High maintenance? I think so...

Well, I'm pretty sure that I'm officially considered "high-maintenance" by my OB's office after today. This is an odd, less-than-great feeling, since I try to be the opposite of high-maintenance in my normal life. I'm definitely particular and thorough, but not high-maintenance. (Well, unless we're talking about food. Then I'm incredibly picky - texture, taste, etc. really get to me, and I usually don't eat leftovers. Anyway, not the point.)


Yesterday afternoon my back started aching pretty badly. It was down pretty low, and radiated across my entire back. I've been lying down for about 10 weeks now, though, so I figured it was the aches and pains I have had pretty constantly, just maybe a bit worse. The pressure and stretching I've been feeling in my cervix was happening more frequently, though, and was hurting more. I don't think I would have freaked out about that if I hadn't had a fairly painful contraction around 8:30. I've been having lots of Braxton Hicks, but this one seemed to really put pressure on the cervix and hurt the abdomen some, and it just wasn't good. I didn't have another one that big all night (just one other smaller one), so I figured I'd wait until morning, then call yet again.

I did, and they wanted to see me, just to be safe. My OB was just awesome - I started apologizing the minute he came into the room (I am an over-apologizer, but I really wanted to let him know that I feel bad for bothering them so much). He told me not to worry about it, they told me to come in as often as need be for a reason, and they meant it. He explained to the med student who's been with him for a couple of weeks how important the weeks between 23 and 27-28 are for survival rate likelihood, and explained to him that the next four weeks would be hell on me. It was nice to just hear that I'm not insane.

So, he did another manual exam. Didn't hurt quite as bad as Monday, but still was really painful. He said there's still pressure on the cerclage, but we're still long and tight. He said that we were going to get a cervical length ultrasound, though, just to be safe.

The ultrasound, however, went amazing. Still over 3 cm long, still closed and tight, and the tech was shocked (as was the doctor) to not see any funneling. Baby Jota's heartrate was 154 bpm, and she's still a girl. :) It was so amazing to see her with a little bit of a tummy on her - she's gotten so big in just three weeks.

I went back to follow-up with the doctor, and he just kept patting my hand and telling me that we're doing great. This type of stuff is bound to happen with a truly incompetent cervix, and I'm bound to get upset - we lost a baby before in the saddest way imaginable, so this is going to be terrifying. It just is. We will see him again next Tuesday for another u/s, but he said to continue calling if I had any problems. I've never been so happy to be sent home in my life.