back.  I think there is a lot more intervention that can take place the earlier they identify things.  I'm also so sad and depressed that I will not be at home for my boy because I too am a SAHM.  But my thought process is this is a very finite amount of time that I will be away.  And if it is going to save my daughter's life or shorten her NICU stay, I'll take it.  It sounds like you have a great support system, so maybe figure out a good schedule when you can have time with your daughter doing quiet activities.  It is not an optimal situation to be in, but you are doing the best you can and you've recognized this early. Makes good outcomes more possible!  Best of luck to you! 

JandM524

morgandegan said:

Hi there and welcome!  I am pretty new to these boards as well.  I have a pretty similar story to yours.  I had two boys, both fairly uncomplicated pregnancies, so when I got pregnant with my third, a girl, I didn't think twice about it.  Unfortunately I went into PTL around 25 weeks due to infection and delivered her then.  She spent two days in the NICU before passing.  I am now 20 weeks with my fourth, another girl, and was admitted this past Thursday for PTL again.  Like you, I had an U/S that showed funneling and shortening Wednesday.  Late that night I started having contractions that would let up.  They gave me Procardia and Indomethacin which stabilized me.  I had another bout of contractions yesterday and ended up in L&D.  They had to add a shot of Terbutaline to stop this time.  I've been stable for 12ish hours now.  I'm hanging onto the positive because we were able to catch it earlier.  With my other daughter I showed up 4cm and there was no turning back.  I think there is a lot more intervention that can take place the earlier they identify things.  I'm also so sad and depressed that I will not be at home for my boy because I too am a SAHM.  But my thought process is this is a very finite amount of time that I will be away.  And if it is going to save my daughter's life or shorten her NICU stay, I'll take it.  It sounds like you have a great support system, so maybe figure out a good schedule when you can have time with your daughter doing quiet activities.  It is not an optimal situation to be in, but you are doing the best you can and you've recognized this early. Makes good outcomes more possible!  Best of luck to you! 

Thank you so much for sharing your story! I cannot express how much I appreciate you sharing your current mind set...it truly has helped me to think in a more positive way.  You seem like you are a very strong woman.  I will keep you and your family in my thoughts and prayers.  Wishing you a nice long pregnancy!!

kneenah1231

Welcome...

Reading your story it sounds like your dr being very proactive. I had a loss at 21wks due to PTL and incompetent cervix. This time around I have a cerclage and also have 17p shots. The cerclage procedure it's self isn't bad. They gave me a spinal and the procedure took about 10mins or even less. I am currently 29.4 wks been on bedrest since 21wks when my cervix when from 4.2cm to 3.5cm and had been shortening since. The last measurement was 1.8cm last week with funneling but stable. It's been a bumping scary road but all worth it..

Please feel free to join the bedrest check in. You will find alot of woman in the same situation. Bedrest can be very difficult but best advice. Stay away from google. Best of luck keep us posted

morgandegan

JandM524, here's to a nice long pregnancy to you as well!  I really think catching these things early will make all the difference in the world. Good luck with the cerclage, I've heard of a lot of success with them.  I'll keep my eyes open for updates :-)


kneenah1231, I am so sorry for your loss, its a terrible road to travel.  I was wondering if you would mind sharing some of your pregnancy with me?  During your current pregnancy, have you had any PTL scares?  Does your shortening cervix have to do with IC or contractions?  Congratulations on 29.4 weeks, that's wonderful!

JandM524

kneenah1231 said:

Welcome... Reading your story it sounds like your dr being very proactive. I had a loss at 21wks due to PTL and incompetent cervix. This time around I have a cerclage and also have 17p shots. The cerclage procedure it's self isn't bad. They gave me a spinal and the procedure took about 10mins or even less. I am currently 29.4 wks been on bedrest since 21wks when my cervix when from 4.2cm to 3.5cm and had been shortening since. The last measurement was 1.8cm last week with funneling but stable. It's been a bumping scary road but all worth it.. Please feel free to join the bedrest check in. You will find alot of woman in the same situation. Bedrest can be very difficult but best advice. Stay away from google. Best of luck keep us posted

Thank you for sharing!  I am so very sorry to hear about your previous loss and at the same time happy that this time around you have gone longer and still have the baby growing away in your tummy!  Congrats on making it to almost 29.5 weeks...that's great!  Just keep doing what you're doing.  I can't wait to hear your success story in full later on.  I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers!  

kneenah1231

Thank you ladies.

My current pregnancy journey:

At 14wks I had a preventive cerclage place (last pregnancy by the time I made it to the L&D I always already 4cm dilated with bulging membrane) post cerclage I was given contraction prevention indomethacin for 3 days and was told to take it easy

16wks started my bi wkly cervical cks via vaginal u/s which was 4.5cm and 17p injections

16wk 5days I had a bleed (brown blood) which was due to cerclage irritation. I spotted for 6 days after

17wks bleed again and post a plum size clot. Cervix cked 4.2cm

18wks cervix ck 4.2cm

20wk spotting cervix 4.2cm

21wks first labor n delivery visit due to pressure cervix 3.5cm still normal but due to history placed on Modified bed rest.

22wks cervix 2.8cm

23wks L&D visit back pain, dizziness and pressure. Cervix 2.6cm

24wks cervix 2.2cm

25wks cervix 2.4cm

26wk labor and delivery visit due to pressure and possible leaking fluid cervix 1.8cm admitted due to short cervix and BP released to two days later with normal BP and stable cervix at 1.8cm

27wks -29wks stable cervix at 1.8cm

I believe my last pregnant caused me to go into preterm because of my weak cervix since I was already dilating it caused contractions. I didn't know the difference because contractions and Braxton hicks so I brushed off those contractions until I two stays later I started to have bad lower back pain.

This pregnancy I haven't had any preterm labor scares thank got so it kind of makes me feel that my last pregnancy was totally a cervix issue but also keep in mind this time around I am on 17p which is 85% gareenty and I have a cerclage to help keep my cervix closed so its hard to really say

rkcaraway

Welcome!  I agree with PP that your doctors sound like they are being proactive which is a good thing in my book.  

Good luck and keep us posted.

morgandegan

@kneenah1231 thank you for your detailed account!  It's great to hear how far you've come, despite some bumps in the road.  I'm hoping I end up in the same boat!  Looking forward to hearing about a healthy delivery for you and your babe in the next 8-10 weeks :-)