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.

26 weeks today!!!

We have made it to the 26 week mark! That means it's time to reset the countdown and aim for 28 weeks. I was pretty happy today that I also managed to get a sneaky peak at our little nugget again as I had to have a kidney scan following another UTI. He's looking pretty squished in there, he's definitely getting bigger. I did pop into the hospital gift shop, they have really sweet knitted cardigans and jumpers in there. So nugget did get another present today... a little cardigan so he can look stylish next to his daddy.

Nugget did have me a little worried yesterday as he was pretty quiet but it turns out that feeling a bit plugged up, thanks to all the progesterone, didn't make him particularly happy. He was back to his cheeky self today trying to punch through my cervix on numerous occasions after I had several trips to the ladies. I am on the verge of buying a doppler so I can keep track of him. He has been a little jumping bean today though.

To celebrate reaching this far I have decided to treat myself to a little outing with the two special men in my life. I'll be taking nugget and his daddy to the Real Greek this weekend to get some seriously yummy food! The Real Greek is one of my favourite restaurants and just happens to have the most comfortable chairs. It is going to be the first time I'll be going out that isn't a trip to the hospital or twice weekly short walk to the end of the road, so I am pretty excited to be spending some quality time with my boys!

Third Premature Clinic Appointment & Glucose Tolerance Test

Usually I get pretty excited about knowing I'll be seeing the little nugget but today I had the dreaded glucose tolerance test too. Thinking about it, you wouldn't find it too difficult; have a fasting blood test, drink a glucose drink and have another blood test two hours later. Unfortunately for me that involves two things I severely dislike- being hungry and needles. So that meant my 3am snacks were a big no-no, but a good thing for the rest of my household who apparently can hear a cookie packet opening a mile away.

Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia with my other half

I did spend most of yesterday wondering how I could get out of the blood test and if it was really necessary. My mum constantly reminds me that all four of her children (including myself) were 10lbs or bigger, considering I'm 5'6 and my siblings are all 6ft and over, I still find it hard to believe I was that big. So the midwife was pretty insistent on me having the test even though my other half is a questionable height which apparently is the optimum; gestational diabetes can result in big babies making for difficult births, heart/lung problems and premature birth (Made For Mums).

I have to say that the blood test wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be considering I was on the verge of a panic attack about it yesterday. They managed to find a vein a few minutes after looking and the needle was in and out before I knew what was happening. I'm so used to them struggling to find a vein and having two or three attempts, I really can't praise the nurses today enough. They did give me lucozade afterwards as the glucose drink, I was pretty happy with myself. I'm a big fan of lucozade and I haven't had a fizzy drink in months. My other half constantly tells me off about my small addiction to fizzy drinks so I was very chuffed when I was given one by a medical professional.

Nuggets presents today

I had my premature clinic appointment in between the two blood tests. The clinic was very busy today because of the bank holidays (the clinic only runs on a Monday). There was good news today, there's been no change in the length of my cervix so we're all quite happy so my next appointment will be in three weeks. I got to see a quick peak at nugget, considering I felt like I was getting punched and kicked all over I was quiet curious to see what position he was in. The little trouble maker has his head down, hands above his head punching my cervix whilst trying to kick my stomach. As the doctor put it the 'superman' position, the doctor could even see his little hand when he was trying to measure my cervix which seems to be staying at about 1.7-1.9cm. So to celebrate a good result we bought nugget a little Elmer teddy and bear hat.

So being 25 and a half weeks today, my best friend has broached the topic of the baby shower! I have to say I'm pretty excited and I have a feeling she has secretly been plotting what she wants to do for a while now. So we're aiming to do it at the end of next month, I'm feeling pretty confident that the little one will hopefully stay in until after then. I should be about 30 weeks by that point. I did find an interesting website about premature births and cervical length. During my 20 week scan I had a cervix of 0.4cm so according to the chart below it would estimate giving birth at less than 32 weeks. The doctors did believe I was about to give birth at any moment at that stage but it's more reassuring to see higher gestational ages. Now that my cervix is about 1.7-1.9 I would be very happy with a gestational birth age of 34 weeks! Only a few more days until we are 26 weeks!

25 weeks + 4 days transvaginal scan of cervix length

Cervical length at 20-24wks (cm)	Mean birth gestational age
1.0	32
1.5	33
2.0	34
2.5	36.5
Source: American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, June 2000 cited in: http://www.keepemcookin.com

Obstetrics Appointment

As I write this my little nugget is kicking and punching away. Today would have been the day I would be going back to work at college after Spring Break but instead I'm on bed rest and having my first Obstetrics appointment. I did manage a walk around my block yesterday, I was pretty proud of myself and it did feel amazing to get some Sun. The other half practised his photography skills whilst I waddled down the road.




We also watched the episode of Friends where Rachel gives birth. Even though my partner is a Radiographer and can handle all sorts of blood and guts... childbirth is his kryptonite which he's told me repeatedly even before we found out about this little one. I think he might be slowly trying to desensitise himself to the whole process, I'm sure his addiction to youtube documentaries is also helping and he's not just relying on episodes of friends.

It wasn't particularly all fun though, having visited the ladies (maybe for the 12th time?!?) I noticed blood in my urine... having a cervical stitch you know any kind of infection within that area just turns on your panic button. Thankfully my partner is amazing at calming me down. At the obstetrics appointment today there was only +1 leukocytes which is normal in pregnancy. But due to me having some pain around my bladder, some blood and having just recovered from another UTI a couple of weeks ago, they'll be sending a sample to be cultured anyway.

Besides what could possibly be a UTI I have been discharged from Obstetrics! Having a family history of heart problems they wanted to keep an eye on me but my echo and everything came back normal. Even my blood pressure is down, typically I would see 140/90 whereas today I had a reading of 101/61. Apparently, progesterone can assist with vasodilation and it makes sense that could bring down blood pressure. So everything is looking good at the moment, 24 weeks and 5 days, which means it's only a few more days until we're 25 weeks!

I have brought myself to look at the 20 week scan, with everything that surrounded that day I've found it pretty difficult. I am less emotional now but even looking at babies of instagram can set me off. Seeing him just makes me want a video of what he gets up to in there. I know my hospital does DVD's and 4D imaging but I think just having a video that I can see is quite priceless.

Nugget at his 20 week scan