Overdue, water birth, labour and what was the point of that stitch again?!?

It has now been over 6 weeks since the birth of my baby boy! I have been kept busy with gurgling smiles, fascinating nappies, warm and fuzzy cuddles and queues of family and friends who can't get enough of my handsome little man. Bearing in mind that my little nugget tried to make his grand entrance into the world at 20 weeks, he decided to make us wait... that's right he was overdue.


When the stitch came out everyone was on tenterhooks waiting for labour to start. There were weeks of on and off contractions but still no baby. As the big 40 week milestone approached I started to worry that more interventions might be needed. Nuggets little head had engaged weeks before but wasn't quite in the right position to maintain contractions. Once we hit 40 weeks exactly I had a sweep. My cervix could easily be stretched to 3cm, most likely thanks to my Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, still nothing happened. By this point I was trying everything... hours spent bouncing on my exercise ball, dancing, side lunges, looooong walks in the park but I'm pretty sure it was trying to shoot some hoops that finally got this little guy on his way. My contractions started mid-evening on the third day I was overdue but having had weeks of them stopping and starting I didn't think anything of it. It was only about half way through our Saturday night movie, that nights choice of Training Day, that I let Nuggets dad know about the contractions. I'm pretty sure he had guessed as he had started timing every time I was scrunching up my face.

We had gone to bed when the contractions started to get stronger, my neighbours were questioning if someone was giving birth or having sex... considering I was having contractions outside on the way to the car I find this query pretty funny. There were contractions that were 10mins apart and others that were 3mins apart, they never became regular. Nevertheless, nuggets dad knew it was time to take me to the hospital even though I was adamant I wasn't in labour and just wanted to stay in bed. Throughout the 40min car journey my contractions quickly came to a stop. I was quite smug that I was right that it was a false alarm, so we headed to my mums house next to the hospital. As soon as I got out of the car the contractions started up again with vengeance. Cue the TENS machine, I would not have been able to walk without it.

Next stop- the hospital. Throughout my pregnancy I had always been told that I would be on the labour ward and not to really bother in making a birth plan. I hadn't given much thought to any options. When I got to triage they happily told me that I wasn't going to be going home as I was 3cm dilated. I was whisked off to the antenatal ward where I was the only lady who seemed to be in labour even though it seemed to be a particularly busy evening. It was at that point the contractions were making me scream quite loudly and the TENS machine wasn't helping anymore. While being checked to see how dilated I was my waters broke, I was 5cm and sent up to the delivery suite- I'm still pretty sure they moved me because of how much noise I was making which was scaring the other pregnant ladies. Somehow I got talked into giving a water bath a try, after struggling to get in I was told that you couldn't have any pain relief... It would have been impossible for me to try and get out of the water bath so I managed to give birth purely on gas and air.

The water bath was very relaxing and definitely helped with the pain in my back from the contractions. It would have been amazing for him to have been born in the water bath but his steady 150 heart beat had started to dip just with the final pushes. He had remained extremely cool throughout the whole labour up until this point, but now his heart beat wasn't picking up. Hearing this made me panic and my contractions stopped. It was at this point I had to get out of the water bath. The midwives had decided they need to assist in getting my baby out. They had just given me a local anaesthetic, when my partner told me to push and even though I didn't have any contractions out flew my handsome little man.... without getting the episiotomy. I ended up with a second degree tear that needed three stitches.

So my little man came into this world weighing 6lbs 6oz at 11:45am on 6th August 2017. After months of worry and determination he finally made it here.

What happened when they removed my cervical stitch...

So it has now been about 30 hours since the stitch was removed. I had spent yesterday morning reading forums of other ladies experiences of cerclage removal which to be honest did not put me at ease at all. The worst case scenario for me would have been if they couldn't remove the stitch in the labour ward and then having to go into theatre, have an epidural and then spend hours recovering from the effects.

On the day I was asked to arrive at 8am with no food or drink from midnight. Being pregnant has made me even more thirsty than before, so I did question every health professional who came into the room about whether I could drink- it was a unanimous no by the way. My amazing partner brought a huge bag of food which included water, cinnamon swirls (my favourites), cereal bars and juice. Naturally he ate a cinnamon swirl whilst we waited for the doctor to become available and he also had a smoothie whilst my mum sipped her coffee... you could probably imagine my face.

So we were in this gorgeous beach themed room and I was hooked up onto the monitor for over an hour to see how our little nugget was doing. As per usual he kept his heart rate around 150bpm but preferred to relax instead of move around when the midwife was actually watching the readings. The midwife stayed with us for the majority of the time monitoring him and checking everyone was happy which was really nice and kept everyone calm.

When the doctor did come in it was around 11am and the leg stirrups went up! In went the speculum and I heard the dreaded 'I can't see the stitch'... to which I panicked as I really didn't want to go to theatre. Thankfully with a little moving around the doctor found it and it took all of two minutes to cut it out.

Site: Click here

As soon as the stitch was cut I did jump as I felt a thump in my tummy, my partner could visibly see my bump flatten possibly by an inch. The doctor checked again to make sure all parts of the stitch had been removed and saw that I was a little dilated- I'm not sure how much a little is, I'm guessing 1-2cm but my cervix went straight from 1.6ish cm to a little dilated in seconds. See the picture for dramatic effect!

I had cramping pain for possibly 10mins after before I decided to have a nap listening to his heartbeat as they put us back on the monitor and then I got to walk around. I did enjoy my partners face as he was expecting my waters to break as soon as I stood up and for the baby to come pretty quickly afterwards. I have no idea if I have continued to dilate but not much seems to be happening.

The amazing news is that the pain in my cervix has gone and I don't have this tight, painful pinching feeling at the bottom of my abdomen anymore. I am actually able to walk around more through the pain in my hips which is definitely more bearable than the pain I was experiencing in my cervix. That means generally I am a lot happier... but completely mystified by when this little nugget is going to make his grand entrance!

This man continues to make me laugh through everything!

So to sum up...

1. Did it hurt having the cerclage removed?
Yes, it was uncomfortable and the pain was quite cramp-like in the actual cervix. It also hurt close to the cervix having the actual speculum in as well. Considering the stitch had been in for 17 weeks I was expecting it to hurt due to any build up of scar tissue as well.

2. How long did it hurt for?
The initial cramp-like pain lasted for a good 10mins. The doctor and midwife hung around just to check that contractions hadn't actually started as stimulation of the cervix in this way could bring about labour. After those 10mins, a good rest for about 30mins the pain pretty much went straight away as did the other pain I had been experiencing.

3. Did I dilate straight away?
Yes. The doctors were pretty adamant that the cervix could remain closed after the stitch was removed. I was really doubtful of this as I initially only had 0.5cm of cervix there anyway before the stitch brought it to >1.5cm. My cervix pretty much instantly opened but still no sign of baby 30 hours later.

Two more days until the stitch is out!

Surprisingly the past few weeks have gone past so quickly! Tomorrow I have one last scan before they take the stitch out on Thursday. I have to say I am REALLY looking forward to having the stitch out. The first three months (20 to 32 weeks) of bed rest was full of paranoia and OCD on hygiene. Once we were sure that our little nugget was going to be okay and I started to move around more- that was when more frustrating mobility problems started.

So my last post detailed one of our visits to triage and how the doctor believed the baby was pressing on the stitch causing the pain I was experiencing. I was also sent to physio as I was struggling to roll over in bed and my lower back/hips kept frequently clicking. If you're stuck lying down and then not being able to roll over... I'm quite surprised I haven't slowly gone crazy. Turns out my hips aren't aligned possibly due to extensive bed rest and the baby preferring to hang out on one side of my bump. Topped off with my EDS it makes everything that bit more difficult.

Venturing outside I did feel like I had actually turned into a vampire and might combust in the sun. It felt amazing getting out of the house but as I've gotten bigger and my pelvic pain has increased walking is getting to be pretty much a very difficult struggle similar to Frodo climbing Mount Doom. Not that I'm comparing the one ring to rule them all to a cervical stitch haha! I feel more like I may be turning into a very grouchy elephant with the occasional contraction I'm surprised my partner is still being so nice to me. The constant supply of ice cream keeps him in my good books.

So what's it like being 36 weeks pregnant with EDS and a cervical stitch? I pretty much sleep all the time- after eating/ sitting on the sofa/ mid-conversation... moderate to severe pelvic pain which means I may walk as slow as very fat turtle with no land-legs... cervical pain where the doctors are reluctant to let you have anything more than 4 paracetamol- believe me I tried to get something stronger and none of that pregnancy glow malarkey with this face. BUT my little man is a strong little fighter and I have to hold back tears as I watch him move his long legs to his daddy's voice.

There are a number of bets at the moment with how much they think nugget is going to weigh considering my bump has very random growth spurts which keeps me and the doctors on edge. I am also wondering how long after the stitch is out that this little man is going to make his grand appearance! It is always fun asking the doctors what they think, we have estimates from 2 days to possibly going overdue. So you can imagine my face when they say overdue...

Hiccups, stitch and just 3 more weeks to go...

It has been a while since my last post, not much has happened within the last few weeks only within the last week has the little nugget decided to cause more trouble. I have actually managed to start to enjoy being pregnant... until Wednesday last week. Seeing and feeling his kicks, punches and his little re-enactments of Alien has left me laughing and unbelievably proud of how strong and active he is.

So Wednesday!... we ended up in triage. This time I had been experiencing pain in and around my cervix including some sharp shooting pains. They also noticed that my bump hadn't actually grown much within the last two or three weeks, which is unusual for bump considering he has always been a bit ahead of where he is meant to be. My bump is currently measuring 29 weeks when we are about to turn 34 weeks tomorrow. So cue spending the day in hospital with several sessions on a monitor and an emergency scan.

They concluded that I wasn't going into labour, my cervix is still 'nice and long' with the stitch still visible. Bump's growth might have slowed down but the doctors don't seem too worried, they think he might be growing in length and not quite putting on weight just yet. He's still very active so I think he's putting more energy into being cheeky than putting on weight. The video below just shows what he gets up to- already trying to play with the dog. Poor Morgana was left very confused after being kicked by my tummy! You might be able to make out what looks like a build up before he really goes for it!

Still there was the pain, triage were told not to touch the stitch and I would be seen back at the premature clinic the following Monday. The pain actually had gotten so bad on Friday I couldn't walk but I was really reluctant to go in to triage again (even though I was being told off by my partner and friends). All I could think about was my baby and knowing he is still better in than out for the next couple of weeks. Surprisingly my premature appointment showed my stitch is still holding and my cervix length is still looking good!

Top scan from 25 weeks... bottom scan from 33 weeks

But little nuggets head is pressing on my cervix and the stitch. It seems like bump has dropped quite far down and people have been commenting on it! My premature consultant is pretty determined for me to at least get through the next two weeks. Saying that nugget had hiccups for a good 20mins this morning that left me wanting to remove the stitch myself! This pain is completely different to the pain when the stitch was put in. There's a lot of pressure and everything down there feels very sore and bruised, forget trying to roll over or sit/stand without extremely sharp vaginal pains.

So it's 22 days until the stitch is due to be removed... I'll be happy to get through the next 15 days. Seeing how happy my partner and both our families are gives me the strength to try and push through. I think after all of this I definitely should be given free rein on what to name him!

A knock to the bump...

As a mum-to-be I have learnt a lot about pregnancy from asking everyone's trusted friend- Google. The majority of the time I have ended up more anxious than when I started, what I have learnt is that if you are really worried call the midwife or maternity triage. The midwife helpline is only open at certain times during weekdays here in London but triage is open 24/7 and have always been amazing and very fast in their response to the many issues we've had in this pregnancy.

The top line shows foetal heart rate and
the third line that looks like a bar code is nugget kicking.

One such issue was getting a knock to my bump yesterday. It was one of those weird accidents. It was 20 mins later and I still hadn't felt the little nugget move so we called up triage and they asked us to come in. It was pretty much straight into a cubicle and having a monitor put on. They found nuggets heart beat within seconds and also put another monitor on to see how much he moved. As soon as the monitor went on he wasn't having any of it and pretty much spent 30mins trying to kick and punch the monitors off. I sat there wondering if this meant that my son was going to either be really unsociable or could possibly have serious hyperactivity issues... Needless to say we felt very reassured that he was okay and surprised at how much he moved.

Commando dad... training taking place!

Now that we are 29 and a half weeks(!!!) and feeling him moving around so much (when he feels like it) I have been wondering about pregnancy and baby books. I had bought a book for nuggets daddy when I told him we were expecting. I was always in two minds about buying any books because of what happened at our 20 week scan but now it is becoming a reality that he might be with us soon... I'm starting to wonder about breastfeeding, sleeping and what is normal. I do have an amazing sister who got me a really informative book which answered questions I hadn't even thought of yet.

We found the online version:

For pregnancy here- https://www.stgeorges.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Pregnancy_Book_comp.pdf

For 0-5 here- http://www.locala.org.uk/fileadmin/Locala/documents/Other/Birth_to_Five.pdf

These NHS books definitely will be keeping us busy whilst slowly trying to get more active from all this bed rest. One thing that I did notice about the books is that neither mentioned anything about cervical incompetence, even in the 'problems during pregnancy' section which includes minor and more serious problems. I was a bit disappointed with this considering how informative I am finding the books but from what I have seen so far I would definitely recommend them.

28 weeks!

The most amazing man I know x

So I didn't think we would get anywhere near 28 weeks just two months ago but we did it! It has actually been pretty smooth sailing after the first couple of weeks... not counting the emotional roller coaster. I have been so lucky to be in this position mainly because my workplace is amazing letting me do some work at home whilst being on bed rest and my amazing family around me.

So on Wednesday I had another antenatal appointment to check on my progress and that everything was okay. The doctor was amazing! I did go in with a list of questions as it had been a few weeks between appointments now and he answered all of them... in detail! It's pretty nice to have a doctor who is so helpful.

One of my main worries was whether I was meant to be having cyclogest twice a day as I have been since my cervical stitch (and where it has been written on all of my prescription boxes) or if I am meant to take it only once a day (which it now said on my latest prescription box and on other online resources!). I am at the point now where the doctor says that there isn't much evidence that it can prevent preterm labour, after the 28 week mark.

Cyclogest... what has been helping keep the nugget in! Bump at 24 weeks.

Progesterone has been shown to prevent uterine contractions and the softening/ shortening of the cervix (Dovepress). I definitely wasn't comfortable dropping down from two tablets to one a day especially as I know a dip in hormones can have a cascading effect. Even with little evidence that it has much effect, I am yet to find an journal with these details, but the doctor is happier with me continuing with two tablets a day.

I have had some new symptoms though which includes Braxton Hicks! At first I had no idea what was going on. I always imagined them more as very clear contractions and not my tummy going rock hard... and I mean rock hard- I feel like I could crush walnuts on my stomach. I seem to be getting them every few days now but the doctor isn't too worried about that as long as I don't have any bleeding, lose of water or find them painful.

We have pretty good chances now, babies born between 28-31 weeks have a 90-95% survival rate (Premature birth statistics). There are still no guarantees but I feel like I can breath a bit more easily now and actually get ready for my little man. He should hopefully weigh over 2.5lbs now, he has his quiet days where I feel like he's putting all of his energy into growing before having a break and a stretch, kick and punch on alternating days.

Weight gained every week in grams

Babies that are born smaller than 3lbs 4oz still have a higher risk of serious medical complications and disabilities (The Baby Centre). So I guess the focus now is to make sure he's growing, I did find a website where I decided to put the information into graph form of how much weight a baby does put on per gestational week. So our next aim is 30 weeks which will hopefully take us over the 3lb mark if everything goes well.

My cervical length will be checked on Monday but I am feeling pretty good in myself. I don't feel like my cervix has shortened, it's almost like little nugget is moving up my tummy and not down. He has the odd day where he likes punching my cervix but I am feeling pretty good at the moment! So good my partner has persuaded me to go see the new Alien today!

4D Growth Scan

Yesterday we decided to do something particularly special and we had a 4D scan at This Is My London Screening Centre in Harley Street. We were a bit sceptical regarding whether to have one done as some clinics don't have trained professionals but my other half being a radiographer, his protective daddy instincts and his connections- we knew they were experts here and we were in good hands. The past six weeks have been pretty up and down so yesterday was, for lack of a better word, AMAZING! Seeing the little nugget did make me feel like the crazy hormonal pregnant lady who will cry at anything but I can honestly say nothing really compares to seeing him and having these videos and pictures. It was also very reassuring that they estimate he now weighs approximately 2lbs (916g) with super long legs (which he definitely didn't get from his daddy).

Looking at his little face, all I can see is a mini version of my other half. I am completely in love. The little nugget was in quite a mood and kept refusing to move his hands away from his face. It was almost like he knew that everyone was watching him. We did manage to get some really adorable pictures though. He had decided to bury his head in the most awkward position but we had the most lovely lady scanning us who was really determined to get us some pictures of his face.

The scan didn't just include getting to see the little nugget being grumpy just like his daddy when he gets woken up. They did a little MOT, checked his growth and the blood supply within the placenta and his estimated weight. They really put us at ease and it has lifted my mood immensely knowing he's okay and getting to see him. Seems like his head circumference and long legs are coming from my side of the family. His abdominal circumference was the only measurement that was below average, which is surprising considering how much I eat and how little fat I've actually put on, saying that I can't really turn to see if my bottom has gotten much bigger in the mirror. So I am sure it is all going to nugget and I just finished a slice of toast with nuttella after having granola for breakfast.

The one thing that did concern me a little was the umbilical artery pulsatility index reading was a little on the low side showing 0.94 where the average is 1.08 (Radiology Key). I think Radiology Key explains it in the best way I have seen so far online. As far as my research has taken me, it is only when reading is above average that this is a sign of possible pre-eclampsia and other possible problems regarding the placenta. 'A low pulsatility waveform is indicative of low distal resistance and high pulsatility waveforms occur in high resistance vascular beds' - Fetal Medicine. So this doesn't seem to be a problem with nugget but I might be picking my consultants brain at the next antenatal appointment!

In the mean time I just can't stop looking at him...