D&C

I woke up crying this morning. Our appointment was scheduled for 9 AM arrival. I cried while getting ready. I cried on the way there. I cried in the waiting room. It was the same location as all of our egg retrievals so the nurses knew us and my own doctor was on rotation. We spoke a bit. Got the IV started (2 sticks), signed a bunch of paperwork, and waited for our turn. Cried the whole time.

I asked the doctor if they can do an ultrasound before they start. He said they do but that the patient is usually out by then. I asked to be awake for that part. He said he doesn't mind but that I will be exposed from the waist down, which may be uncomfortable, and then jokingly asked if I don't trust him -- I think he wanted to protect me from false hope. I said I know that we're not going to see anything new but that I needed the closure. I didn't want to wake up one day thinking "what if."

When my turn came up, I was walked to the OR and got settled on the table. The medical staff was setting up: adjusting my legs and arms, covering my legs in blankets, adding medicine to the IV, etc. I guess they always do this part but I'm usually out by then. The doctor did the ultrasound and explained all the parts while the nurse pointed out what he was saying on the screen. Before he gave the signal to knock me out, he made sure I had no other questions and was ready to start. They were really great - I appreciated that they took the time to do that.

In past egg retrievals my first memory is being back in recovery with my husband there. Today my first memory is being woken up in the OR to the anesthesiologist saying, "you're all done, time to scootch" and three or four nurses and medical people helped me move from the surgery table to the gurney. I woke up again in recovery where I cried some more.

The recovery nurse asked if I want a drink or snack. I couldn't decide what I want so my husband asked for water and ginger ale. She also gave me pain medicine. When I stopped crying my blood pressure went down. For the first time in three months I realized I wasn't nauseous. Silver lining. A little later I was released to go home.  When I got off the gurney I felt a gush and quickly put a chuck between my legs to catch it all before it made a huge mess. I wasn't in pain it just surprised me.

My husband scheduled to work from home the rest of the day so he could take care of me. He picked up lunch and went to go fill my pain prescription. In a slight hiccup, the date on the rx was tomorrow's date and the pharmacy was saying it's illegal to fill it early. So my husband raised some polite hell and told them to call the clinic to verify. They straightened it out and he was able to get the good drugs. So what if everyone at the pharmacy now knows I had surgery.

After lunch I passed out. I napped for two hours and woke up feeling better. I'm surprised at how different recovery is from an egg retrieval. I'm having some moderate cramping but that's basically it. No bloating, no headache, no gas, no shoulder pain. Physically feeling fine all things considered. I also haven't cried since getting home. Somewhere deep down it feels ok to move on now that it's behind us. I think I was also nervous for a new procedure and worried about all the things that can go wrong.

I have to go back next week for bloodwork to follow up on my hcg levels. This procedure was much more difficult emotionally than physically. Overall feeling ok.