I started bleeding really heavily on Thursday. I'd been tapering off, so this was weird to me. It seemed like too much, plus I was feeling really weak, so I called the doctor. They wanted me to come in to check it out, but I wasn't sure if I should drive myself. I called Andrea to just see if she could take me... it was worth a shot. Sure enough, she said that she could. Her mom even offered to watch all of our boys while she took me and Ivey.
Once we got to the office, I started having really bad cramps. They were bad enough for me to beg for meds right there in the office. They decided to do an ultrasound and sure enough, things were amiss. I think the exact words were, "Honey, no wonder you're hurting." I had "retained products of conception". It was probably some placental tissue, but definitely a bunch of stuff that shouldn't still be there.
I went back to see Susan and she called for the OB, who proceeded to get a visual on the situation. Without going into too much detail, I don't even want to WIPE down there, much less be opened up, checked out, and have various instruments used. They kept opening the door to yell for new instruments. The whole time I was sobbing. I'm talking true uncontrollable sobs, swollen eyes, snot, the whole nine yards. The OB was doing what he could and Susan was holding my hand and apologizing. It was horrible. After they did what they could, the OB told me that I have three options.
1) Do nothing and see what happens (not recommended)
2) Take a medicine to make me contract in hopes that my body would get it out or
3) Have a D&C
It was obvious that he felt I needed a D&C. I asked about the chances of taking the drug and still needing a D&C. I didn't want to go through any more than I had to. My fear of having my stitches ripped out took a backseat to my fear of having my postpartum recovery drag on for months. I agreed to the D&C. It was scheduled for the next day.
On Friday, Andrea (my hero) watched the boys for us and Jeff, Ivey and I headed to Athens at 7:45am. Ivey had never had a bottle, but I pumped a couple ounces the day before just in case I was unconscious during a feeding. I went back for pre-op and discussed safe meds to put me under while nursing. We decided on a general, but without the "feel good" medicine that they give you before putting you under. The nurses were awesome and hurried through what needed to be done in the pre-op room so that Jeff could bring Ivey back to nurse. After that, they wheeled me into the operating room. It was really eerie being wheeled in on a stretcher while completely lucid. You just aren't supposed to see all of that. I commented on how I wish I wasn't seeing this... the table of instruments, the nurses in face masks, etc. One nurse said that I wouldn't remember it and I had to let her know that I wasn't on any drugs... I would remember it just fine.
They gave me the gas and put me under. That was that. After my D&C I woke up in the recovery area with an IV of a drug to make me contract. Before my eyes were opened, I was moaning from the pain. The cramps were bad. They gave me something to help, but they were still bad. Unlike contractions, there is no break to these cramps. After a while, I was taken to a room where I was able to nurse Ivey again. She never skipped a beat.
The OB said that she was concerned that my uterus was still too large and not firm. I don't remember the word she used, but it was something like "floppy". She said she had to remove a lot. She didn't mention it to m, but when she talked to Jeff she dropped a hint that if my body didn't kick in and start contracting down like it should, we may be looking at a hysterectomy. He said it was just mentioned very lightly. Neither of us liked that one bit. So, let's hope that my body does its job now. I go back to the doctor on Wednesday to see if it has made any progress.
I've felt crummy for a few days, but today I am feeling better. I just hope this is the end of all of this madness and I can actually recover this time.
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