Long story short for those who don't want to read it all, at the ultrasound they found a short cervix, and thought I had an incompetent cervix. After being transferred to a hospital in Phoenix they did a cerclage, successfully, and increased my cervix distance from 5 mm to 47 mm. That's a good thing! Then sent me home on Friday.
I had the ultrasound first, and as soon as the technician put the wand thing on my stomach, she said, "Oh, that cervix doesn't look good." Of course I had a million things running through my mind wondering what could possibly be wrong with my cervix. So she immediately did a trans-vaginal ultrasound, only to announce that my cervix was only 5 mm long. She quickly finished the ultrasound of Max to make sure everything was normal with him, then sent us off to see Dr. Johansen with no further explanations, except that Max could fall out at any moment.
When Doctor Johansen finally came in, his explanation was that the technician was really concerned because my cervix was so short. He said that normally he could do a cerclage, where they go in and stitch the cervix closed, but I had already passed the point in my pregnancy where that would be possible. I remind you that he is just a normal ob/gyn and doesn't deal with high risk pregnancies. I was still going to him because we thought that I was no longer high risk.
So, Doc Johansen checks me into the Flagstaff hospital, and says that he will meet us there shortly when he talks to the Perinatologist in Phoenix, and they decide what they should do. When he finally does come over, he states that all I can do is bed rest and progesterone suppositories. So then comes in the question, should we go to Phoenix, in case Max does come early? Flagstaff hospital isn't very well equipped for preterm babies, especially this early. So we make the decision that I would transfer to Saint Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix, where they have the best NICU in Arizona.
The next morning the doctor comes in and tells me that my white blood cell count is high, and they need to retest to see if it is still high. If it is, then I most likely have an infection in the amniotic sac, and will lose the baby. WHAT?! So for the next few hopeless hours I had to wait, alone, to see if my white blood cell count would go down. It did go down, so they got everything ready for my discharge, Mark got off work early, and drove me down to St. Joe's. That was a rough ride down the mountain to Phoenix!
Arriving at St. Joe's they immediately admitted me to the high risk unit. Once there they started running tests and doing extensive ultrasounds, and monitoring to see if I was having contractions. I have to say, I was so glad to be there because the hospital staff was so great! They were so knowledgeable about everything, and they made sure that I was comfortable and informed on everything that was going on.
After preliminary tests, they found that my cervix wasn't really only 5 mm, but that I had just dilated. I wasn't having regular contractions, mine were normal for someone at that point in pregnancy, but my body was just so sensitive that every contraction was dilating my cervix, which is called cervical insufficiency. Terrific! Also, the 2 doses of Progesterone had thickened my cervix from 5 mm to 9 mm. Small increase, but still an increase.
Then my Perinatologist came in, and suggested that we do a cerclage. She said that it was possible, and that although there was risk of rupturing Max's amniotic sac, it was really low and she had never had it happen in her career. Mark and I both felt good about it, so we decided I would have the surgery done. She scheduled it for 7:30 Wednesday morning. I couldn't eat after midnight until after the surgery, which I am sure all those pregnant women out there know just how tough that is!
After being tested again in the morning, they found that my white blood cell count had gone down, so they went ahead with the surgery. At 7:30 am on Wednesday April 25th, they wheeled me into the surgery room, and gave me a spinal anesthesia. By the time I was going to lay down on the table my body was already going numb, and two assistants had to put my legs up in the slings for me.
Unfortunately I could see the whole procedure from the reflection in the light, and it was not a pretty sight. It literally looked like the two doctors were working on an embroidery project, using what looked like white ribbon. They kept tugging on me so hard that they were jerking my whole body, that I started to worry that they were going to rip my entire uterus out!
The worst part of the entire experience was having to lay there with half of my body numb for 4 hours after the surgery was over. I couldn't adjust, turn over, or anything by myself, and that was the absolute worst feeling in the whole world. It makes me even more determined to have this baby naturally so that I don't have to have an epidural or another spinal block, I would rather endure the pain than to have the experience of not feeling part of my body, and not having any control over it.
That night they moved me out of the high risk unit in the regular perinatal unit, which meant progress! I didn't have as many monitors on me, and it was a bigger room with space for Mark. First thing the next morning they took me to have another ultrasound, which was awesome! When they measured my cervix it was 47 mm long! When I had first gone to my doctor's appointment it was only 5, so the surgery had increased the length of my cervix by 42 mm. Hooray! Doctor Chambliss asked if I wanted to donate my cervix to science, because that was a perfect outcome for a cerclage on an insufficient cervix. The ultrasound technician said I had a happy baby because he was bouncing around in there! Boy do I know it!
That afternoon they released me from the hospital with instructions to continue with Progesterone suppositories, and that I shouldn't go home to Flagstaff just yet, just to make sure that I was still okay before making the 3 hour drive. So my amazing Aunt Michelle that lives in Gilbert let us go crash at her house for the night. She had also brought me some beautiful flowers and balloons and a plate of goodies right after my surgery.
The next day I was still doing well with only mild bleeding and cramping, which they said would last for a couple weeks, so we headed home.
Medical synopsis of this whole ordeal, I will have to have a cerclage with all of my future pregnancies, along with continued progesterone treatments the entire pregnancy because of my incompetent cervix. I didn't think there was anything worse than morning sickness, but the idea that I will have to have 2 surgeries with spinal blocks every pregnancy is pretty horrifying. I'll do what it takes to get my family here, though!
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