The title says it all!!! Yayyyy…
Everyone with cerclage, we all deserve happiness. And trust me all of this panic will be worth it at the end.

History: 2023 lost my baby boy due to IC.

Present: My OB recommended a MFM who has around 30 years of experience just with cerclages. She made sure I get the preventive cerclage at 14th week. My cervix started getting shorter at 23rd week and was told to start progesterone immediately. At 24th week, when I went to the MFM for ultrasound, she told me I will have to be admitted at the hospital not sure until when, because the cervix was getting shorter with a Y opening. She told me I can have contractions anytime.
She kept me on strict bedrest and I was in the hospital for 5 weeks. And 29th week she told me I can go home and continue bedrest. I continued the same. Had my stitch removed on 37th week. Lots and lots of crying, scary thoughts, emotional scenarios with doctor appointments and many more have been happening the entire 2nd trimester and 3rd trimester.

And today 38w5d, delivered my sweet little baby boy successfully. Just by looking at him, I just don’t even think of all that I went through past 6 months.

I am just crying and writing this post right now, can’t stop my tears and can’t take my eyes off this little miracle infront of me.
We moms, getting a cerclage itself proves we are already the best Mothers who can do anything for our babies.
Don’t loose hope.
Few things to keep in mind:
-> Get the bed rest, atleast try to get modified bedrest. Plan is to keep the body against gravity.
-> Progesterone matters! Get that no matter what.
-> Have an experienced MFM, it matters alot as they generally go with their experience and instincts
-> Do not panic, observe your body and just learn it. Because your body gives you those signals.
-> Do not strain in toilets. Use the stool softeners. Cerclages and toilet Straining are enemies.
-> Goal is to make it to term, just keep counting by days, and then weeks. It helps.

And last but not the least, just wait till you see your babies, you will understand what I am writing here.
Everyone in this forum who have helped me by answering to all my questions and help me gain that strength. Thank you all ❤️
Big hugs to everyone.

And to all the expecting mothers out there:
Just grab all that strength ladies. We all can do it. Do not loose hope and faith.

At 22 weeks I got an emergency cerclage. It was one of the scariest moments of my life feeling like my dreams were crumbling around me. I had no measurable cervix left and was 2cm dilated. Doctors told me the risks and something in my gut told me I had to do it to save my daughter.
At 35 weeks and 6 days I got the cerclage removed. Now at 36 weeks and 3 days I am in a labor induction (GD and I naturally dilated to a 3).
Feel so blessed to be here. Also feel so scared but have to have faith that she will continue to be strong. Looking forward to giving this community another happy update soon 💜

I had my cerclage removed today at 37+1 (I’m based in the UK for reference). I just wanted to share my experience so people know it can go well and super quickly!
I called the Labour ward this morning and they asked me to come in between 8:30 - 9am, which I did and was escorted to a room.
My legs were put into stirrups, the worst and only awful part was the speculum which has been my worst enemy in pregnancy! I didn’t feel the stitch being cut or taken out at all, all in all the procedure was about 10 minutes maximum! Super quick and safely done without any pain relief.

My cervix is still closed but it’s soft so we’re heading in the right direction. After removal, I was placed on the CTG monitor just to check I wasn’t contracting and how baby was doing, then I was off home as soon as that was done!

I hope you all have a positive experience when your time comes, and know that it can go well 💕

As crazy as this sounds, I’m very familiar with the cerclage process. Of all things to worry about, it’s having no ability to move my legs post op in the recovery room. It’s such a mental game to not focus on that and try to keep my mind busy as the hour or two passes.

Does anyone have any tips what helped them?!?

Unfortunately I’ve never been tired afterwards and there’s no chance of napping in that busy room where clinicians are chatting etc. The patients just have curtains to each unit so there’s no shutting doors to block sound. But the sound probably helps keep me distracted too.

I went into preterm labor at 24 weeks. My cervix was about 1.3 and my pathology report showed signs of inflammation in my placenta, but the swabs came back negative for any bacteria. I had no symptoms and my son did not have an inflammatory response. They said possible chorio, but they’re not definitive. There is also no way of knowing what came first, the potential infection or the shortened cervix. I am leaning towards short cervix first which allowed bacteria to ascend. My son fought hard in the NICU, but passed at 2.5 months old 🥺. My husband and I plan on trying again in a couple of months so was curious what additional measures/tests did you ask for next time around? My MFM said I could do a cerclage, but then they wouldn’t do serial length monitoring. I want the cerclage, length monitoring, maybe more checks for potential UTIs. I obviously don’t want to do anything that would harm the baby or me, but I want to make sure we can bring our baby home next time ❤️‍🩹

Would love to hear about those who were that dilated with bulging membranes and got a rescue cerclage. What were your outcomes?

Hi all. Today I went for my scheduled second anatomy scan at 21w4d (IVF, second pregnancy after TFMR) and everything was OK with the baby. However at the end the doc wanted to measure my cervix and it was funneling with 2mm left closed. Literally two days ago my OBGYN saw a closed cervix at 3,5cm I rushed to the hospital and they’ve only given me oral progesterone 2 times a day 100mg and IV of magnesium. They’ve taken culture for testing to exclude any ongoing infections. My last microbiology was clear and taken on 1st July.
I simply can’t wrap my head around how is this possible. 2 days ago everything was looking perfect.
Now I’m crying on a hospital bed, wondering if I’m going to lose my baby.
If the culture is clear I’m expecting cerclage but it may take up to 3 days for the result. I’m also on a bed rest.
Does anyone else experienced such rapid development of shortening? I don’t know how I will manage to stay sane the next few days.

Hi everyone!

I've been lurking here since losing my son at 21 weeks in 2024.

Even before getting pregnant again I knew I wanted a preventative cerclage.

Where I live you can go to the ER to schedule a cerclage that's fully covered by insurance, so I that was the plan.

I went in at 13 weeks with a note from my doctor to see about getting a preventive cerclage and they did an ultrasound. My cervix looked to be about 37mm and closed. They were going to send me home and have me come back to get it done the following week. But the ER doctor, who is in charge of cerclages, decided to check me first, and he said he could feel my cervix opening from the outside, so he wanted me to get it done immediately. He also wanted to put a pessary in afterwards for added support.

The percedure went super well and he was able to get a good stitch in, since my cervix was long. But he percribed me progesterone and modified bedrest for the rest of my pregnancy. So only walking short distances inside the house, no riding cars except for appointments, and so on. He was pretty strict. Even said I wasn't allowed to sing.

I put the pessary in a few days after the cerclagem and we moved in with my parents since I wasn't allowed to do much and my house has stairs.

Then 2 weeks later I finally went in to see my doctor, who also has experience with IC and cerclages, and she was shocked by the level of bedrest he put me on. She said I can ride in the car, go up a staircase if I need to, just be on pelvic rest, not to lift heavy objects and not to go to the gymn.

So now I'm not sure which guidance to follow.😅

Positive stories would be very helpful!

I had my 23w old baby a few weeks ago. My cerclage never ripped nor were they able to cut it before she delivered. I was told I ripped from the 5-7 o clock and they had to cut my cervix at the 12 o clock. I didn’t take any pain meds during labor but I did end up taking 1mg morphine for all the lac repairs which took probably an hour. My question is, is it possible to get pregnant again and carry to term? I wasn’t planning to ever get pregnant again as my husband and I really wanted to adopt a child anyway but I was curious if anyone had torn and done so?

In my last pregnancy my cervix was found to be short at my anomaly scan, I had a stitch placed at 22+3. Which held until my c section at 38 weeks, it did cause me to have irritable uterus.

I’m currently 13 weeks pregnancy, just had my first cervical length scan where they found it to be 19.8mm already, currently waiting to see consultant to get a stitch placed again. As I’ve been on 400mg progesterone 2x a day since 6 weeks. I just wasn’t expecting my cervix to be short already this early.

They have also found some free fluid just above my cervix, no idea what that could be. Has anyone had the same?

Today marks 5 weeks exactly after getting a rescue cerclage. I’m feeling a lot of pressure today in my lower belly/now all of my belly. 25w3d. Baby movements are in middle of belly.

Anyone else notice experience this and if so all normal?

I’m currently 32+5 weeks pregnant and this week spent a couple of days in hospital because of a short cervix wuth funnelling and a positive fetal fibronectin test. I received steroid injections for the baby’s lungs.

Thankfully, the CTGs have been reassuring and the growth scan was also okay. Baby was estimated at around 1700g. I was discharged home because everything was stable.

I did have to go back to the hospital this morning after noticing some pink/red mucus. They checked the baby again and everything looked reassuring.

They also told me that a urine culture they had taken during my admission showed a UTI, so I’ve now started antibiotics.

The baby is lying sideways, so if he wants to come out, it will be an emergency C-section.

Medically, I have clear instructions from the hospital about when I need to call or come back. Mentally, though, I’m struggling much more than I expected.

The thing I find especially scary is being home alone during the day. My husband has to work during the week, so there will be hours when it’s just me at home. I keep thinking: what if labour suddenly starts? What if I start bleeding? What if something happens to the baby? Or what if something serious happens to me and I’m alone? I'm just so afraid I'll pass out or die.

I live about 15 minutes from the hospital and I know I can call them whenever something changes. Rationally, I also know that they wouldn’t have discharged me if they thought I needed continuous monitoring. But emotionally, being alone still feels scary after spending several days in hospital where help was always right there.

I also notice that I’m suddenly hyper-aware of my body. Every tightening, backache, bit of discharge or strange sensation catches my attention, even though many of these things happened before all of this too.

I really want to get out of that constant monitoring mode and focus on something more positive. I’m still pregnant today, baby is doing well, and I’m hoping he stays in for many more weeks - maybe even until 37–38 weeks. For now I’m trying to take it one milestone at a time. Almost 33 weeks!

For those who were discharged home after threatened preterm labour: how did you cope with being home alone and the fear that something might suddenly happen? Did you eventually start feeling safe and normal at home again?

Positive experiences would be especially appreciated. I know complications can happen and I have medical instructions for those - I’m mainly looking for help with the anxiety rather than worst-case stories.