August 22 & 23, 2008

(READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! This could get a little graphic. I apologize in advance.)

Yesterday I went to the dr and had a medical procedure done for permanent birth control. It's call Essure and it's a pretty new procedure in the US. Basically, it's an insertion of a small coil into the front part of the fallopian tubes and after about 3-6 months tissue grows around them and closes off the fallopian tubes so nothing can pass through to the uterus.

The procedure went as well as could be expected. For those of you that were with me throughout my pregnancy updates, you know nothing with my anatomy is normal. That's basically how this went as well. It's supposed to be a pretty easy , pretty painless procedure, but of course for me it was just as I should have predicted, a little less than easy and painless. The procedure went like this: first the nurse gave me a shot in my butt, basically it was like a shot of Motrin for the after effects. Jerry told me it was about a 2 inch long needle. The nurse told me that it would be a little uncomfortable for a few minutes, but then it would be fine. (My butt hurt for about 12 hours!) After the shot, I had to sit for 20 minutes and then another nurse brought me back to a surgical room. The dr then proceeded to put a bunch of scrubs on himself and on me. He said "I'm just putting this on so I don't get that wet." I looked at him like "what have I gotten myself into!?!?" Once he was ready, he set up the scope that he went in with. We could watch it on a monitor, my mom would've LOVED to see this! Luckily Jerry was with me because once the dr started to give me the local anesthetic (shots in the cervical area), I started getting light-headed. I almost passed out, but one of the nurses got me a cold cloth to put on my forehead and I just took deep breaths. The light-headedness passed after a few minutes, but by then I had already started crying and couldn't really stop. Once I felt better, the dr proceeded to clean out my cervix and then he started the Essure procedure. He put the scope in, showed us my cervix and the opening to my fallopian tubes. The reason for the dr's comment about getting wet was because they 'spray' water in to open up the uterus and the fallopian tube in order to 'stretch it out' so it's easier to put the coil in place. They must have went through quite an amount of water because it got all over the floor... Anyway, he tried to put the right coil in first...this is when the problems arose, at least for me. He kept saying I will have a little cramping, let me tell you, it was more than a little cramping. It was pretty painful and I have a pretty high tolerance of pain. So of course I closed my eyes, clenched my fists, and cried. At that point he took the scope out and said he'd have to try it again, unless it was too painful, then he could take me into an operating room. I said "no, I'm ok". I really meant to say "just put it in and get me out of here!" Finally on the second try he got it in where he wanted it, but not without more pain! He then told us that my tube was a little crooked and that's why he had a hard time (go figure, something not normal in my body). The left side was actually a piece of cake compared to the right side. The coil on the left went right in and I was done in a flash. The recovery was pretty good too. I laid on the table for about 15 minutes and then I decided to get up, get dressed, and get out of there. The only pain after the procedure that I had was from that stupid shot in my butt and a little cramping. Of course that's another thing that is a little strange with my body. The cramping I get with periods and with this procedure was only on my right side. I never get cramps on my left side. It's weird, I feel it on my right, in my back, and down my right leg. So until about 1:00 in the morning I had cramping on my right side. When I woke up this morning I felt all normal again. It was like nothing happened yesterday. So in three months I go back to see my dr and get an HSG to see if my tubes are closed or not. If they are, NO MORE BIRTH CONTROL PILLS FOR ME! NO MORE MIGRAINES FOR ME! YIPPY!

Today was a pretty good day. The girls spent the night at my mom's last night, so Jerry and I got to sleep in. This afternoon we went to get the girls and got to take a ride in my parents new motor home. It was pretty exciting, to say the least. Amy and Paul were there too, so the whole family went for a ride! The girls loved it and Amy and I decided that we could all travel to Florida this winter in the motor home. (We'll see if that happens, we might want to wait until the girls are a little older for that.)

Once we got home, Jerry's dad and his girlfriend, and grandma came over to see the girls and bring us a big tractor to knock some of our weeds down in the backyard. It was a nice visit and grandma always loves to see the girls.