Avery's Adventure: D&C Day

I apologize that this post really isn't about Avery today. Its going to be for everyone suffering from a miscarriage who is thinking about having a D&C. We are devastated but wanted to share with you about our experience.

I searched many sites when I heard I was going to be having a possible miscarriage to find out more info about the D&C and I liked being as informed as possible before I made my decision. We knew we couldn't live with ourselves doing anything before there was no heartbeat.

On Monday they confirmed our baby no longer had a heartbeat. I knew I did not want to go through the physical and emotional pain of waiting for the miscarriage to happen naturally. Plus, the doctor said that he thinks the baby died last week and my body wasn't showing any signs of miscarrying on its own (no bleeding or cramping).

The D&C was scheduled for Friday. I wasn't allowed to eat anything after midnight on Thursday night. We had to be at the surgery center at 6:30am. My surgery was scheduled for 7:45am. We got checked in and they took us back. I changed into the gown and the no skid slipper socks and they came and put my IV in. The IV was the most painful part of the whole procedure (of course besides the emotional pain we were going through). Everyone from the nurse, anesthesia and doctor that came in to talk to us said they were sorry for our loss.

The weirdest part was walking into the operating room. They carried my IV bag while I made sure to try to keep the back of my gown closed so no one got a show. I climbed up on the operating table. They did their time out procedure where they reviewed my name, birthdate, procedure I was having. Everyone agreed and they asked me if I agreed and I said yes. I laid back on the table and they put a belt around my waste and tied both of my arms out(like on a crucifix). They put the mask on my face and asked me to take a few deep breaths and that's all I remember.

I woke up in recovery. I wasn't in any pain. They asked if I wanted something to eat and drink so I had a pack of Lorna Doone cookies and a ginger ale. They then brought Tim back to see me. He said I was pretty out of it and kept asking him the same questions like "did you let the chickens out this morning" (which is actually a valid question) and how did the doctor say my surgery went. We were there for probably 20 more minutes and Tim went to get my prescriptions (an antibiotic and Vicodin) and pull the car around. I wanted to make sure I could pee before I left and then they wheeled me to the car in a wheelchair. (One of my biggest fears after having the surgery was that it would hurt when I pee like it did after I gave birth. I kept imagining I would have to use the little water squirt bottle to help with the pain.) Much to my surprise there was no pain, just a little blood. The doctor said I would probably have some bleeding for 5-7 days. He said no sex or tampons for a week and to come back in 3 weeks for a follow up.

We got home around 10am. I ate some Subway, took a Vicodin and napped for 4-5 hours. I woke up feeling really pretty good. No cramping, just a little bit of bleeding.
Tim picked Avery up from daycare and we ended up taking her to Chuck E Cheese that night. We wanted to spend some time with her doing something fun. She had a good time. I took another Vicodin around 9 even though I wasn't having any pain/cramping.

I woke up at 7:30am with horrible cramps. I have decided to take the pain pills every 6 hours for a few days just to try to stay on top of it. Other than the cramps this morning, I have been feeling really good, just some slight bleeding.

Overall, I am happy I had the D&C because now I feel like we can move on faster.

We have been asked if we are going to try again, even with the problems Avery had and the miscarriage and the cystic hygroma this baby had. Yes we are going to try again. If we get pregnant again and there is a problem like a birth defect or chromosome problem, we will then look into adoption. I told Tim we should just start the adoption process now because it could take awhile. Plus many people who start the adoption process or adopt end up getting pregnant. If anyone knows about the adoption in the US, please email me.

Overall, we are sad that this happened but it does make us appreciate Avery and the little things in life even more.

I wanted to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers. Also, for everyone that shared with me their personal miscarriage and D&C story, I really appreciate it and it has definitely helped me along this journey.

Look how huge Mommy was looking at 10-11 weeks!