My cervical cerclage horror story...

Cervical cerclage, also known as a cervical stitch, is a treatment for cervical incompetence or insufficiency, when the cervix starts to shorten and open too early during a pregnancy causing either a late miscarriage or preterm birth. Wikipedia

So.... shortly after the celebration of an unexpected pregnancy, came some harsh reality. Because I had a history of miscarriage, preterm lab, as well as an incompetent cervix, my doctor sent me to a perinatal specialist who quickly decided for the best interest of my baby, a cervical cerclage would need to be surgically placed in my cervix. I had never heard of a cerclage, which is also called a "stitch". I of course came home and went straight to google (lol). I read as much as I could about the procedure, weighed the pros and cons, and how can I forget.... My Ob/GYN doctor of the last 3 years did not perform these surgeries, so I had to find a new doctor! As if hearing you need a STITCH in your cervix isn't scary enough, now I had to find a new doctor, that I'd never met or laid eyes on, to do this procedure for me. I was told this would need to be done between 12-14 weeks, I was approaching the end of my 14th week. I found a doctor who was accepting new patients and also performed these surgeries. I got the earliest appointment available. He did an intake appointment and quickly scheduled my procedure for the following week at the hospital. I still wasn't certain I wanted to go through with this, but I knew I couldn't manage the loss of another baby, so what did I have to lose?

The morning of the surgery, I was still extremely nervous. Despite the fact that I had asked a million questions, it seemed I still had a million more. But I figured for the sake of my nerves, I would trust the doctor, and pray that everything went well. I arrived at the hospital at about 7am. The nurses were very welcoming, and did all the preliminary paperwork, blood work, and had me undress and put on a hospital gown. I asked about pain management, they didn't have much insight, but said the doctor could answer those questions when he arrived, which was shortly after. The doctor told me, I would be getting an epidural for the procedure, and that the procedure itself would only be a few short minutes. The fact I was getting an epidural scared me more, YOU MEAN I WOULD BE IN THAT MUCH PAIN THAT AN EPIDURAL IS NECESSARY? We began rolling into the operating room. Now, I have had previous operations, however I had never been awake or alert while being rolled into a operating room. Seeing all of the knives, and scissors, and devices was super scary, but tried to breathe through it, and stay calm. I got to the operating bed, and the anesthesiologist began to attempt to get the epidural in place. Unfortunately, this process took longer than the actual procedure. I must have gotten stuck 8 times in different places because for some reason the epidural was not doing it's job. I could feel everything they tested my level of numbness with! We stayed in the epidural phase of this thing for what seemed like eternity! Well, finally it seemed to have kicked in, and I felt pretty numb from the waist down. They put my legs in the air and secured them, then put a sheet up so I couldn't see what was going on "down there". Now, as long as it took to get that epidural right, for some reason when they started touching my lady parts, I could still feel EVERYTHING! In went the speculum, but this wasn't just any speculum, this felt like the BIG DADDY of speculums. I don't think I've ever felt opened up that wide, in life, ever. Next I start feeling some pulling and tugging, I couldn't call it pain yet, it was more like a super duper discomfort, next I feel actual PAIN. I screamed a bit, "I can feel THAT, that is PAIN", a nurse stood by my side and held my hand the whole time and tried to console me, bless her little heart. By this time the doctor was performing the "stitch" or "cerclage". He didn't seem to care about me feeling anything, he was in, and intended on continuing. The "pain" continued for a few short minutes, then I heard him say "that's all". I remember saying to myself "gee thanks"... IT was in fact short and sweet, but even with the epidural, I felt every single pinch. I spent the next few hours in recovery as I was still numb from the waist down. I was super tired and hungry by now. I hadn't ate since the night before at midnight per instruction, and I think the stress and anxiety of the procedure wore me out. Finally, the epidural wore off and I could move my legs, the nurse made sure I could use the ladies room, and soon I was discharged and able to go home.

The aftermath- I made it home, and was surprised at how very sore I was. "Down there" hurt as if someone had been using my lady parts for a punching bag, and a lot of pressure. My back hurt from so many needles. I could actually see the needle marks up and down my back when I checked the mirror. I stayed on bed rest for about 2 weeks, and believe me, I needed every day of it. Walking to the ladies room was a task, I had to hunch over like a 80 year old woman just to walk. This was truly hell! I can't sugar coat or put it any other way, it hurt, it was terrible, and if I should ever become pregnant again, I would explore every other option before considering this one again. Did it do the job it was supposed to do; which is to prevent my cervix from dilating prematurely and avoiding preterm labor, YES IT DID, and for that I am thankful. In the next few blogs you will read about having the cerclage removed.

#Cerclage #cervicalcerclage #cervicalstitch #highriskpregnancy #cerclageprocedure #theariellegrace #ariellegrace