The Short Cervix Club

[Pizdets]

Given the high number of threads started in 'pregnancy' on short/incompetent cervixes of late, I thought I'd have a crack at starting a club which we can join to share how we're getting on and pool the information we've been given which hopefully can also reassure or inform other ladies coming on here and worried about the state of their cervixes.

I'll kick off with a bit about my own story:

I'm currently 24+4, due 26th September. I had a scan at the prem clinic at Queen Charlotte's in London who measured my cervix as 2.3/2.4cm and advised a stitch (they do this for anyone who measures under 2.5cm). I had the stitch put in at 15 weeks with a spinal block and so far so good - I'm walking the dog, doing pregnancy yoga, still fairly active and no problems or twinges at all (so far!).

Please feel free to share your experiences, ask questions or update, it's great to hear from other people going through the same worry and so reassuring to know if things are going well!

Piz

Great news Holly, so pleased for you! Hopefully you will be able to relax a bit more now!

All ok here, enjoyed a lazy dog walk in the sunshine, got back and husband and dog have crashed out leaving me watching crap tv. Am also a keen quilter so busy embroidering a quilt for the baby when he comes.

Nice long cervix thoughts to everyone else, hope all going ok!

Piz

Just back from cervix scan. All looks good and got great news too...sex is back on the menu! Apparently after 27 weeks they say it's ok with a condom if your cervix looks ok. Mr Pizets is very happy!

Bit quiet on here recently, hope everyone is ok!

Piz

Really Piz... Wow! I am 27+3 now.... Not been given that advice though so not sure I dare... The stakes are very high as the twins are only just over 2lbs each at last scan, so still so tiny!! I might risk it at 36 weeks!!

Hello ladies! So glad we are doing well and that your scans were good.

I'm 26 weeks tomorrow.

Have been feeling really good, then raging thrush/UTIs came back with a vengeance. It's virtually impossible to sit down and not a huge deal to be done about it. Probiotics helped before but not this time it seems :(

As I'm sure you can imagine, lots of worry about stitch being infected, premature labour as a result etc etc, but trying to stay positive.

Piz am loving that sex is back on the menu! I am not sure about it as when using a caneesten pessary, I could feel the stitch (sorry tmi) so am sure husband could too.....it is deff one I shall be asking the doc about.

Legally, I'd be nervous with twins too, and of course so much different information given to everyone on here...so can understand you sticking with your own HCPs.

Kelly, so sorry to hear about your thrush/utis. Have you tried live yoghurt 'up there'? My mum swears by it. Theysaid to use a condom and stop if he feels the stitch. But I plucked up the courage to check specifically that I can have my own orgasms so even if we can't have full penetrative sex we can at least amuse each other (sorry if tmi!). Def ask the doctor about it, it's been the nicest surprise of this pregnancy so far!

Hope your probs clear up a bit for you soon, will keep fingers crossed for you.

Piz

hi piz, haven't tried live yoghurt, but this is now next on my list!

love you plucking up the courage to ask about orgasms, i REALLY want to do this at my next appt (two weeks time).

bear in mind i live in a muslim country so it feels even more embarrassing to ask - but am getting so desperate, i think i will have to front it out!

Google the live yoghurt before you do it because it's been years since my mum told me about it! But apparently somehow the active bacteria in the yoghurt counteract the bacteria in the thrush and it's supposed to be a good gentle way to clear it up. Also - have you had a firm diagnosis of thrush? I had what I thought was dreadful thrush for years and it kept recurring and recurring and eventually I want to a specialist who found out it wasn't thrush at all but a skin condition! Within a couple of weeks it was under control and much better. Just worth considering if you've not had a swab?

Do ask about the orgasms, it's embarrassing but we're grown married women, we shouldn't have to be ashamed about this! I'm soooooo pleased I asked because it's made the next 9.5 weeks (eeek!) seem so much more bearable.

Hope everyone else is OK and sorry for the TMI in my post!

Piz

Hello all, it has been ages since I checked in!

Firstly, OMG sex may have been on the cards since 27 weeks? I am 35 weeks tomorrow!!! Arrgh! Sadly I have gotten so huge and uncomfortable I think the logistics rule it out here...

Have also been having wild braxton hicks, but only when I have gotten fed up and overdone things. Like stupidly putting together flat pack furniture! What I was told was if they don't get worse with each one, are infreaquent, and stop when you change what you are doing, then you are fine. Also with the discharge, I have had a massive increase since being pregnant. Both creamy white and thinner clear stuff that has me panicing about a leak everytime. I always ask at anti natal appointments, and they always say it it totally normal.

I am pleased to hear everyone seems to be doing well. Worried, but well, but I guess that is to be expected!

I get my stitch out a week tomorrow. Will definately be here the next day to tell you all about that! Then, three weeks afterwards, I will be having an elcs. Hard to believe that in four weeks at the most, all being well, we will finally be meeting Tiny.

Sending more long, closed cervix thoughts to us all!

Hi ladies

Rainbow, great news that you are so far along and piz thanks for the advice. Been swabbed and blood tested to within an inch of my life!

Not great news for me today, had been feeling rubbish due to UTIs etc so mu consuotant said to come straight back into hospital.

scanned me and huge panic as baby's head is extremely low, right behind pubic bone and actually hard to see on scan as so low (not sue eid this what 'engaged' means, was too stunned to ask?)

I had thought that something felt 'off' due to cervix feeling so low and being able to feel the stitch, didn't think it would be this though. Am signed off and on immediate bed rest. Getting another scan on Sunday to see if the baby has moved back up ( apparently they can) so fingers crossed.

Am so not ready for this baby to come at 26 weeks :(

Oh Kelly, how scary.... Can you be on bedrest at home, or is it hospital bedrest for the duration now? A close friend of mine was in this situation - had short cervix issues then head engaged and she began contractions at 26 weeks. They immediately transferred her to a bigger hospital on the mainland (she lives on an island - I know lots people who live on Jersey and Guernsey through my work!) and was on hospital bedrest, plus drugs to stop contractions and steroids just in case. The baby held on until almost 38 weeks and she went home the next day!!

Thinking of you and please keep us posted x x

Hi legally. It's bed rest at home. Have been having Braxton hicks too since early on which is quite scary. Hoping they don't turn into the proper thing. Have had the steroid injections at 24 weeks and am also using progesterone suppositiories every day.so glad your friend went to 38 weeks, and funnily enough, I'm from jersey originally!

Obviously will do whatever the doc says in terms of bed rest and work, but this is extra stressful as I live in a country with minimal maternity so stopping work more or less equals no salary. And we are having to pay to go private which is an arm and a leg. A baby in NICU is 1k gbp per day.

Fingers crossed on Sunday the baby has moved up.

Thanks for the support, it really does help :)

Kelly I am sorry you are going through such a frightening time :( I am glad your consultant is taking you seriously though, and hope you are surrounded by good RL support too.

Oh wow, Kelly, so sorry to hear your news! At least the good news is they've identified a problem and you can take action. Did I already mention my friend who was born at 29 weeks? She's about 5' 11", blonde and athletic and one of the top people in her field at what she does - thinking about her really reassures me as you'd never know she was born so early (I didn't know at all, she told me after I told her about the stitch).

Also loving Legally's story about her friend who got to 38 weeks, that's a really hopeful story and a good sign for you and all of us!

Can you work from bed at all? Or is that a really stupid question? I work from home and reckon I could prob do about 70% of my job horizontal, but then I suppose mental attitude is as important as lying down. Keeping fingers crossed for Sunday for you!

Rainbox, I can't believe your stitch is coming out already, it feels like time is flying. When you first responded to me I think you were only about 22 weeks and it all seemed so new. Will be on here pressing 'refresh' all day waiting for an update and hoping (for your sake as well as the rest of us!) that it's quick and painless and doesn't set anything off too quickly! I found out on Monday that mine will come out on the labour ward, which surprised me as it was put in by the prem clinic and I've been monitored there ever since. Where will you have yours out?

Sending love and long cervix thoughts to everyone else (and 'get back in there' thoughts to Kelly's baby!).

Piz

Piz you are right, am glad I went in and they discovered that the head was engaged, otherwise who knows what might have happened next.

In theory I absolutely can do the nuts and bolts of my job whilst horizontal, it would impact on my clients and team a lot though so I'm really not sure how work will react. My MD has been very supportive so far, she had a 'miracle' baby after lots of problems and being told she was infertile, so am hoping she will be sympathetic. Legally, they don't have to do anything where I live so it really is at their discretion.

Have been lounging around for one day, so unlike me, feels likes weeks!

Hope everyone is doing well, sending huge amounts of positive vibes ( even more than usual, I have a lot of time on my hands!) and hope to keep hearing good news from everyone :)

Hey Kelly, thinking of you, hope all going ok and everything's staying put!

Piz

Hi everyone, back from my hols and believe it or not I managed to relax and not worry, I even swam in the pool and it was soooo good for me to be anxiety free for a couple of weeks! Had a brilliant time! Have had a sharp pain coming and going on my right side since sat night, I'm telling myself it's just round ligament pain (did anyone else have that?) but am determined not to start googling appendicitis and ovary issues (I had an enlarged ovary filled with fluid noted on my 8 week private scan) - I am trying not to get back from my hols and start stressing straight away! Have my 20 week scan tomorrow so will mention it then and ask them to look at the cervix too, am looking forward to it.

kelly poor you, how did the scan go yesterday? Thinking of you. A girl in my office was born at 27 weeks, no probs. I'm still hoping yours moves away and stays put for now and am glad they spotted the potential signs so they're watching it.

hi everyone. thanks so much for the support.

so, I went back for a scan and baby had moved up a bit - so am allowed to work, have to try to keep feet up (not easy at desk!) and as soon as i get home, get flat on my back. consultant even suggested lying with my legs up against a wall! so that's good news, for now.

needless to say, we are so relieved. it was just awful and made worse by the fact it was such a huge panic in the hospital and not what was expecting at all.

have glucose test this thursday and another scan next week. am constantly worried when the baby kicks are low in case it is engaging again.

alexandra your holiday sounds lovely and just what you needed! stay away from dr google :)

hello piz! and hope all other ladies are doing well and our babies are staying firmly put!

Hi new to this thread I'm currently 19/40 and had stitch 6 weeks ago. My story a bit different to usual I think ...
I was butchered mistreated by an incompetent midwife / doctor when I had dc1 and they really damaged my cervix. Vagina...everything really.
I was ill with dc1 and told I needed drugs that would make him much larger than expected. I was also told I would need elcs but then my consultant left and I got a new cow bag of one who decided that elcs was not needed even though I was measuring 40cms by 30 weeks pregnant and I am not very tall, with a family history of very small babies. (most babies in my family have been 4-6lbs)
I pleaded with doc for elcs but was told I would only be offered early induction so I was bullied into that really . It was so upsetting to know things were going to go wrong in advance but to not have anyone onside.
I was induced at 39 weeks measuring about 50cms and on delivery suit when I got to10cms dilated. i knew straight away dc was stuck he just wasn't moving but was told I was being dramatic by the midwife this went on for over 2 hours. Dc's heart rate then dropped to 40 and it wss all panic stations 3 doctors and 4 nurses came in realised baby was also breach midwife failed to notice this in the at least 5 internals I'd had. Theatre 'wasnt an option' by that point not sure why so I was then was given emergency episiostomy ( which went wrong they cut to high to far) all without pain relief as I'd just been using gas and air that was taken off me so I could concentrate! Dc was literally dragged out of me with much drama a crash team for him and a crash team for me o think half the hospital were there! Thank goodness dc was ok. I lost more than 60% of my blood had no recordable blood pressure and my heart rate was about 170 I remember nothing of this! I went straight to theatre for emergency surgery was there 8 hours.
Anyway as a result of everything my cervix and vagina were really damaged. They can't be fixed until my 'family complete" so I had to have cerclage with current pregnancy due to the injuries.
Its a little bit complicated though as I can't have internal scans due to the damage internally so no one can really monitor me. Im on modified bedrest and I am counting the days until 24 weeks pregnant then 28 then 36 when I should be getting elcs. Obviously I'm under s different hospital who were mortified when they got my notes from previous hospital. I'm due November but not telling anyone for a while yet I just can't wait until this lo is safely in my arms.... Sorry for war and peace everyone :)

Oh my goodness youaintallthat sounds like a very stressful time for you! You're very welcome here at the Short Cervix Club, between us I'm sure we must have enough horror stories to put anyone off pregnancy for life, but we still seem to be soldiering on.

Have you made a complaint about the last hospital? I hope you feel more confident with the new one and are getting the support you need.

Kelly good news you're back (partly) on your feet and don't have to worry about missing work etc. Well done baby for knowing that it wasn't time yet!

Alex your holiday sounds amazing and am very jealous! As someone currently sweating from the most inappropriate places a dip in a pool would be too good to be true right now!

Rainbox, am I right in thinking it's tomorrow your stitch comes out? If so then sending you a huge fingers crossed and staying tuned for the gory details.

I met a girl on the tube yesterday whose sister had a due date 2 days before mine...and who had her baby last week! She's still in the hospital but so far so good, brain and lungs seem to be doing OK, she's putting on weight etc. Obviously not best case scenario but thought I'd share as stories like that always reassure me a bit!

I'm seeing the midwife on Friday who should book me in for the stitch removal in about 7/8 weeks. Currently working myself into a state as the baby is breech. I know it's early days but I keep reading stories about people's babies turning at 37/38 weeks - I might not get that far! I think I just need something to worry about, to be honest.

Hope all the other short cervix ladies are doing well and looking forward to hearing news.

Piz

Eek youaintallthat sounds awful, it scares me how much faith we have to put in doctors/midwives/consultants. Although there are some great ones out there. Lots of luck.

kelly that's great news, and yes well done baby for staying put!

Good luck rainbow

piz how far are you exactly now? Around 27/28 weeks isn't it? Nice story about that girl on the tube, it is reassuring to know you're past the point where the baby stands a good chance of survival I've still got a good few weeks to go for that but feels better each week.

At the risk of sounding massively cheesy, just wanted to say thanks for the support from all of you when I was deciding on the stitch etc, I've feeling more positive now about things and just wanted to say thanks as it's brilliant talking to others with the same worries etc!

Hi thanks for accepting me to your thread...
Pizdets I've complained just waiting for it to be sorted. My new hospital is great I'm under a really nice.consultant who agreed to do the stitch without my previous notes arriving or internal scan. I was expecting a right performance about it but he just took the history from me and booked me in 4 days later for proceedure.
Then when i mentioned csection and was expecting another battle (he had my notes by this point) hewas all for it. Couldn't be more different to last hospital.
Alexandra6 it is scary being pregnant and having to trust consultants especially if you think they're wrong. But like you say there are some great ones I was just unlucky last time. But at least ds was ok despite all the mess ups.

I am finding it difficult being on bed rest though I live about 10 mins away from friends and family and have only had one visitor in 2 months. A lot of my friends don't have cars so I think have got reliant on me making all the effort. I'm constantly getting texts saying I'm miserable cos I haven't seen them in weeks. I keep saying come up but getting texts back saying it's too far can't you just drive to see us.
Sorry for moaning but a friend o haven't seem in weeks textd me this morning saying we've got to meet up. I said whenever you want to call by do I'm always home to which she textd back saying oh never mind will see you when you're up and about! Didn't realise my friends were so fine weather. Sorry to moan on second post just feel so isolated

Welcome youaintallthat, I'm sorry you have had such a horrific time! Glad this hospital are treating you better. I can't believe everything you have gone through. You are clearly a very strong person. Glad to hear your DS is well despite everything. Pregnancy, even a totally uncomplicated one, can be hugely isolating. I'm sorry your friends are being so crap. Do you at least have a supportive partner? I have found mumsnet to be a great help. I am 36 weeks with my second pregnancy, my first child was born last year at 24 weeks, and sadly died two weeks later.

Alex your holiday sounds wonderful, and just what you needed! I am not coping with the heat here very well. Think I am eating about 20 ice lollies a day! Also, stay away from Dr Google! He is no one's friend! I had all sorts of odd aches and pains form about 20-30 weeks, most of them are utterly, utterly normal :)

Kelly glad you are having a better time too. Everything is just terrifying, isn't it? You are doing so well. Hope work are being kind to you, I am glad you have an MD who maybe understands some of what you may be feeling.

Piz lovely story about the girl on the tube. As soon as you hit 28 weeks the odds of all being well really do sky rocket. I know I never thought I would see 36, but here I am! There is still plenty of time for miniPiz to turn though, I hope you are not too worried.

I am in tomorrow for the stitch removal! I think they do them in the labour ward up here, we don't really have a separate prem clinic. I have heard that the chance of labour kicking off is only about 3%, so really low. They are planning to take the stitch out, observe me for a couple of hours and then let me go. If anything is going to happen, it will happen really quickly. I am kind of nervous, I have no idea what to expect! My consultant reckons most of the time the removal is no worse than a smear test. I promise I will be back on as quick as I can for a full and gory debrief!

Baby-Stay-Put Vibes for all x x

Alex, I' actually 29 weeks tomorrow! Don't know where the time goes! I've also got a lot out of talking to you all on here, very reassuring to not feel so alone and to be able to compare experiences, so thanks.

youaint Good job for making a complaint about the last hospital. Of course you can't change what happened but it sounds like you were treated dreadfully. Good news that your new consultant is so sensible and willing to take care of you as you need.

Sorry your friends are being rubbish, I've been quite lucky that the stitch hasn't changed much for me so I'm still able to meet people and go out, think it would be a different story if I were to try and get them all to come here. Can you organise something formal like tea and cake one weekend afternoon and ask a few people round? Maybe once they've been and seen you it'll hit home that you're not just being grumpy!

Rainbox fingers crossed for you tomorrow. I was also told only a 3% chance of going into labour there and then which is quite reassuring. Hope there's a decent amount of time but your little one doesn't hang on too long either! I was also told it's like getting a smear, think I need to take your advice on Dr Google for this and not look! But then some people say having an amnio is agony and when we had one last year it was almost entirely painless, so I think the internet is full of people with low pain thresholds!

Off to NCT tonight. it's interesting but I do feel like a bit of a special case as half the info she gives out is then followed by 'but this won't apply to you with your stitch, Pizdets'.

Thinking of you especially tomorrow Rainbox and of everyone else as standard!

Piz

Hi everyone, I am still here lurking!

Hope you ok Kelly, and good luck tomorrow Rainbow!

I am soldiering on, I have another cervical scan next Thursday which I am starting to get nervous about.

I seem to have a week or so where I am relaxed and then the fear creeps back in :(

I hope this is not TMI but I have some sensations and feelings down below that I worry about, they could be cervix related or they could be normal pregnancy things - I feel much more swollen there than usual, sometimes I feel numb and tingly.. also I get twingy feelings in front and back. On occasions, I have had a feeling as if there is something inside the vagina, a bit like there is a tampon in slightly skewed. This comes and goes.

Also I think i can feel baby kicking or punching my cervix areas which feels like bubbles popping on the inside - It makes me really jump when it happens.

Does any any one have the same and should I be worried?

holly how far are you again? I had the tampon-in-wonky-and-falling-out feeling (exactly how I described it at the time) at 17ish weeks and went to EPU, sat for hours for emergency scan and then they said all looked fine. So I put it down to blood build up (you have more blood down there), could even be those varicose vains or swollen vagina people get in pregnancy. Go to EPU though if you need reassurance.

Oh and depending how far along you are, the pains could be lightning crotch, pregnant friends warned me about that. Bet it's going to make me anxious when I'm further along.

Sorry, baby brain - you have the stitch don't you?