Graduation

If you are a male, not comfortable with the words used to describe female anatomy, or medical terms, I recommend that you DO NOT READ THIS POST! If you decide to anyway, don't say I didn't warn you...

I will try to not go into too much detail here, but, again, this may be TMI. I apologize in advance.

First, some background. Around four and a half years ago, I had the joy of learning that I was reproductively challenged. I had a uterine septum (basically a wall separating the left and right sides of my uterus) and two cervixes (cervices?). This was not exactly great news, but it was "repairable" via surgery, and if "repaired" I was told that I would have a good chance of becoming pregnant in the future. The real blessing here was that I found this out well before thinking about babies, rather than miscarrying or not being able to get pregnant and then finding out about this anatomical anomaly. I was lucky to find a great surgeon and, two surgeries later, I was told I should be good to go whenever I decided it was time for babies. While I had been given the go ahead, I have still been very nervous every since that I would have major problems. Two years ago I started getting ovarian cysts, one of which was 9 cm (3.5 inches!) across and was definitely the most painful experience that I have ever had. That didn't add an additional hurdle to getting pregnant, but I was warned that if I had one when I got pregnant, it could be risky. So, just another little thing to worry about.

When we started "trying" I had my hopes very low, and expected that we would not have an easy time of it given my history. I was partially right, in that I did not get pregnant the first time we tried, nor many times after that. Thankfully, however, I, obviously, did get pregnant and everything has been great.

Because of my cervixes, however, I have had to visit the neonatologist every two weeks for cervical checks to make sure that both cervixes are "competent." My surgeon had initially said that he thought that one was incompetent, so it was important to keep a close eye on them to make sure they were doing their job and keeping the baby safe. I haven't particularly minded the appointments, but they have added extra time away from work, the fun of transvaginal ultrasounds every two weeks, and neonatologist appointments are not cheap (but they have helped me meet my $5,000 deductible MUCH faster). The good news is that every time that I have gone in, everything has been fine.

Today, at 28 weeks and 3 days pregnant, I was told that I have "graduated" and don't need to go in for cervical checks anymore! Apparently, because I have made it this far without any problems, my doctors are confident that my cervixes are capable of doing their job, and will continue to do so for the remainder of my pregnancy. Though I kind of liked the bi-weekly reminder that everything is okay, it is such a relief to know that my body is doing what it is supposed to, and, hopefully, I don't need to worry anymore.

Time for the final haul! 11 weeks and 4 days until my due date!