I survived, Boo is offically sewn in. It was....an experience. We got there around 8 and luckily didn't have to wait in any one place for very long. We waited about 5-10 minutes to be taken back for my insurance card and ID and answer the set of questions I would be asked another 50 times through out the day. Then we went up to the second floor where we waited about 5 minutes and I was taken back to start the prep.
As usual, my veins did not cooperate for survery. Donating blood? Sure! Getting blood drawn? They cooperate like a champ. But anytime an IV comes near them, they run screaming for the hills. So it honestly wasn't too bad, she ended up getting it on the inside of my wrist, and since that area is extra sensitive she numbed it first. I could still feel some pain but I am sure nothing compared to what it would be without the numbing.
A nurse from L&D came down to use the doppler (in the last couple months cerclages have been moved to the main OR, they were previously always done in L&D). They "couldn't find" my husband to get him in in time to hear the HB (my only complaint of the day, he was around the corner in the other section of the waiting room, ahem, the same place they came to get me from). But he did get to hear it later afterwards, so all was well.
Boo's HB was a strong 160, so we continued with the prep. I had to answer a lot of questions about losing Kayla, which honestly isn't as hard as it used to be. But then again it's a lot easier to talk about it with medical professionals; when they hear they express their condolences, instead of looking at me like I am a freak of nature and tell me it was God's plan. The other day when someone from anesthesia called to go over my pre-surgery procedures, she asked if it was my first pregnancy and I said third and she said oh how nice...so I knew she didn't understand my answer but I hoped it didn't come up again. But later when she told me not to get too much activity in the days before the surgery, I said that's not a problem and how little activity I've been getting, and she asked how I do that with two kids at home. Erg, so that's when I had to say I have no living children.
I liked how most people handled it today. When I said it's my third pregnancy, all of the nurses today asked, do you have any at home? I liked that they didn't just assume a third pregnancy means the first two resulted in living children. One of my nurses came over to me before she left me in recovery and told me she hopes the third time will be a charm for me. She showed me the picture on the back of her badge of her five children, and she told me she had 5 losses. It's always inspiring to hear of people who ended up with multiple living children despite multiple losses. I teared up a little bit, I love the nurses there. So anyway, the most boring part was the hour or so after my IV was in and the time of my surgery.
When my doctor got there, we chatted for a bit and then I said my goodbyes to Ryan and they wheeled me back to the OR. The room was FREEZING of course, and it was so bizarre to actually see the inside of an OR. I've previously had a laparoscopy and a tonsillectomy but I've always been out before we could even get there, so it was really weird to be awake the entire time. My biggest fear was the epidural. When I got it with Kayla, the poke and burn was very painful and the pain that shot through my hips was pretty bad as they adjusted it. So a nurse came and held my arms; I closed my eyes and clutched my blanket with my non-IV hand. Once they were ready to do it my doctor came over and held my hand and put her hand on my shoulder, so it was nice to have an army of support; she knew that was the part I was fearing the most.
The poke and burn wasn't nearly as bad, and oddly enough they had to do it a few times, I am guessing because they didn't get the needle in right, but thankfully none of the times were too bad. The pain in my hips wasn't as bad either, mostly because I was expecting it. I had no freaking clue why I was having that pain last time. So whew, the hardest part for me was over. It's still not going to be my favorite thing, I'll need to do it at least twice more, once to get the cerclage out and once to give birth hopefully....and three more times if we plan to do this again. But it's nice to have a decent experience under my belt so maybe I won't be as terrified next time.
So then we began. Both arms were put on boards out to my sides to keep my IV and BP cuff straight and my gurney was tilted back so all I could see was the ceiling. Despite the piles of warm blankets they stacked on me, I was shaking through out the whole procedure. It was partly due to still being cold, but I think I just shake from the epi, it happened last time. I also tend to get cold and shake when I am nervous and anxious so it was probably a combo of those things. Once they started, the procedure took about 15-20 minutes. Like I said, very weird to be awake. All the nurses and residents were milling about, getting this, filling out paperwork, talking about what they needed and what they were doing. I almost felt like I was in a horror novel where I am supposed to be knocked out but I woke up and nobody realized it.
The one nurse did talk to me a little bit which was a nice distraction, and they had to poke my finger to test my bloodsugar since no one did before, so another nice distraction. I didn't feel any pain at all, but I did feel a lot of pressure, tugging and pushing. So of course better than pain, but the feeling was pretty icky. I often found my upper body tensed up and was glad when they were done. I had a decent ache in my lower abdomen when they were done, but by the time I was in recovery for about 15 minutes it lessened and only got better over time.
I was a little concerned about my nurse when we first got to recovery. She was a sweet lady, but seemed a little air headed and wasn't grasping what my doctor was telling her about my needing a straight (whatever that means) catheter if I was too numb to pee in about an hour. As hard as I tried, I just couldn't do it, so her and another nurse did the cath a while later ( it didn't really hurt, which is what I feared and why I tried so hard to pee). So once she gets it in, she says well urine is coming out so I must have gotten it in the right track. Um, haha, ok, I really hope she was kidding, lol.
So I got some crackers and juice which was wonderful because I was sooooo hungry. Actually aside from the epi, not being able to eat for so long was one of my biggest concerns. Once I had the catheter done, I was able to get out of bed and sit in a chair. That felt great. Once in the chair they brought me a small can of pepsi and some more crackers. Oooh pepsi! I was a happy girl. I can't have pepsi with my GD, but I decided today is kind of shot for my diet. My meal times were all off, and it's obviously hard to stick to a diet when you can't plan the menu. So I'm considering today a free day and I'll start fresh tomorrow.
About half an hour later I was finally feeling enough to be able to stand and go home. Boo gave me a little scare when another lady came from L&D to use the doppler again afterwards and it took her a good couple of minutes to find the HB. I mean, I wasn't super scared, I highly doubted anything during the procedure would hurt him, but I was very glad when I heard the thump thump thump.
Earlier when we were bored waiting for my doctor, we decided to name my IV. Last time its name was Juicy, so I decided this one was Ivy the IV. Which got me thinking hmm, Ivy, that's a really cute name that I never would have really liked before, but now I kind of do...a lot. But our current girl pick is still number one, so if this one is a girl and we end up with another girl, maybe. So all in all, it went well, I'm not exactly thrilled to do it again but when it comes time for the cerclage to come out, I'll know what to expect and be a pro. Once again Oakwood has passed with flying colors, I didn't encounter one person today that wasn't extremely nice and helpful, and I feel better knowing Boo is snug as a bug now. That doesn't mean I'll be anxiety free from here on out, but it definitely helps and I am praying I'll be one of the 80-85% success cases.
I'm a little sore and achy now, but nothing too horrific and looking forward to the next three days of relaxation ahead of me. I'm bleeding, which is hard to get used to, but it's completely normal. She expained that I shouldn't even come close to soaking a pad, and by Saturday it should be just old, brown stuff. By the time we got home from the hospital it had lessened to a light pink, and now this evening there isn't much on the pad and only a very light pink when I wipe. I just need a few days of taking it easy and she said walking is still absolutely fine so now that I'm getting some energy back and the weather is getting cooler, I hope to get back into walking after work.
Edit: I didn't realize there is a difference between an epidural and spinal. I had an epidural with Kayla, but yesterday I had a spinal which is just a single doze of medicine rather than the steady stream of numbing medicine for as long as you need it. Just wanted to clear that up in case anyone was reading this thinking, you had a spinal you dummy, not an epi! :)
Edit #2: Unless there are complications, I don't have to go back to the OR to have the cerclage removed. It can be done in the office and she said it's pretty quick. While I am happy it doesn't require surgery, a spinal, yada yada, I am a little nervous about having it removed in the office. I am a huge baby when it comes to the speculum, I hate hate hate it. So I am not looking forward to that being in for long enough to remove stitches. Hopefully she is super quick.
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