Wife 21 weeks pregnant with twins, 1cm cervix

[Beans2011]

Hi all-
I'm new here.  At 21 weeks, my wife had her cervix shorten drastically is a short period of time (at 19 weeks it was 4cm, at 21 weeks it's now 1cm).  She was put on immediate bed rest and progesterone.  After it was first noticed to be 1cm, it was checked again 3 days later and was still 1cm.  Our doctor thought that was a good sign that she's not going into PTL.  Her cervix is still firm and not dilated which is also good, just really short now.  The plan is to keep her on bed rest at home until 23 weeks, then she will go into the hospital for the rest of the pregnancy (hopefully a long time).

I wanted to hear if there are any success stories and how long some of you ladies were able to hold on with such a short cervix with twins?  From what I've read, there is a smaller body of evidence to support bed rest and progesterone treatment with twins, but that's all we can do.  Our doctor is pretty against doing a circlage with twins (hasn't ruled it out completely).  She said there is no data to support it, and some data that shows it is actually worse to do with twins. 

I've read some of the other forums and see a lot of success stories, but most of them are with singletons.  I'd like to keep filling my wife's mind with positive thoughts and anything you can share would be greatly appreciated.  I'm trying to keep her off the internet for now, so she doesn't google anything bad.  It's been a rollercoaster of emotion since we found out.  She will be the best mother in the world once our children are here, I just need to keep her positive.  Thanks.

[twins]

Hi there,

Currently I am one day shy of being 28 weeks pregnant with boy girl twins.  My story is very similar at my 20 week appointment I had my ultrasound I felt fine - I thought everything was going great until I was told my cervix was on the short side of normal at 2.2 cm.  I was put on strict bed rest and was to go back in a week for a remeasurent.  One week later it was measuring 1.2 cm!  I was devastated I thought that is it the pregnancy is doomed.  My doctor thought i was a candidate for the cerclage and it was performed that very day.  After the cerclage the most my cervix has ever measured was 2.4 cm.  It seems to be holding steady at anywhere from 1.7 cm to 2.2 cm at each appt.  Although the cerclage comes with risks in my case my doctor seemed to think the benefits outweighed the risks - and i am glad i did it!  However, that being said I have never had a baby before so I am not sure if i just have a naturally short cervix or if it is truly "incompetent cervix".  I have heard of many stories of women making it to term of close to without one.  In fact, one of the nurses told me a stroy of a women who had a 1 cm cervix throughout the pregnancy made it to term and had to be induced twice - baby didn't want to come out after all those months of desperately trying to keep her in. It was a singleton tho.  Tell her to stay positive and hang in there - even though it is tough!

[Angela]

Hi, Beans! What a great partner you are!

We have a twin mom (Mom2Z) who just delivered her twins last week at 36 weeks and 5 days! See her story and photos here: http://forum.keepemcookin.com/index.php?topic=2003.msg6738#msg6738

And you can read her older posts by clicking on her name and it will give you that option. If you are logged in, you might be able to see her older posts here: http://forum.keepemcookin.com/index.php?action=profile;u=5589;sa=showPosts

We here at KEC have seen many twin moms with a short cervix make it to 36 weeks and beyond with bedrest, frequent in-office monitoring/trips to L&D, and sometimes medication. Your wife is welcome to join our live chat for twin moms-to-be in the Chat Room (see the menu above) this Thursday at 2 pm Eastern. We also chat on Tuesdays too. And we believe in a POSITIVE, PROACTIVE approach to preventing preterm birth. We're happy to offer her that kind of support! 

[twinsat44]

Hi Beans,

I am 23 weeks and 4 days pregnant with twin girls.  At 13 weeks I started cramping and spotting.  When I went to the ER the u/s showed the babies were fine and my cervix was at 4.  The next morning I woke up and was hemorrhaging.  By the time I got to the ER and had an u/s my cervix was open and one of my amniotic sacs was bulging. I was diagnosed with an incompetent cervix and partial placenta previa.  My doctor immediately did an emergency cerclage.  Ever since then I have been on strict bedrest.  My cervix stays steady at about 2.4.  I truly believe that the cerclage and bedrest have gotten me this far.  I am also getting the progesterone shots.

There are several stories on this forum of ladies who went on to deliver their twins at full term or almost full term.  Some of them even had to be induced!  Please encourage your wife to post any questions or concerns or even just how she is feeling on here.  There is nothing like talking to women who have been through it or are going through it.

Please let your wife know that she is not alone and she can do this.  We are here whenever she wants to join in!

Ps.  What a wonderful hubby you are!

[Beans2011]

Thanks for the stories.  We are trying to stay positive and my wife is being a great patient, willing to do whatever is needed.

Twinat44, if I can ask about your cerclage, were your doctors hesitant to do it?  Or was it an easy decision since you were dilated, bleeding, bulging sac?  This is one option that is in the back of our minds.  Our doctor who is part of a large group in one of the top teaching hospital in the country said that their group is pretty adamant against doing a cerlage with twins.  She didn't rule it out, but as of right now, it's not an option for her.  We don't want to second guess our doctor, but it would be good to hear the thinking of others. 

[twinsat44]

I don't think there was any question of doing it.  My doctor just said this is what I'm going to do and I was just willing to do whatever it took to keep these babies.  Without the cerclage I would have miscarried, no doubt about it.

You might ask your doctor to show you the research to support their stance.  You can also get a second opinion.  Ask as many questions as you need to until you feel comfortable.

[Beans2011]

Thanks twinsat44.  We go back to the doctor on Friday for another cervical length check.  We are just praying that it's stayed stable or even lengthened.  Our doctor said that it shouldn't get longer, but I've seen so many stories of women in a similar situtation and theirs DID get longer over time (and their doctors also told them it probably won't lengthen).  So, we are hoping for a miracle and that it's strengthened and lengthened.  I know we probably can't trust the cervix even if it does measure longer on Friday, but it will help us mentally that the bedrest is helping somewhat.

We plan on asking about the cerclage again and see when our doctor would feel it would be appropriate.  After researching more about this, I think the doctor is doing the right thing for now (no cerclage), because my wife doesn't have any other signes of PTL.  Her cervix is firm, not dilated, and she isn't having contractions that we know of (she does get some BH every once in awhile).

Did you have a lot of BH early on?  My wife gets maybe 4-5 a day (randomly).

[twins]

My doctor was for the cerclage for the very reason your doctor is against it.  I was diagnosed with incompetent cervix which my doctor described as cervical shortening/dialation without the prescence of uterine contractions or pain.  I was at 2.2 cm and a week later after strict bed rest was 1.2 cm which is when the cercalge was placed - I never had pre term labour or contractions either.  If i had been having contractions and pre term labour symptoms i would not have been a canditate for the stitch as it is not the answer for pre term labour -  you will just tear through the stitch and potentially damage your cervix.  Since the stich my cervix has remained stable, the length fluctuates at each appointment but has never gone below 1.7 cm.  I do have braxton hicks contrations but they are painless and are irregular. 

Personally, I feel as tho the cerclage and strict bed rest have saved my pregnanacy and allowed me to make it as far as I have (28 weeks 1 day).  But you have to do what feels right for you and your wife and what you are comfortable with.

[Angela]

Beans, hope you'll encourage your wife to join us for the chat today. See you there twins and twinsAt44!

http://www.keepemcookin.com/thechatroom.aspx

[Beans2011]

Update- we are now in the hospital, yesterday her cervix went down to .3cm.  She was hooked up to a monitor and having contractions every few minutes.  They let me sleep in the room with her last night, we are both terrified. I think she will be in here until the end. We just pray to God that isn't soon. It doesn't look good but we are still hangin on for a miracle.  I've seen stories of women hang on when things look this bad.  We need to get to 28 wks, please pray for us.

[twins]

Thinking about you and your wife - stay positive.

[Beans2011]

It's hard to stay positive, we just break all day long. She's 22 wks now and a doctor tried to get us prepared for a 24 wk delivery and started with all the statistics about their chances. It's hard to hear all that.  I don't know how we are going to get through all this. We have a wonderful and strong relationship, and we have each other.

[twins]

Is it to late to attempt a ceclage?  Or is it too risky at this point?

[KayEm]

Beans - every minute, hour, day, week that passes is helping your little ones. I am keeping you and your wife in my thoughts...

[Angela]

Beans: Sending positive thoughts and prayers to you and your wife. Every hour counts. I'm so sorry you are having to got through this. Hold tight to each other. (((hugs)))