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Miscarriage/Pregnancy Loss
Tell me about your d&c
I have one scheduled for tomorrow morning. I don't really know what to expect.
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Re: Tell me about your d&c
Mine seems like it was a little different than most. I was 23 weeks along and already in the hospital for other complications, so that may be why. But...
The night before the Dr. put laminaria in to dialate my cervix. This was incredibly painful, but they gave me something for the pain and I was asleep within an hour. The next day I went down to the pre-surgery area. My husband was with me while they asked questions (are you a diabetic, any history of allergies to latex, medicine, etc). He went in the waiting area when the wheeled me into the OR. They strapped my arms down to the bed and put a mask on me. The first breath - nothing. The second I started to feel very relaxed and I only remember half of my third breath. Then I woke up.
When I woke up I was FREEZING. They put a blanket attached to a heater over me and my husband came in. I stayed there for maybe a half hour to an hour while they monitored my blood pressure, heart rate, bleeding, etac. By this time it was later in the day. I think my husband said that from the time he left to the time he was told I was ok was just under 1 hr. We had to stay the night, although I think most people do it as out patient.
We went home the next day. I was rather weak, but this may be due to the bed rest I had been on, not the D&C. Within two days, I had my strength back. I took lots of advil for the first two or three days and then stopped and felt fine. It has been 13 days and my bleeding is no longer constant, but medium flow and sporadic.
Depending on how far along you are, you may have breast milk come in. Wear tight-fitting bras to discourage this. My breasts were sore to tender and within a week or so, they had swelled up and then returned to their pre-pregnancy size.
Good luck with your procedure. I hope it goes smoothly for you.
i had a d&e. the laminaria insertion was the worst part for me. when i went home i wasn't in any pain nor did i have any bleeding.the next day i was nervous but once they put me under i don't remember anything. i woke up...went home and had very moderate cramping.
good luck.
This is pretty long, but hopefully it'll help prepare you. The worst part of my D&C (besides having to have it in the first place) was the waiting. I was scheduled for 1:30 and didn't end up going into surgery until after 4 because there was a problem with the patient before me. This isn't standard so hopefully you won't have to wait.
The nurses at the hospital were amazing, very caring. They hooked me up to an IV as soon as I got there. I was told they put would put something in it to relax me. It didnt' knock me out, but I was much more relaxed. They also put a wrap around both of my calves with little electrode things to keep the circulation going during the procedure. My husband and friend were able to stay with me up until they took me in for surgery.
The anesthesiologist told me they would be doing twilight sedation instead on general anesthesia. I remember being wheeled into the OR and moving over to the table. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in recovery. I had some cramping so they gave me morphine. I spent about 15 minutes in the recovery room and they moved me back to the room I was in originally and sat me up in a chair and gave me crackers and soda. My husband and friend were able to sit with me. I was only there for about 30 minutes more and I was discharged with a prescription for percocet.
I bled (like AF) for about 3 days with some very light cramping. I spotted for another week and a half. But other than that, and the emotional aspect, I felt fine the next day.
Good luck. Out of curiosity, which hospital are you using? I'm was at UCH in Tampa, but that's pretty far for you.
TTCAL buddy to LMichelleG - Praying for a miracle
PgALbuddy to CanonMom & BriAZ - Congrats on your beautiful little girls Labor Buddy to Luvsbunny
TTCAL buddy to LMichelleG - Praying for a miracle
PgALbuddy to CanonMom & BriAZ - Congrats on your beautiful little girls Labor Buddy to Luvsbunny
I had mine awake in the doctor's office. Took ativan/motrin/vicodin prior. Got local anesthesia around my cervix (3-4 sharp pokes), then was ok through dilation and most of the suctioning, then at the end there was some scraping/cramping that was NOT comfortable, but managable. Whole thing was quick, maybe 15 minutes. DH was there to hold my hand.
Afterwards, had light spotting (pantiliner level) for a week. Went back to work the next day. Physically felt fine; emotionally, total disaster for the first two weeks, then better day by day.
So sorry for your loss.
My procedure was like this. I listened to my ipod so I wouldn't have to hear the suction or other sounds. The nurse stayed with me and talked/held my hand the entire time. I didn't have DH stay with me as I knew I was in good hands and didn't want him to have to experience it, too.
I had some cramping later that day and the next day, but bleeding/spotting didn't start until day 3 or 4. That lasted for about 7 days for me, but nothing was very heavy.
I've always said on here that I am glad I had the d&c done. One of the risks of the d&c is that it could leave behind scar tissue. If that happens, the scar tissue can prevent you from becoming/staying pregnant. It is unusual, but it happens. I found out today, 4 1/2 mo after my d&c, that this happened to me and now I'm having a hysteroscopy tomorrow to remove the scar tissue. While this is less than ideal, it's not horrible. It's just one of the risks of the d&c. I'm not telling this to scare you - just to point out a risk.
Good luck, and I'm very sorry for your loss.
I am very sorry to hear that you have to do this tomorrow. It is really a rough thing to go through.
Mine seems to be a bit easier than what some of the other ladies went through. Last Weds we got to the hospital at 7:30, by 8:30 I was in the pre-op gear and they had already drawn blood and done the IV. By 9:30 I was done - they put me out completely for it. Whatever they gave me to relax me before they knocked me out made me trip, that part was a little weird. By 10:30 I was awake in recovery, and at 11:30 I was back home.
At home I tried to go to the bathroom and almost fainted. I made it out of the bathroom and lay on the floor for awhile. When I was able to get up my husband had to help me upstairs because I was so weak. If you are up for it today, I would recommend that you get some maxi pads. Yesterday evening I had to pick up the third package in a week.
Had mine around 10 wks.
Ditto whoever said the waiting around was the worst. Checked in at 9:30 (had preliminary bloodwork done day before). The nursing staff were very kind and immediately took me and DH back to my bed and pulled the curtain. All the other beds had curtains pulled back but we were given immediate and full privacy.
I peed, changed into the gown and socks and got on the bed. The nurse brought warm blankets to keep me warm, went over all the forms with me, took bp, etc. Started the IV in my hand by 10:30 and got me on a drip of something (saline?).
Waiting around till 11:30 was awful. You want to hurry up and get it over with but I also felt panic the closer it came. Doctor came by around 11:00 to answer any final questions, then the anesthesiologist (sp?) met with us. Finally DH and I were alone for the last 15 minutes to say good-bye, pray and just be together. DH didn't have to leave until they wheeled me away.
I wasn't scared until I was actually in the OR. Something about the bright, sterile lights and being moved to the bed was frightening. The staff were still incredibly kind. The nurse wiped tears away since my arms were strapped down.
My doctor wrote a prescription for pain killers and DH filled that at the hospital while I was in surgery. The actual surgery was only 20-30 min.
I woke in recovery around 12:25 (I remember it was very important that I know what time it was - no clue why I cared) bawling. I guess I was crying before I woke up. Again incredibly kind nurses were with me just saying they were sorry and wiping tears. I was in a lot of pain but they were very liberal with the morphine drip and within a few minutes the pain was gone.
I had to get a shot post-op (not everyone does) and that was no biggie at all.
While still in post-op the nurse changed my pad (it's just a huge pad firmly placed against crotch) and had me put on my underwear so the fresh pad was attached to it. She gave me privacy to do this alone.
About 1:15 (took forever cause we had to wait for the shot. Normally you'll only be in the post-op room 30-45 min depending on how quickly you wake up) I went to a second post op room where DH could be with me. Again they pulled the curtain and we were given privacy to just be together. DH dressed me, I ate some crackers and juice and was wheeled to the car before 2:30.
I will forever be grateful to the incredibly loving, gentle hospital staff. What we experienced may have been standard procedure at my hospital and you won't necessarily have the same exact experience. If you want DH to stay with you as long as possible or a few minutes alone to say good-bye or whatever, talk to the staff about it. My experience was they were willing to do whatever they ethically could to ease the emotional and physical pain of a D&C.
I thought of a few other things. Sorry for all the personal info, but:
When I was knocked out, they used a catheter. The first few times I urinated after, it burned.
Also, I was really gasey a few days later. I think this was related to antibiotics. I believe if you eat yogurt with live cultures, this will help.
Ok, here's my story and it's a little long.
First we had to go to my OB's office the morning of. They wanted to take one more look with their u/s machine (even though this was the 3rd look they had taken) before proceeding. So that was pretty miserable - luckily they let us go in the back door and put us right into the u/s room.
After they confirmed that our baby really was gone we went to the hospital where I had to do the check in and wait for what seemed like an eternity (though I know it really wasn't). When they took me back I totally lost it and was a crying mess. Then the nurse who was putting my IV in was making small talk and asked if we had any children. As I am clearly there for a d&e.
So I freaked out on her, they had to give me 4 doses of valium before I relaxed enough to continue. From there I don't remember a whole lot. Allegedly I was awake but I really don't recall. All I really remember is coming home and thinking it wasn't all that bad, which I continued to feel for a few days.
Then reality set in both emotionally and physically. I had some intense cramping/bleeding that I needed prescription pain meds for as well as insomnia. Definitely ask for a prescription for both pain meds and something to help you sleep, they were lifesavers.
So sorry for your loss. I just had my D&C last Friday. The baby stopped growing at 6w4d, so it was pretty early. They gave me IV sedation instead of a general and I woke up almost immediately after the procedure, which only took about 25 minutes. I was home just a few hours after I checked in. I slept pretty much the rest of the day - I think that was a combination of the sedation and the mental/physical exhaustion from the m/c. The next day I felt great, and this past week I've had some mild cramping and just a little bit of spotting. I did have a few hours of fairly heavy bleeding, but I think I was lucky. I think I had my hormone crash Monday night and Tuesday, which was hard. These wonderful ladies helped me a lot though.
I'll be thinking about you tomorrow, good luck.