Poem #11: To Cervix

Because I know so many women who have experienced miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies, I felt very anxious during the first trimester of my pregnancy. When the second trimester began, I was so relieved because, at that point, the risk of miscarriage is reduced significantly. I felt like I was "out of the woods." Unfortunately, in all my reading and research I somehow missed the short paragraph in the index of my pregnancy book about Incompetent Cervix. This condition is uncommon, but can occur during the fourth or fifth month of pregnancy. In my case, the doctors believe this is what happened.

In dwelling on this diagnosis, I was reminded of The Cradle Will Fall, a mystery novel by Mary Higgins Clark. If I remember correctly from the novel, women unable to conceive are referred to as "broken cradles." This description has stuck with me as evidenced in my last post. Of course, the title for Clark's novel is an allusion to the well-known nursery rhyme "Rock-a-bye Baby" and those lyrics serve as the main inspiration for my poem. However, I felt I should give due credit to Mary Higgins Clark because without her novel, I would never have thought of "Rock-a-bye Baby" in the context of infertility and child-bearing.

After I came home from the hospital, the first line of this poem was a frequent refrain in my mind and, eventually, I sat down to compose this short rhyme that includes my daughter's middle name.