Good news to report. Oh my goodness, I was so anxious. I finished up work earlier than I thought I would and had two hours til my appointment. I grabbed a sandwich, and decided to just walk in and see if by chance they could see me an hour early. And they did!
I saw a male Dr. who I've never seen before and I really liked him. He seemed incredibly smart and very invested in my situation. I'm going to recount the appointment in detail for my own memory, but here's the gist:
Baby looks great. Heart rate was about 144bmp. Cervix is closed and still about 3.75 cm long. That is at least a half centimeter shorter than last time. That concerned me, but he assured me multiple times that it was normal, ok, and nothing to worry about. Everything looked great to him.
Then we talked about some stuff...
I told him that I was continuing to have a large amount of clear discharge and I was pretty sure it was bacterical vaginosis (BV) again he said it's a common issue with cerclage patients. I told him they treated me for it at 16 weeks, it went away, and not it's back in full force.
He explained to me that there was once a theory that BV can cause cervical issues and can cause the cervix to open, or cause preterm labor. He said there was then a very large study conducted with BV patients and that the results show that the original theory was untrue. He then went on to say that there was even a result that indicated that treatment of BV may even cause preterm labor.
This just left my head spinning. He then asked what I'd like to do. I didn't know what to say. I hate making these decisions. My gut was telling me to get the meds. So he gave me the prescription but also told me it was my choice whether I take it. Great!
I also mentioned to him that I've been having pain in my lower right side. Between my hip bone and my pelvic bone. I had this pain last time, too, but it started around 17 weeks and was accompanied by pressure. This time, the pain had shown up three times, starting last Sunday. We'd shopped at Sam's club and by the time we got in line, I had to go sit down. Once I sat, the pain was gone. It happened again on Monday when we walked into a couple shops after a lunch. And then again on Wednesday when I ran an errand. The Dr. laughed and said I was forbidden from shopping anymore. He seemed only slightly concerned with the pain issue, but said it was a good reminder to avoid being on my feet unnecessarily.
I asked him a ton of questions. I've learned that each doctor has their own view on things and I wanted to get his perspective. He went over everything with me and was really great at describing things.
He asked me to give him my story from start to finish, as this was our first meeting. So I did. Thanks to this blog, I have a really good memory of what happened and when.
He thought about it for a moment and then wrote me a script for a med I took it last time once on bed rest. I was told it was to prevent uterine contractions and they gave it to me just in case. He said to get it filled and take it and see if it relieves the pain in my side. If it does, then there will be a concern that I have uterine irritability that may have been a trigger in what happened last time. He basically said he didn't think that was the case, but that taking the med would not hurt me and may reveal more information about my condition. I appreciate the proactive approach.
I'm not sure how I"ll be able to tell if it works. The pain is not constant, and he doesn't want me to try to recreate the pain by going shopping, etc. But he said if I feel it, pop a pill and see what happens, so we'll see.
I could tell that he felt for me and he sensed my nervousness. He encouraged me to really take it easy for the next several weeks. He said, he knew he didn't have to remind me as I've lived through the worst outcome possible, but that the next several weeks are literally the difference between life and death. He didn't have to remind me, but it was nice to know he realizes that too and is concerned.
So, overall great news. And my first victory over last time. On this day in my last pregnancy I was 1cm dilated and on bed rest. So we are officially better off this time. Thankfully my next appointment is next Wednesday!
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