The Day My Pregnancy Turned High Risk

This is my story of how and when I found out my routine pregnancy was no longer routine. I was diagnosed with incompetent cervix.  An incompetent cervix, also called a cervical insufficiency, is a condition that occurs when weak cervical tissue causes or contributes to premature birth or the loss of an otherwise healthy pregnancy. The road ahead was not going to be easy.  With that diagnosis, mine had suddenly become a high risk pregnancy, that led to the birth of my 24 weeker.

I remember my 22 week ultrasound like it was yesterday. I had the ultrasound scheduled for first thing in the morning, so that my husband and I could still get to work at a reasonable time.  I wasn't really supposed to have this ultrasound anyways.  I had a normal appointment and ultrasound a few weeks prior and everything was good, except that the doctor wanted to see the baby when he was a little further along.

So we went in for the 22 week ultrasound.  The technician talked us through it, and showed us the baby and we thought everything was fine.  The doctor was running late that day so the technician asked if we wanted to go on our way and let the doctor review the images later when she got it.  I was okay with that.  I thought there was no point waiting around.  Luckily my husband thought differently.  We were there for the doctor to review the ultrasound, so he wanted to wait to hear what she had to say.

I know some of you ladies out there know that feeling when suddenly the tension in the air thickens.  The doctor doesn't say anything yet, but you just know something is wrong.  This is what happened when the doctor finally came in.  She said my cervix was shortened.  I heard her use the term incompetent cervix .  She walked out of the room, and my husband immediately looked up the term on his cell phone.  It sounded pretty serious.

The doctor came back in the room.  She said I would have to be watched closely, and I would have to go to the hospital for monitoring. I said "Okay, I will schedule something later."  She said "No, I mean that you should go over to the hospital now and get admitted."  We did not even have to go out to the car, the office was linked through a maze of hallways, and we walked directly to the Maternity Ward of the hospital.

They admitted me, checked me out and put me in a hospital room. Luckily the baby was fine, but they still did not send me home. I did not know what was going to happen. The doctors said I was at high risk of delivering early, and they suggested that I talk to the Neonatal doctors to educate myself on prematurity.  Unfortunately at 22 weeks, nobody from Neonatal would talk to me about prematurity because my baby was not viable at that age.  Meaning that if I have him this early, he would not live.

A popular option to aid women with incompetent cervix is to place a stitch called a cerclage; however this is an invasive procedure and I was too far along to get this done.  The doctor decided that a cervical pessary was my best option.  Pessaries had been used for incontinence, and the use for shortened cervix was relatively new.  I was sent home from the hospital with the pessary, and was told to remain on bedrest.

So that is the moment when my routine pregnancy took a turn.  I know a few other ladies out there can relate to my story.  Has anyone else had a cervical pessary? When did you find out you were going to have a preemie?