Thursday, October 27, 2011

The D&C

Since I've been pretty detailed up until this point about everything that's happened pertaining to the miscarriage, I thought I'd write what is hopefully a final post on the topic of the whole physical journey through this process.  I'm feeling remarkably well at the moment (due I'm sure, in no little part to the percocet) and this time I'm giving "taking it easy" a real effort.

We left the house at 6 this morning and got to the hospital only a few minutes before I was supposed to check in.  Sadie and Mae were still in their pajamas and I gave everyone a quick kiss goodbye and I headed inside to be checked in.  The girls went home with Paul for a princess movie marathon in their princess pjs.

I'd already felt a little rebellious when getting ready before we left.  I'd followed all the pre-op instructions carefully, until I got the one that said I wasn't allowed to wear a dress.  Um.  I don't really have pants anymore that aren't pajama pants and most of my pajama pants are pretty hole-y (there are a couple pairs of old pants up in boxes somewhere...).  I wasn't wearing pants with holes in them out in public, even to surgery.

So I went with a skirt and a top, because it's not a dress, right?  Except that annoyed me, because I have several stretchy knit cotton dresses that are super easy to put on and my skirts tend to be more formal, and more formal usually means, not nearly as comfortable.  In reality, I don't think any real person in the hospital would have noticed or cared had I gone with one of my comfy dresses, but I'm not much of a rule breaker these days.

A few minutes after checking in I was headed back to get ready for surgery.  Everyone was amazingly nice.  I changed into the gown and socks (I kind of like hospital socks, with their little non-slip bottoms and their nice warm softness) and went over my penicillin and sulfa allergies.  I explained that I turn bright red and swell up and am covered with hives for quite a while if either of those drugs come near me.  I told the story of putting my hand in a fish tank I'd treated with sulfa once when I worked in a fish store, and then watching the hives instantly go up my arm.  And I got my IV started.

One of the surgical nurses came in along the way and asked me if I would take off my brown scapular. No one else had had a problem with it (since we'd already gone through the jewelry discussion twice), up until that point.  I said I'd really, really, really like to keep it on, but if I absolutely had to...  (okay, truth be told, if they'd made me take it off I would have asked my doctor if it was alright to wear it when she got there... because I'm pretty sure she would have said yes).  That wasn't necessary though because they let me keep it on.

At some point we found out that the doctor was running late, and while everyone expected me to be annoyed by an hour waiting, I was pretty happy to have the chance to say a rosary... and take a nap.  Unfortunately the nap started during the fourth luminous mystery, but I think it was forty five minutes of much needed rest.  I'd been bundled up in about five nice warm blankets, with my own little private tv right there if I wanted it (I watched EWTN for a bit, before the rosary, after deciding that I really didn't want to see blurbs of people analyzing the latest Madoff family drama, or seeing pictures of the broken toothed rocker who'd fallen in the shower, which seemed to be all they were talking about on every morning news show...).

I woke up just in time to talk to my doctor, who took the time to pray with me before the surgery.  She also suggested I learn the Creighton method, so we can figure out what's going on with my body (I'm hoping maybe we could tie my migraines in somehow, since they seem to be directly related to my cycle and figure out what's going on there...).  Then I was falling asleep again.

About an hour later one of the nurses woke me up and after a few seconds I realized where I was.  After making sure I was okay, and going over all the discharge information, they called Paul to come and get me, and I got dressed to go home.  I was pretty uncomfortable by the time we got in the car.  After dropping off the prescription we went through a drive-through and headed home.

I opted for a migraine pill (hydrocordon), which the nurses had told me should work just as well for the pain, and was surprised to be feeling much better within ten minutes (because it usually takes quite a bit longer with a migraine).  Then the girls and I continued the princess movie day.

I'm still taking the painkillers at the moment, because just as each one reaches the "time to take another" point, I start to feel pretty bad again, and at this point I don't feel like grinning and bearing it, which is what I did when I only took ibuprofen after my c-section so I'd get to go home early (I took vicadin once in the days that followed, when they got behind on bringing the ibuprofen, proving that ibuprofen really does work!).  But the bleeding has stopped completely, which, after three months, makes me want to do a little dance, especially since I was told when I woke up that it might continue to be heavy for up to a week.

I am so relieved that this seems to be coming to an end.  Thank you all for your prayers!  Our family has appreciated them so much!  Hopefully we're finally turning the page on all these problems.

17 comments:

  1. Congratulations that it went so well, and I'm glad they let you keep your scapular on! Out of curiosity, why did the say you could not wear a dress if they made you change into a gown anyway?

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  2. Creighton model is great. I did that for awhile and learned a lot about my body. It is easy too and I loved the way the chart showed so much of what was going on with my cycle.

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  3. Whew, praying this truly is the end. And praying for continued healing. Many blessings to you and your family.

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  4. Thanks you guys!

    I'm not sure why they said no to dresses. Maybe they think they're harder to get into? But since they usually just pull over the head, instead of bending over to pull up pants, I'm really not sure...

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  5. You got Percocet? Lucky duck, they only gave me Tylenol 3 after mine!

    I'm glad it went smoothly!

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  6. Glad to hear everything is going well. Not sure why your OB wants Creighton seeing on the side of her name it says SymptoThermal method. O well. Go with it I guess. I was thinking about doing it myself except I don't like the woman who teaches it here and it's kind of on the expensive side. Maybe I'll do it in the future. My migrains have been linked to my cycle issues. They are getting a bit better but still not great. I'm still a work in progress I guess.

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  7. Really odd about the dress; I truly can't think of a single reason why they wouldn't want you to wear one.

    So glad all went well. Don't be discouraged if you do have some more bleeding for the next week or so...I know I did: very normal.

    Marie

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  8. I know I heard that she just went out of town for a Creighton training, so I'm thinking she's a Creighton doctor now too.

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  9. Have you ever tried Imitrex for migraines? It works miracles for me with migraines.

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  10. I've a friend who took Creighton training and she is very big on the value of what it can reveal about a woman's hormones.

    My bet is that she took the training, saw the value too, and is eager to get as many of her patients using it as possible.

    Hubby and I just abstain until things heal totally after a c-section. Not fun but it sure makes a gal feel loved when her health is a higher priority for her man than sex. :)

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  11. Hi Angela- I haven't tried it! Our biggest problem seems to be that almost every migraine drug isn't okay with nursing, which is what's pretty much only left the hydrocordon (yuck). I used to take Zomig and it worked wonders for me too, but apparently it's not on the baby-safe list either!

    Hi Ann-

    Just reading about progesterone today I have a feeling we're going to discover some interesting things with Creighton. I know that my migraines are almost always in the second half of my cycle, so I think it's probably a progesterone thing... which has me wondering... they were progressively worse through my first two pregnancies, but went completely away with the third. I'm wondering if that means there may have been a progesterone problem going on... And now I'm kind of impatient to talk to her at our next appointment!

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  12. I don't get the "no dress" rule either. I am glad the surgery went ok. I hope that everything gets better

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  13. Relpax is safe for nursing moms. Get better soon!

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  14. I read recently (since I write a weekly blog thing for another website) that hydrocodone also leaches out in breast milk and isn't all that safe either. Some of the latest research says that it's okay on a short term basis, but should not be used long term. They also said you shouldn't use it if your pregnant or may become pregnant since hydrocodone can cause fetal abnormalities in the 1st trimester.

    www.safefetus.com good site about medications

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  15. I definitely wouldn't use it on a long term regular basis. Thankfully since it's only when I have a migraine it's not all that often, and I try to save it for migraines that are obviously going to be horrible. I was a little nervous when my OB prescribed it with Mae Bae, and probably ended up only taking it for one in five migraines as a result (in the third trimester). It's all so nerve wracking.

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  16. So pleased you made it though so well Cam!

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  17. So happy that this is coming to a close for you...hope you are feeling better by now. Looking forward to having some more pumpkin cookies with you when I get back!!

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