It's been a little over a week since I had the HSG test done. For about two days after the test I was definitely feeling cramp-y and still had some discomfort. It wasn't until Thursday when I was feeling no pain.
They say it's normal to have some pain for a few days after as long as it feels "manageable" by taking an over the counter pain medicine. Ibuprofen became my best friend for those three days for sure.
The Doctor had told my husband and I that sometimes you may not have blockage in your fallopian tubes, but the HSG could "flush out" your system. Which, he said, could be all some women need in order to get pregnant.
I had done some reading online in different pregnancy forums and found that there were so many women posting about how they got pregnant almost immediately after the procedure. I didn't want to get my hopes up because what about all the women who weren't posting about NOT getting pregnant right after? So I took this with a grain of salt, trying not to get high hopes.
My husband, however, thought this could be the answer we needed. Our Doctor told us to schedule a follow up appointment so we could go over our next steps and options. But, as soon as we left the surgery center, my husband said that he thought maybe we should wait to make the appointment and just see if this would work like he said it might.
So right now I'm going to wait and see what happens for a few weeks.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Monday, April 13, 2015
HSG Test Day
Today was the day. HSG Test Day.
For the past couple of days I've been reading blogs from other women who have had fertility struggles. I wanted to know what I should expect, and not just from what the doctors or nurses had to say. One woman I randomly came across had made videos of her journey. One video was titled, "What I wish I'd known before my HSG test." Obviously that's the one I jumped right to. She explained her procedure and talked about the things she hoped would help ease the minds of anyone else watching her videos.
It seems so overwhelming when you have to have a prescription to take the night before the procedure, and you're told to take 600mg of Ibuprofen an hour before your appointment. I wasn't really worried about the actual procedure, but I was stressing out over the pain factor. One blogger said her doctor prescribed her a Valium. What?! How much is this going to hurt?!
We headed over to the Surgery Center, checked in, and chatted while we waited to be called back. A nurse brought me back alone first so I could give a urine sample and change into a lovely gown. She took some vital stats and had me sit in a wheelchair, brought me a warm blanket, socks, and made me put on a hair net. It seemed really silly and overkill, especially since this wasn't really surgery of any kind. But the warm blanket felt nice. She went to get my husband from the waiting room and told us the doctor would be with us in a few minutes. My husband kept staring at me and he said, "I'm not going to lie, this is so weird. Why are you in a wheelchair? With the blanket and hair net... you look like a Cancer patient." I laughed and told him I felt like it was a little extreme too. The doctor came in and went over the process of the procedure - which I already knew from all the reading I did online - and it was actually really comforting.. there weren't any surprises I wasn't ready for.
Next, they told my husband to hang out in the waiting room, and they wheeled me back to the x-ray room. I laid down on the table, was covered in more warm blankets. The doctor walked through each step as he was doing them, telling me when I might experience any discomfort or pain. The nurse stood next to me, asking if I was doing okay or needed anything. She even offered to hold my hand if I felt like I needed comforting. I was able to look over at the monitors and watch as the dye was inserted into my fallopian tubes. At first, I was a little worried because I didn't see the dye moving on the left side like it was on the right, but then when the doctor pushed more dye through, you could see it spreading out like it should.
The whole procedure lasted about ten minutes. It was definitely uncomfortable, even though they numbed the area before inserting the dye. But the worst part was definitely having the dye pushed through my tubes. It was worse than any menstrual cramping I'd ever had - which says a lot because I've had some terrible cramps in my time.
Afterward, we met with the doctor again so he could show us the x-rays of the results. He said that sometimes couples are able to conceive just from having the HSG test done, because it sort of acts like a flushing of your system. Maybe there wasn't a real blockage, but pushing the dye through could clean things out enough to make a difference when trying. He said our next step will be to have an official consult with him at his office to discuss what he thinks our next steps are, which options we have.
All of my reproductive parts seem to be healthy and working just like they should be. I know I should be happy about this, but at the same time, I'm extremely frustrated that I don't have a distinctive answer as to what's been going on to keep us from having a baby by now.
For the past couple of days I've been reading blogs from other women who have had fertility struggles. I wanted to know what I should expect, and not just from what the doctors or nurses had to say. One woman I randomly came across had made videos of her journey. One video was titled, "What I wish I'd known before my HSG test." Obviously that's the one I jumped right to. She explained her procedure and talked about the things she hoped would help ease the minds of anyone else watching her videos.
It seems so overwhelming when you have to have a prescription to take the night before the procedure, and you're told to take 600mg of Ibuprofen an hour before your appointment. I wasn't really worried about the actual procedure, but I was stressing out over the pain factor. One blogger said her doctor prescribed her a Valium. What?! How much is this going to hurt?!
We headed over to the Surgery Center, checked in, and chatted while we waited to be called back. A nurse brought me back alone first so I could give a urine sample and change into a lovely gown. She took some vital stats and had me sit in a wheelchair, brought me a warm blanket, socks, and made me put on a hair net. It seemed really silly and overkill, especially since this wasn't really surgery of any kind. But the warm blanket felt nice. She went to get my husband from the waiting room and told us the doctor would be with us in a few minutes. My husband kept staring at me and he said, "I'm not going to lie, this is so weird. Why are you in a wheelchair? With the blanket and hair net... you look like a Cancer patient." I laughed and told him I felt like it was a little extreme too. The doctor came in and went over the process of the procedure - which I already knew from all the reading I did online - and it was actually really comforting.. there weren't any surprises I wasn't ready for.
Next, they told my husband to hang out in the waiting room, and they wheeled me back to the x-ray room. I laid down on the table, was covered in more warm blankets. The doctor walked through each step as he was doing them, telling me when I might experience any discomfort or pain. The nurse stood next to me, asking if I was doing okay or needed anything. She even offered to hold my hand if I felt like I needed comforting. I was able to look over at the monitors and watch as the dye was inserted into my fallopian tubes. At first, I was a little worried because I didn't see the dye moving on the left side like it was on the right, but then when the doctor pushed more dye through, you could see it spreading out like it should.
The whole procedure lasted about ten minutes. It was definitely uncomfortable, even though they numbed the area before inserting the dye. But the worst part was definitely having the dye pushed through my tubes. It was worse than any menstrual cramping I'd ever had - which says a lot because I've had some terrible cramps in my time.
Afterward, we met with the doctor again so he could show us the x-rays of the results. He said that sometimes couples are able to conceive just from having the HSG test done, because it sort of acts like a flushing of your system. Maybe there wasn't a real blockage, but pushing the dye through could clean things out enough to make a difference when trying. He said our next step will be to have an official consult with him at his office to discuss what he thinks our next steps are, which options we have.
All of my reproductive parts seem to be healthy and working just like they should be. I know I should be happy about this, but at the same time, I'm extremely frustrated that I don't have a distinctive answer as to what's been going on to keep us from having a baby by now.
Friday, April 3, 2015
Test Results - Rounds 1 & 2
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
The nurse called me around 9am with more elaborate notes from the Doctor. My test results seemed pretty normal. My hormones were where they should be, I didn't test out of the ranges for PCOS, and even my previously problematic thyroid issues seemed to have slipped into a "normal" range. The only thing they seemed worried about for me was my insulin and glucose levels, they were slightly higher than they should be, which raises a red flag when you have two grandparents who had been diabetic. So my plan for that is continue our healthier eating habits, and up my workout routine to try to get back down to a healthier weight. I told the nurse I wasn't surprised by those results and it had been something I've been trying to work at already.
She told me that they want to hold off on me having the HSG test done right now because they wanted my husband to come back in for a more detailed test. She said that his sperm count levels were extremely low so they want to look into that before determining whether that is part of our problem conceiving.
I immediately start to break down. I can hardly relay the message to my husband without tears because I know that if this is part of our crazy equation, it is going to severely limit the next options in trying to have a baby. My husband tells me that he's not worried and he thinks they must have screwed up the test somehow, he's not trusting this answer until the next test.
He calls to set up his next appointment for next week, March 31st.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
One of the nurses from the Doctors office calls with results. She says that this test gives us a positive result and while my husband relays the message to me, he says, "We have plenty of little swimmers!"
This is the hugest relief. All week between getting the previous results and waiting for the new ones, I'd been so saddened by what this possibility could mean for us. I knew that two or three of the "easy" and most natural fertility methods would be kicked to the curb if this second test had similar results. I was scared by what it meant was in our future. We had briefly talked about IUI (Intrauterine Insemination) or IVF (In Vetro Fertilization) treatments, and while I might be more open to IUI, neither of us felt comfortable with IVF. So my mind raced around wondering what would happen if these were our only two options? What did this mean? Were there any other options out there that were more natural? I'd been stressing out over these questions silently. I avoided telling anyone about the situation until the second test results came back because I just wasn't ready to talk about those emotions yet.
I can't begin to express my thankfulness for all of the test results between my husband and I to come back with positive, healthy results. I've prayed over and over to ask God to have sovereignty over us and grant us the ability to have children. I have never been more thankful to know that maybe the road ahead isn't as tough as we've been thinking it would be.
So we'll see what comes next.
The nurse called me around 9am with more elaborate notes from the Doctor. My test results seemed pretty normal. My hormones were where they should be, I didn't test out of the ranges for PCOS, and even my previously problematic thyroid issues seemed to have slipped into a "normal" range. The only thing they seemed worried about for me was my insulin and glucose levels, they were slightly higher than they should be, which raises a red flag when you have two grandparents who had been diabetic. So my plan for that is continue our healthier eating habits, and up my workout routine to try to get back down to a healthier weight. I told the nurse I wasn't surprised by those results and it had been something I've been trying to work at already.
She told me that they want to hold off on me having the HSG test done right now because they wanted my husband to come back in for a more detailed test. She said that his sperm count levels were extremely low so they want to look into that before determining whether that is part of our problem conceiving.
I immediately start to break down. I can hardly relay the message to my husband without tears because I know that if this is part of our crazy equation, it is going to severely limit the next options in trying to have a baby. My husband tells me that he's not worried and he thinks they must have screwed up the test somehow, he's not trusting this answer until the next test.
He calls to set up his next appointment for next week, March 31st.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
One of the nurses from the Doctors office calls with results. She says that this test gives us a positive result and while my husband relays the message to me, he says, "We have plenty of little swimmers!"
This is the hugest relief. All week between getting the previous results and waiting for the new ones, I'd been so saddened by what this possibility could mean for us. I knew that two or three of the "easy" and most natural fertility methods would be kicked to the curb if this second test had similar results. I was scared by what it meant was in our future. We had briefly talked about IUI (Intrauterine Insemination) or IVF (In Vetro Fertilization) treatments, and while I might be more open to IUI, neither of us felt comfortable with IVF. So my mind raced around wondering what would happen if these were our only two options? What did this mean? Were there any other options out there that were more natural? I'd been stressing out over these questions silently. I avoided telling anyone about the situation until the second test results came back because I just wasn't ready to talk about those emotions yet.
I can't begin to express my thankfulness for all of the test results between my husband and I to come back with positive, healthy results. I've prayed over and over to ask God to have sovereignty over us and grant us the ability to have children. I have never been more thankful to know that maybe the road ahead isn't as tough as we've been thinking it would be.
So we'll see what comes next.
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