The D&C, Take Two

I'm not in the mood to post as in-depth as I did last winter on my first D&C. But I do want to describe it to highlight how it was different from my first one.

I was very surprised at how easy it was! After two similar surgeries under general anesthesia, I thought I knew what to expect. But when we met the anesthesiologist, he told us that I would be under deep sedation, and he'd only go to general anesthesia if I moved around too much. I didn't yet understand what that meant for me, but it sounded good.

Then we met Dr. J, who was on call to do my surgery. She was wonderful, and I got to know why she was the doctor particularly recommended to me in this practice. She listened to me and gave me a chance to ask every question I could think of and thoroughly answered them to the best of her ability. Excellent bedside manner. I had expressed concern about my abnormal uterus and whether there might be any leftover septum that had a role in this loss. As I expected, she answered that it was unlikely since it was a blighted ovum, and she couldn't promise to be able to verify that there was no septum leftover, but she would certainly mention if she noticed anything.

The hospital seemed pretty empty, probably due to the fact that this was two days before Christmas. It seemed like I got to go through each step of the process relatively quickly, all while repeatedly answering questions as to my name and DOB, what procedure I was having done and whether I was allergic to anything. My mom and Erich were there with me, and we took our turns crying. Erich had to go to a rehearsal later that day, so the plan was for me to go to my parents' house and hang out on the couch for the rest of the afternoon and evening. I foresaw being out of it, hugging my box of kleenex, wallowing in sadness.

Then I was wheeled into the OR. The last thing I remember the anesthesiologist telling me that he was putting something in my IV that would not put me to sleep. Yeah, right.

Then I woke up, being wheeled into the recovery room. I opened my eyes and could see Dr. J and she was saying, "It went great! Textbook!" I felt joy at the idea of a textbook uterus. The nurses were fluttering around and one sat me up. I was waking up so fast! I felt like I had taken the most beautiful and restful nap ever, and I felt that weight-lifted-off-my-shoulders sensation I had expected with my first D&C but never had.

After only about ten minutes of hanging out on the bed, I was escorted to the recliner. There was very little bleeding. Erich and my mom got to come over soon after, and then I was eating snacks (delicious, wonderful FOOD after fasting for 14 hours!) and just generally feeling really good. I knew the emotional distress would hit me later, but for the time being I was just enjoying my comfort level. And I continued to enjoy it for the next few days, with negligible bleeding that day and none for the next five days. We were in and out of the hospital in about 3.5 hours, as opposed to the 5.5 hours last February.

So thank you, normal uterus, for not setting me into an abyss of confusion this time. Thank you, body, for not starting to miscarry naturally before the D&C. That really helped my mental health. And, above all: thank you, deep sedation, for not being general anesthesia and allowing me to feel normal so soon after my procedure. You guys really came through for me.