Cerclage Update 2

Well as David said, everything went well on Thursday with the surgery.

We arrived at the hospital at 7am and were immediately escorted to a triage room. Our nurse asked us the traditional zillion questions and did the typical blood pressure/heart rate tests. Next she started my IV. I think the IV was the worst part of the whole ordeal. By the time this was completed, an hour had gone by.

Dr. Abernathy wanted the nurse to check the babies heart beats before and after the surgery, so in walked the nurse with a little Doppler machine. After searching for about 10 minutes, she couldn't find the heart beats. I was about ready to burst into tears, but she said because they are still so small it is hard to find them with the Doppler. They brought in the ultrasound machine and Dr. Abernathy's tech came over from the office, and we got to see the babies. To say the least, I was relieved. They were squirming all over the place; it's no wonder she couldn't find them.

I asked her what she thought they were... she said it was still early, but her guess was that it was two boys. I about fell off the table. I told David that there was only a 1% chance that we would have two boys since both Scott and Evan (David's brothers) have two girls.

After the ultrasound it was 8:45am, and the anesthesiologist came in to give us the run down. She explained what she was giving me and all the feelings I would be experiencing. I got a spinal which is a numbing med delivered directly to the spinal fluid. It numbed my whole lower half (from my waist down).

I walked to the OR at 9am (right on time - which was considerably different from Dr. Gentry). I laid down on the table in the OR, and the anaesthesiologist started my spinal... bizarre. I am not one to give-up control lightly, so being numb from my waist down was a whole mind game.

The surgery itself went really well. I could only feel pressure and no pain which was nice, but I could still see all the sponges of blood on the floor. The nurses kept me entertained, and we talked for the entire hour that the operation took.

I was wheeled back to my room at 10am where David was waiting anxiously. They gave me some pain pills and told me I was stuck there until the numbness wore off, and I could do all the normal bodily functions that I did before.

Around 11am the numbness was wearing off in all the wrong places, and the pain/cramping became unbearable. The nurse gave me some narcotics, and by 11:30am I was happily in dreamland. As I slept, David got himself some lunch.

I woke-up around 12:30pm, and David got me some food (I hadn't eaten since 8pm the night before). The pain had subsided some, so I was feeling better. However, I still didn't have total mobility and the fact that I couldn't move my toes was frustrating.

Next they brought back the ultrasound machine, and we got to see the babies again. This time she said she still thought we had a boy, but wasn't sure about the second. It was funny, during the ultrasound we had five student nurses file in to watch.

Finally at 3:30pm, I was able to "walk" to the restroom and do those necessary things required to leave. We were released and made it home around 4:15pm.

The rest of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I was restricted to the couch. On Sunday, we went to church and Target. It was great to get out and around!

So that's the story of the cerclage. The surgery went well, and David and I are moving on the next phase of the pregnancy. Please keep us in your prayers because it is the next phase that will be the most difficult.