The Cerclage - In the OR

Upon returning to Labor and Delivery, we were brought back to the same room we had the night before. Not being entirely superstitious, but just a little both Geoff and I acknowledged it was the same room and that we weren't sure it was a good or bad thing. When we were doing IVF cycles, we did 3 of our 4 transfers in the same room -- on our 4th, we were moved to a different room. We joked with the nurse that we finally got the lucky room -- and indeed we had. This room at ENH's Labor and Delivery had brought us luck thus far I guess, so we couldn't knock it yet.

A team of nurses came in as soon as we arrived -- one started working on getting the babies on fetal monitors -- she had some difficulty finding them. If there is anything that I learned from this experience is that Baby A is our mover and shaker -- she does not like to be monitored. This nurse struggled to get her heart rate on the monitor, but instead got a ton of her movement as she worked to avoid the monitor. The other nurse got my IV started -- it was put into my right arm, just above the wrist. I have had many IV's in the last year during egg retrievals, but never had one placed there. Geoff said when she inserted the needle there was a huge gush of blood -- I'm glad I didn't see that.

While the nurse was working on my IV, the Anesthesiologist came it to talk to me. She asked the basic "Anesthesiologist questions" about previous surgeries, allergies, etc. She walked me through what she was going to be doing (a spinal -- yippie) and made sure that we had no questions. Once my IV was set and the babies' heartbeats were detected I was told to drink this horrible orange flavored stuff -- it was kind of syrupy and bitter. I was told it was supposed to keep me from getting sick to my stomach from the anesthesia. Once I was prepped, a resident came in to go over the "risks" of the procedure and had me sign consents. Basically the risks were infection, premature rupture of the amniotic sac (membrane), loss of the pregnancy, etc. Hearing all of the bad things that could happen right before going in did make me a bit weary - but I still signed the consents. Once those were signed, Dr. Neerhoff came in to see how I was doing and told me we were all ready to go and that he would see me in the OR. This was it -- no turning back now. This was our one and only chance to save our babies. I was scared to death....

They moved me into a wheelchair -- I got to wear a beautiful paper "shower cap" on my head and I was ready to be moved to the OR. Geoff came over to me, looked me in the eyes and we kissed -- he said "I love you -- I will see you soon." Of course I got tearey eyed again. I know he was scared for me and probably would change places with me in a heartbeat if he could -- but it was time for me to go. He was told that he could wait in my room or go down to the cafeteria to get something to eat as it was just about 11:30 am. He walked with me until we got to the doors leading into the OR suites -- we again kissed and off I went.

The OR room was cold and reminded me of going in for my D&C almost one year ago to the date. They lowered the OR table so I could hop up and had me sit on the very edge of the table. The anesthesiologist came behind me and began giving me instructions on what she was doing to prepare the spinal. The nurse stood in front of me with a pillow and told me to lean forward into her and the pillow and to round my back while pushing my lower end out. The anthestiologist said I would feel a small prick first -- that was the local anesthesia to get ready for the big daddy spinal. Once that was numbed I would feel pressure, but no pain. A little while later, I felt a sharp pain and jumped -- startled. The anesthsiologist said "don't do that again" -- that just scared me a little considering she was getting ready to stick a needle in by my spinal cord. I relaxed and felt the pressure and then just as she told me -- I felt warm and tingly as the medicine took over my lower body. They positioned me on my back on the table and began to prep the sterile area below my waist for the procedre using a blue drape just like you see in episodes of "Birth Day" or "Baby Story" when a c-section is performed. I tried to convince myself that was what the procedre was -- but that didn't work so well. I didn't want to have these babies yet so I just tried to relax and think of other things.

The nurse again got out the fetal monitors so they could monitor their heartrates during the procedure -- that was reassuring.Once everything was set they got my legs in these wonderul little swing-like contraptions which hung from the ceiling and we were off! As Dr. Neerhoff and the resident positioned themselves beyond the blue curtain, the anesthesiologist sat just behind me and began making small talk -- where do I live, where did I grow up -- she told me her parents lived in Crystal Lake. It was nice to have that distraction so I didn't pay much attention to what was going on. I could feel pressure "down there" but beyond that, I felt nothing. It didn't seem like much time had passed when I heard Dr. Neerhoff say "we're just about done" -- I breathed a sigh of relief. I had made it -- thank God!

Dr. Neerhoff came over to my side of the blue drape to tell me that the procedure went very well and he thought they got the stitch in a very good place. He also mentioned that he saw baby A's membrane (amniotic sac) through my cervix (I still don't know why he said that to me because it did nothing but worry me from that point on) -- but overall -- he felt it was a success and that he would see me later. They got the drape taken down and things cleaned up and brought in another table to move me to recovery. I wasn't groggy at all -- but writing this now just 4 weeks later, it is all a blur.

They wheeled me into recovery and my nurse was there with me and took my vitals and asked how I was feeling. "Fine" I replied. Within just a few minutes of my arrival in recovery Geoff came in -- I guess he first came in (with permission from the anesthesiologist) without proper gowning and was scolded by the nurses -- so when he finally reached me he too had a beautiful paper shower cap on his head and a yellow gown that barely fit him. He was happy to see me and aked me how I was doing. I told him I felt weird -- I couldn't feel anything below my belly button, but beyond that -- I was fine. It was then when the itching started. They had said it could be a side effect of the anesthesia -- but I couldn't stop scratching -- it was weird. The nurse brought in some ice chips for me -- and they were wonderully refreshing since I hadn't had anything to eat or drink since 12 am. Geoff fed me ice chips until I felt a bit braver and asked for some cranberry juice.

I stayed in recovery for about an hour and slowly I began to get feeling and movement back into my legs. They brought me back up to my room and got me back into my bed. As the Labor & Delivery nurse left, she wished me the best and said "now, I don't want to see you back here for at least 10 weeks, okay?" I said -- "I hope so."

The procedure was over -- now it was up to my body to fend off infection and keep these little girls safe for the next few days so I could go home for a nice long tour of bedrest to continue to safely "bake" our babies.