Sunday, May 23, 2010

Cercalge + Recovery

So the whole procedure was, well, weird. General anesthesia is a no-no in pregnancy, so when you have a cerclage placed you are fully aware and awake. I find operating rooms strange, and have been in many. They are cold, sterile places, as they should be. But they always seem so strangely large as well, which makes you feel even more vulnerable.

I was given a spinal, which was easy. The OR nurses were awesome, supporting and caring. I felt well taken care of. My legs started to get heavy and I was laid back on the table. I was covered in a blow up, heater blanket to keep warm. I was strapped down to the table at the hips and my legs were lifted into the hanging stirrups and draped. The table was tilted back, so my head was lower than my hips. Bright lights were illuminated and my OB went to work.

I had thankfully thought to ask if I was allowed to listen to my (eye)-pod. So as soon as the procedure began I cranked my music and closed my eyes. The whole thing was just too surreal to be present for it. I felt some tugging, pressing and pulling, but no pain. And it was done in a flash. I think I listened to less than 2 songs.

It took a long time for my feeling to come back in my legs. I spent hours in recovery gorging on crackers and juice. I was starved. About 5pm I finally made it to the bathroom and peed - which ok'ed my discharge. I was bleeding, though not bad.

I spotted on and off for the next 24 hours and had some pretty severe cramping for the 12 hours following the placement. What I did not expect was to get the dreaded spinal headache about 36 hours after anesthesia. I actually think mine was not as bad as it could have been. But the worst part was that I felt ok laying down, and felt like hell if I stood or sat up. So while I tried my best to not be confined to bed, it was really my only option for the following 3 days. What a drag. Upside? I did not change a diaper for 4 days! It was glorious!

A week following the cerlage placement I had a follow up with the Peri's and then my OB. The stitch looks great and my cervix is long and firm - though I wouldn't expect anything different at 13 weeks. I will be seeing the Peri's every other week and my Ob every other week - so an appointment every week. I feel good about the monitoring. My OB, in particular, is feeling really optimistic for me not seeing too much bedrest-- but I think he's nuts. Only time will tell.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad all is well. I'm hoping for a very different pg for you this time.

Anonymous said...

I came across your blog while you were pregnant with your little man. At the time we were looking for answers for our loss months earlier.
Today I decided to check out some blogs I used to "stalk" as I am suprisingly pregnant. My Cerclage was placed 2 weeks ago, and we are closing in on 16weeks, and which point I will also be starting p17 weekly.
Here's to keeping bedrest away, and safe uneventful really boring pregnancy!

B

mancavefamily.blogspot.com

Mel said...

So glad to hear that the procedure went well for you. (And a belated congrats on your BIG news!) *hugs*

Jenny said...

hi there, thanks for your blog for all the info.

My RE recomend MRI to see if I have BU or SU. I just did an MRI and got the image for my Uterus. There are many images from different angle but none of them looks as clear as the one you posted in 2007.

We did 1.5T MRI, which one did you do? 2.0T or 3.0T? is it 1.5T is good enough to get a clear image of uterus?

Thanks a lot.

sara said...

I'm going to stay optimistic as well for ya girl! I"m glad everything went okay - that headache sounds dreadful though :-( I hope that this week is going okay and update when you can. I still need to catch up with you. Thanks for the kind words - you're always the best ((hugs))

admin said...

Hi Jenny,
I would highly recommend you join the Mullerian Anomalies forum listed on the sidebar of my blog. The women there can help you weed through the images and if you find you have something readable, there is a volunteer doctor who is very experienced with MA who can give you an opinion.

I do not know the specifics of my MRI. But I do know that the tech and radiologist must be experienced enough with these conditions to be able to know how to take the correct picture. I have read it has something to do with the angle of the image.

Many women skip imaging all together since it is often unreliable or misread. In that case, they skip directly to a laparoscopy and hysteroscopy (out-patient surgery) to diagnose the problem.

Again, go the the MA forum with these questions. You will find much help there.

Meredith

Jenny said...

hi Meredith,

thanks for the response.

Based on the report from the radiologist, i have a "patial septate uterus with greater than 1cm thickness of septal myometrium indentified".

One of the imagmes looks like what you posted in 2007, just not as thick as in your image.

Do you know how thick was your septum?

My RE suggested me to do a a laparoscopy and hysteroscopy. He said he can't garrentee anything but worth a try.

My husband and i are a little bit scared about the laparoscopy. how did you find the lap? Did you stay at home for a while after lap/hys?

admin said...

Jenny,
Thickness is less of a concern than its existence alone. There are some cases where a septum can be deemed "small enough" but I would always advise people to go for the surgery. Miscarriage, which is the typical result of an intact septum, is sad, stressful and just plain scary. Miscarriage occurs when the embryo implants on or near the septum, and since the septum has no blood flow, the embryo can not be nourished. If you make is to later pregnancy, there are other risks including inter-uterine growth restriction, premature rupture of the membranes and preterm labor.

That said, I would strongly encourage you to have the surgery. It is a pretty simple outpatient procedure. I used pain meds for a day or so and was back to work in about 4 days - though everyone will experience a different recovery. After surgery you will want either and HSG or saline sono to make sure the surgery was a success. I was allowed to try again after 3 cycles.

Please also go here for more info: http://mulleriananomalies.blogspot.com/

I had my resection in Nov 2007. I am not sure how much I wrote about it here - if at all - but you can look it up. I would also encourage you to ask your RE how many septum resections they have performed. If he has never done one, I would look around for a qualified surgeon. If you join the MA Yahoo group, they have a database of doctors that have been recommended.

Meredith