Hoping to start an active thread with cerclage recipients

[Andersontwins]

Hey gals,

Luvs- hope all goes well today! How exciting! I look so forward to that day!

Afm- I have had my moms help this week with Christmas wrapping. I am so relieved to have it done. Good thing santa doesn't wrap!
I am doing well! Still thinking about my cervix length, 2.8 cm, and a little concerned. Dr said not To worry since the length fluctuates so much. Also, baby girl in laying right on the cervix head down. Sometimes, I think I would do so much better if I never knew my 'status.'. I get so stressed about it and I start obsessing! However, I feel good and i only feel pressure when I walk to the bathroom to pee. I have a little discharge so I hope it is nothing to worry about. I have also been so restless lately! I thought with christmas coming up, I would be super busy from my chair. I am just bummed lately bc I want to shop so badly like in a store and smell the Christmas scents, etc...uggg....not this year. How is everyone else?

Erobin- you are so brave for having son today! I just don't think I could do it. My Little girl would be on the roof byt 10 am. She is so rambunctious. Hope he gets to feeling better!

[ybc]

Cann't imagine that this keeps happening to me - lost almost all my post again.

Elena - hope that sammy gets better soon... really hope that you don't get it. Do you have people around to help you?

Andersontwins - so nice to have your mom help you with Christmas wrapping. Understand your disappointment about not being about to out and enjoy the holiday atmosphere... yesterday I went for my doctor's appointment, and was amazed by all the christmas decorations that were put on by my neightbors. We moved in this year, and realized that my neightbors are really into holiday decorations. We have NONE, and won't have any. DD enjoys going out every night and see Christmas light before bedtime.

Turned out that my fetal fibronectin test is positive, so I'll have to take another steriod shot as a precaution. My cervix length was still around 1.3 to 1.5cm, so I felt good about that until I got the Fibronectin news. I know that positive is not as meaningful as negative, still, it was negative 3 weeks ago. So I'm nervous again.

[Andersontwins]

Hello,

Ybc- how far along are you? What did the doc say about the fibronectin test? You have a cerclage right? I am so sick of worrying about all these tests,etc....I know you are too! Sometimes, I think I am so much better off if I know nothing. Just listen to my body. So are you on bed only bed rest? I am recliner during the day, bed at night. Dr. gave me a little freedom to sit up at meals, occasional car rides, etc but I just get scared bc I am worried I will mess something up!

Afm- what about discharge? Tmi- I know! I only have discharge on the toilet paper but this morning, I had a little more than often....like stretchy white. So sick of freaking out about
stupid discharge! I mean really...I research it, etc! Anyone think it is normal? What is normal with a cerclage?

Luvs- how are you and baby boy?

ERobin- how is Sammy ? Are you holding up?

Sasha, whitely- how are you, Hun?

[erobin1]

Ybc-- Sorry about the fFN. I hope you are able to have more help with DD so you can really stay down. It is so challenging. So much stress!!! Hang in there. As you say, the positive is much less meaningful than the negative. But, i agree with Anderson, there is a way in which all of this information is almost worse than not having it. Especially when there is nothing we can do...

Anderson-- Yeah, the whole thing is wearing, that is for sure. Cervix of 2.8 doesn't sound too bad to me. They keep telling me they "worry" below 2.5, and you've got the cerclage. I think, sometimes, about your cervix just closing up again and it continues to amaze me. What a story. how many weeks are you now? You guys don't have tickers and I lose track. (it cracks me up that I have one since I am not the ticker type-- can never figure stuff like that out).

AFM-- Sammy is doing OK. My mother is now on her way over to help decorate the tree with him. We got it inside. It is quite pretty. Makes me happy to have a tree. At least it gives me some small illusion of Christmas.... I don't like to shop, so that isn't what I miss, although I'm beginning to worry about Sammy's Santa stuff-- I haven't had much luck on line with "midiaeval clothing." There are costumes, but most of them give 4-6 week shipping times at this time of year-- it just isn't the costume time of year. And he hasn't asked for much else. I think I'm going to get him Monopoly. He seems to be enjoying the board game we've been playing together. But...anyway... I don't think he actually wants an Easy Bake Oven because when I asked him about it he said that he wanted it to take on his quest-- as a way to cook in camp. But then he said, "maybe we'll BBQ." So, I don't think he really has the toy in mind the way the toy is meant to be used. And I'm not that thrilled about the 100 watt bulb cooked artificial cake mixes. I'd rather just teach him to bake. When I was his age I began to learn to actually cook. So... I'm actually a bit at a loss. This is where being able to shop in a toy store would help.

I don't have the virus yet but I'm still feeling a little nervous about this virus. A couple of his friends recently had it and had nothing but stuffy noses for a couple of days and then got really sick with high fevers, so I don't feel confident we are out of the woods yet.

[Andersontwins]

Erobin- I have a cute clicker on my blog, but I can't figure out how to put it in my signature line. I tried everything! I am 25 +4 days.

[erobin1]

Oh, I forgot, about discharge-- if it isn't amniotic fluid and if it isn't smelly then I wouldn't worry about it. Discharge varies SOO much during pregnancy. I don't have a cerclage, but I do seem to have some times when I have very little discharge and other times when I have so much that I start to get paranoid that I'm leaking fluid. I've had my doctor check it a couple of times and it has always been fine.

The reason I mention smelling is that BV (the bacterial vaginitis which is sort of like yeast in the sense that it also is an imbalance of normal flora rather than an "infection" that one catches) smells fishy and it is something you really do want to get treated because it has been linked to preterm labor. Yeast isn't a big deal, other than the usual discomfort (I mean, it won't hurt the pregnancy)-- that would be itchiness and usually a thick white or yellow discharge & you can treat it with over the counter monistat, which is safe in pregnancy (although I would tend to get it diagnosed by the doctor during high risk pregnancies like ours, just because).

But, if it is just varying amounts of discharge that just smells like normal discharge then I wouldn't worry about it at all. I think our hormone levels must fluctuate, etc. And, I doubt that you have your mucous plug anymore. I'm not sure about that, in the sense that I can't be entirely sure that one can't re-form a new mucous plug, but my guess would be that you likely don't.

[erobin1]

Our posts crossed... 25 almost 26 weeks! That is great! I mean, of course you want to go far far far longer, but you are viable now. Oh.... we will all get through this, we will all get through this!!!!

[ybc]

Andersontwins - yeah, information is double edged sword for sure. Fibronectin can be a predictor of pre-term labor. It's more accurate when it's negative - that is, likelihood of delivering in the next two weeks is really low. When it's positive, risk is higher, but it's not certain that one will have pre-term labor. I even read someone who had it positve one week, then negative again. On the positive side, it can direct our actions; on the negative side, all this needless worry. I think that you'll do fine with 2.8cm... getting close to 26 weeks is great, soon it'd be 28w, then 30, then 32... Like Elena said, we'll get through it.

Elena - both DD and I have been eating GNC ultra zinc Lozenges -- in the past, this is my weapon against cold. for DD, I gave her half of a pill, at most twice a day. She loves it and wants to eat "mommy's medicine" all the time, so I really have to ration it well. For adults, you can take up to 6 a day. It's basically Vit C and Zinc. I really do believe that it helps. Another thing I use is countrywide whole grape seed extract with pine bark extract... like I said, DH has been sick for weeks now, but both DD and I have been fine. I'd like to think that GNC lozenges has anything to do with it, or we're just lucky.

I'm 32 weeks +2 days now. I don't have a cerclage since this was discovered post 28 weeks. Yeah, I should lie down more, but during the day I'm reclining since I'm working. Then when DD is home I'm sitting up a lot playing with her...a lot of times on the floor. I also carry her from time to time... like last night, she refused DH to carry her when she woke up at 9pm, so I went in and carried her to our bed. Turned out that she was gassy - I massaged her belly and she farted up a storm overnight, but she's a happy camper afterwards. I also lift her and wash her after BM because she wouldn't let anyone else do it, and I can't stand her not being clean there. So I have major violation of bedrest for sure. I think that I should take a nap every afternoon just to make it back. THe problem is I need to finish work... I don't know why I care so much, I actually bought short-term disability insurance so technically I can take it easier, but somehow I can't quite let go... since bedrest, I've done 5 reports, and have 5 more to finish before I'm done.

[ybc]

DH just got a portable computer stand for bed. It has two pockets for stuff, and I can put my legs through it, so now I don't have to twist my body while have a computer in bed, soooo comfortable! He got it from bed bath and beyond. Do you guys have it? Highly recommend it!

[erobin1]

sounds awesome! does it support a desktop? I just use my laptop, which is small and sits on my legs, or on a pillow on my legs. but a stand really would be nice.