Read our Introduction to #RoadToTubalAt30 Series First here.
November 25, 2016.
Surgery day arrived.
I checked into the hospital around 11am (side note: not eating after midnight usually sucks, so I highly recommend scheduling the day after a holiday. I was still pretty full from Thanksgiving AND I had leftovers for after surgery!). After changing into the hospital gown, getting my vitals checked, and taking a pregnancy test (just in case), it was a waiting period. Of course that left me with nothing but time to think about the decision I was making even more. I was told my doctor would be in after she finished the current surgery she was doing. Once she came in, she asked one more time, “Are you sure this is what you want to do?” I commend them for making sure, but I was definitely over being asked by this point.
It was around 12:30pm before I would be taken into surgery. The anesthesiologist came in and said they would be putting the medicine in my IV to knock me out. I don’t remember going past the curtain and the next thing I remember was waking up so thirsty.
The recovery begins.
I remember feeling so much better than I imagined. It felt like the worst period cramps I’ve ever had, but definitely better than what I felt like after giving birth. My throat (from being intubated) actually annoyed me more than anything. My entire stomach was orange from the iodine used to sterilize before surgery. I was swollen/bloated for about 4-5 days afterwards which is due to them expanding your stomach for the surgery. I was so tired for the next 48 hours.
I’ll admit I was really nervous when I first saw my incision sites. They looked disgusting to me. I was going to have these horrible scares for the rest of my life. Much to my amazement, I barely have anything now.
Especially the belly button site, you can barely see anything because the actual scare is inside of the belly button.
There were some day that looked worst than others. Dermabond, a surgical glue, was used instead of stitches, so when that started peeling I felt like I looked like someone off of a horror movie.
Other than my scars, I was advised not to shower for 24 hours after surgery, afterwards I could shower, but not bathe. No driving until I felt comfortable moving my legs to switch back and forth. I did drive a week after surgery and the seatbelt irritated incision sites, but I’m great now. I could not lift more than 10lbs and no intercourse for 2 weeks.
Full transparency – I tried my best but had to lift my toddler here and there, she was an awesome sport during the recovery though and did so much by herself, like climbing into her highchair or up on the couch without me asking. I did sit with a pillow across my stomach when sitting or laying down in bed. It was the only time it really hurt was when one of the girls accidentally hit one of the sites.
We are now just shy of one month post surgery and I am amazed how I feel. You can barely see any of my scars. I have no pain from any of them, and most importantly I no longer have the fear of getting pregnant again (though Andrew has definitely asked what if they didn’t do anything and just said they did —thanks babe).
We are so happy with our decision.
Thank you for reading through our #RoadtoTubalat30 journey.
If you missed any of the previous posts, you can read the entire series:
- No More Babies – Series Introduction
- After the first baby
- Second pregnancy – What the hell was I thinking?
- All hell broke loose
- The last 18 months
- The Scare
- Worries, Doubts and Fears about a tubal ligation
- It happened – recovery and thoughts after the procedure
Feel free to tweet us at @wereparents or e-mail us at info@wereparentsblog.com if there’s any specific questions that weren’t answered that you’d like to know about.
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Thank you so much for this blog! I can relate to almost everythjng you said! Going from none to one kid was extremely hard! Going from 1 to 2 was a lil easier. I have thought many times about getting fixed because I know I’m done! I’m going to have my husband read this!
Oh, you’re so welcome! I never imagined it would be this hard!
I am so thankful to you for writing this series. I am 3 weeks postpartum with our third and have recently scheduled my surgery for the following month.
I really feel like I’m not alone after reading this as our stories are similar. When I had my first, I had all of the symptoms you described, but when my husband mentioned PPD I reacted harshly. It nearly ended our marriage. With our second, I had the same reoccurrence of emotions and symptoms but we at least knew what to expect. Finally, with our third, I talked to my doctor. It was like a complete mental breakdown in her office when I tried to get it out, but I did. We just have too much to loose with another pregnancy and the chaos it causes me, which affects us all. Really, thank you for writing this. It’s relieving to know that I’m not the only one choosing surgery as prevention for more than just pregnancy.
Wow, thank you so much for sharing your story with me Judy! Please feel free to reach out via e-mail if you have any questions you need answered before your surgery! Best wishes to you, it’s such a hard decision. – larisha@wereparentsblog.com