"3 Strikes and You're Out?" By Melly2000 I knew I had the cards stacked against me even thinking about getting pregnant. I am a DES daughter, whereas I was exposed to "Diethylstilbestrol", a synthetic hormone, when my mom was pregnant with me. This drug was prescribed to approximately 4.8 million pregnant women between the years of 1938 to 1971 to prevent miscarriage or to simply improve pregnancy outcomes. However, they found out later that DES caused a variety of problems in the daughters, ranging from a rare form of vaginal cancer, adenosis, an abnormally shaped vagina, cervix and/or uterus. I had abnormal paps since I was 11 years old (mom started taking me early when she found out the horrible news about DES). When I was 19, the cells on my cervix were showing signs of severe dysplasia (pre-cancerous cells), so I had cryosurgery (froze off the affected cells). A year later, the cells had returned, so I had to have a biopsy done to cut these cells out. I am 30 years old now and am fortunate that the dysplasia has not returned. On July 7th, 1998, we got the outstanding news that we were pregnant! At my first prenatal visit at 8.6 weeks, I shared with my doctor my prior history and she did a colposcopy to look at my cervix and she did an ultrasound to look at the fetus and the shape of my uterus. I was horrified (but not totally surprised) to find out that I had a T-shaped uterus and an incompetent cervix. She could tell the cervix was incompetent due to the fact that the tissue was "short and stubby" due to my DES exposure and my 2 prior surgeries. I knew that day that I would need a McDonald's cerclage, a preventative stitch placed around my cervix. At 13.3 weeks, I had the cerclage placed while under general anesthesia. It was out patient surgery and I was back at home that afternoon. I was a little achy and spotted for a few days, but other than that, I felt okay. I was only on bedrest for three days and was back in the classroom teaching my 6th graders on Monday. Everything was going smoothly until the morning of 22.1 weeks when I had some bleeding. I can't even explain the panic I felt. My doc told me to go right into Labor and Delivery to get checked. Thank God the baby was fine and my cerclage was holding up great. However, I found out that I had a low-lying placenta. My doctor put me on complete bedrest for 3 weeks and then limited activity for the remainder of the pregnancy (Note: She wasn't sure if the bleeding was caused by my low-lying placenta or my T-shaped uterus acting up). I also had to get weekly Betamethasone shots for baby's lung maturity in case he was born early. I thought my plate was full until I then found out that I had Gestational Diabetes at 28.5 weeks. I couldn't believe it! There's no history of diabetes in my family and I am not overweight! The restricted diet, 4 finger sticks a day, insulin shots and weekly NST's didn't help my attitude. Finally, I made it to my cerclage removal day.....36.6 weeks. I know deep down in my heart that the cerclage was the reason I made it to term. I almost asked the doctor if I could keep the stitch after she removed it, but I thought I'd look like a freak! The "snip and pull" procedure was really quite quick and painless. I dilated immediately to 2 and was fully effaced. The contractions started about half an hour later, but began fizzling out as the day wore on. I was sent home that afternoon to do the "wait and see". I was shocked that after all this time trying to keep him inside, he now wasn't ready to come out! Murphy's Law. So, I went home and immediately started walking. I didn't realize how out of shape and weak I had gotten over the months of bedrest. Needless to say, I ended up having to be induced at 39.2 weeks due to my Gestational Diabetes (the placenta may prematurely age and the baby may get too big for a vaginal delivery). Now, that's a whole other story, but I'll save that one for another day *smiles*. Chase was born at 12:44pm on March 5, 1999. He weighed 7 lbs 12 oz and was 19" long. The second that I held him in my arms, I sighed and thought, "It was all worth it." If you'd like to meet Chase and me, please visit out homepage at: http://www.babycenter.com/announcement/Melly2000 |
