Pregnancy Story Part 5: 19 week anatomy scan and a Cerclage

So February 5th was the big day for my anatomy scan. I was going by myself that day, because Jav had to work, he had gotten a new position at work and could not miss any time do to being in training. We had decided to not find out the sex of the baby anyhow so all he really was going to be missing was seeing the baby on the screen. My appt was scheduled for 215 so I left work at about 140 and went to obstetrix. I actually got in pretty quick being back in the sonogram room at 220. The teach, Becca, started my scan and took her time measuring the baby. When it came time for her to take a look at that area she asked if I wanted to know the sex and I told her no, so she told me to look away so there were no accidents. After she finished there she was scanning around, and she said that she found something she did not like and asked if she could do a vaginal ultrasound. I agreed so she left the room so that I could get undressed. When she came back she started the scan and she said that what she was seeing was not good. She told me that my cervix was really short and had already begun to dilate. She wanted to go get the doctor to talk to me and she said that I should call my work to tell them that I would not be back that day. I was freaking out. I knew that I was not supposed to be dilating that early so I started crying and was really scared. I called my work and I started explaining to Susan what was going on and she was relaying to Eileen. Susan said "so what does this mean?" and Eileen in the background snapped "It means she is not coming back today". She was mad that I would not be back. I was hurt, because here I am scared and not knowing what was going on and my work is mad cause I cant come back. That made it even worse. So the tech comes back and takes me to the Doctor's office. The doctor explained to me that I was 1cm dilated already and that my cervix was measuring 1.1 cm in length (which is really short). She explained that I had two options at that point. One of the options was to go home and do bedrest and hope that the baby stayed put until it was supposed to come. The other option she gave me was to get a Cerclage, She explained that a cerclage was a procedure where they are basically stitching your cervix shut. She did explain that of course there were risks with this procedure, like possibly rupturing the amniotic sac or infection that would cause the baby to come anyway. She also explained that this was not a gaurantee that the baby would not come early but it was an attempt and that it does work sometimes. This was so hard for me, because Jav was not with me, I was forced to make quick and possibly life saving decisions for our baby all by myself. I was so scared. I decided to get the cerclage. So the doctor found someone to take me over to the hospital (obstetrix is contracted with the hospital to provide high risk care, so they are on the hospital grounds) andthe whole time we were walking over there the lady kept saying "I wish I had a wheel chair for you, you should not be walking!" which was freaking me out even more, she was making it sound like my baby was going to fall out right there (Which I later find out just how serious it could be). They admitted me through triage rather than making me go through the front of the hospital and got me changed into a gown and put me in a bed. They put an iv in my arm and they drew blood and made me give a urine sample and they had me wait becasue they were also going to make me have an amniocentisis but the doctor had to do that. So as I was sitting in the room by myself waiting for the doc to come in, I called my mom and told her what was going on, and I called Jav's brother and toldhim to please bring Jav as soon as Jav got off work, and explained to him what was going on. I called my work back to tell them what was going on and this time Eileen was alot more understanding. After that I watched TV until the doctor came in with the sonogram machine to do the amnio. Her and a nurse were going to so it so they iodined my belly and they started looking for a spot to stick the needle. The doctor poked it to make sure the baby wouldn't move, so of course it did. We went through this about three ti8mes before she was able to get the needle in to get the fluid she needed. She sent the fluid off for testing because they could not do a cerclage if there was an infection in there. She said it did not look infected though. She showed it to me and said that if it were infected most the time it would be cloudy and mine was nice and clear. So after that I was left alone til people came. I watched TV, but not really hearing it or anything. I spent alot of time looking at my sonogram pictures and hoping that this procedure would work for me. Finally Jav and Babby got there around 5ish and I filled Jav in on everything and he said that he agreed with my choices. So we mostly sat around, the boys talking about things and me just listening. My mom showed up after awhile. Bobby went out to meet his dad and step mom, we were supposed to have dinner with them that night, and when Jav told them what was going on and cancelled they decided to come. On the way back in, Bobby ran into Jess, She is an old friend of Jav's and is a nurse at the hospital. So she took over being my nurse which was nice, because She told jav everything we needed to know. She did say that I was more than likely going to have to be on bedrest for the rest of the pregnancy, even with the cerclage. So that was another thing I started to worry about. My bills and such. What the hell was I going to do?!? So we all sat around everyone talking, I mostly just listening. I wasnt in much of a talking mood, and so I just sat there. Finally around 830 or 9ish they moved me to labor and delivery where I met with the guy that was going to give me the epidural for the procedure. around 10 is when they came and got me and took me to an OR. Once in there they gave me the epidural, and then they got to work. Michael, the epidural guy, stayed there and talked with me throughout the procedure, and I listened to my ipod. It took a little longer than expected because they had a hard time plaing it, but eventually got it. So when we were done, they took me back to the L&D room to recover. I was there til about 1 am when they moved me to the anti partum unit. I didnt get that much sleep that night because of the catheter, andwoke up the next morning to the nurse checking my vitals. I asked her to take the catheter out and she said that they couldnt yet but she would ask. It came out around 9 am and then I was taken to get another TVU to see how the cerclage was holding. It had given me a little more length and closed me up so I was not dilated anymore. I got more sonogram pictures which I liked. They kept me in the hospital til saturday afternoon and then sent me home with instructions to stay in bed at least until my next TVU a week away. So I went home and started my bedrest journey.