I went for my weekly u/s yesterday at 9:30am with high hopes that my cervix had gotten longer. I'd been on progesterone for a week so I was really hopeful that it was helping. Instead we found out that my cervix went from 1.8 to 1.2 and Dr. Lim (high risk ob) said it was time for a rescue cerclage and sent us to Beth Israel in Boston. As we weren't anticipating this Paul was in his uniform and neither of us had eaten breakfast. Well, I had a carnation instant breakfast at 8:30am (as I would be asked about 50 times during the day).
We got to Beth Israel at about 11:30am and went right up to the L&D floor. Beth Israel is a huge hospital! We were on the 10th floor. I got registered and then we waited. They brought us back to gyn triage about 12:15pm and got me changed into a gown and we hung out with nurse Tina. They weren't sure if they would be able to operate that day or if I'd have to spend the night in the hospital.
Dr. S, the high risk ob fellow, came to introduce himself and take me down for another ultrasound. Dr. S was all of 12 years old. The whole time we were with him the Doogie Howser theme song was running through my head. So, he's doing the ultrasound and during a vaginal ultrasound they press down on your stomach to see if the pressure causes the cervix to open more. Well, he wasn't really paying attention and started kneading my right breast. Is my first though "hey this seems inappropriate?" Of course not. My first thought is "maybe he's checking my heart" (not even the right side of my body, but I'm just gonna refer you back to rolling poop). He finally notices the horrified look on the nurse's face and looks down to what he's doing and he is mortified. I, on the other hand, am trying not to pee on him because I'm laughing so hard.
So, poor Dr. S, having just molested a patient, runs out of the room and gets Dr. R (the actual specialist, not just a resident). Dr. R apologizes because now they are wondering if we are going to sue Dr. S. Dr. R does a physical exam on me and explains all the risks and benefits of the cerclage. It was kind of one of those situations that I could've hung out with a very short cervix for the rest of my pregnancy or based on its current rate of shortening I could've gone into labor in the next couple weeks. It really wasn't a choice for us as we felt it was our best option for having a healthy baby.
We go back up to triage to wait and see if when we can get into the OR. Poor Paul is starving so I send him to get food. I am starving as well, but can't eat until they decide if they are gonna operate today or tomorrow. Not even 10 minutes after Paul leaves nurse Tina gets a call that an OR opened up and to prep me for surgery. I call Paul so he can come back and the chief resident comes in and wants me to be on a fetal monitor for 15 minutes to make sure I wasn't having contractions (thank God no). Tina puts an IV in, Paul gets back, we talk to the chief resident, and I'm wheeled to pre-op. While they are going through all the pre-op stuff (and I'm asked 50 times when the last time I had anything to eat or drink was) the anesthesiologist comes over and starts her spiel and then I get transferred to a different anesthesiologist (Dr. B) who also is 12 years old and a resident (Dr. X). Emma starts moving and I start crying. Everyone thinks I'm crying because I'm nervous about the spinal (which I was), but I was crying because I was so worried for my baby.
Paul kisses me goodbye and I'm wheeled back to the OR. Dr. S admits that he was mortified and apologizes again for molesting me. I told him that we laughed hysterically when he left the room and not to worry about it. I did not tell him that we would be telling everyone we knew what happened. lol The nurse holds my hands while Dr. B supervises Dr. X in putting a spinal in me (did I mention that Beth Israel is a teaching hospital) and then they lay me back down on the table.
There was no modesty in that surgery. Dr. R supervised Dr. S and the chief resident during the surgery, the nurses were there, and the 2 anesthesiologists and maybe some other people. I couldn't see because they put a sheet up. You are awake the whole time and you know your legs are spread eagle being held up in the air with something and everyone is peering into your chucky. The surgery takes about an hour and of course having not eaten since last night I had the worst acid reflux. Dr. B gets me this nasty antacid drink and sits my head up a little which helped a lot. I felt a lot of pulling during the surgery so she also gave me some pain meds in the middle because it was very uncomfortable.
The surgery went well and they wheel me into recovery. Dr. R and Dr. S come back to check in and then they go to update Paul. Even Dr. B comes to check on me! Not being able to feel your legs is such a creepy, weird feeling. They finally let me have some graham crackers and apple juice (yay!), but only cause they wanted me to take medication. They moved me from the bed into a reclining chair and finally Paul got to come back. Nurse Chloe shift is done so nurse Bernadette comes on. She wants me to try and walk to the bathroom since I can't leave the hospital until I pee. Again, no modesty because I was so happy that she came into the bathroom with me and helped me. She left to get my chair to wheel me back and I thought well, I'm just gonna sit on the toilet until she gets back here and was so happy to see her come back. I could never be a nurse because I would never want to have to help someone pee, change someone's pad, and then pull up the very attractive mesh panties the OR nurse put on me. God bless nurses.
They discharged me and I got to go home to eat! We stopped to get my meds on the way home and Paul said, "You know this is the 4th hospital you've been in since we've lived in Boston." I was in a lot of pain so I took a percocet when I got home and waited up to take my next dose of meds.
I had the best experience at Beth Israel. All the doctors and nurses were so nice and I felt that I was totally taken care of. Although it was unexpected I was so happy to have had the surgery at BI. I hope they send me a survey so I can tell them how happy I was with their service.
And surprisingly we didn't find any doggie surprises when we got home. We usually crate the dogs if we are going to be out of the house for long periods of time; however, having gone to the hospital unexpectedly yesterday the dogs were out from 8am to 9pm and no one had any accidents (that we've found). Even Beauty who usually is a terrible dog when it comes to that.
So now I'm back to chillaxin on bedrest. And hoping for a positive outcome...baby Emma in February!
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