Unstitched

Today was The Big Day -- cerclage removal. It's a good thing I was anticipating pain, because there definitely were some marked moments of it. Deep breathing came in handy (didn't erase the pain, but helped me relax), and thankfully the procedure took less than 5 minutes. (If you would like a detailed account, please email me.)

There was no scar tissue that had grown over the mersilene or the nylon thread, although because the cerclage was placed very high at the top of the cervix, some amount of digging (for lack of a better word) was required. Uggggh. After my doc cut the mersilene and the thread (she said that the peri who placed it used the mersilene around the cervix and the nylon thread through the cervix like a figure-8), she held it up for me to see and explained what piece went where. I have pictures of both which I'll post tomorrow. Good news is that my cervix is "big", as my doc described to the nurse, which I took to mean "long" and not "open". She examined my cervix after the cerclage was removed and it was closed yet soft.

I'm under strict instructions not to go into labor this weekend because she'll be out of town with her family. We joked that we would be joining her. She introduced us to the on-call doc who was briefed about my situation. If I have any contractions or bleeding I'm to go straight to the hospital. Hmm, we should install the carseat, and my hospital bag is halfway packed. 

I feel the same physically, but now that there's just my iffy cervix between the baby and the outside world, I am a tiny bit on edge. But as my doc pointed out, baby won't come out without me knowing it. Although he won't knock, there will be contractions or bleeding or water breaking beforehand.

As for my gastrointestinal issues, my doc isn't concerned because the episodes are pretty sporadic, about 3x a day. I did lose 3 lbs since my last appointment a week ago Tuesday, and I plan to make it up once things clear up down there.

And we're off the hook for The Sex for a week, until I get to 37 weeks. (I think we're both relieved to not have that pressure to perform. Heeheee! I don't think we could stand all that laughing anyway!)