cerclage fun

Today I got a dil.do cam ultrasound and an ass progesterone shot. No, you didn't miss something. My cerclage placement and high risk of preterm labor (both due to my unicornuate uterus) deems the following things necessary (many of which I wasn't totally informed about when I gave "informed" consent....not that it would have made a difference, but it would have been nice to know up front (maybe??), so I'm putting it here, so if you any of you need one, you'll know what to expect too):

1) Every other weeks ultrasounds. Via vag u/s. That (the u/s location) was a surprise today when I was told to take if off, as last week, they didn't check it that way (last week was done by the doc, this week was done by the u/s tech with no doc in the room). I was told nothing is allowed up there for fear of infection and irritating the cervix, so I'm confused and will be asking why the difference when I do see my doc in two weeks. Anyways, sure, the frequent u/s are sort of reassuring (actually, they are stressful because they break my ability to be ignorantly blissful that all is well...sure they prove that all is well, but at any moment, they could also prove that all is hell too). And, vag u/s normally wouldn't bother me at this point, but they are far more uncomfortable with my current occupant and the current occupant twinged and spasmed for a while afterwards after I got home. Which freaked me the heck out. Yeah, that can't be good. This, too, will be brought up when I see the doc in two weeks.

2) Every week "hip" (read: ass) progesterone shots. Not PIO, but a lower dose, longer acting (thus, weekly) progesterone known as 17P (brand costs $1500/wk...luckily it is still allowed to be compounded since the drug company totally jacked up the price so it's only $25/wk for the compounded variety). Anyways, I produce enough at this point on my own so it isn't replacing it like it has to after IVF retrieval. Instead, it's there to boost the levels just enough to keep the uterus calm and make it able to stretch better in hopes of delaying preterm labor, especially as my risk of loss in the second trimesters is a crazy high 40% due to the kid running out of room in such a smaller living establishment and the natural stretching ability being exceeded to accomodate continued growth.

3) No playtime of any sort. Outside in the form of exercise or inside in the form of bedtime activity. Since I'll likely go into labor in the low to (hopefully) mid 30 week range with the cerclage still in, there will be no time between removal (usually 37 weeks) and delivery (say, 40 weeks) to have some bedtime fun. After a ten month hiatus, should be a fabulous late winter/early spring (and hopefully no sooner b/c sooner means something went pretty not right)! Of course, after the dil.do cam got covered by a con.dom and allowed up there without hesitation, we would both like to know why we can't do the same to DH (not that it was at all comfortable...but anyways).

So there you have it. The cerclage rules (which do vary by doc...medicine is an art guessing game not a science). Happy to oblige, no doubt, just not always a fan of finding these things out during or after the fact. (And I did ask about some of these things...so, for example, while I knew to expect frequent u/s, they failed to mention the type they'd be. It's so not a big deal, my little psyche just was a little surprised and unprepared.)