A Stitch in Time

22 Weeks Scan and the Cervical Stitch

Sat waiting, waiting in the whitest room i have ever been in.  Just waiting.

It is 11:50am on the 28th October 2015, and I am waiting.  Clare has just been taken to theatre in the Central Delivery Suite, and I can do nothing more than wait for her to come back.

Yesterday we left the house feeling confident, it was the day of our 22 weeks scan.  Clare had been on bed rest for 4 weeks and was hoping to go back to work on light duties.  All we needed to hear was that the cervix had not shortened and was still doing as strong. Anything above 3 cm and we were on track.  I had made sure for the last few weeks that Clare had done nothing, the same four walls, the same routine, and Chewie was adapting well to the lazy days.

The scan rooms were very busy, so we had to wait for a while.  Our new sonographer had read Clare's notes and was up to speed, straight away the cervix was being measured and confirmed at 3.2cm.  The bed rest was working and Clare could go back to work for a few weeks before our next scan.  While the notes were being written we waited, happily smiling, confident.  We always take a sneaky look at the notes before handing them in, just to keep ourselves informed before the clinic meeting.  The measurements said 2.3cm, she did say 3.2 didn't she?  We went back and queried this variance.  The initial measurement, the one that gave us confidence, was the whole cervix wall.  The new 2.3cm measurement was the real crunch, Clare has been funneling for a while, this is were the cervix begins to open and the 2.3 cm was the measurement from the mouth of the funnel to the outer wall.  This was the area that had always been measured.  So 2 weeks ago it was above 3.7cm, and now, after all the bed rest we thought was helping it had dropped 1.5cm.  Anything below 2.5cm is very weak and within serious risk of giving up.

Before we had even had chance to digest this new finding, Clare was admitted to hospital with a pending cervical stitch to be inserted in the morning.  

So here I am waiting, what time is it? 11:55am, it has been 5 minutes? only 5 minutes??

Before we came down to theatre, one of the consultants had explained that there were two outcomes of this procedure, and only two outcomes.

Outcome one: The stitch goes in and Clare comes out of theatre and into recovery

Outcome two: The stitch goes in and there are complications, baby comes out sleeping 

The procedure, I was told, would only take 20 mins to half and hour, but I didn't realise how long this half hour would be.

After 35 minutes I think I stopped breathing, every footstep down the corridor I was waiting for news, doctors, surgeons, midwives all walking past the white room and still no update.  Every time I heard someone walking toward the open door, I sat up hoping that they were coming to tell me everything was fine, but nothing.  I understand that Clare and baby are the most important people right now, but please don't forget about the poor husband and father sat there in this whiter than white room with no update, nothing, just waiting

Waiting

Eventually a surgeon came into my white room and explained that everything is fine, and Clare the stitch procedure is now in action, the reason for the delay was down to Clare refusing to have any strong veins, and equipment to be cleaned, the set up took longer than expected.  She took me to the recovery room and explained that Clare would be around 20-30 minutes and then she would be joining me.

Another 20 to 30 minutes more! More waiting!

When Clare arrived in the recovery room looking like nothing had happened, she commented that I was looking rather pasty and teary! No wonder ! The procedure had been a success and the stitch had been put in place perfectly.  No issues, no concerns.  Clare was kept in hospital for another 24 hours purely to observe and keep a close eye.

After an uneventful and lonely night Clare is now back home and resting.  Every twitch, twinge, ache or groan makes my heart stop a little.  We have come too close now to lose hope, we have been given an extra bit of strength to carry on but I know at the 24 week scan we will not enter as confident.

Thankfully, now, this stitch will hold in the baby for another few months and give Clare the strength to carry on.  The stitch will be removed around 36 weeks mark, and baby should follow pretty quickly after this.

So we are now waiting, waiting for the happy day to come.  Still anxious, still nervous but still waiting

20 Weeks Scan

Tuesday 13th October

We awoke with a feeling of anticipation, worry and stress although neither of us had to acknowledge it, we both knew how each other was feeling.

We were about to enter an unknown void, a place that we had not been to before, the 20 week scan.

Spud had been born sleeping at 19 weeks and 6 days, other other angels had passed before the 9 week scan, so 20 weeks is a serious milestone for Clare and I.

Clare had been on serious bed rest for two weeks and although we had a few little scares along the way, the bed rest was serious.  A cushion to raise her feet whilst on the reclining chairs in the living room or special pillows in bed to make her lie more comfortably, we are not messing about.

No - we are not having 6 babies!

As we entered the scan room, our sonographer, who feels like she has become an integral part of our journey , jumped straight into action finding the all too precious heartbeat.  She then proceeded to do a full scan of lungs, kidneys, legs, arms, lips, face, pretty much everything except the area that could give us any indication to which colour clothes we should be buying.  A further scan of Clare's cervix showed that the thickness had increased. Not just a slight increase as per our last scan, but back to the 3.7mm grade.  A perfect result.

We are now at the 20 weeks stage and things are starting to look our way.  With two more scan at the 22 and 24 weeks to monitor the cervix length and funneling we are still not out of the woods, but we have a good idea of the path to the clearing.

With this result we are now happy to announce our great news to our family.

A Little Scare

Too close to the 20 week scan for a scare!

02/10/2015

After a mention of cervical shortening and funneling so close to the point that we lost Spud, the remainder of the week we felt on high alert.  Every time Clare sneezed, I winced.  Every time Clare complained of back ache, I worried.

I came home from work early on the Friday looking forward to a long weekend of chilling with my girl waiting for the scan on Tuesday to let us know where we stood.  Clare looked white, she was experiencing shooting pains that were intermittent and felt like contractions. We could only think the worst, so Clare rang the midwife to ask for advice.

The midwife suggested that we ring Maternity Triage to have them check her out. We arrived in the hospital moment later and checked in at Triage.  The nurse on the desk told us to go to the central delivery suite as they were expecting us.  This caused us to worry a little more, why were they expecting us on CDU?  The last time we were on CDU was when Spud was born, and it is truly heartbreaking to walk through those doors again in a similar situation.

As we entered the Central Delivery Unit, a nurse had Clare's notes ready and told us she had a room ready.  The room they had ready was room 8, the room that Spud was born in. I asked if we could go into another room as there was no way we could go back in there with so many sad memories.

Thankfully there was another room available and Clare and I sat waiting.  Another midwife entered our room and brought a saline solution and a collection of large tools.  I had to stop her at this point and ask for an explanation.  We had been rushed into CDU with no information, Clare having pains that felt like contractions and "tools" being brought into the room as a precaution.  It was only know that they explained that Maternity Triage was busy and they usually spill over into CDU, there is nothing to worry about, they just want to do a couple of checks to put our mind at ease and then send us on our merry way.

The air in the room lifted, we breathed again, I saw colour come back into Clare's face which had almost turned transparent.  A consultant came to see us and explained that this is perfectly normal with a shortened cervix and if the baby moves Clare would feel with twinges, especially if it was hitting a nerve.  After a check over, the consultation was over and Clare and I were happy to head back home for the weekend with a little more confidence....but believe me, that was a scary couple of hours that I do not want to relive.

Thankfully our scan on Tuesday showed that cervix has lengthened and the funneling reduced (all be it by half a millimeter) which strengthens our chances and hopes

Our doctor has signed Clare off for 6 weeks and order more strict bed rest to happen

One more scare....why not?

I had booked babysitting and dog sitting duties for Saturday 10th October as Clare had given me a pass to go to the cinema.  To save undue giddiness from Chewie I took him out for his nightly walk a little early and took his favourite ball.  After about 20 minutes I got a call from Clare to come home asap as she was not feeling well.  As I rushed through the door Clare was white and shaking, she looked terrible.  Thankfully, our babysitter (my Ma) turned up at the same time and we rang the out of hours doctor.  Clare had been showing signs of infection for a couple of days, however, water samples had come back inconclusive. A few hours later, we were at the out of hours clinic picking up antibiotics.

We were given three possible reasons for the loss of Spud
1) Weak Cervix
2) Factor V Leiden causing a blood clot
3) Infection

We have now covered all three bases, so what else do you have to throw at us that again we will prosper over.

Clare and I are more determined now to be blessed and the coming weeks are going to be tough, but we are going to get there.