thtsag on "What I learned from my IC pregnancy"

I was pregnant with twins. Baby A's water completely ruptured at 18 weeks. By the time I was checked by a sonogram it had been 12 hours later. My cervix was closed, so they say. My Dr's tried to tell me it was a fluke' a random infection from the bacteria that live in my vagina and somehow got into my closed uterus. The next day, Dalton's foot was exposed out my vagina since I was 1cm dialted. There was little we could do to save the other baby due to risk of infection. I waited it out 2 weeks before I had to deliver both.
I asked my Dr's (George Branning of Baylor Frisco, TX and David Gore) how bacteria can infect something in my uterus if my uterus is closed. The said it was from IVF. Idiots. I asked how Dalton's foot could decened out my vagina without hard labor and they couldn’t give me an answer. The answer was I had an incompetent cervix. I had 2 LEEP's and twins. The Dr's missed all of this. LEEPs do not cause IC but it is a risk factor and I should have been told about a cerclage. Like I said idiots.
Upon researching IC I found things I had no clue about, this being my first pregnancy. I will share with you what I know now. :
1. The cervix is the bottom portion of the uterus. 1/3 of it is in your vagina the other 2/3rds can be accessed through your abdomen.
2. If you have any type of trauma to your cervix i.e. LEEPS, CONES, difficult previous births where cervix was damaged or other cervical surgeries it can compromise the length and the strength giving you an incompetent cervix. Know many girls with LEEPs and have had full term babies so it is a risk factor not a sentence. You can also have nothing done to your cervix and have an incompetent cervix.
3. Long cervixes can be weak.
4. Weak cervixes open up preterm. If your cervix is very weak preterm means before viability.
5. The majority of your baby’s weight is on your cervix 15-24 weeks. After that your pelvis helps take the pressure off the cervix.
5. Incompetent cervix is not easily diagnosed unless a sono shows funneling, early dilation or short cervix. Usually it takes a 2nd trimester loss to diagnosis IC. Drs are not quick to diagnosis this. You do not have to funnel or have a shorten cervical length to have a miscarriage due to IC. My cervix opened up 3 days after I got a sono where it showed my cervix was long and closed.
6. Your water can break and the pressure released from that can cause your cervix to close, leaving it hard for the Drs to diagnose IC.
7. 25% 2nd tri losses are due to true IC. Infections, PROM, preterm labor leading to birth are all related to IC.
8. twins/trips other high multiple births because more weight on a cervix. When there is too much weight a cervix thinks the baby is full term and opens up. This is why multiples are born so early. So early does not necessarily mean past viability. As with me my cervix opened up at 18 weeks. There are many twins/trips born full term. One girl I cyceld with just delivered her 7lbs each twins at 37 weeks. Just because you have HOM does not mean you automatically have IC. Talk with your DR. Some insurance companies who paid for your IVF procedure will recommend a cerclage if you have trips or more.
9. If your Dr. suspects IC, the next course will be a cerclage placed vaginally during your next pregnancy. If this fails there are other options.
10. You can have an IC in one pregnancy but not the other.
11. Unless there is obvious reasons for your Dr to believe IC (visibly short cervix, cervix flushed with the vagina), they take a less aggressive approach on cerclages and wait and see.
12. Cercalges can cause more harm than good. do not take a "pro active approach" you will do more harm than good. If you have no history of 2nd trimester losses, you probably don’t have an IC.
13. Some times there is little way to predetermine IC before a loss. So talk with you DR about your concerns, if you think this applies.
14. There are two types of cerclages: vaginal and abdominal. If you have IC or suspect you have IC research the pros and cons of both.
15. If your search leads you to an abdominal cerclage get it placed by a Dr who does many of them. It makes a huge difference. Dr. Haney of Chicago and Dr. Davis of New Jersey have done many. LAP TACS have failed.
17. I am not here to scare you. IC is not common. Repeat: IT IS NOT COMMON. It will not happen to everyone. If you experienced a loss it does not automatically mean it is IC. Your cervix is meant to be strong; it usually takes a lot to open it up (hence 36 hours in labor or c-sections due to cervix not dilating)
Please read this information and take it as information. It is not a scare tactic or a sales pitch for cerclages. What happen to me does not happen to everyone. I wish I knew this stuff before I got my twins. But I don’t think I would have listened then. Pregnancy has so many things to worry about, talk with your Drs. but also do your own research and trust your instincts. If I listened to my Dr's without doing my own research I would have lost another child before I found out I have IC. On that note, even the best Drs can miss this, it is hard to diagnose and sometimes infection gets the blame. If you have any questions PM me, I will help with anything I can.