D&C experience explained

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  • #8054
    pip_squeak
    Member

    Hi all,

    I’ve been through a missed MC & went in for a d&c on. It had been 2 weeks since the whole ordeal began. I wanted to write about the experience so that anyone who comes on the board with d&c questions can read this & get an idea of what it’s all about.

    I was a week away from my 12 week scan when I started to have a little bleeding for a few days. Went to GP who sent me to Emergency Room for a scan. We got bad news there. Sac was measuring 6 weeks & was irregular shaped. I got such a shock, asked Doc if she could check for a heartbeat & she said there was nothing to check. I cried all the way home… (we live over an hour from hospital!)

    Had to wait then 6 days for next scan which should have been my 12 week moment of joy. It was so hard sitting in the waiting room with all the different sized bumps, just knowing that we were waiting to get confirmation of what we already knew :( The midwife was so nice. She gave me internal scan, sac had grown to 9 weeks but no baby had developed inside. Strangely, this was a small mercy. It made losing the pregnancy a little easier in some ways. But I feel cheated that all along I thought great things were happening down there and really….. nothing.

    So, we were given our options & decided to go for a d&c. (I still had a lot inside if you get me & really needed closure – didn’t fancy the possibility of 2 more weeks bleeding & another scan, sometimes after all that you still have to have a d&c anyway) Had to wait another 5 days but that was my choice & better with regards to my job.
    Went in Monday morning at 7.30 am. The hospital had given me 2 tablets to take at 5am to help soften the opening to the womb. You also have to fast from midnight for the anasthetic.

    I was just about holding it together when I got to hospital. My DH was my knight in shining armour, just kept telling me I could do this. I was more scared of the general anasthetic than anything. The nurses were so sweet & sympathetic & helpful & patient. After getting into my sexy (!) surgical gown & being asked lots of questions by a nurse I was wheeled downstairs to theatre. Had to wait out in hallway for 10 mins or so while they got ready for me. All the staff there were so nice aswell. They could see I was bricking it…..

    Got into operationg room & was asked to hop onto the bed & the anestethist lady came in & put me on a drip. She could also see how scared I was so she gave mesomething "funky" (her own words) to take the edge off. I immediately felt a bit better once that started coursing through my veins! The obstetrician came down to have a quick hello with me. Then it was oxygen mask over my face & anasthetic time. I felt pins & needles all over my face & a second later……………………………………….

    Was woken up with a couple of light smacks to my face & the doc saying my name. Was still down in theatre, but tucked up back in my bed. I had to wait 10 mins or so in recovery room while they monitored my blood pressure. Then it was back up to ward where I dozed for a couple of hours & had tea & toast. Still had some bleeding & they just have to keep an eye on you to make sure all is well & then off you go. Went in at 7.30am & was out around 2pm. No pain after, just a little bit of a period pain feeling.

    It is 48 hours behind me now & I’m glad it’s all over & done with. But I am still sad & have a "what now?" sort of feeling.

    xxxx

    #94910
    Taylor5
    Member

    Think your very brave to post this up, it happens to so many people. I could have wrote your post, i dont have time to post now but couldnt just read and not reply.
    Will post and pm you later xxxx

    #94915
    Jedt
    Keymaster

    Thank you so much pip-squeak, this is a very brave and honest post and will undoubtedly help women who do not know what to expect when they need a D&C.

    You’ve taken some of the fear away with this – thanks again.

    Hope you are doing well now. 🙂

    #95278
    Taylor5
    Member

    Pip squeak hope you are doing well the first few weeks can be a blur and after that the real emotion of it all kicks in xxx

    My mc was also a mmc, went in after a bit of spotting and no heartbeat. They thought my dates were wrong but i knew they werent, was to go back a week (day 7) later to see if maybe my dates were wrong… i did hope and pray but i knew to the minute as we were ttc. I did find it did help that there was just an empty sac just like you, never a baby there. I was offered a D&C but said no i would like to let it pass as mother nature intended… was told to come back in 10 days if nothing happened, after about 7 days I was in bits, ds1 was in bed having a nap and i had to ring dh to come home from work, i doubled over in pain in the living room and i swear it was like full on labour pains…. i did pass something which i thought was the sac… was still in alot of pain going back for my scan after the 10 days (17 days after the first bleed)
    I was gutted to find that i hadnt passed the sac but massive blood clots, in fact my cervix was being held open by a huge blood colt which they removed, relief wasnt the word…. i was told to come back a week later for a D&C, then after a huge row between a midwife and the doctor. The midwife was saying this girl is an emergency case its 17 days, the doctor was saying there is no room until next week… well after ringing my consultant and them checking my temp and it being a bit on the high side….. i was taken to a room, got to ring the girl who had offered to mind ds1, ring dh to come home from work etc… I was told i was going down at x time and dh was on his way over, but i was taken down early, never got to kiss dh or ds before i went down, came up and they ran dh to come and collect me. I was home in my bed by that evening……. all over and done with.
    If i was ever to have a the misfortune of another mc, i would be down for a D&C in a flash, to think what i went through for the almost 3 weeks of pain and bleeding, never again, a few mins op and its all over and done with
    The staff in the olol need a medal, they are amazing and the care that they give is second to none.

    I can never regret my mc as a few months later i was pregnant again, by the time my due date i was already 10 weeks pregnant. I do often wonder about my baby that never was, but then my ds2 comes over and wipes some snot on my leg or drools on me and my heart almost bursts with joy and im so happy my mc happened, if not my ds2 would never be here xxx

    #95330
    Maria30
    Member

    Thanks ladies for posting your stories. I think you are both very brave and I m sure it will help any woman going through a similar situation to know what to expect.

    #95360
    siobhanj1
    Member

    My gosh ladies we have all certainly suffered, both mentally and physcially! I too have suffered two miscarriages, the first one was absolutely horrific, it was a missed miscarriages at 9weeks and 6days. I was told to go home and wait for nature to take its course, it was my first pregnancy and i was completely naive. At 12 weeks i started taking severe pains, i went into hospital, only to be given a difene injection, i bled very heavily for 9hours, at which point a gynae doc (lady) came in and gave me an internal examination to which she pulled clots from me and eventually filled a bag with them. she eventually said Oh we’l have to take you for a D&C, you have a massive clot. I now realise this was absolutely ridiculous. My second miscarriages was somewhat better, if you can call any miscarriage better. i was taken in to a different hospital!! Given internal suppositories to start my pains, which were getting quite severe when i was taken to theatre. I am just wondering if any of you ladies had D&C without all this pain and discomfort beforehand.

    #95500
    Taylor5
    Member

    Oh God Siobhianj1 that sounds like what happened with me, i was passing huge clots and i had a constant pain/cramp…. the midwife was filling a jar with massive blood clots, one was holding my cervix open thats why i was in so much pain.
    Would not have like to have had a mc on first pregnancy as it robs you of that special feelings of " everything is perfect and wonderful"
    If i was ever to get pregnant again… dont think it will ever happen… i would go straight to D and C

    #95515
    happymumblemum
    Participant

    I had a m/c when I was 18 alone and living in France..I was 12 weeks preg..never even went to the doctor.

    #95541
    siobhanj1
    Member

    Hi Taylor.

    Are you trying to conceive now? I am currently taking fertility treatment, femara and HCG Injections, but just so terrified to even try. I wonder with miscarriages can you just go for a d & c without all the pain and suffering. I def would not want to go through that experience again. I think its bloody awful what some doctors put us through, when there are other easier ways to do it.

    #95589
    Taylor5
    Member

    God Happy that had to have been tough!!!! Does it have an affect on you now thinking how you went through it alone?

    Siobhian, im not ttc…. after my mc i had my ds2 and he is the apple of my eye! Love him to bits and everytime i look at him in a weird strange way i thank God i had my mc, if not he wouldnt be around iykwim
    I believe things happen for a reason, what doesnt kill us makes us stronger xxxx

    #95600
    happymumblemum
    Participant

    No Taylor have to say it doesn’t ..I have always dealt with issues alone..I just got on with it really..I remember using it as an excuse 3 months down the line to get off going in to work..not really funny I know but I just wasn’t bothered really.. I looked at every drama like a huge adventure, not much phased me back then.

    Maybe if I sat and thought about it a lot I would realise that lots of things which happened over the years has had an adverse effect on me but who knows really..and I aint paying no shrink to tell me 😆

    #95605
    Daisy37
    Member

    Personally for me, having been through an m/c where I had labour and complete miscarriage first time, to having an incomplete miscarriage and D&C second time, I think the natural way is easier. I would rather have been able to pass everything myself and avoid the D&C as it turned into a nightmare for me.

    I had complications from the D&C where I caught a virus and ended up in hospital for 5 days. I was in isolation and away from my children for 3 full days and it was very traumatic.

    On my 1st miscarriage, I was only in hospital 1 night and was home the next day. Although the labour was tough, it was more manageable for me and the after effects were much less, so I recovered physically, much more quickly.

    I guess natural is better – for me anyway.

    I hope this is the last time I ever have to go through something like this. I’m shattered after it all. 🙁

    #95709
    Taylor5
    Member

    Do you think it would stop you ttc again? I dont think i want anymore children, was full sure it was "no dont want any more" but at almost 37 and a history of mc, i dont think i would be in a hurry to try again….. but kinda want to make the choice and not mother nature.

    if i was i would go the D&C route, i was only in a couple of hours then home to my own bed. You were just very unlucky…… look at what us women have to go through, but what doesnt kill you makes you stronger

    #96305
    siobhanj1
    Member

    Yes i agree taylor, I came through alot last year with Ulcerative colitis and i have to say it along with my MC have def made me a stronger person. i tend to ask every question now and query everything. I dont let doctors in fancy suits who seem to talk the talk undermine me. So def what doesnt kill makes us stronger, but i dont think we realise it at the time.

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