Back from my awake D&C with local anesthesia: the details for anyone with similar plans
Hi ladies,
I didn't see much on this board about people's awake D&C's in the doctors' office so I thought I'd post my experience in case others have similar plans.
Took misoprostol to soften cervix around noon, showed up for my appointment at 4pm starting to cramp/bleed (ironically more so than when I took the misoprostol previously to try to do this naturally). Took ativan and vicodin while waiting to be roomed. Got a shot of toradol in the ass once roomed. Had DH at bedside holding my hand throughout (and averting his eyes as necessary; I told him he didn't have to stay but he wanted to be there to support me).
The numbing of the cervix with the local anesthesia hurts. They say it's like a pinch, but it's worse than that. Four pokes. After that, however, the cervical block certainly did its trick for cervical pain. I had a lot of cervical pain when I had an IUD put in years ago, and was surprised that the dilation didn't hurt. So hurray for cervical blocks!
Then came the curretage part. At first, it felt mostly strange since it's odd to have something poking around inside of your uterus, but this was not painful. Then, closer to the end of the procedure, it got more painful like really bad cramps/?contractions (sorry, this was my first pregnancy so I can't make labor analogies). I will not lie, this part hurt, and I definitely uttered a non-family word at one point. But thankfully this part did not last long. I also had a heating pad on my belly that helped a lot.
Now that the procedure is over, I am pain free. Still drugged, probably, so we'll see how things go the next few days.
Interestingly, the emotional part wasn't as bad as I thought. I was really nervous in the waiting room, and I was expecting to break down sobbing during the procedure, but I only cried a little bit and mainly because I took the opportunity of a longer visit with my doctor to ask all of my most-feared questions about the miscarriage and future fertility. I am also 9 days out from finding out about the M/C so I've had some time to grieve; I suspect that if I had scheduled the D&C immediately and not tried the misoprostol first that I would have been an emotional wreck during the procedure.
Would I recommend an awake D&C to my friends? Well, it depends on your pain tolerance and your emotional state. It's certainly do-able, especially with ativan on board. However, it was also certainly not pleasant and I hope to never have to go through one again. I don't think it was so unpleasant that I would ask for conscious sedation or general anesthesia if I had to go through one again, since for me the risks of anesthesia are not worth the time-limited discomfort I went through, but I would not judge anyone for opting to be knocked out if you want avoid the physical and emotional unpleasantness as much as possible during a rough time.
Hope this helps anyone who has to go through this.
Re: Back from my awake D&C with local anesthesia: the details for anyone with similar plans
I'm sorry for your loss. I'm really glad that things went "smoothly" for you in regards to the D&C. I wish my doctor would have tried the things yours did. I had a m/c and planned on letting it go naturally. Luckily I had to go to the hospital when it started anyway since I am RH negative. They almost sent me home but I insisted. Long story short, I ended up having an emergency C&E (I was already dilated). I was awake the whole time and the doctors only gave me Demerol, which it turns out has no pain relieving qualities at all for me. I'm really glad that you didn't go through the same thing.
If I have any advice for anyone it would be to ask as many questions as possible. If it helps write them down and have someone else ask. Also, go with your instincts.
I'm sorry for your lose but there are great things to come for you and your DH!
Try to keep your head up!
so sorry for your loss.
It's great for you to share your experience with your D&C. ?I had mine yesterday too - I had the other way. ?Basically - they both SUCK!
Keep your head up & look forward.?
Glad yours went well. Mine was nothing like that. I went in to see the doc to follow up after going to the ER the night before and being told everything was okay. When I saw my doc he said I had a m/c eventhough I reported very little bleeding. He was basing this off of lack of embryonic growth after 5weeks. He gave us the option of in the office which he said 90% are done or going to the OR. I figured in office would be less draining on me because I have a wicked allergy to anesthesia. Anywho. The doc said he was going to set things up. I thought he meant the appointment. 5minutes later he brings us into the room where everything is set up. DH and I now start to freak a little. It's just totally overwhelming to us at this moment. They make DH leave because it's a sterile environment. Then without any drugs of any sort he explains that the numbing won't really hurt just a pinch. I have to agree that this is more than a pinch it's freakin hurts!! Also I guess because I had no anesthetic or the novocane didn't kick in yet that I could feel the pulling during the vaccuming. He finished up and they gave me 2 days worth of antibiotics and sent me on my way.
It was really quite scary and overwheliming since we really didn't have time to think about what was going on. I almost feel like I never had the chance to decide to go naturally but I also attribute that to when I called the doc about the weird discharge all she did was say my levels were down and gave me suppliments to raise the levels for the next week. I know hind sight is 20/20 but it's more obvious now that it was probably starting to go natrually and they avoided it happening by giving me the meds. It's just really frustrating to be lost without knowing what's going on. From the first time I met the doc who gave me the meds she talked about "when you m/c" and it just made me feel like she wished it on me rather than explaining that I was over 2 weeks behind and that things didn't look good.
I hope anyone else who has it has a better experience than me!!
Needless to say I'm not going back to this practice after my 2 week follow up.
I'm sorry for your loss... I too had an awake D&C in the office in October 08, but I didnt get the pain meds you did, the miso, or anything. The only thing they gave me was a Darvacet to make me kinda "loopy" and the dr manually dialated my cervix and scraped my uterus out. Let me tell you I have been through labor three times and I would gladly go through labor pains and delivery over having another D&C like that! It was so painful, my poor DH was right there with me, but I was in so much pain he felt bad....
I had really bad cramping for over two weeks after my D&C, apparently because I tensed up due to the pain.
My advice to any girls who want to do a D&C awake is to get the medications you described, not just a simple darvacet. Because I felt the entire thing, and it was AWFUL! I didnt utter any "colorful" words because I was hurting so bad I couldnt talk!