Shirodkar cerclage removal success - surgery story

So it seems for now my cerclage debacle may be over. I went in for surgery this morning to get my cerclage removed. When I got in and prepped for surgery - the anesthesiologist asked me if I wanted to do an epidural or general anesthesia. I know my surgeon wanted me to do an epidural so that he could talk me through the surgery - but the anesthesiologist felt my risks were the same. I also hoped to do an epidural for my delivery ( within 2 weeks) so I opted for general.

My surgeon came in and explained the risks of the surgery and honestly he scared me shitless. He wasn't feeling very confident that he would be able to remove it. He discussed the blood flow rates in my veins in the uterus vs how much blood I have in my body and the dangers of nicking a vein. He also explained that if it went sour, I'd be looking at a c section+hysterectomy. Wait whuuuuuut? He kept saying - he was going to go in and look - and if anything looked unfavorable - he would simply abandon the surgery. He also talked to me about choosing which OB would do my c-section if he wasn't successful. We also talked through getting an IUD with the stitch in if it couldn't come out, how it affects fertility and what pregnancy risks it comes with.

After that pep talk (sarcasm), we went into the OR. I dozed off pretty quick once they gave me meds. I'm actually used to falling asleep instantly - this time I drifted off. It was actually kind of weird. When I came to, my surgeon was still around and the first thing I asked was - did you get it out?? And he happily said he was able to! He said I can go ahead and attempt my vaginal delivery. He said the stitch was buried but he was able to find enough of it to remove the entire thing. I'm sure I was loopy because I asked him 3-4 times to be sure I wasn't dreaming. I also noticed that my throat hurt and I had a productive cough. It turns out I was intubated and even aspirated on the table. It's 3 am now and I'm nursing a sore throat from that and painfully coughing up phlegm....

Recovery was pretty straight forward. The general rule applies - if you can piss you can go home. I'm on bed rest for a day, pelvic rest for a week , and now on labor watch!!! I'm so grateful that he was able to undo what that shady OB in South Africa did. I was so scared that the cerclage he put in was something I'd never be able to get out. I haven't had a chance to ask what this means for future pregnancies ( although I never want to be pregnant again LOL). I just don't want anyone making those decisions for me.

On one side I'm very happy that it seems the crisis has been averted. On the other hand I'm feeling very violated. I trusted the OB in South Africa to give me a cerclage that would 1 - save my pregnancy and 2 - not increase my chances of a csection - and 3 be temporary. What I got was 1 but not 2 or 3 and he falsified my medical records too. I just keep thinking - what would have happened if my cervix funneled and opened even with the stitch? What if my waters had broken? What if we were forced to have an emergency cerclage removal if I went into labor? This surgery required 2 surgeons because they realized what they were dealing with - what if in an emergency situation I ended up with a regular OB instead of a pair of specialists? What gave him the right to make those decisions for me and to not even inform me? I still don't want to have more kids but now I fear how this may affect that. I'm just so angry on so many fronts .

Finally - I'm just laying here with a sore throat because of the intubation / aspiration issue. My baby is still kicking so I know the general anesthesia didn't make him too sluggish. I'm on labor watch which is awesome. My son should be here within the next 2 weeks .....

My second cerclage story

So I got my cerclage done right at the end of 13 weeks. This was the first time I've done a surgery in South Africa. Strangely enough - I wasn't terribly concerned for the surgery as such. But hey - it is what it is!

So DH and I arrived early. I had to fast so I was already hungry. The prep up to the surgery was pretty uneventful. I laid in bed and watched bad television, sat on my phone, and actually napped quite a bit since pregnancy fatigue was still reigning supreme. Then it was time to fill out paperwork and to talk to the anesthesiologist. He came in, asked me questions, and then was about to walk out. I stopped him and asked him if he wanted to discuss what he was going to do. He explained he wanted to general anesthesia. I declined. He sort of seemed taken aback. I explained I'd rather do a spinal or an epidural because I don't want general anesthesia since I'm pregnant. I'd rather not do it unless there's an immediate need to do so.  After going back and forth a bit he agreed.

Another hour passed or so, and I was wheeled down to pre-op. There was a guy there waiting to do some kind of surgery that involved his colon. Needless to say his anxiety was hard to miss. I tried to give him some reassuring words - since I've gone under the knife several times. He was shocked that I chose a spinal. It seems people in South Africa don't like to be awake for surgeries hehe. When it was my turn - I was wheeled in, moved onto the table, and they did the spinal. I really hate how you can still feel tugging or pressure when you do one. However, it isn't really painful at all. The procedure was pretty quick. This time they did a Shirodkar suture instead of the MacDonald stitch for my cerclage - which is a little more involved. But I swear this one seemed quicker than the last time I did one of these. Then they brought me back to recovery - easy peasy!

When I was back in the ward - I learned why they prefer general anesthesia - it's because people recover faster. Since I had a spinal of course it would take hours for me to recover. After a while I was the last woman in the ward - and the nurses started pushing me to recover faster ( as if I could do that). They tried to make me drink  6 liters of water but my lower half was still numb. After a while the water was making me hurt so I stopped and decided to walk around to help my legs wake up. Eventually I was able to take a piss  - but they were just pushing me because they wanted to get off of shift at 6 pm. All I could think was - hospital's don't close - if you need to go home - put someone else on shift! Finally my piss was a sad piss - it was more like water just leaking out of me - but that was enough for them and they sent me home.

I have to be honest - I sort of expected a scan afterwards or a doppler or something to monitor the baby  - but nothing. The doc came by - said everything looks great and we'll see you in 4 weeks. Needless to say - that experience sort of sealed my decision to move back. Because I had to think - if I was going to end up in hospital - where would I want to do it....

But my baby is still kicking - so it was worth it after all.

My surgery story - part 3 - pain management ain't no joke

So my surgery was on a Friday. I was scheduled to be released on Saturday morning. When the doctor came to see me, he told me - no matter what they say, do not let them discharge you before you've had breakfast and lunch. He went on to explain that I needed to hold down the food with no nausea because if I got nauseas at home, I'd need to be readmitted.

For the first meals, I was on a full liquid diet. I was getting juices, water, broth, and apple sauce. I was able to hold all of that down. I was still in a lot of pain. They had me walking that night. On the first walk, I was able to get down one hallway and needed to turn around. On the second walk 4 hours later, I walked the whole ward. I wasn't feeling awesome, but I was feeling considerably better. On the third walk, I felt like I took a horrible step backward. I was only able to walk down the hallway and I was in excruiciating pain. The night nurse stacked morphine on top of my percocets but it just wasn't working.

In the morning, the doctor came to see me and reminded me about not letting them release me too soon. He also talked more about the adhesions from my childhood surgery. He pointed out that my scarring was really bad and he spent an hour doing a laparoscopic surgery just to remove the surgery before he could even do the robotic surgery. I told him my concerns with the pain medication. My prescription for when I was at home was for Lortab but the hospital was giving me percocets. Percocets were the stronger drug but it felt like they were having no effect. He told me he would put Todarol in my chart and it was an IV medication that may help. He also said - I should see how the Lortab works and if it was having no effect, I should do percocets.

He also asked me how I was dosing. I told him I was doing 1 - 2 percocets every 4 hours based on my pain levels ( which were hovering between  a 4 and a 6). He explained that I'll do better once I'm on a regular schedule. His explanation was that pain pills don't work well for getting pain under control. He said they worked best if your pain was under control and then they simply maintained that level. He also said, I should put addiction out of my my thoughts for now. He stressed taking what I need and then they would taper me down if need be. He also stressed that I don't just suddenly stop taking them either.

After he left I asked the nurse for the Toradol. Can I say - OMG - it made the world of a difference. It isn't a narcotic but it made my pain slide down to a 3/4 for the first time. I actually felt hope about being able to leave the hospital after that. Of course after he left, the nurse wanted to discharge me. I indicated that he said to wait after lunch and she begrudgingly agreed. I did fine with breakfast but when I ate lunch - the nausea started. It wasn't nausea like I was used to. I had a weird twinge when I was eating, but about 5 minutes later the saliva started flowing. I found myself spitting a mouthful of saliva every 60 seconds or so. It was so weird. By the time she came in, I had a friggin bowl of saliva. She gave me an injectable anti-nausea medication, and it started to slow down.

Finally by the afternoon, I was looking healthy enough to brave going home. They gave me another dose of percocet for the trip home - and off I went......

The next few days were full of crazy pain whenever I moved. My abs burn on the right whenever I move. 5 days later, I still need help getting in and out of bed. I'm able to walk around, but I'm still in a lot of pain. I did the walk of sharme as I had to call the doctor's office and asked for more pain medication. After my delivery, all I needed was an ibuprofen and I was good. This time around, I feel like I've been beaten. I have 6 incisions on my stomach and they are stitched on the inside and sealed with skin glue. My post op appointment isn't until the 6th - but I should hear about my lab work for my surgery next week.

Ultimately writing all of this down helps me process what's happened. I feel traumatized. I haven't quite come to terms with what's happened - but what's important is that the preliminary results were that no visible cancer. Now we hope the more thorough results confirm that as well..... We aren't completely of the woods - but we will be soon enough.

My surgery story - part 2 - post operation back to reality

So I woke up in recovery feeling like all hell. I looked over and noticed that I was in the same bed as my husband's friend's sister who was checking in at the same time as I was earlier. I tried to swallow so that I could speak, but my throat wouldn't respond. My throat was uncomfortable but it didn't hurt. The thing that was frustrating is that - my throat just wouldn't respond. I wanted to speak to the nurse - but I couldn't form any real words. After some time, I was able to say - I need water.

She gave me water and I guzzled all of it. I was able to drink the water, but when I tried to swallow my saliva, I still couldn't will my throat to respond. I had a passing moment of panic - thinking that my throat was somehow destroyed. I don't know how long I was in the post operative recovery unit - but it took me a very long time to feel normal. All through this - my throat felt like I'd been swallowing flour. I felt incredibly dry all over. My lips were cracked beyond belief. Then I remember being told, I'll be moved to my recovery room.

I remember watching myself roll to the room. I was transferred to a bed by the nurse and a tech. The pain was unbearable. It's like my insides were screaming every time I moved. Before I knew it - my husband and mom were there. My husband explained that the surgery went well. He explained that the doctor had scar tissue removed. My next question was - what about my right ovary??? My husband looked at me, his eyes dropped a little, and he said - he did the wedge resection on your right ovary. I gasped and asked him why. He said he had no idea why. The tears started flowing. A panic set in. I went into this surgery accepting the idea that I might lose one ovary but I still had my other lame ovary to work with. Now I was hoping nothing bad happened to the other one.

My mother was pro-wedging all along - so I could see she was secretly happy that he did it. I don't share her sentiment - I don't believe wedge resections are a viable treatment for PCOS and I certainly don't believe they are worth the risk. I simply felt violated. I felt like I let myself be vulnerable and someone did exactly what I didn't want them to. In between fits of tears and racing thoughts, I decided that I would let him explain what happened and why he did the wedge resection despite my not wanting one.

Later on the doctor came to visit me. We spoke at length. He mentioned that I had a lot of adhesions/scarring from my surgery when I was a baby. He said it complicated the surgery and I will be in more pain than usual because of that. He basically had to remove all of the scarring from my bowels before he could start the surgery. I asked him about the wedging. He seemed genuinely shocked that I didn't want it. At first he claimed I agreed. Then he said there was nothing in my file about not doing the wedging and said maybe no one told him. Then he finally just apologized and explained that although he thought it was a good thing for me - he was sorry. Funny enough - my anger went away at that point. I could only think that - what's done is done. There's no point in lamenting for my ovary - he can't un-wedge it.

The next set of hours were a series of crying spells, wincing in pain, and simply painful recovery. They were giving me percocets for pain. I don't have a lot of experience with percocets but I remember that they were the one pain killer that did work best for me. However, this time around, they weren't working at all. I kept asking for more - and the night nurse even gave me morphine on top of it. Despite all of that - the pain never got under control...

My surgery story - part 1 - pre-operation

In the midst of pains, weird dreams, pain medications, and racing thoughts.... I figure I'm feeling lucid enough to document what happened. As far as this posts's image... well I had my surgery done via the Davinci machine. It's supposed to have better recovery because it makes major surgery less invasive. Anyway - here's how it all went down:

I arrived at the hospital at about 5 am. Fortunately the parking deck was empty - so we even got free parking. Woot!

I was remembering a conversation I had with my mom the day before when she revealed she suffered from fibroids! I couldn't believe she never told me. The entire approach they took for diagnosing me might have been different had we known that information. But what can you do?

We walked through the maze of the hospital to get to the admissions office. IT was actually still closed, but as we were approaching, a security guard unlocked it and we entered. I met the woman at the front desk and she asked for my last name. I gave her my name and she handed me a folder and told me to go to the third floor. My mom, husband and I walked up to the third floor. I checked in with the nurse there - and she  indicated that she would check me in soon. She took my advance directive and checked me in. I was taken alone to the pre-op area to get ready. There I undressed, put on a gown and laid down in a room the size of a closet.

After a while, a nurse came in and tried to put in an IV. Of course she struggled the same way they struggled when I had pre-term labor. This time around, I was dehydrated because I'd been pooping water for 14 hours. Funny thing, all I could think was PLEASE don't let me crap on the operating table. They did make me drink an entire bottle of miralax the day before! The nurse was using lidocaine to numb my skin before they stuck me. Finally after several failed attempts, the nurse brought in a colleague who was able to do it. She insisted on doing it without the local anesthetic - and go figure - that worked! Once the IV was in, they brought my mom and my husband in. Shortly thereafter, the anesthesiologist came in to talk about my history. Then my surgeon came in. We spoke a bit. He wanted to confirm about the previous surgeries so he knew what to look for. I've always known I had 3 kidneys and one removed when I was a child. Suddenly my mom pipes up and says - umm...no! It was 2 urethras! The surgeon corrects her - you mean 2 ureters? From the kidney? They go back and forth, but ultimately he confirms that it was 2 ureters from my kidney - not 3 kidneys and not 2 urethras. The doctor answers my questions and we're good.

Now here's the moment Im' kicking myself for. I asked the doctor, "we're just doing the left mass and maybe the left ovary right? "I should have explicitly said - "no wedging of the other ovary". But I didn't. He confirmed only the left ovary and they let my mom and husband go. You'll see later why this was so critical.

The next thing, they were giving me a heparin shot in my stomach. They wheeled me into the operating theater. I was shifted onto the operating table, and I saw the anesthesiologist's head pop up. He mentioned they were going to give me some gas and pain medication.  I looked around and saw the davinci machine all covered in plastic. I also remember looking at the ceiling and thinking - that while the room looked clean, the tiles on the ceiling didn't look spotless... hmmmm....They put some gas over my mouth and nose. I felt that the nozzle wasn't sitting quite right. I mentioned that the nozzle was off a bit and they quickly readjusted it. The next thing I remember was waking up in recovery room feeling like I'd swallowed a pound of flour....

T-Minus 8 till this peach sized mass is removed

OK - I admit it - I'm starting to get scared. I've actually been nonchalant about this surgery up until now. I guess I should give an update on what's happened in the last several weeks.

So I got my pre-op appointment on July 10th. I went there 2 days ago. I thought it would be a quick consult with a nurse and some bloodwork. It turned out to be a 5 hour affair at the hospital. It started with my consult with the nurse. We talked about the procedure, my pre-op bowel prep (more to come later on that, my ultrasound and MRI results again, breastfeeding on the medications, my medication list, and recovery restrictions. Ugh! I was concerned about my surgeon's desire to wedge my right (healthy) ovary. She said he had notes stating he would only remove the left ovary if necessary - but he would leave the cervix, uterus, and right ovary alone so I could preserve fertility. Also - instead of taking my mass out and giving it to the pathologist while I was under, they would just remove it and end the surgery. Then if it turn out to be cancerous, we can make decisions afterwards. I am feeling so much better about that.

I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to breastfeed during this process. I'm also worried about breastfeeding after - since I'll be on percocets or Lortabs.... but I will talk to my OB. As for the results - well this thing is the size of a peach. If I didn't know better - I'd swear it was getting bigger!! Anyway - it needs to come out. I still don't have any cramps, pains etc. It's hard to believe I have something this size inside of me and I can't feel it!

So here's the worst piece of news in all of this - I have 6 weeks of restricted activity. I cannot lift anything for 6 weeks! That means I can't lift my daughter for 6 weeks. I'm going to have to delay her potty training because of that. I also will have to take a 6 week hiatus on my running :( I am going to have to see if between my daughter's nanny and her baby sitters if we can get a rotating schedule that works - because I can't really do much as a mother if I can't lift anything. Ugh.

After all the consult stuff - I went over to hospital admissions to get started. The admissions was straight forward, but they convinced me to do an advanced directive. I always wondered what that was. It's basically a document determining how I want to be cared for in case I'm incapacitated. Furthermore, it identifies a health agent to speak in my behalf. So no laughing, but I thought about how my husband is going to be my health agent and we just took out insurance policies on each other LOL!!! Doesn't that sound like the beginning of a story on Investigation Discovery? LOL! Fortunately there's a clause in there for the doctor's to supercede your health agent's wishes if they feel that your health agent isn't behaving in your best interest. Sheesh!

After the admission, they gave me a green hospital band so I could be admitted for my pre-op labwork. I went over to admissions where I got a $970 bill for my coinsurance ( 10%). Thanks crappy US medical care system! And that's with pretty decent insurance! After I finished with the financial team ,I began my trip through the maze of the hospital.

For starters, I came up on the wrong elevator. I ended up in some lab. I pinned down a nurse and she walked me over to the pre-op area. I checked in and sat down. I realized that I was exhausted and started dozing in the waiting room. Finally they called my name 30 minutes later. I was taken back to sit with a very pleasant and bubbly nurse.  She gave me a urine test, blood pregnancy test, took about 6 vials of blood, and gave me an EKG. I have a lot of cleavage, so she had to lift one of my boobs to get a good reading - awkward!

Finally she reconfirmed my information and gave me a red hospital band. She explained that they did a type and screening on my blood and blood would be pulled out of the bank for me for my surgery in case I need it.  She explained that I cannot take the band off until after my surgery. If I did, my surgery would be cancelled / rescheduled. So here I am walking around with a hospital band for 10 days. When she was done, she sent me off to get an X-Ray. That was ridiculously fast, and then I was done!

Of course with my luck, with all the zigzagging across the hospital, I forgot how I got back to the car. I finally made it out of the hospital only to find myself 2 blocks of so from the parking deck! I dragged myself out there and got in the car.

I think before all of this - I mean I knew I was going for surgery - but this feels so much more significant than the previous ones. I'm just so ready to get this over with and to get a real diagnosis!

Countdown to my ovarian surgery

WEBSITE COUNTDOWN

Well - it's just a matter of time now. I have my date for my surgery. I don't have too much to report really. I'm just kind of eager to get it done. I know that I'm counting down to a surgery but it also feels like I'm counting down to finally having a real answer. I have decided not to dwell too much on whether this is cancer or not. It might be - it might not be - but there's nothing I can do about it. So all I can do is wait. In the meanwhile I'm focusing on far more interesting things - like my daughter's first birthday party, our upcoming vacation, and work. I will probably have more to share as the date gets closer.

It's time to go under the robotic knife

Wow... this is really happening. I know it's been a couple of months where I've been wondering, but in the back of my head, I kind of hoped it was a fluke. I hoped that the dark spot we saw on the ultrasound was just some kind of mistake. Yet today, my oncologist's office finally called back with the MRI results - and they confirmed that the mass was really there. Ugh! So now it's time for me to come to terms with the reality that I'm going in for a real surgery.

It's time to come to terms with some ideas.... like I might actually have cancer. I may wake up from that surgery without my ovaries. I may wake up from that surgery with even more cut out of me. My daughter's birthday is coming up and I'm wondering how I'm supposed to do her birthday party. My running is just getting good again - and I'll have to give it up for several weeks again.

I'm really frustrated because although my gynecological oncologist is extremely experienced in the Davinci method for this type of ovarian surgery, his office takes way too long to return phone calls for my taste. I asked my reproductive endocrinologist to refer me to some other ones, but when I googled those doctors, the feedback was worse than the doctor I have now! Fortunately most of the feedback was complaining about the bedside manner and waiting times, but sheesh. This is nothing like my experience when I was TTC. There my doctors called back 7 days a week without fail.  But I need to decide soon. I'm so ready to get this mass out of me.

I'm feeling a sense of relief. Before I had this unknown cloud hanging over my head. I didn't know if I was sick so I didn't know how to proceed. This isn't the outcome I wanted, but now that I know.... I am ready to get my head in the fight. I go back to focusing everything in my power to getting through this healthy and mentally sound. I still feel like I've been on the medical battlefield for so long, that I'm not entirely freaked out about it. In fact, I'm ready for it. I'm ready to simply do what it takes to get the all-clear so I can get back to my life. Sigh......

Ugh.... I'm going to go under the knife

I'm a bit agitated over the news... so I'll just post what I sent to my family...
I had my consult with the oncologist today. He indicated that the mass was about the size of a ping pong / golf ball. From the ultrasound report that my OB did, he didn't feel that it would be a malignant cancer. That being said, he told me that the mass would have to be removed and tested to be sure. He is unsure if the mass is attached to my uterus or my ovary.

We discussed the procedure. I will have to go for another ultrasound at the hospital to get a more definitive prognosis. After the ultrasound, we will schedule a surgery to have the mass removed. This will be done by a robotic laparoscopic surgery. During the surgery the mass will be removed and a pathologist will examine the mass to determine what kind of mass it is. Once the pathologist gives their diagnosis, they will decide what needs to be removed. There is a chance that they will remove my ovary if the mass is fused to it or if my ovary is affected significantly. We won't know until the doctor performs the surgery.

The surgery requires overnight stay in the hospital and about a week of bed rest for recovery. I just found out today, so I don't have all of the answers yet. I'm contemplating a few things - including talking with my fertility specialist to see if there's anything I should do given any potential risk to my fertility. Fortunately I have eggs and embryos in the bank - but you never know. I will let you guys know when we have dates scheduled for the procedures. I just wanted to let you guys know.


 FUCK!

The cerclage surgical procedure - details!

If you've never had a cerclage - all I can say is there's nothing "minor" about it. I think when I miscarried - I was such an emotional wreck that I forgot how hectic it was. I got to the hospital, checked in and they started me on IVs. I remember now how much I hate IVs. They wanted at least a liter in me before we started. It totally chills the whole side of my body. The doc was able to get the epidural in easily - but those medications burn before they take effect. Also - when you're sitting there - back curved, not wanting to move because you don't want to mess up the doctor's aim - your mind is racing. Please don't let this man miss his aim and end up paralyzing me! My dear husband was there and offered a hand for me to squeeze and to help me breathe through the pains. I squeezed the life out of his hand. When they finally got it in, I was able to lie back down and they started numbing me. The numbing went fine.


When I was pretty numbed up, they moved me into the operating room. It always feels weird to lie there with your arms crossed as 3 people haul you onto an operating table. They strapped my arms down, put a big sheet to block me from seeing anything and put my legs in a crazy harness. I wish I had a diagram to show what it looks like - but basically, my ankles were in a harness and I was lifted in the air from the hips down. Way to feel exposed!!!! The anesthesiologist's assistant gave me some oxygen with something in it to help me calm down. He also put some drug - Propyphyl in my IV. OMG - it burned like a fire. You know when they ask you how bad your pain was on a scale of 1 - 10. It was a friggin 15. It burned like fire and my arm ached and felt like someone was trying to pull it off. I started yelping and moaning and the guy put an antidote in my IV. Ugh!!!!! After that, I started getting loopy. I was aware, but I was babbling constantly during the procedure. I was talking about the weather, pain tolerance, favorite foods, music I like, etc. It was nuts. Then they told me I was done. The wheeled me back and I went into the recovery room. It took about 3 hours for my recovery. My legs were still wobbly - and I got another 3 IV bags to help me go to the bathroom. I finally tried to go to the bathroom and I sat there for five minutes and out came a trickle. Two minutes later another pitiful trickle. That went on for another 15 minutes but I was able to empty my bladder. After that - they helped me get dressed, took out my IV and helped me get dressed.


I was discharged and halfway through the drive home with my dear husband- the pain started. OMG it felt like bad contractions! So that's what the epidural was saving me from! When we got home, I ate, and took the meds (Indocin) the doc gave me. It's basically a drug to stop cramps and prevent / stop me from going into labor. I thought i'd have 2 - 3 days of bed rest. The doctor decided to put me on 7 days bed rest and I'll be reassessed in a week. Wow.... So they put me on modified bed rest for a few weeks. No walking, no stairs, no driving, no leaving the house, and I couldn't stand up for more than 20 minutes at a time. I could take short showers, but since my shower was upstairs... it was reduced to a big bowl of hot water and soap for a while Wow..... I wondered if I could do this for months!

All in all I lived to tell the story - I thought I'd go ahead and fully describe the experience for anyone who has never gone through a cerclage - just to give some perspective. They will keep it in until 36 weeks as long as we can keep pre-term labor away that long.