Questions about D&C

jessforsee

Hey everyone, like many of you, I didn't expect to be part of this group. We found out in October that we were pregnant with what would of been our 2nd child. We were so excited! We told all our friends and family over the holidays, and I was supposed to be in the 2nd trimester on tomorrow. Now instead, I'll be spending tomorrow. at the hospital to have a D&C. I had a check up sonogram for some bleeding I was having and to make sure the baby had a heartbeat, they had a hard time finding one at a appointment on Tuesday. The ultrasound showed that the baby no longer had a heartbeat but was still attached. Cue the heartbreak.... 

I'm trying to figure out how to cope. One second I think I'm fine, and the next second I'm crying... has anyone had a D&C before? I don't have any idea what to expect. Part of me is wishing my body would just do it on its own before tomorrow. How did you feel after yours? How long were you sore for? And I know this is a weird question, but when did your body go back to normal? My baby bump was already big enough that random people were telling me congrats in elevators or the store. I really don't want anyone to tell me congrats anymore... so I'm just wondering when I can expect to have my belly shrink. For me, I don't think I'm going to be able to start moving on till it's gone... another question, how do you know when you are ready to start trying again? Both my husband and I can't imagine trying anytime soon right now,..

flowerintherain

@jessforsee I'm so terribly sorry for your loss. I understand what you mean shout being fine one minute and crying the next. I don't know when it will end..hopefully soon. I wish I could answer your questions, but I don't have any answers as it happened naturally for me. I hope your procedure goes well and things get easier for you

babypi

I'm so sorry for your loss.  I had a D&C at 10 weeks, so I didn't have a bump yet, I don't know when your body will return to normal. The D&C itself was quick, but it was very hard emotionally for me. I bled for 12 days after, and I passed a bunch of big clots with heavy cramping about 7 days after. This also would have been our second, and we were blindsided by the loss. I'm so sorry that you're going through this. We decided to try again right away because I couldn't fathom preventing something we wanted so bad, but everyone handles the loss and trying again (or not) in their own way. 

NYTino24

@jessforsee So sorry to have you join us. I had a natural MC on Sunday. It started with spotting on Wednesday, bad contractions and bleeding on Thursday, and the loss on Sunday. I would have been 8 weeks on Sunday, but baby was measuring 6 when I had my appointment (and heartbeat) on Thursday. Trust me when I say it isn't easy. The worst part for me besides pushing him / her out was being told that they can't test because it wasn't a D&C. So if there is one down side, let it be that a D&C may be able to tell you the reason for the loss. I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

jessforsee

Thank you guys for your responses, I'm really sorry for your losses as well. It was totally blind siding for us as well.  

Glitter

@jessforsee so sorry you are here. Ive had 2 d&c. My 2nd was yesterday. Ive had an easy experience with the actual surgery. Both times in and out within 4 or so hours. I have little to no pain the first day. The 2nd day i cramp on and off. My third day I cramped and passed clots, my fourth is the same, and then i had light cramps and smaller clots for a few days, then bleeding tapers off. I hope this one is similar to my last. I do suggest taking the pain meds prior to being in a lot of pain, that way it stays controlled. If you feel your pain isnt being managed or extreme cramps, call your dr. Most of us seem to experience similar things with oue d&c. Im glad im able to test the baby again this time. this is my 3rd mc so i need to know. But testing is entirely up to you. 

Also my body literally feels way diff today than it did 5 mins before the surgery. I swear my boobs instantly deflated. It was like my body finally and suddenly realized what was happening. Our hormones will be a mess, especially being farther along our levels are high and you will have physical, mental, emotional changes. Dont be afraid to talk about it. Something that helped me a lot after my loss in April was getting a lil memorial keychain made. A lot of us do something small like that to remember our lil babies. It helped me feel like I was allowed to remember my baby and be his mother. 

I honestly think you will know when your ready. Your body will tell you and so will your heart. It doesnt matter if its 1 month or 1 year, whatever is right for you is the right time. 

Here is a pic of my lil keychain i had made. 
It has the lil ultrasound picture, the babies Dec birthstone, when his due date would of been, then April BStone for when we lost him, my df and my bstones, a mother & child charm, angel wing charm, and the xoxo charm. I picked them out and the wonderful lady added them all. It helped me move on and grieve. 

I hope and wish you the best. This board has been awesome for me and If you need anything or want to chat, i along with many others are available. Im so sorry your here, ill be thinking of you. 

jessforsee

Thank you so much @glitter that is really helpful. I'm so sorry for your loss. We decided to try and plant a tree in the baby's honor to be able to remember it by. I love your keychain, that is such a beautiful idea! 

I feel like I have a good idea of what to expect thanks to your advice, so I really appreciate it. 

BelhurstBride

@jessforsee, I am so sorry for your loss. 

I had my d&c 1/5. I was pretty crampy the day of, the cramping diminished significantly with each passing day. I pass an incredibly large clot Friday and the bleeding almost stopped immediately following that. I remember wearing a pad on Saturday, but not actually needing it. 

I was at 16w, but wasn't really showing, so I can't answer for when your body may return to normal. 

I couldn't really think about TTC for the first few days, but the last couple of days I've realized I'd like to try again as soon as possible. Give yourself time to grieve, you have time before you have to make that decision. 

ETA: a few days after the surgery I had terrible muscle aches. By the end of the day my whole body hurt to move. Turns out, it's a common side effect of one of the drugs used during anesthesia. No one mentioned it as a possibility to me, so I thought I'd put it out there. 

jessforsee

@BelhurstBride Oh thank you so much for your advice and for the info regarding the side effects. I just got home from the hospital, all went well. I do have some pretty serious cramps right now, but nothing too major. It's so weird, I went into surgery with a bump and came out looking about 80% skinnier.... it is a pretty weird feeling. Thank you for the advice again, I'm trying to cope and hopefully I'll feel better and like myself soon. I'm so sorry for your loss as well. And I hope we all get rainbow babies after this  

Glitter

@jessforsee hope your doing ok hun, glad it went well. Its hard but i feel like its a start at healing and moving forward. Let us know how your doing when you feel better

jessforsee

So just curious, I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I've had cramping, nothing horrible but I have been super uncomfortable. But I have had like no bleeding. I had some the first day, but nothing yesterday and so far nothing today. I can't tell if this is a good or bad thing. I'm kinda worried there is one hell of a clot up there that is going to hurt when it comes out, or just never come out at all. Has anyone else experienced this? 

BelhurstBride

@jessforsee, I had a lot less bleeding than I anticipated. I had my procedure on Thursday and the cramping Thursday was pretty intense. Friday it was better, but still there, more like bad period cramping. I passed a large clot sometime Friday and the bleeding and cramping stopped pretty much immediately. 

If your doctor was able to successfully remove all of the tissue your body may not need to continue cramping and bleeding.

Uhlease13

jessforsee said:

So just curious, I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I've had cramping, nothing horrible but I have been super uncomfortable. But I have had like no bleeding. I had some the first day, but nothing yesterday and so far nothing today. I can't tell if this is a good or bad thing. I'm kinda worried there is one hell of a clot up there that is going to hurt when it comes out, or just never come out at all. Has anyone else experienced this? 

I'm so sorry for your loss. Ive had two d&c's. My first was at 11 weeks, second D&c was 8 weeks. (A year apart) Both of mine went very smoothly and I actually had no to little bleeding or cramping after at all. So it could be normal and that doesn't necessarily mean you'll pass any large clots. You might, might not. But I'm glad to hear your procedure went well, and I'm sorry again. 

jessforsee

Oh ok thanks, I've been reading and some people have been saying it all depends on your body and you may bleed and you may not, so I guess I will just wait and see. Thanks for responding! 

NYTino24

@jessforsee Just be on the lookout for a fever if you think there is retained tissue. Is your doc tracking HCG?

babypi

I had really light bleeding for several days and then had horrible cramps while passing clots starting about 5 days out. I passed the largest clots on the 7th day and then the bleeding got a lot lighter. My dr told me that the bleeding might take a while to start because my cervix was very swollen because of the surgery. They weren't worried about the delayed cramping and clotting because it didn't last longer than 2 weeks. 

I should mention, some of the cramping I had at 3-4 days out was from a bladder infection I got from being catheterized during surgery. 

jessforsee

No, they aren't tracking my HCG levels that I know of. I called the doctor today and asked about some back pain and the lack of blood, they said they are not worried about it, as long as I don't show any signs of infections. So I should be ok, I just hope that the back tenderness and everything goes away soon. I miss being able to move around and feel normal. :-/ 

justsuzie

Tracking my HCG down to 0 helped me get through milestones of the loss process.  And, it actually helped me grieve.  Sorry for your loss.