PaulinePetrovaPosy - ok so I'm going to give a description of what happened for me. Mine was for a missed miscarriage, discovered at a private scan.
I was asked to go to hospital at 7AM, and not to eat or drink anything from the 10PM the previous day. After 'checking in' they directed me to the ward where I'd be looked after.
The nurse who was overseeing my care greeted me and showed me to my bed and asked me to wait for a healthcare assistant. The HCA brought me a hospital gown, helped me tie it up and then measured my legs for those compression stockings, gave me a bag to put my belongings in. Then there was a bit of a wait before the nurse came through to explain what would happen and to give me a vaginal pessary which softens and opens the cervix a little. She gave me the choice of inserting it myself or having her do it.
Then there were questions about allergies, teeth, make-up etc which were repeated by the anaesthetist who came to visit.
Then more waiting.
Then I was told they were ready for me, so I lay down and they wheeled me into the theatre area, or rather a room just outside the theatre where the anaesthetists were waiting. They put a canula in my hand (which was probably the most difficult thing about the whole process as my veins weren't easy to find), fixed up a drip and then she told me they were going give me the anaesthetic and would count backwards from 10. I think she got to 7 and I was out.
Next thing I was dreaming and then woke up with a bit of a start. There was recovery nurse next to me and I was on a blood pressure monitor. My throat hurt and that was the first thing I said to the nurse, she said it was from the breathing tube they'd put in while I was under. I was bit confused and just asked her whether it was over, she said yes and I cried a bit then - I'd been holding myself together for a week to deal with it all so there was a release. The nurse was very warm and kind. I felt very cold and shivery but not sore, so they tucked me up with more blankets and then I was wheeled back to the ward I'd come from.
There the HCA monitored my blood pressure, and temperature, they checked how much I was bleeding and generally kept me under observation for a while. My blood pressure was low, so I had several bags of fluid through the drip to try to push it up. They gave me some oral painkillers and I had a bit of cramping but nothing more than mild period pain.
After I'd gone to the toilet they were able to discharge me, and they sent me home with diclofenic as a painkiller.
I was home by about 3pm. I read a lot and listened to my ipod. I had bleeding like a long period but no pain (took one paracetamol the next day) afterwards.
That's it. I hope this description doesn't stir up bad memories for people - I actually think of this as a relatively positive experience. My care was really sensitive, and physically quite easy, which I think made the emotional recovery easier.