Are BH risky with a short cervix?

Hi everyone. I had an emergency cerclage at 22 weeks, since my cervix was funnelling and had shortened to 1.6 cm. I had no other symptoms of pre-term labour, but have been on bedrest since then, almost four weeks now. At my last ultrasound, my cervix was 2 cm long outside the cerclage and about 6mm inside.

When I was in the hospital, the nurses were always asking if I was having any contractions. I didn't think I was, but now I'm beginning to wonder. Whenever I stand up (only allowed up to pee, but this is about every 90 minutes!), my belly gets all stiff and hard. I can't feel it happening, but when I feel it with my hands, it's definitely hard. I assume that this is just Braxton-Hicks, which wouldn't worry me at all if this were a normal pregnancy. But I'm a little worried about what effect the BH contractions are having on my cervix -- are they going to make it shorter? I am being really careful about staying in bed, and I don't have them when I'm lying down, but I don't want to drink less water so I pee less, because being dehydrated can cause contractions too!

Also, to the woman whose cerclage broke at 33 weeks, was that really painful?!?

 

Hi,

My cerclage broke at 33 weeks (i.e. it tore out due to contractions) after holding for 8+ weeks through continuous contactions the whole time, by the end they just got too strong even though I was on mag sulf and terb. No, it did not hurt when it tore out finally, because I was feeling more the pain of the contractions. I hear that in most cases the cerclage holds and will eventually be removed when you are further along. You may want to go in and get monitored for contractions, because my belly also would harden (but also painfully so) every time I got up before I was put in the hospital at 25 weeks. I wasn't sure they were contractions for real, but when I went in the nurses thought I was definitely in PTL. We just held it off for as long as possible.

HTH and good luck to you and you sweet babies!

 

Thanks pumpkintwins! Wow, that all sounds rather frightening and traumatic, but on the other hand, it's kind of comforting to know that your cerclage held firm through all of that!

 

Yeah it was very scary, but I come out of that saying hooray for cerclages! :banana: I really feel that this is what helped keep the babies in! (And maybe also the fact that I wasn't allowed to move basically, and all the drugs may have helped a little too but who knows for sure). In the hospital I couldn't even do any physical therapy because moving my arms would even cause my belly to tighten and contract, any time the nurses touched my belly to listen to the heartbeats I would contract like crazy (all seen on the monitor), talk about an irritable uterus. Well good luck again ^_^ and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask, I know a lot about normal preg/delivery (with my first dd) and a whole lot about a very abnormal preg/delivery (with my twinkies).

 

QUOTE(Cardinal @ Jan 17 2008, 10:27 AM) [snapback]576566[/snapback]
Also, to the woman whose cerclage broke at 33 weeks, was that really painful?!?

I’m glad you asked her that… I was wondering when I read hers had broke… but I kind of didn’t want to know it was painful… I had one put in at 19w but I am not on bed rest any more, I’m only on take it easy… no heavy exercise but we can DTD … though my husband says he thinks the Dr used barb wire for Cerclage (sorry if TMI). But those “privileges” may have been returned because my Cervix is well over 4.5 now and I don’t have contractions anymore (well I still get the occasional BH… but its only like one every 2 hours…).

I’m sorry you had to go through it breaking, but glad it helped you get 8+ more weeks of baking…

 

I had BH contractions, and they did shrink my cervix back down after my cerclage. I had a length of 0.2cm when I had my cerclage it lengthened back to 3.7cm. Then around 22 weeks it was back down to 1cm, and I was put on hospital bedrest starting at 24 weeks. So make sure they are still doing regular measurements.

I as put on meds to relax my uterus, at first Indocin, then Indocin and Procardia, and just Procardia in my 3rd trimester. I found that I had contractions anytime I tried laying on my back, I had to lay on my side (left side was best). They encouraged me to still drink tons of fluids and pee a lot, it seemed like that defeated the bedrest purpose, but I listened. I did contract if I tried to hold the pee.

Anyways, I was 2cm dilated at 30w5d, and my cerclage was still holding strong. I was also contracting, although they were not terribly strong and painful, just more painful than I'd had up until that point. I did use some yoga breathing to get through them there in those last 2 days.

They delivered me right at 31 weeks because baby A had PROM'd and was threatening to push her cord out with her feet, my cerclage was holding strong. They took it out after my c-section, and my peri said it was in great shape.

I was scared of my cerclage breaking, I asked the peri about it. He said it was very rare.

 

QUOTE
They delivered me right at 31 weeks because baby A had PROM'd and was threatening to push her cord out with her feet, my cerclage was holding strong.


Yikes! I'm glad your girls are okay!

My next ultrasound is in a couple weeks, and I'll remember to ask not just what my cervical length is, but whether the membrane is clear of the funnel. So far it has been fine, and both babies are transverse, so their weight isn't focused directly over the cervix.

 

I'm so glad I read this post. I've been having BH here and there and I didn't know that this can effect your cervix?
Well it seems everyones case is different. I'm going to my peri tomorrow so I will ask him.
Any other questions I should ask him? My cervix has been funneling a little. I'm on bed rest right now.

Tina

 

Tina, the thing is that there's not a lot you can do about the BH contractions, but if you've noticed particular things that trigger them, you can try to avoid those things. For me, they happen when I stand up, so it's just more motivation to stay in bed!

The one thing I always want to know when I see the doctor is what my cervical length actually is, and whether the membranes are clear of the funnel.

Good luck!