D&C and Next Steps

I delayed posting this because really, who wants to read about a D&C at Christmas? Not me. But I wanted to get this out and over with before the start of the new year. That way we can put this horrible mess behind us and try to move forward.


On Thursday Dec 2nd Hammer and I drove to the outpatient surgery center. I had been NPO (no food or liquids) since midnight and my stomach was a ball of nerves. We checked in at the front desk and I swear the lady knew why I was there because she kept giving us these, “I’m so sorry” eyes the whole time. Hammer and I sat in the waiting room and I snuggled into him with my head on his shoulder. I could not believe that we were actually waiting to have this procedure and my eyes would well up with tears from time to time. Finally a nurse came to take me back to the pre-op room and I had to leave Hammer behind for a bit. As we walked towards the big double doors to the pre-op area I had to stop and broke down and cried. The Nurse gave me a big hug and I apologized that the reality of what was about to happen just hit me hard. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and said that we’d walk through together. And we did just that all the way to my pre-op room. Once she drew the curtains closed she gave me a huge hug and then to my surprise told me that the Lord has not forgotten me and has plans for us. Wow. She was so sweet getting me settled in and once she was done she went and got Hammer so he could sit with me. While we waited in pre-op Hammer kept kissing me and telling me to remember each one. And then at one point he told me that he was talking his vitamins because he heard that couples are more fertile after this procedure. We had a longer wait than expected because our anesthesiologist got a phone consult. During that time I kept rubbing my tummy and saying goodbye to the little one that was not meant to be. Once he was off the phone he came in to tell me what anesthesia I would be on but really all I cared about was that I was out cold and wouldn’t remember a thing.

Finally they came to take me back. I was wheeled into the operating room and helped up on to the table. The anesthesiologist asked me some questions which I don’t really remember now because he was adding my drugs to the IV. I do remember my doctor attaching the leg harnesses to the table and I had a moment where I realized what an unattractive position I was about to be in with my legs splayed in the air. And at that same moment I realized the lights were spinning around above me and the last thing I remember saying was, “Oh good, the lights are starting to look funny.” And I was out. The next thing I remember was coming to in the recovery room. My first instinct was to reach out and touch my stomach but that brought on the realization that it was all gone now and I wept. I had a new nurse attending to me and she brought me tissues and sat with me. And to my amazement again this new nurse told me that the Lord has plans for us. She let me cry, comforted me and never left my side except to get Hammer when it was time to leave. It was overwhelming to think who these women are that spoke words of comfort to me in our time of sadness. They did not know us, our faith, what we had been through but both of them spoke the same words, “The Lord has plans for us.”

I spent the rest of the day sleeping off my anesthesia on the couch while Hammer took care of me. I was sore and had to take ES Tylen.ol for the pain. The next day my mom came and stayed with me while Hammer went back to work. Later in the day my brother stopped in to keep us company and watch movies. By evening time Hammer came home from work and my dad even stopped by. We all had dinner together and honestly it didn’t feel intrusive or overwhelming, in fact I enjoyed having them all there.


Saturday, Hammer was determined to make our house look Christmas-y. Secretly I think he thought it would cheer me up. He put up the outside lights and even took me out to get a tree. I only wanted a small one but we ended up leaving with the biggest tree we’ve ever had. The stump barely fit in our tree stand. But Hammer insisted on it even though he had to carry and put it up with very minimal help on my part. Later that day he brought up all the boxes of decorations even though he ended up putting most of them by himself once I had tuckered out and passed out on the couch. I appreciated all he did that day as my initial response was to do nothing this year. But now that Christmas has come and gone I think it would have just put me in a more depressed mood to have done nothing.


Sunday evening was my parent’s church’s annual Christmas Cantata which my mother performs in every year. It’s also the church where Hammer and I were married. While we attended I don’t think I was prepared for the overwhelming flood of emotions that hit me. Sitting there made me think about all the dreams and plans of a future together, of a family that were made on our wedding day. And now we sat there 6 years into our marriage, childless, with nothing to show but years of heartache and two losses. I broke down into tears and cried nearly the whole time.


Afterwards they had refreshments and I ran in to the choir director and his wife. They learned that morning of our loss when my mother shared with them what had occurred (she had asked me first). They went on to tell me that their own daughter is now expecting after 7 years of trying and loss and she too had been silent about their struggle and asked her parents to say nothing. Because of this they had suspected that we were having the same issues and revealed that they had been praying for us for the last two years. I was so touched and it brought me to tears once again. I now understand why my mom had asked to share with them.

Three times I had been touched by words of comfort; twice from a stranger and once by a family friend who I had been reluctant to let into our struggle. It has made me realize that we are not forgotten and that the support of trusted family and friends is so important. I will not sugar coat the fact that going through our second Christmas in a row after a miscarriage is one of the most difficult experiences to endure. But I do feel hopeful and I don’t know why exactly but I just feel like we are going to be ok.

We have an appointment for Hammer with an Andrologist at the end of January and maybe we’ll get more answers. But for right now the fertility treatments are done. We still need to discuss the option of embryo adoption but the appointment for the adoption agency is on hold until next year. We just need some time. I am still waiting for my period to come. I’ve read that it takes 10 days after the procedure for your hormones to come down and 20 days without bleeding for your body to reset properly. I have not had any bleeding since the day of the procedure and we’re now at 26 days post D&C. Hopefully AF will be coming soon. I’m actually looking forward to her arrival as it will finally signal the end of this whole debacle. Our results from the D&C are not back yet but we will have an appointment hopefully in the next couple of weeks to discuss the results of the testing and my blood work. Right now I am just using the clinic to get the testing done and trying not to burn bridges in case we need to use them for embryo adoption. I hope that 2011 will finally be the year for us to expand our family one way or another.