Cerclage Day!

So yesterday was finally the day...after weeks of worry...so here is how my day went...

First, the day before, they made sure to tell me not to eat anything after midnight...I was like "what? So I will not be eating until at least 2pm bc my surgery was set for 1pm...how can they expect a pregnant woman to not eat or drink anything til then?" Well it was really no big deal...I was so nervous that I did not think much of it on the day...

Yesterday, we had to be at the perinatologist's office at 9:15am...he checked my cervix, the baby and to see if I had a cold...if I had had a cold I would not have been able to do the surgery that day...after the checkup, they sent us to the other side of the building to wait to get into our room to prep for surgery...once we got our room...had to change and the wait begins...the nurse then had to do various checks...then a person came in to put an IV in and a little later they put in my IV, antibiotics an hour before the surgery to keep the infections away...then after more waiting...it was time to wheel me into the operating room...

Let me tell you...I was extremely nervous and going into the OR does not help...it is extremely intimidating with all those huge lights and huge white room...thank goodness I had wonderful nurses who were so understanding! Also it is extremely cold in there...thank goodness their blankets were kept in a warmer and piled it on me! Then the anesthesiologist came in...he had me sit up and hunch over...there was also a nurse there who was holding onto me so that I would not move when the time came...the spinal was not fun...first he cleaned and then put a needle in my back to numb the area...he warned me and said it was ok to react...and I did just that! Then after some waiting (which seemed like a long time), he put the needle in...yes it was painful and uncomfortable...he had to kind of search that perfect spot to put the injection in...he then injected it...and I knew when he was doing it bc my legs got really warm...within seconds it got tingly and in like 5 minutes it was completely numb...a very weird feeling...they then positionedy legs in really high stirrups (a lot higher then it is at the gynecologist's office...I will not go into detail...but by that time I could not feel anything from my stomach down...I than got an oxygen mask put on me and they did their thing...I was actually waiting for my peri to say he was starting and waited but apparently they were already hard at work...I never felt a thing! Then before I knew it my peri was done and told me he was going to update my hubby.

They then sent me to recovery and I was there for like a half hour to an hour and then sent back to my room where my hubby was waiting...and he was waiting for me with food!!! The nurse told me to try water first to see if my stomach would be ok with it and said the food may not sit well with me at first...well she was so wrong! I was hungry at that point I ate the food with no problem and yes it was GOOD! it was Panera's chocolate croissant!!! I love that stuff!

I then insisted on hearing our baby...they normally do not do that bc I saw the baby before the procedure...unless something goes wrong...but I needed to know that our baby was okay...so they sent a labor and delivery nurse with her portable Doppler...I was so relieved to hear the heartbeat and it was nice and strong at 165 and our baby kept moving around so much the nurse had to chase our baby around my stomach to keep hearing our baby's heart...

So from then on it was a waiting game...they had to make sure the anesthesia wore off...while they kept checking my blood pressure...the nurse would come in every so often to ask if I could feel in certain areas...well they said it can take 6 hours for it to wear off...well it took 5 hours...and the final test was being able to walk on my own...and during the waiting we were shocked to find out that Steve Jobs had passed away...so sad...I asked my hubby if he thinks he wrote down all of his great ideas...he told me that he heard that the company had hundreds of ideas from him...so I am excited to see what else will come out that was his idea...

Oh and when my feeling started to come back I started getting cramps...I can normally take a certain amount of pain, but when it started it was pretty painful and knew it would only get worse, so asked the nurse for medicine...she gave me 2 Tylenols...thankfully that worked for the most important part of me...where the baby was...but did not quite help for other pains...the nurse told me I had that pain bc during surgery my legs were in such a weird position that my lower body could have cramped up.

Anyways, I was able to leave the hospital at about 9...went home, ate some good food which my stomach kind of paid for later that night...ate too much at once...took some tylenol...watched the disappointing Brewers game with hubby and eventually fell asleep...

So today I am glad I am not feeling as painful...but now I hope all goes well for the rest of the pregnancy...next week is my follow-up with the perinatologist and to see how our baby is doing as well as how well the stitch is holding up but the true test will be from weeks 18-20 when we had our miscarriages...

But in good news, next week we will be in our 2nd trimester! Woohoo! Good thoughts...and need to make sure I stay in bed...well I think the couch counts too!

Until next time!