Just a brief update for those that don't know. Morgan is in the hospital on bed rest but thankfully is doing great. She had her 23 week appointment last Thursday and the doctor discovered that her cervix had shortened from 3.9 cm the week before to 1.5 cm. She wasn't experiencing any contractions (or so we thought), but the doctor admitted her into the hospital immediately for observation. The hospital nurses immediately set her up on monitors where it was discovered that she was having contractions (4 or more per hour). The doctor put her on medication to stop the contractions and quiet her uterus down. Friday afternoon she was still having contractions so he decided to wait another day before determining the course of action to take.
We had two choices: to 'wait and see' OR try the cerclage. If we chose the first option, we risked that Morgan's cervix would continue to shorten and eventually her water would break and the babies would be born. If we chose the cerclage, we risked infection to Morgan and/or the babies, risked a perforation of Morgan's bladder or risked rupture of one of the baby's membranes/sac and Morgan would go into labor immediately. Since the earliest the babies are viable is 24 weeks, we were more likely to lose the babies if she went into labor this soon so neither choice was clear.
Jim and I looked at Morgan and she turned to the doctor and said "do whatever you need to do to keep the babies inside". She said she was 'not going to give birth to the babies this early'. She had no idea but her statement brought us to our knees. We were so humbled by her at that moment and to this day don't know where her strength came from as we were all terrified of what might happen in the next few hours. That said, she was adamant that it was the right decision and with Morgan's conviction, the doctor's confidence and our feeling that we would regret not doing 'everything' we could to save our children, we all gave our consent to perform the surgery.
After an hour and a half of waiting, worrying, talking to Morgan's mom, to Bubbles and to my mom, the doctor came out of surgery and told us that he was very pleased with the result. He said the next 24 or 48 hours would be telling as Morgan's uterus would be 'very angry' and that she could expect a lot of cramping, contractions and pain/discomfort. Although he was pleased with the surgery, we would just have to wait to see if the cerclage was successful. Needless to say, we were relieved but still worried of what the next 24 - 48 hours would bring. Would the cerclage hold and just how angry would her uterus be?
After a few hours we got a call from Morgan that she was awake and ready for us to come back in. Fearing that she would be in extreme pain, we cautiously went back in.....only to find her in a great mood with color in her skin and a SMILE on her face!!! What? Jim and I were pale as ghosts and here she was a few hours post surgery and smiling! She said that she 'could tell they did something down there' but she wasn't in that much pain....only some discomfort. Wow. This woman is a Rock Star!
Sunday morning Morgan called us first thing and said she only had ONE contraction during the night and she was hungry! Those were THE best words we have ever heard. We arrived with breakfast and she looked Great! The first thing she said was "What Angry Uterus? Take that Dr. D!" Ha Leave it to Morgan to find humor in all this! Although she will most likely be in the hospital for the remainder of the pregnancy, she is in good spirits and committed to keeping the babies in for as long as she possibly can and we are so thankful that we have this hurdle behind us.
We drove home last night thinking that we were the luckiest guys in the world to have the team we have behind us..... Our children are already so loved and supported by amazing family and friends, an incredible and talented doctor and, most importantly, a wonderful, supportive, committed woman who we are so very proud to say is not only our friend but a member of our family.
This weekend Morgan showed us the true meaning of Love. They say "Love Makes a Family" and Morgan is forever a member of ours.
Jim and I drove down very early Saturday morning and arrived before Morgan woke up. She was groggy and nauseous with all the meds but was in generally good spirits all things considered. The doctor took another look and said her cervix had shorted to 1.2cm. Since Morgan couldn't feel the contractions, the doctor didn't feel that they were strong enough to cause the cervix to shorten. His conclusion was that the issues she was having were the result of an 'incompetent cervix'. Had he known this, he would have put in a precautionary cerclage (a stitch to keep the cervix closed) around week 14 - 16 as waiting any longer brings greater risks. Since we were at 23 weeks + 2 days gestation, he was conflicted. He said due to risks and liability, 8 of 10 doctors would not perform a cerclage this late but he felt that if it were his own wife/child, he would go for it.
We had two choices: to 'wait and see' OR try the cerclage. If we chose the first option, we risked that Morgan's cervix would continue to shorten and eventually her water would break and the babies would be born. If we chose the cerclage, we risked infection to Morgan and/or the babies, risked a perforation of Morgan's bladder or risked rupture of one of the baby's membranes/sac and Morgan would go into labor immediately. Since the earliest the babies are viable is 24 weeks, we were more likely to lose the babies if she went into labor this soon so neither choice was clear.
Jim and I looked at Morgan and she turned to the doctor and said "do whatever you need to do to keep the babies inside". She said she was 'not going to give birth to the babies this early'. She had no idea but her statement brought us to our knees. We were so humbled by her at that moment and to this day don't know where her strength came from as we were all terrified of what might happen in the next few hours. That said, she was adamant that it was the right decision and with Morgan's conviction, the doctor's confidence and our feeling that we would regret not doing 'everything' we could to save our children, we all gave our consent to perform the surgery.
After an hour and a half of waiting, worrying, talking to Morgan's mom, to Bubbles and to my mom, the doctor came out of surgery and told us that he was very pleased with the result. He said the next 24 or 48 hours would be telling as Morgan's uterus would be 'very angry' and that she could expect a lot of cramping, contractions and pain/discomfort. Although he was pleased with the surgery, we would just have to wait to see if the cerclage was successful. Needless to say, we were relieved but still worried of what the next 24 - 48 hours would bring. Would the cerclage hold and just how angry would her uterus be?
After a few hours we got a call from Morgan that she was awake and ready for us to come back in. Fearing that she would be in extreme pain, we cautiously went back in.....only to find her in a great mood with color in her skin and a SMILE on her face!!! What? Jim and I were pale as ghosts and here she was a few hours post surgery and smiling! She said that she 'could tell they did something down there' but she wasn't in that much pain....only some discomfort. Wow. This woman is a Rock Star!
Sunday morning Morgan called us first thing and said she only had ONE contraction during the night and she was hungry! Those were THE best words we have ever heard. We arrived with breakfast and she looked Great! The first thing she said was "What Angry Uterus? Take that Dr. D!" Ha Leave it to Morgan to find humor in all this! Although she will most likely be in the hospital for the remainder of the pregnancy, she is in good spirits and committed to keeping the babies in for as long as she possibly can and we are so thankful that we have this hurdle behind us.
We drove home last night thinking that we were the luckiest guys in the world to have the team we have behind us..... Our children are already so loved and supported by amazing family and friends, an incredible and talented doctor and, most importantly, a wonderful, supportive, committed woman who we are so very proud to say is not only our friend but a member of our family.
This weekend Morgan showed us the true meaning of Love. They say "Love Makes a Family" and Morgan is forever a member of ours.
These surrogates are amazing. Mine has been a rock star, too, going through all these shots and ups and downs with me. I understand you two being humbled by what she has done for you. It is truly incredible to see what surrogates endure for another person's happiness.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that the cerclage worked!! Morgan is a true rock star!!
ReplyDeleteWow, that was an amazing post. And I just am floored by her commitment to this whole process. You guys are so lucky! Good luck to ALL of you with the rest of the pregnancy!
ReplyDeleteSo happy this worked out. I agree that she is amazing! Here's hoping for boring bed rest :)
ReplyDeleteK
Tears!!
ReplyDeleteVery scary moment... so glad it all worked out. Hospital bed rest was my biggest fear through it all, so I hope Morgan keeps her spirits high. Hope you guys are doing well. Hang in there!!
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