tdstraitjacket and I went to a specialist that my OB/Gyn recommended for more information about what could be done if we wanted to try to get pregnant again. We both instantly the doctor. He made us feel completely at ease and was very relaxed about the whole idea of the abdominal cerclage. He doesn't perform them, but his "boss" does. He even called the other doctor's office and told them to have the doctor call him right away so he could ask him some questions about my specific case and arrange for me to meet him. His "boss" is the head of maternal-fetal medicine at University of Chicago. He called back in less than 5 minutes. We will be calling tomorrow to schedule an appointment to meet Dr. Haney. BTW, if you Google "abdominal cerclage" and Chicago, the vast majority of the hits that you get mention Dr. Haney and his extraordinary success at abdominal cerclages. Some of the studies show a success rate (carrying to or nearly to term) over 90%.

Dr. Ismail (the doc we saw today) seems to think that if we want to try again, there will be fewer problems. We will go to Dr. Haney before we get pregnant and he will put the cerclage in. When I get pregnant, I will see Dr. Ismail for the first couple of months to make sure that everything is going fine. Then I return to Dr. Zabaneh and he will take care of me from there and perform the C-section.

I probably won't need any bed rest. I will be out of work for about a week or so after having the cerclage placed. And I should be able to continue working through the pregnancy if I choose. Dr. Ismail said that if I didn't have any problems related to my job during the last pregnancy, I shouldn't have any problems with another.

This is still a big decision. I know that tdstraitjacket is more comfortable with the idea now than he was before. Our main concern is my own physical health, but we have to take into account our mental and emotional health as well. Even if my body could physically handle another pregnancy, I worry about if I would be able to handle it emotionally. It took a long time for me to start "bonding" with Ronan in utero because I spent most of the first trimester waiting to miscarry. Even when I started feeling him move, I worried that it wouldn't last.

Thankfully, we don't have to make a decision today. Or even tomorrow. Right now, we get the information we need and discuss it and think about it and try to figure out what is best for us.