Keeping up with the Schultzes: September 2013

Throughout the grieving process in losing our sons, Tristan & Sawyer, Trae and I have (thankfully) always been in sync in our thought processes. In our devastation, we both felt strongly that we needed to honor our sweet babies for the rest of our lives, which we have done through our work with March of Dimes. We also knew we needed to regain some control over my health that would make carrying a baby possible in the future.

The doctors immediately diagnosed my losing Sawyer & Tristan at 23 weeks due to an "Incompetent Cervix." Essentially, my cervix was too weak to sustain the weight of my babies. Contrary to our & others beliefs that this was due to me being in an airplane 2 weeks before, or hiking or being on a bike... all our doctors assured us that nothing we did caused my incompetent cervix to happen, or happen when it did- it was all going to happen anyway due to the way my body was built. Dr's went on to explain that this would have (likely) happened if I was pregnant with a singleton baby, as well- I just would have likely gone into labor closer to 28-30 weeks with 1 baby.

While I was navigating my new "normal" at home, I immediately started researching what we could do to fix my cervix. I knew we were going to have to wait to start a family again, for several reasons- but I had to do SOMETHING to be proactive and to fix my body that failed my family. We met with my new OB to discuss our concerns and he sent us to Dr Berry, a perinatologist, (MFM) in town. Our appointment with Dr Berry was a long one where he discussed our options which all included having a cerclage for any future pregnancy and being on strict watch once pregnant. I trusted Dr Berry and know his work is trusted well around Austin, but continued to do research and found a surgeon in Chicago that specialized in a permanent cerclage that can be placed prior to pregnancy. Trae and I had a phone consultation with Dr Arthur Haney where we learned he had been the Chief of Medicine at University of Chicago for over 10 years and specialized in this surgery for over 8 years. He also helped train our Reproductive Endocrinologist here in Austin, which made us feel right at home. Dr Haney answered all our questions and agreed we were perfect candidates for the surgery. I scheduled my surgery & trip to Chicago the next week.

With my brother, Paul's help with his travel points, and Trae's loving support & willingness to help nurse me back to health, we flew to Chicago in mid April to have my Trans Abdominal Cerclage placed. The surgery went well- Dr Haney was able to secure 2 mersilene bands around the very top of my cerix, ensuring my cervix would never again be able to dilate in labor. The cerclage allow me to get pregnant naturally (if blessed that way), allow us to go through fertility treatments ( if needed again) and have normal fluids pass in and out, it just doesn't allow my cervix to contract at all past its normal width. The cerclage does, however, require me to have a C-section with any subsequent pregnancies- a small price to pay for a healthy baby!

After a night in the hospital and a very sore following night in our hotel we returned home where I started feeling back to normal in about a week. I'm left with a 3" scar which will later be the same location as a C-Section, if we're blessed with more children. Our trip to Chicago was a short one, and an emotional one.. but we left with a sense of accomplishment knowing we would never again lose a baby due to this problem. While we wish we could have fixed it to save Sawyer & Tristan we feel certain that they would feel proud of their Mom and Dad for finding the faith and strength to do the surgery for any future siblings of theirs.