Recovery and what comes next

I mentioned before that the doctor told me that the pain would not be so bad and that it wouldn't last that long.  He was terribly wrong. The pain was awful.  I never realized how I often I used my ab muscles until it hurt every time I used them.  I had to resort to sleeping in a recliner because I couldn't lie down in bed. Sneezing would make scream out in pain and laughing was completely out of the question.  I watched nothing but disaster movies and scary movies to make sure I wouldn't laugh.  I couldn't stand up and down by myself, which made going to the bathroom a challenge.  It wasn't too bad when my mom was here, but I was horrified when Michael had to help me.  I made him close his eyes the entire time.

The pain medication they gave me made me sick, so I stuck with my over the counter ibuprofen.

I started feeling better and stronger on the 2nd, 10 days after the surgery.  On the 3rd I was able to make Michael cupcakes for his birthday, that I missed on the 1st. I slept in the bed for the first time last night, 15 days later. I will be returning to work on September 12, 20 days later.

As of right now I am able to move around by myself, but sneezing and laughing still causes me some pain. It is hard sleeping, because my sides and stomach are still tender so I am stuck sleeping on my back.  I haven't even tried sex yet, but I hope to soon.  It has been way too long.

Anyways, I went to the doctor today and he just repeated everything I knew. We have 6 months to aggressively try for a baby. We are going to try the least expensive IUI.  My insurance covers it 100%  We can actually start trying with his cycle.

We will be doing the Femara with the IUI again.  So on day 2 or 3 of my cycle I will go into the doctor for a ultrasound to check for cysts. I will take the Femara pills on days 3-7. On day 9 or 10 I will go in for another ultrasound to make sure the medicine worked. The doctor will then instruct me on when to take the trigger shot. The day after the trigger shot we will go in for the insemination.

I am feeling very confident about this.  My Aunt had similar issues and she became pregnant right away. I have also heard lots of success stories. I'll be saying my prayers.

Day of My Surgery

The morning of August 24th I woke up early, around 8:00.  I had lots to do.  I tend to wait to the last minute, so I didn't have my overnight bag packed.  The nurse told me I would be at the hospital for a 23 hour hold.  I was also starving.  Technically I was supposed to stop eating at midnight, but with the cleanse the last meal I ate was around 1:00 the previous afternoon.  This was very bad for my husband.  You know how Bruce Banner turns into the Hulk when he gets angry, well that is me when I get hungry. I stop being rational and tend to do a lot of growling.

My surgery was scheduled for noon and I had to be there at 10:00.  My husband Michael, my mom and my BFF Beckie were all there to support me.  The nurse called me back pretty quickly to take get me changed, take my vitals and to start my IV.  The first two happened without any problems.  The IV was not so easy. Due to the bowel prep and not having anything to drink since midnight I was really dehydrated so he nurse had hard time finding a good vein.  She poked me5 different times in 5 different places before she finally got one to work.

I was able to sit and chat with everyone for about an hour before the doctor came in to review everything and then the anesthesiologist came in to put me to sleep.  The last thing I remember before "going to sleep" is Michael kissing me and telling me he loved me.

The next thing I know is that I am waking up in a strange room with someone screaming. It was very disorientating. I remember crying and telling the nurse that I was I was in a lot of pain.  And then I woke up in the recovery room.  The rest of the afternoon is pretty fuzzy. There was some vomiting and people talking around me.

It turns out I was scheduled to leave that evening. I returned home and it was time to start the recovery.

Surgery: The day before

My first IUI was not a success. My next step was surgery.

I may have mentioned in the past that during an ultrasound the doctor (Dr. B) discovered I had cysts on my ovaries so I had to have them removed.  Dr. B also suspected that I had endometriosis, but he wouldn't be able to tell until the surgery.

I had my pre-op appointment about a week before my surgery. I asked Dr. B what type of pain I could expect and he said that it wouldn't be too bad.  I would mainly have shoulder pain from the air they would be pumping into me and I would be fine after a few days.  I went ahead and made arrangements to take two weeks off from work just in case.

The day before the surgery I had to do a bowel prep.  I really wish I was prepared for what that would entail.  Now I normally do not discuss any type of bathroom shenanigans but hopefully this will help someone.

I took the day off before the surgery and Michael and I went to the movies.  At 3 in the afternoon I was instructed to take 4 Dulcolax tablets and at 5 I had start drinking a mixture of 64 ounces of Gatorade mixed with 238 grams of Miralax. This was a normal dosage to be taken over 7 days and I was very scared.

It took a while for it to kick in, but once it did, lets just say that it was the worse diarrhea I have ever had.  Here are some tips for surviving.

1. I wish I had eaten light meals the couple of days before hand, more fruits and vegetables.
2. Make the Gatorade as cold as possible.
3. If you're allowed to drink liquids, drink as much as possible, it will help the process.
4.  Get some baby wipes. The baby wipes saved me.
5.  Prep your bathroom, you will be spending a lot of time in there.
6. Set up camp close to the bathroom and make sure you have plenty of reading material.

Tomorrow I will tell you about what I remember about the surgery and my recovery.