Hi to anyone who is looking for a bit of reassurance around surgical management of a miscarriage in their first pregnancy.
I had my 12 week scan Wednesday last week and it showed my baby had stopped growing at 9 weeks and had no heartbeat. I had been bleeding lightly and had had some pain for a week previous. I was given an appointment at the EPU the following Tuesday and given information on surgical and medical management. After initially not wanting the surgical option I read some accounts of medical management on here and decided I'd rather have someone else take care of things for me.
My booking appointment was yesterday, the nurse discussed my options with me with no pressure to do either one, it was completely my decision and she answered all questions I had. My partner was welcome to come into the appointment with me. She was really friendly and I already felt more confident in my choice last night and felt I knew what to expect. As expected they ask you lots of questions and you have to sign some consent forms. I could get an appointment for the surgical management the next morning so I went for it so I wasn't sat waiting and getting anxious.
We got to the hospital at 7.30am and went straight to the ward. I had a private room with my own toilet and my partner could stay in there the whole time. The nurses took my blood pressure, oxygen levels and temperature and told me again what to expect. We were a bit delayed as someone else was in more urgent need of the operating theatre. An anaesthetist came to see me ask me questions and tell me what would happen. I was worried about the cannula and he said they would do their best to distract me I was also told when I was asleep they may put a breathing tube in the top of my windpipe. At 9.15 I was told to put my gown on given ibuprofen and paracetamol to take orally and the nurse inserted 2 pessaries into my vagina which was fine and done under the covers to preserve my dignity. Later the surgical team came to explain to me what the surgery entailed and again I could ask questions. At 11.15 they came to take me down. I was wheeled down to theatre in my bed and had to hop off onto a bed where they prepare you for the anesthetic. I was really nervous about being put to sleep but the were really nice and had a chat to distract me. I had some sticky things on to monitor me, a blood pressure cuff and a cannula put in which was fine! They have me some medicine to relax me and then they injected the medicine to put me to sleep. The next thing I knew I was waking up!
I woke up in the recovery ward, sitting up and feeling really awake an lucid with cover over me and a pad between my legs. They checked I wasn't in too much pain and got me a heated pad. After a little cry (relief) and checking my blood pressure, oxygen and temperature, and a check and replacement of my pad they sent me back up to the ward to see my partner within a few minutes.
I could have a drink and eat something straight away. I had 2 cups of tea, a sandwich and a donut. I had to wait for 2 hours and if I had eaten, dunk and had a pee I could leave. I felt a bit tummy achey for the two hours. It's now 2 hours later and I have very little in the way of tummy ache and my bleeding has been minimal.
I feel tonnes better, I felt better than I have done for weeks in the recovery room. It was a long day but it was absolutely fine. I was so scared this morning but I am so happy I chose to have the surgical option as they said it went perfectly. I hope this helps someone else feel a bit better than I have done over the last week. I'm happy to answer questions about what happened if I missed anything xxx
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