Week 36: Ditching the Stitch

We ditched the stitch aka removing the cerclage. Thank you to baby J, Dr. Tabsh, and this strong piece of string [see my souvenir below] that has held our growing baby in. I was so curious about what the procedure was going to be like since it is usually done in a regular doctor's office. Some people say it hurts like a mofo and some say it's painless. Since I have such a high pain tolerance, I didn't worry too much about the procedure. BUT the more I googled and researched, the more I became worried. 50% of women go into labor right after the removal and the other 50% end up waiting weeks.

Anyways, we arrived to Dr. Tabsh's office and, per usual, ended up waiting for a couple hours. The wait is so normal and now I understand how dedicated and talented he is, I would wait hours, days to meet with him. We ended up doing an ultrasound first and my cervix length stayed put! It was measuring around 3 cm now (normal is 4-5cm) and short is under 2.5 cm so that was very successful. After the ultrasound, they moved us into another room.

Legs up. Knees spread wide open. No drugs, no numbing, all natural. Speculum in. HOLY CRAP, my vag has not been stretched in like half a year. Yes, this process hurt. Not only was I in pain, but there were 4 other medical people in the room watching me: Dr. Tabsh, two nurses, and a medical student. I wished someone would verbally walk me through the process because I kept on asking..are we done? is that it? And he kept saying no, no, no. Dammit! After the speculum was in, I think a long pair of scissors went in and he began cutting the thread or something..it became a blurr as I was being coached on breathing slowly. During the removal, my uterus also began cramping so there was double pain. Good news, it was over within minutes. I asked the female nurses if this was worse than labor and they replied, "It's different" whereas Jon replied "No, labor is worse." HOW WOULD YOU KNOW!!!! ;)

Dr. Tabsh said I can resume life as a normal pregnant woman minus exercising. Woohoo, let's hang out. I am currently 1 cm dilated 70% effaced. He thinks I'm going to deliver either before July 8th or after July 16th (my OB is on vacay from 7/8-7/16). My prediction is July 10th. We'll see! I am so so so So excited to meet baby J. I keep asking him when he is coming out! No response, just kicks and hiccups.

Feeling WORRIED..

The beautiful & strong ass piece of string that held a freaking human being in for months...!