Thursday, March 22, 2012

My HSG experience

This post may be a little too much information for some, but this blog is for me, and I want to record what this IUI process is like in reality. I can't do that without mentioning body parts or other personal details. Skip it if you are uncomfortable!


Yesterday I had my first Hysterosalpinogram or HSG. I have only one word to describe it.....ouch!!! That had to be the most physically painful event of my life. I laid on the exam table breathing deeply and mentally telling myself that I could get through thirty seconds of pain...anyone can get through thirty seconds of pain, right? After the first thirty seconds the dialogue turned into how I just got past thirty seconds, I could surely do thirty more. Even so, I was opening my mouth to have the doctor stop when she said something that was equally exciting and terrifying.

" We have spillage on both sides, that means no blockages...and we're done. Now let me just get all this stuff out of here."

The "here" part means my girly bits. Yeah, can we say terrifying? I was on the table imagining myself with some cyborg looking vagina at that point.

All in all, the test was a relief, however. The fallopian tubes were completely clear and ready to go. We did discover that I have an arcuate uterus. This, depending on who you ask, could be a problem. My RE was very quick to try and reassure me that an arcuate uterus is not linked to difficulties getting pregnant or carrying to term. I however asked DR. Internet this morning and he had something else to say. Apparently women that experience a loss often have an arcuate uterus, something like 6.5% of the time. However, research hasn't really been done within the general population so there is really no way to know how many people with an arcuate uterus go on to have healthy pregnancies. The other school of thought is that it is a normal variation much like attached or detached earlobes.

So I replaced one worry with another. Greeeeaaatttt.

In other news, I take my first Bravelle injection today, and of course, Mark started his new job this morning which means that I am on my own. I'm going to go poke myself with a sharp object now.

5 comments:

peg said...

Your explanation pretty much mirrors my HSG experience, but I only had spillage into one tube. They (the dr and radiologist) were pretty sure that it was just spasms because it didn't even try to get in there. Oh and I just about passed out when I got up off the table. I was completely in shock and the nurses wouldn't let me leave the hospital - they actually made my husband come up and get me from the department where I waited in a wheelchair (which they made him use to get me to the car). It was completely the worst pain in my entire life!!! I'm sorry you had to go through it! I came out of it finding out that I had a retroverted uterus. Again, they say that this shouldn't cause problems, but Dr. Internet (I love this name by the way and I'm going to steal it if that's ok) told me that it might make it harder to conceive - yeah, because I need more problems.

I hope you're feeling a bit better after the HSG - my cramping lasted well into a second day afterward. I hope you're not blessed with that pain too.

Unknown said...

Just popping in from ICLW! We just had our first RE appt, and on top of PCOS I have diabetes which has been a huge setback. I know we're totally in for an HSG- I haven't googled anything yet- Dr. Google and I aren't on speaking terms because he convinced me I had cancer last month, lol.

Best of luck and I look forward to following your journey!

Sara

ICLW# 118

apluseffort said...

Thanks for visiting my blog and congrats on making it through the HSG. I have not had one but I have an upcoming hysteroscopy with no anesthesia and I'm quite looking forward to it, ha ;)

Amy said...

I'm so sorry! HSGs are so awful. You were inspirational with your self motivating talk. I tend to go much more down the line of expressing to the attending physician how I'm feeling....

Wishing you the best this cycle.

mrsrochester said...

Hi from ICLW. Thanks for commenting on my blog:) I had no pain during my HSG but I did during my sonohystogram for IVF. Go figure.