during the 22 week anatomy scan, everything was going well with my wife. Then we found out that the cervical length went from 4 to 1 cm. She was sent home and put on bed rest (no cerclage). She is not dialated and is having no contractions. Tomorrow we go back and she will most likely be hospitalized for the remainder of the pregnancy.

What can we expect? We are terrified, as we have fought so hard to get where we are and we have fallen in love with our little trio. Any prayers, comments, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
thanks,
Justin, Angie + 3
God Bless

Tell you wife to stay lying down unless using the restroom. Drinking lots of water can keep the contractions away. Hospital bedrest is a great thing and they can monitor and medicate. Also taking care of your meals helps to keep her lying down.

Remember to ask for a visit from the nutritionist. They can order extra calories likes shakes, cheese, protein as she needs more to help grow those babies.

Set small goal like a week at a time. You are close to viability. As soon as you hit 24 weeks see about getting steroid shots to help with babies lungs in case of early delivery.

I will pray for your family.

Lisa T
bbg 30 weeks
5-8-10

Certainly praying for you and your family. You can expect the unexpected. It's a bit of a roller coaster ride. I was put on bedrest at home (no cerclage either) for ctx 8 min. apart at 22w3d. Ended up going back at 23w4d and being admitted when they figured out my cervix was under 2cm and I was contracting 4 min. apart. and over 50% effaced. (FYI, I didn't deliver for another 8w or so and that was due to Baby A breaking his sac.) Hang in there (almost literally). Take it day by day or hour by hour if you have to. The steroid shots the PP mentioned are known as betamethasone and they help to develop the lungs. We had the first the day I turned 24w and the next 24hrs later (they have to be staggered I think). None of my trio were on a ventilator or O2 despite being 8w premature. I credit those shots as being the reason. PP also right about gallons of water and lots of protein. Protein builds muscle (will help put weight on the babies) and water keeps it hydrated so less likely to contract even in her uterus' extended state. Keep us posted.

update
thanks for the prayers and comments...we are now in the hospital and a week later, there is no change (which the Dr. seemed positive about.) She just got her first shot today of the steroid. I will try to update as much as I can, but again, thank you for your prayers and support. Happy Thanksgiving, God Bless!
-Justin

Glad things are staying the same! I agree with others that posted. I was in the exact same place as you guys are at. my cervix got dramatically shorter at 22 weeks, they put me in the hospital and gave me steroid shots as soon as I made it to 24. Though my cervix quickly went below 1cm (and eventually was paper thin) it never gave out. I delivered at 33 weeks 3 days due to pre-eclampsia not because of my cervix. I was very strict about bedrest the whole time in the hospital. I stayed on my left side and drank lots of water. I also took procardia medication in case it was pre-term labor shortening the cervix(I was having mild contracting). Oh and I talked the doctor into giving me progesterone shots even though it wasn't proven to help with a multiple pregnancy. I told the doctor i wanted to try everything possible! It may not have helped but I felt better doing everything I could. At least in the hospital they can monitor you and potentially do something to stop labor if labor starts. I will be praying for your family!

Our stats given for your encouragement:

24 weeks cervical length 1 cm went on hospital bedrest.
25 weeks cervical length .7 cm "we won't be measuring that anymore."
29+4 BBB born @ 3+ pounds and HEALTHY!

Take it one day at a time and stay positive.

Aloha,
Kelli
BBB 6/4/06 @ 29wks 4 days
GG 4/30/09

My impression is that many women pg with triplets had a shortened cervix somewhere in the 20-25week range. Most go on hospital bedrest and make it past 30 weeks (not all... but I think most). I just say this to encourage you that you still have a very good chance of delivering at a healthy gestation.

I can't quite remember but I believe my cervix was maybe 1.8 at 25 weeks, with no contractions, at which point I was hospitalized. Being totally down (except for showering 1x/day and sitting up briefly to eat) seemed to help. I took procardia but that was it for meds. My three were born at 34 weeks 1 day, and have been completely healthy and developmentally normal kids. I'm glad your wife is in the hospital and I am optimistic for you that you will have a great outcome!

Good luck.

Mary (41) happily married to Case (45) since 7/2000

Stay-at-home mom to Madelyn Anne, born 10/31/04

and GBG triplets: Laura Catherine (4 lb 8 oz), Andrew William (4 lb 9 oz) and Elise Nicole (4 lb 7 oz) born 3/15/07 at 34w 1d

quick update...today is 24 weeks, we have been in hospital for bedrest for a week. We thank God for every day and for all of the support and prayers we have received. Thanks everyone!

This week is such a milestone. Congrats. I hope she settles in and gets several more weeks. I am keeping your family in my prayers.

Thanks for the update

Lisa T
bbg 30 weeks

Hi -
I'll keep your family in my prayers. I was put on bed rest for a shortening cervix at 22 weeks -- went from 1.2-1cm. We went in for weekly appts and I dropped to less than 0.5cm when they stopped measuring it. Never any dilation, but my darn cervix just kept shortening -- we were very worried. BUT I made it to 34 weeks (to the day) and had 3 healthy babies all over 4lbs! They will be 3 yrs old in a month and are all in the 80-99th percentile for height/weight!

Your wife needs bedrest -- only getting up to urinate. My husband set up a mini fridge which he stocked daily -- AND lots of water.
It's very had not to worry, but I wanted to share a positive story as I was on the message boards daily looking for hope also.
Wish you all the best.

Today we made it to 25 weeks! Still excited, still worried, still in the hospital on bedrest. The babies look good according to the nightly monitoring. We thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. Glad I found this place...

Glad they are still cooking and that you are able to look one week at a time - rather than one hour at a time! 25 is great, 26 is better. Hoping for a lengthy stay ending in big babies!

Marie

Thank you for updating! I am so glad that the babies are still cooking...and pray they will stay there for many more weeks.

Susan

Parent to GGG born 31 weeks 4 days 4/26/07




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26 week update...today we are 26 weeks. I feel like we are heading in the right direction, but we are pretty nervous about tomorrow. We have a growth scan and cervical length check. They are putting my wife on iron supplements and sending physical therapy to her soon as well. After really wanting to reach this milestone, it seems like a lot is going on right now. I will update with results as I get them...thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers!

Just curious, why are they calling in physical therapy? I only ask from my experience. J was hospitalized at 20 weeks for short cervix and PTL. Since I was not allowed to get up except to go to the bathroom and shower ( every couple of days) we asked about PT. Basically all the drs said ( including Dr Elliott) that my concern should be about the babies should be my concern, not me. I just wanted to make sure I didnt turn to jello, not run a marathon.

Thank you for the update. I always keep rhe stories similar to mine in my thoughts.

Suzan

g/g/b August 21, 2005
my miracle 24 weekers!!!!

they call in physical therapy to get her doing exercises to try to increase muscle tone in her legs and arms...no walking or anything, just making sure she doesnt lose all tone i guess...we were wondering about it too though.

Thanks. That is the I only reason I asked. We thought the same thing and it was an emphatic NO!! Maybe I was worse off and you guys are in a better position.

Suzan

g/g/b August 21, 2005
my miracle 24 weekers!!!!

I did have PT as well when I was on hospital bedrest, but they just came once and gave me some bed exercises to do. I think the main purpose is to avoid blood clots from being sedentary, and get the muscles moving a little. The exercises are basically similar to the ones in the back of Barbara Luke's book for bedrest so I wasn' surprised about any of it.

So happy for you that you have made it this far!

Lara
Mom to GGG born 12/25/09 at 25+4

26w 1d update---growth scan: a 1lb 14oz B 2lb C 1lb 10oz. They seemed a little concerned about baby c being a bit behind, not sure what to think on that, I will say I expected them to be a little bigger than this though. They decided not to do a cervical check, and they said they would really try to see us make it to Dec. 28 (28 weeks +) so we could get the second rd of steroids. They would possibly do a cerv length check at that time. As for the PT, it was mainly bed exercises, so that has calmed down a bit too.

All in all, week 26 seems to be successful other than baby C's weight seeming to be a bit down, I was not at the appt unfortunately, so I really did not get a read on this information though. As always, thank you for the comments, thoughts, and prayers. I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season.

Prayers that you spend Christmas happily beside your wife's bed in the hospital and will joke about the babies first Christmas dinner being hospital food!

Susan

Parent to GGG born 31 weeks 4 days 4/26/07




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27w update...we made it to 27w...still in the hospital on bedrest and hoping for more time. no contractions yet, no water broke yet, so we are very grateful...thanks for all the support, comments, and especially the prayers. i will continue to update

So happy to hear that you made it to 27 weeks! Keep cooking those babies, it sucks right now for you but you will be so grateful later!
Best wishes!

quick update" 27w5d (Christmas Day) The scariest day yet...The nurses came in to do a heart rate trace like we do daily. Everything was fine for 20 min. then toward the end, baby c's heartrate fell to below 60...they prepared my wife for C section and acted promptly. Thank God!!!!they monitored them one more time and the rate went back up. They are now monitoring the babies for 4 hours a day minimum and baby c constantly until further notice. As of right now, no heartrates have dipped again since. The explanation we got was this is related to the cord probably. I could have this completely wrong and we are talking to MFM tomorrow. I will update with corrections that need to be made...crazy day...crazy Christmas in the hospital...the staff here was excellent and very prompt, so hats off to them! Hope your Christmas was less scary than mine!

I am glad everything turned out well. That is so scary. You are so close to 28 weeks! I felt such a sigh of relief when we made it there! I pray you celebrate the new year with a grape juice at your wife's bedside and this time have a quiet holiday without any big excitement!

Susan

Parent to GGG born 31 weeks 4 days 4/26/07




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thank you, we made it to today (28 weeks!) We are very thankful...I will update with more info tomorrow after growth scan.