20 Week Baby Cyst

I suppose I ought to give an update on my ovarian cyst that was discovered during my pregnancy with Austin. At my 6 week week postpartum checkup we did another ultrasound and it was discovered that the cyst did not go away on it's own but hadn't gotten any bigger. (15 cm or 5 inches in diameter). When I talked to the midwife about getting it removed she said the cyst was big enough and in the right position that if I didn't get it removed I would probably just look 20 weeks pregnant until it was removed or went away on it's own. Hence, the name of my cyst. :) I think cysts are pretty common but I don't think it is common for them to be this big. That's what it seems like anyways. I think it's funny because whenever I go in the nurse checking me in is always excited that I'm the one with the cyst that is so big you can feel it from the outside. haha

20 week baby cyst bump :)

So my doctor was Dr. Mathew Robinson. He was so so. When he first looked at the ultrasound of the cyst he wasn't quite sure the best way of going about getting it removed. The two options were doing a laparoscopic surgery which is how they usually hand cysts and is only like a week recovery. Or because it was so big needing to do a full on cut which would take 4ish weeks to recover from. After discussing it with another doctor he ended up getting back to me a couple days later and said he thought they could do it laparoscopically and if it didn't work after they got in there they would just make a regular cut. He thought the surgery would last 2-3 hours because of the size of the cyst and I would need to pump and dump for 24 hours after the surgery before I could nurse again.

Because of the crazy summer it's been and because I was training for the GTR and then Skyler and Janessa's wedding the week after I decided to hold off doing the surgery until after everything had settled down a bit. Getting the surgery itself scheduled was a hassle of it own! Apparently the hospital only does surgeries Tuesday through Thursday. Between noon and 4pm. Every other week. haha So we settled on September 8th and after much more hassle finally decided noon would work for the surgery. I had to do the normal fasting from food 12 hours before the surgery and stop drinking 4 hours before.

Now... I didn't really think anything would go wrong with the surgery but by the time that September 8th rolled around I was just anxious, nervous and ready for it all to be over with. After getting all the labs done and prepped we were finally ready for surgery! We dropped the kids off with Scott's parents to watch over night and the next day but kept Austin with us so I could feed him one last time before going in. I got to put on this super awesome purple robe thing and super cute tan socks provided generously by the hospital. haha. Don't
I look great! The Dr. came and talked to me right before surgery and apparently on all the documentation it said the cyst was on my right side when I was about 99% sure it was on the left. So after I asked him about it he said, "Well, I guess I'll let you know when I get in there what side it was on" haha I think because of the procedure they would be doing two small incision on both my right and left side so it didn't really matter.

The last thing I remember before being wheeled back for surgery is kissing Scott goodbye, being rolled out of my waiting area. Then I was out before I even went through the doors to the OR. Which is saying something because my waiting room was kiddy corner to the OR doors about 15 feet away. haha It was 12:30 when they took me back. The next thing I remember is waking up in recovery and groggily asking the nurse what side the cyst was on. haha It was on the left. Just as I had thought. Then asking her the time. 2:20. Scott was able to come join me shortly after.

I was able to go home at 4:30. But I ended up being really annoyed because the doctor never did a follow up visit with me so I could ask him about the surgery and how everything went or what stuff I should do for recovery. Nothing. I don't even know if they were able to preserve the ovary! Which they were 95% sure they would be able to. But I don't know! Not even a nurse came and talked to me about anything. I've actually been pretty annoyed by this and get more and more annoyed the more I think about it. Heck. For all I know they cut into me and didn't even take anything out! It just would have been nice to be talked to and told everything went well and as planned. But nope... I know nothing. But anyways... Everything did seem to go planned and I hope if it didn't I would have heard something. I am now sporting 3 new incisions on my stomach but discovered that they used my old appendix scar as one of the incision spots so I actually only have two new incisions!

So that was thoughtful of them. :) I am currently home and doing well. Feeling pretty sore. My right incision seems to be bigger then the other two and it is bothering me a lot more than my other two although the one right below my belly button hurts as well. The incision on my left side feels pretty good considering and doesn't seem to be bothering me that much. So I'm off to a good recovery and enjoying the time away from kids to recoup! The biggest annoyance has been trying to let down to the pump so I don't lose all my milk supply which has pretty much been awful. But other than that I'm feeling good! And Scott brought to my attention that now both of my boys have caused me to have some kind of abdominal surgery. First with Jacob's c-section and now the cyst I got from being pregnant with Austin. I guess I better have girls from now on!