My Baby’s Faux-Hawk in Utero

By Kate Peterson


My second visit to the Perinatologist did not go as expected. It started out having to wait 45 minutes & then they said that my insurance had yet to approve the visit. The appointment had been on the books for 6 weeks. Annoyed with waiting, I went ahead with the appointment & figured we would sort out the insurance issues later (a few hundred bucks out of pocket & it took them 6 months to pay me back).

The doctor then dealt me the bigger blow – my cervix was “short” & he suggested a cerclage. He would basically sew up my cervix so the baby wouldn’t fall out. On my drive back to the office, I called my OBGYN to get her take on it. She deferred to the Perinatologist – he was the specialist. Still feeling uneasy, I made one more call to a friend who is an OBGYN is California.

He did not agree with my doctor, but said he would call around to get the opinion of other Perinatologists. He said a cerclage was typically done around weeks 12-14. I was already 22 weeks. Two other Perinatologists agreed with my friend & he found me a new specialist to see here in Vegas. My new doc had done some work at Hopkins (I had lived in Baltimore for years & respected any doctor that had done time there!)

I had a Fetal Fibronectin Test done every 2 weeks to make sure I was not I danger of going into labor. I passed every test & had a ton of ultrasounds. We ended up getting creative with our pics! (see picture & recall Sanjaya from American Idol) The doctor did recommend that I not travel, so my baby shower back east had to be canceled. I was bummed, but the BABY outranked the baby SHOWER.




About 8 weeks before my due date, I was put on bed rest. The baby was not growing & my fluid levels were low. How much “Bringing Home Baby” & “A Baby Story” could I watch???

The baby didn’t seem to thrive from my lack of activity, but maybe with activity it would have been worse. At 37 weeks, I checked into the hospital to get induced. All the doctors agreed that hopefully the baby would grow better outside than in my tiny belly. I did learn something from watching all those shows though – those women ended up starving through labor. So I made sure to eat a nice meal before I went into the hospital. Big mistake – stay tuned….