Second Premature Clinic Appointment

Yesterday was my second appointment at the Premature Clinic. The clinic is only run on Mondays so it is pretty busy but it's reassuring seeing other woman who have had a stitch placed and have had similar problems. The clinic also has a board of photos and thank you cards, it's really nice to see how many ladies have kept in contact years later and how many babies have made it through.

I am lucky enough to have my mum who came to the appointment with me, my partner was literally messaging every few minutes from work to check on his little boy. Thankfully my mum is a lady who tries to lift the mood in all circumstances. The atmosphere isn't great in the department however much effort the staff put in to make it welcoming and calm, a bunch of pregnant ladies worrying about their babies doesn't really do much for morale. Especially when not many of us can sit down comfortably for more than 10mins due to the stitch.

I did find myself comparing bump sizes with every lady that walked in. You do find yourself empathising with bumps that don't look much over 20 weeks. Thinking about how I felt 4 weeks ago, this is definitely the hardest and most emotional thing I have ever done. One of the consultants had also put out a new little booklet about success stories of babies born at 24 to 26 weeks. It did make me feel more confident especially as I'm 23 weeks + 5 days today! I'm pretty sure I need to buy a big present once I reach 24 weeks.

So the news... Previously I had 15mm of cervix below the stitch and 21mm above the stitch. I now have 17mm of cervix below the stitch and above the stitch has opened with funnelling. Now the doctor wasn't concerned about this as the stitch was holding and I still had length below it. I felt like it was a step backwards especially when I heard the dreaded term- funnelling.

Little nugget is happy though, kicking away as usual, completely oblivious to how stressed he makes his mummy. He decided to move head down for the scan which is unusual for him as he really takes great enjoyment in kicking my cervix as hard as possible. I am actually starting to think he uses it as target practice, the similarity between him and his father is funny.

Even though I wasn't particularly happy with the length of my cervix, the doctor did an estimate of how big our little nugget is. Considering all my family were big babies- my mum is constantly reminding us of how we were all over 10lbs. I was quite curious to know how nugget was doing knowing how the bigger he is the better his chances are. His measurements gave an accurate 23-24 week gestational age but he weighs approximately 1.5lbs (660g) which puts him at the weight of a baby at 24-25 week gestation.

So the little one still has some way to go. I'll be back in the Premature Clinic in a fortnight again to check if there's any difference. If things get worse there is talk of starting to get ready for baby making an early appearance, in that case we'll be admitted into hospital and will start on the steroids to get his lungs ready. Until then the focus is going to be on what to name the little trouble maker.