I had the D&C today around 12:30 or so. I arrived at Fannin Surgicare at 11 am as instructed and there were babies everywhere. Wow, that was kind of hard. I imagine the first visit to Dr. Firpo on December 29th is going to be hard too because there is usually at least one baby in the waiting area.

I filled out the 900 pages of paperwork (mainly just signing and initialing things) and sat back down. On the description of procedure it said “missed abortion” “D&C”. Now in my head I knew from a biology class that a miscarriage is technically called an abortion even if the body does it naturally. But something about seeing it on paper hurt. I’m about as pro-choice as it comes, but I wanted this baby and don’t like thinking of this terrible situation as an abortion.

The office manager called me back up and asked if they had told me it was going to cost $877.33. I told her yes and made hushbear come and pay it. He asked if we should put it on a credit card, but I explained that this is something I would really rather not pay interest on.

I got to go back at about 20 after 11 and at this point the nausea was at about an 8 out of 10. I didn’t take my Zofran this morning because I was afraid it would interact with something and they wouldn’t be able to do the procedure. Once I was back there and changed, a zillion people came to talk to me. Mostly asking about my seizures and asthma.

The anesthesiologist was really nice, he came to do my IV and one of the nurses tried to call him away to see someone else first. He walked out and told her no. He wanted to get my IV in since so nauseous. Then they would be able to give me some Zofran. I could have kissed him.

Now, if you are squeamish about certain things that start with the letter ‘v’, you might want to skip this part. (That means you, TD)

He looked at my arm and asked me if I had left my veins at home today. He said since I have hyperemesis, even though I’m able to eat and drink my veins aren’t what they should be. He went to put the IV in my left arm and it went in one side of the vein, and out the other. When the saline went in it immediately began to swell. You should see it, it’s still swollen and nasty looking. Ok, maybe not. perhaps not something i should share. 🙂

So, on we go to the right arm where there was a really good vein in my right hand. He numbed it because they use these huge needles in case you need a blood transfusion, and I honestly didn’t feel anything.

Bad part is over, you can come back now.

He left and the surgical nurse came in to tell me a little about the procedure & to reassure me that everything was going to be ok. We had a hard time taking her seriously because she was wearing Christmas tree earrings.

Then one of my new favorite people came in. The nurse anesthesiologist. She was really nice and relaxed me quite a bit with her easy going personality. I wish I could remember her name. Betty? Becky? Sorry, I can’t remember your name, you were awesome though. (I think she was Asian?) She gave me my Zofran right before Dr. Firpo came in.

Dr. Firpo came in and answered all of my questions. She strongly suspects that it was a partial molar pregnancy. She said with it ending like this and the fact that I had hyperemesis, it points towards that. We should hopefully be able to confirm that diagnosis with the pathology. I should hopefully know more at my follow up appointment.

I’m not at an increased risk of this happening again, nor am I more likely to have the hyperemesis again. Especially if it turns out to be a molar pregnancy, that will be the cause of the nausea. It makes your pregnancy hormone levels go through the roof.

Then the anesthesiologist nurse took me back to the OR. She had checked my chart and I had to list every place I had traveled in the past year so she was asking me what my favorite place was. We talked about Paris & Sydney all the way to the OR. She then put the oxygen mask on me and the next thing I remember I was waking up in recovery.

When I came to I forced myself to wake up because I knew the sooner I was awake & alert the sooner I got to go home. They brought Hushbear back after Dr. Firpo talked to him and had him help me get dressed. When a new nurse came back with the wheelchair I blurted out “I have to pee!”. She looked a little shocked, but I really had to go. She sent Hushbear out for the car and took me to the bathroom where she proceeded to watch me pee. I really could have done without that. She could have at least looked away.

Gross again. Skip if squeamish!

I was shocked by the amount of blood. I guess I realized there would be blood, it still surprised me though.

…and, we’re back to regular, non-gross blogging

I’m at home and dizzy, but Dr. Firpo said the nausea should go away in the next 48 hours. I have to admit, I am looking forward to that. All in all, we’re still lucky. Hushbear and I are very strong together and we know that we can try again. I have a good life, a husband that loves me and supports me, and great friends. I know we will have kids soon. As much as this hurts, I know there’s nothing I could do differently. It’s just a fluke and hopefully the next pregnancy will go well.

I found out that my mom, my aunt Tammy, and her daughter (my cousin Alicia) all had miscarriages with their first pregnancies. I think my cousin Heather might have as well. They all then went on to have perfectly healthy pregnancies and babies for their next ones.

Oh yeah, it’s snowing in parts of Houston today. It never snows in Houston and it was hot yesterday! Very strange, but it cheered me up a little. Even though we didn’t get snow at our house, I absolutely love that it happened today.

If anyone from Fannin Surgicare somehow reads this…thank you, you guys rock.