If you follow me on any social media… you know that I have been in and out of the hospital. I will try and be quick with what’s going on but I definitely want to be informative! I want to share with you my experience with getting a pessary implant for a short cervix!

So I was sick for about two weeks. So sick where I couldn’t take it anymore! When you’re sick and pregnant you can’t really take ANYTHING … which sucks! I was coughing so hard, had no voice, my head felt like a balloon and  was so congested! Nothing was working. My wife was at the store every single day getting new stuff to try. We used a humidifier. I used a saline nasal spray. she put vicks all over me! It was  just terrible.

One day I started to feel cramping more than normal. It got really bad and I was starting to worry. Cramping is somewhat normal during pregnancy but this was just out of control cramping. My wife and I decided to go to the hospital to get checked out.

At the hospital they gave me fluids and they listened to the heart rates for the babies. Everything looked normal. They did a  transvaginal ultrasound (Side note- I felt so bad for the tech who was doing it because I was coughing the whole time and couldn’t breathe while laying on my back)

After the transvaginal ultrasound we had to wait for results. About an hour later the doctor came in with some other doctors and that’s when I freaked out. The doctors said that my cervix was shrinking.

Usually when your cervix shrinks it means your body is basically preparing for labor. I was only 22 weeks! This freaked us out! When we went to the doctors before my cervix length was around 3.2cm  .. when they checked it in the hospital it dropped down to a 2.1. cm CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT YOUR CERVIX LENGHT! 

The doctors were concerned with how quickly my cervix dropped. They told me I was to not move and be on bed rest for the next couple of days until I saw my high risk doctor. The reason why they were so concerned is because I could go into preterm labor. They were talking about the survival rate for the twins and how it was only at 25% !! The wife and I were so upset hearing all of this. 

For the next couple of days I was miserable at home on bed rest! The wife and I are always on the go. We love doing things! But for two days we did nothing! We watched a lot of TV and played board games lol! I’m so lucky to have her by my side through this whole process. 

I was constantly looking up other blogs and stats on short cervixes and reading up on everything I could. Which can be good and bad. You know how the internet can be… I would sit there and read something and freak out and cry. Then I would read something about twins being delivered at 23 weeks and they were perfectly fine and those stories gave me hope! 

FINALLY we had our appointment with my high risk doctor. They checked up on the babies and looked at the whole anatomy. The babies were looking good! They were growing and were right on track! Then they checked my cervix… yup it was still short! Luckily we have the best doctor in Orlando (her name is Dr. Humphrey who is the High Risk Doctor with Florida Hospital) and she was not too concerned. The doctor educated us on all of the options that are out there for women who have a short cervix. Our Doc told us all about the pessary and how the pessary is put in place to try to prevent preterm birth.

She described the Pessary as something that has been shown to either do nothing for you or it will work wonders on your cervix. She explained that it could do no harm to have it put in. This is what the pessary looks like —- 

When she first showed me that I was like ummmm… how the heck is that going inside of me. It was super easy though. They clamp it down to make it smaller and they vaginally put it up around my cervix… once it was  in place around my cervix.. .she let go of the clamp and it popped a little in my stomach when it opened.. but it was done! They checked the pessary on the ultrasound to make sure it was around my cervix and sure enough.. it was! My cervix number jumped up once the pessary was in place!

I am also taking extra progesterone vaginally every night. The progesterone is something I took in the early stages of my pregnancy. It is sad to help prevent miscarriages and preterm delivery. I’m not a doctor so you can read more on that process HERE!!! 

If you find out that you have a short cervix or an insufficient cervix.. there are so many things they can do nowadays! There is also something called a cerclage that they can do to help with the short cervix. A cerclage is a procedure that is performed under local anaesthesia and is more of an in depth procedure. Because I am pregnant with twins… this was not an option for me!

Today I am 24 weeks and everything seems to be just fine. Having the pessary in does cause some pressure in my lower back and my rectal area. This is totally normal. AND it is something I will definitely deal with if that means the babies will stay in there a little longer to bake!

The doc was telling us about women who had the pessary put in place and they made it to 40 weeks! She also mentioned a woman who had hers removed because she was uncomfortable and her water broke right after! WE DON’T WANT THAT JUST YET! So I will deal with the little pressure that I have. My doctors goal is to get me passed 28 weeks! She is really confident I will get there and make it through 30+ weeks.

WE WILL KEEP YOU POSTED! <3 Thank you so much for following our journey. If you have any questions… please feel free to reach out to me! I can only give my personal opinion on this. Your doctor will always have a better answer for you! 🙂

CLICK HERE if you need to catch up on our baby making process!

Here is my YouTube video explaining this whole process!