My D&C experience

Welcome to my new blog!

I created this blog to document my recovery from a molar pregnancy and to discuss other fertility-related topics. It is my hope that other women will use this site as a forum to share in their experiences. If you have had a tale to tell, please feel free to leave your comments. I'll start the conversation off with some tales of my own. Over the next few weeks and months, I'll take you through some of my experiences (past and present).

What better place to start that with today, at 10 weeks into my pregnancy, when I finally had a D&C. I was supposed to have the surgery yesterday but got bumped because my case wasn't "urgent" enough. This was incredibly frustrating, given that I have been suffering since January 11 (the day I started spotting). When I first went to the doctor, the doctor thought I was fine....just a little spotting, everything would probably be fine. Just in case, he sent me for an ultrasound. When I went for my ultrasound I was told that they couldn't see a fetus. I was told I had had a miscarriage and that I had a "moderate" amount of blood and tissue left inside of me. The doctor thought that nature would take its course and no medical intervention would be needed.

The next day I went for a routine, follow-up blood test. I didn't think anything of it until the doctor called me that afternoon. He was concerned because my hormone levels had doubled. Hormone levels are supposed to go down, not up after a miscarriage. So, a week later I went back for a second ultrasound. I was hoping and praying that there was a baby with a beating heart hiding in there somewhere.  Unfortunately the diagnosis was not good. No baby. No heartbeat. Just an abnormal looking cluster of cysts. They suspected I had a molar pregnancy.

While I waited to get an appointment with a gynecologist (which took forever!) they continued to monitor my HCG levels. They kept going higher and higher, and my sense of well-being kept going lower and lower. How high is high? Believe it or not, my HCG levels were over 566,000 yesterday. A normal pregnancy would normally never go above 288,000. Can you say nausea? Holy moly I have been sick lately, particularly for the last two weeks. I have been suffering from constant fatigue and nausea. At times I was completely immobilized -- something my 4-year old son had a lot of trouble understanding. Fortunately I have a very understanding boss who has basically told me to take off as much time as I need.

When I finally saw the gynecologist, she immediately scheduled a D&C and explained the follow-up I would need to go through after the operation. In short, I will be getting regular blood tests (weekly and then monthly) to make sure my HCG return to zero. I will also need to see her regularly to monitor my recovery and make sure this mole doesn't grow back!

The D&C was scary, but relatively uneventful. The surgery only took about five minutes and then I was off to the recovery room. They administered some oxytocin during the procedure to make my uterus contract. This caused some moderate cramping, which was easily alleviated with pain medication. The drugs have now long since worn off and the pain hasn't returned (knock on wood!).

I've been bleeding quite a bit, but not enough to warrant going back to the hospital. I was told that I could expect more bleeding than normal because of the molar pregnancy.

I'm actually feeling better than I have in weeks now that the surgery is over. My appetite is back and I don't feel any nausea. Tomorrow I should be able to go back on a regular diet and be up and around the house.

Let's hope this thing doesn't grow back!