Maybe Sooner. Maybe.

Well, today I had my 34 week appointment with my Ob/Gyn. The baby is doing great and everything is progressing right on track. The doctor did decide, however, that we should take out the cerclage a little bit earlier than we had originally planned. Initially the plan was to take the stitches out on April 24th, but now we will get them out on the 20th instead. It needs to be moved up for a few reasons:

First, I have been having some painful contractions and some pinching in the cervical area. This could be indicating that my body is trying to start dilating. If I went into labor and started dilating before the stitches came out, the cervix could tear and we could have some real complications from that. (I cringe just typing that statement.)

Second, taking it out Friday is only one day BEFORE the 36 week mark while waiting until the following Tuesday is 4 days AFTER the 36 week mark. It's best to get as close to exactly 36 weeks as possible.

Third, and this is slightly less of a concern, my doctor is also pregnant and due in May. Since she is the one who put in the cerclage, it really would be best if she is the one who takes it out. Since she remembers the difficulty in putting it in, she will know where to look to take it out. So, taking it out a bit earlier should (hopefully) help avoid her going into labor before she gets a chance to take the stitches out.

Although it's possible, I really don't think I'll go into labor right away. After the cerclage came out with Baby K I still went an additional 2 and 1/2 weeks before my water broke. Of course, the amount of scar tissue left from the cerclage will play a huge part in how quickly I go into labor and how quickly my labor progresses. With Baby K, my cervix dilated to a 6 and got stuck. Essentially, the scar tissue from the cerclage formed a sort of "secondary cerclage". This means that my body had to literally force the cervix to open past the scar tissue. With Baby K, it took me 21 hours from the time my water broke until I was finally ready to push. The majority of that time was just trying to get from a 6 to a 7.

Anyway, I guess we'll just have to see how it goes. I think we will have a better feel for the direction things will go once the cerclage comes out. My Doctor has warned me that because the stitches for this cerclage were a lot more difficult to get in, they will probably also be a lot more difficult to get out. Thus, I am bracing myself for an experience that could potentially be extremely painful.

Needless to say, I am very much looking forward to getting this doctor's appointment over with. Of course, the excitement of knowing we are getting so close to meeting our second baby girl helps with that.

At this point, reality is finally starting to set in. After our doctor's appointment today, the thought occurred to me, "Holy crap! That's only a week and a half away! Our baby could come as soon as next weekend!!!" Wow. We are so not ready. So, over the next 10 days we will be busy setting up the bassinet, washing clothes, getting the car seat cleaned and installed, packing hospital bags etc... This will be in addition to Malone preparing for a very important meeting with his doctoral committee and my finishing up as much schoolwork as possible for the semester.

I know it's unlikely that she will come right away, but we do have to be prepared for the possibility just in case. I guess to sum it all up, we can just say this:

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!