Having a D & C on Monday after MMC. Scared. AIBU to ask for your experiences?

[PollyCazaletWannabe]

Although I have kind of come to terms with the fact that I have lost my baby :( I am scared about the actual process of the D and C that I am having on Monday, and about the after effects. I was wondering if anyone who has had one before could tell me about it? What's the pain like afterwards? I have been told I shouldn't go back to work until Thursday- is this about right? Will I bleed a lot? Any advice or handholding would be greatly appreciated.

Glad it all went well; take care of yourself

I spoke too soon! Now having very sharp, intense pains about once every fifteen mins :( is this normal? I have taken ibuprofen but it didn't seem to have any effect :(

Late to the party - glad it went well. I had an ERPC (I refuse to use term D&C) and it was straightforward. Quick question - did they test your blood afterwards, or do you already know your group? As there's a risk of bleeding, they checked mine afterwards and found that I was rh negative, so I was given the anti D injection. It protected my next, thankfully successful, pregnancy.

They didn't but I'm sure I'm type o. Don't think I'm rh negative anyway. Thanks for the tip though :)

polly i wouldnt say that was normal, where are the pains?

They are on one side of my abdomen. Like period pains but those are more centralised. Also more intense and sharp than period pains

On the left side

Would you liken them to contractions? It may be that there is some tissue remaining and your womb is contracting to flush it out.

They are not really like contractions as far as I know (never had a baby) but like a sharper period pain. I think you may be right about the cause though gingerbreadmam, thanks for replying

OP I was booked in for D&C after MMC but miscarried naturally the night before the operation.
When I was in hospital being looked after, when I miscarried getting all the necessary checks etc I was in a hospital bed in the same room as patients booked in for D&C.
You get a bed & the surgeon comes in & talks to you, tells you the procedure etc, to reassure you and it's a bit of comfort I think. Women was generally back in the room after the operation around 45 mins to an hour after and was told they could go home a few hours after.
This is just my experience from what I saw & heard in the room, I've not experienced it myself.

Polly when I naturally miscarried it started off with period pains/ cramps, which then got progressively worse, along with very very very heavy bleeding. No pain killer would touch it. The spasms/cramps I were told was contractions, and it was the womb contacting pushing the tissue/foetus out.
If pain gets worse then be prepared to potentially have a natural MC.
I later found out I could have gone to EPU and they would have gave me pain relief. So if the pain gets bad they can do something for you.

Oh sorry!! Just seen that you have had the op.
I thought you was booked in for this Monday coming. (My bad)
Sorry for your loss.

Hope you're ok OP.

I was booked in for a ERPC then miscarried naturally; had sharp contractions the night before which then settled for about 24 hours. Then the contractions started again and then I miscarried. The contractions were sore but the actual miscarriage didn't hurt. Passed the placenta 20-30 minutes later along with more contractions. I wasn't in pain afterwards but did get further heavy bleeding. I took paracetamol and ibuprofen and codeine for the pain, didn't go to the EPU.

However, I had to go for another scan afterwards to make sure all the placenta had come out (it looked like it had it was huge!). It hadn't so I ended up having an ERPC as well.

That experience was really positive, I was scared going in but they gave me midazolam and I don't remember actually going to sleep, remember waking up and feeling quite normal and really enjoying my toast . The bleeding afterwards was no different to a period and I wasn't sore, felt back to normal the next day. Emotionally though I think I'd held it together until the procedure was over and was a bit all over the place for a month or so afterwards, so take gentle care of yourself.

Thanks all - I appreciate all the replies a lot.

When i miscarried it was like a sharp ache but every 10 or 15 minutes. Took me a while to realise they were mild contractions. It might not be that but that was the first thing that came to mind. Hope you are ok x

Update - the pain is better today (it's Wednesday here) but I'm still very tired. Got up and had breakfast at 7 but felt exhausted so went back to bed and slept for another hour and a half. DH has had to go back to work today after taking two days off to look after me - he's been so lovely through this whole process :) anyway the good news is that I don't feel so much pain today :)

That's great polly. Glad you are feeling a little better and your dh sounds wonderful.

I remember tiredness being the worst thing for me after mine i think its the ga.

Relieved to hear that you're doing better today. Take it easy - you've been through a huge amount physically and emotionally over the past few months, not just this week, and it's quite right that you need to rest now. Take good care and