Cerclage Round #2

The morning of Aug. 22, I woke up anxious for my cerclage surgery. I knew what to expect, but I think no matter how many times you've had surgery, it's always slightly nerve racking + putting a baby's life (& pregnancy hormones) in the mix of it, makes all the emotions even stronger.

Duke spent the night at my parents house the night before since we had to be to the surgical center bright and early. It was our first night without him, and although I don't see him past 7 pm anyways, just the thought of not having him home was sad. I missed that sweet boy. 

We checked into the hospital at 7 am sharp on Monday morning. I changed into my lovely gown + fluffy hospital socks (am I the only one who loves those?!). Blood was drawn, heart rate monitor was attached and the IV was inserted. I was ready to go!

I was much more relaxed this time around. Being wheeled into the operating room, I was joking with the nurses and didn't feel anxious at all. The sleep medicine was inserted through the IV, and a few deeps breaths later, while in mid-sentence, I was out cold (quite literally though, the room was like 60 degrees!). My last cerclage, I had a spinal tap and was wide awake during the whole surgery. Although I was completely numb, I could still feel pressure and see the tools the Dr was using, which was quite disturbing. So, to say I was so relieved when I got to sleep this time around would be an understatement!

About 45 minutes later, which felt like 30 seconds, I was waking up in a different room with different nurses. It took me a few minutes to realize what was going on and where I was... and then I realized how much pain I was in. The thing about being put to sleep, is I wasn't numb, so as soon as I woke up, I was feeling things I didn't want to feel. That quickly went away when the pain medicine kicked it. Then, all I could think about is the soonest I could eat. Not letting a pregnant woman eat is no joke. I hadn't eaten in 12 hours, and on a normal day, I can't go over 2 hours without throwing up! My sweet nurse gave me a blue popsicle to get some sugar in my system, and funny thing is, I've been craving them ever since!

I was wheeled into my recovery room where I met up with Chad. Life was pretty great at this point. Pain meds in my system, a successful surgery, and I'm reunited with my man. I was feeling good-to-go until I stood up to use the bathroom and almost passed out. I was worried I wasn't going to make it back to my bed in time! Pale and blurry vision, I crawled into my hospital bed and fell asleep. Luckily, all this pregnant mama needed was a little more sleep. A little shut eye + a Kneaders lunch that Chad picked up, made all of the difference and we were checking out before I knew it. 

Overall, it was a great experience and I'm so grateful for Dr Jacobs for performing the surgery. I'm very hopeful in the stitch and crossing my fingers I can steer clear of bed rest this time around. Between my regular OBGYN and the maternal fetal medicine appointments, I'm being seen about once a week, which has made pregnancy fly by, plus, I love being able to listen/see baby more often!

I have my first cervix check since the surgery next week and I'm anxious to see if there's been any changes + I'm crossing my fingers we'll be able to definitely tell the gender! At my 12 week appointment, the high risk Dr gave a guess what she thinks it is, so I guess we'll see if she's correct!

Baby DeVore #2

We are SO excited to announce that Baby DeVore #2 is on its way! We have been anticipating adding another babe to our bunch, so to say we're excited would be an understatement. The official due date is February 23, 2017, which makes Duke and the babe almost exactly 25 months apart. I'm currently 13 weeks and we're so anxious to find out the gender in a couple weeks!

So, as many can remember, my first pregnancy was stressful. You can read about it here. With emergency surgery and very strict bed rest for 16 weeks, it made for a roller coaster of emotions and a complete lifestyle change. I've had many people ask what my situation will be like this time around. So here's the scoop...

For those that don't know, I was diagnosed with an incompetent cervix with my first pregnancy. So basically, my cervix opens without any signs (no contractions or pre-term labor signs), and it starts to open in the second trimester, and you don't know it's opening until you're in labor, and by that point, it's too late to do anything to keep the baby in. Duke's situation was seriously a miracle because most people who have an incompetent cervix lose their first baby, because they're born so early in the second trimester. With Duke, he would've been born around 21 weeks if we wouldn't have gone to California to be seen by Dr. DeVore at 20 weeks.

This pregnancy, since we already know about the incompetent cervix, I'm scheduled to have a cerclage on Monday, Aug. 22! A cerclage is a surgery that stitches your cervix shut. Since I'm having the surgery before the cervix even opens, the Dr. will be able to put the stitch at the top of the cervix, instead of my last pregnancy, they were barely able to stitch the last 1.5 centimeters of my cervix (so crazy to think I was SO close to going into labor at 20 weeks). 

Since I'm considered a high risk pregnancy, I've been following up with my regular OBGYN and the Maternal Fetal Specialist at UVRMC every couple weeks. It's nice to know I'm being seen by some of the best high risk Dr's in the valley and I know I'm in great hands. As long as my cervix cooperates and stays shut and doesn't funnel through the stitch, I shouldn't have to be on bed rest! I almost started crying tears of joy when I heard the news! We're very hopeful that the surgery will be successful and I'll be able to have a "normal" pregnancy! We're excited to see where this journey takes us and feeling grateful for all of the Dr's that make this surgery possible!