So, first things first: HSG really wasn’t that bad ladies. If you have to get one you’ll be alright 🙂

The ultrasound wasn’t bad and showed that I have 5 maturing follicles on each side which I *think* is good news. I’m pretty sure that the doctor said my largest follicle was 12 mm or 14mm, I can’t remember. The doc found an area of thickened endometrial lining on ultrasound and said she would check it out a little more during the HSG. I think the ultrasound aside from the lining being thick was good. She commented on my awesome AMH number too. Imagine me mentally patting my ovaries on the back. Good job little raisins!

Now,  onto the dreaded HSG. Prior to my appointment I took 600mg (3 pills) of advil. I think it was a good call and I’m glad the RE gave me those instructions. The test involves a lot of set up of equipment. It feels strange but is not painful. First, in went the speculum. Then she cleaned my cervix with betadine swabs which I hardly felt. I did feel stuff dripping out… which was gross. The doc talked me through the whole thing which was nice. She inserted some sort of tube and then another tube inside of the tube. There was pressure and some twisting but no pain.

I was instructed to breathe deeply and relax. I was really trying but there were so many things going on down there it was hard! Around this time the nurse, who could see my face, which must have had a distressed look on it, began telling me all about a new Italian restaurant that opened up. She told me about the food, about the shopping center, that there was a new Thai restaurant right next to it. I got directions, color scheme, anything that would distract me. I knew what she was up to, but I went with it. It was sweet of her to do that. I appreciated how perceptive she was and how she knew just what to do to help me get through that part of the test. The doc even jumped into the conversation.

Once all the equipment was set up the doc began inflating the balloon to open up my cervix enough to pass the tube through and begin filling my uterus with dye/water/whatever it is they put in there. Ladies, this is the part that hurts. It feels like strong period cramps I would rate as a 6/10 on the pain scale and made me nauseous. Your cervix obviously doesn’t appreciate being pried open and responds with cramps to close it back up. The crampy feeling remains for as long as the balloon thing is inflated. Luckily, that was probably a maximum of 5-7 minutes. The test only lasts long enough for the RE to visualize your uterus and see the fluid flow through both tubes. As soon as that was accomplished she deflated the balloon and removed all of the equipment. I felt incrementally better as each thing was removed. By the end, I only had a slight feeling of nausea and some really mild cramping. Following the procedure I had no spotting and only ever-so-slight cramping a couple of hours afterwards. I didn’t take any more advil and the cramps went away on their own.

The RE reviewed the test results with me at the end. Good news is that both tubes are open so no problems there. Bad news: that thickened area on ultrasound is a polyp. A 6mm polyp. AND she thinks there is another one in there too. In light of that, I will need a second procedure, this time under anesthesia to remove the polyps. The RE said that the polyps are nothing serious but that they would reduce my chances of conception and increase my chances of miscarrying if I did conceive. She recommended removal before any further inseminations.

Which really sucks because this week is spring break and the plan since being sidelined last month was to fly out today to see M for AI. I told the RE that I had just booked a flight to see our donor the night before and she immediately suggested that she write a letter to help me get out of the flight for medical reasons. She’s pretty awesome. It looks like I am sidelined again for this cycle though and possibly the next while we sort out this polyp situation. Sigh.

Anywho, that’s my story of the big, bad HSG.

 

If you have any questions about the procedure fire away. 🙂