Monday, January 17, 2011

The SHG

Sorry it took me a few days to update about my ultrasound. I planned on writing about it over the weekend but it was just not a good one on the TTC-attitude front. In addition to my gripe-fest yesterday my brother in law decided to tell me yesterday that he was talking about us to his church class because another couple was TTC and having issues. Its not really any of their business but I’m fine with that part he tells me I just needed not to stress about it. It was all I could do not to roll my eyes at him and say something snarky. Um, yeah four kids later….I bet you really do know what its like! (Moving on…..)
Today is the start to a new week and I’m in a good mood. I’m listing to Michael Buble and its just making me smile. Before I go on with all the gory details I'll start off by saying the SHG went well and my tubes are clear. Hooray! (there is a dance involved you just can’t see it but feel free to picture me being ridiculous)
I left work early to go to my appointment Thursday and did not realize how nervous I was until I was putting on my coat and noticed my heart was racing. Honestly I think a good part of it was the fact the office was downtown. I absolutely hate driving somewhere I am not familiar with and hate it even more so when it is downtown. But I sucked it up got there and luckily they had a free parking lot. Once inside I was taken back very quickly and had a very nice nurse. I did find it pretty funny that she was instant messaging someone while I was getting situated on the table. So she started out with an internal ‘probe’ scan. She used the ‘wand’ to measure all size and volume of my uterus and both ovaries. That part was really quite easy and fast. I do not know what I was expecting but then she told me she would go get the doctor. This doctor was a man (never had a man doc before) and he was foreign (no idea where from). He looked like a mix between Santa and the Russian spy from the TV show Archer on FX (a very funny show if you like that kind of humor).

Anyways doctor comes in - I only understand about 50% of what he is saying – and he shows me this itty bitty tube thing they will be using. When you push up on it it is like a little air bubble expands to create a small circular mass on the tube about the size of a small grape. My assumption, that is about as big as it gets and that is not too scary at all. So he does a little iodine swiping and they start to insert the tube thing. All is well, I’m just fine, I can see a picture of my uterus up on the wall TV for my viewing pleasure. Then the nurse proceeds to tell me I will have a bit of cramping which I expected because of my research and a few of you mentioned it. I did not however expect it to be like that. She tells me it is like expanding my uterus from flat and empty to six months pregnant in the matter of seconds. Now I really think I have a higher pain tolerance than some but this was too quick and shocking - I jerked so hard on that table I scared the nurse and gave myself a crick in my neck. After what felt like forever my cramping lessened and it got much better. They used the probe again so I could see the uterus pictures as they checked everything out. When it came to my tubes I could actually see the fluid moving through them. This was such a nice sign and created a great bit of relief.

He told me everything looked pretty good but I did have something small hanging out in the middle of my uterus. He said it was either a small polyp or a cluster of blood cells. Blood cells would be just fine and they would eventually flush out on their own. However a polyp might be a bit more troublesome because it could create attaching issues when we do have a successful cycle. Pretty much if the egg attaches to it instead of the lining then the pregnancy would result in miscarriage. He did not provide any statistics but said they would send the pictures to my Doc and she would decide how to proceed. I think I was just glad to hear I had open tubes so the fear of this possibility did not stress me out too much.

Friday afternoon I called my Doc and talked to one of my Nurses. She said it was indeed a polyp but my Doc said there was nothing to do about it and not to worry. I was a bit concerned because at first she said the polyp was on an ovary. I questioned the location and she reread the paperwork to see it was in the uterus. I tried to ask if this would change what my Doc would suggest and told her what the ultrasound doctor said and she did not seem interested. This was the first time I have spoken with this nurse and honestly I did not like her as much as the one I normally talk to. For now I am going to try and not be concerned with this very small maybe.

In trying not to worry I have only done a very little bit of research on polyps but found the following -

Whether uterine polyps lead to infertility remains controversial. However, if you have uterine polyps and you've been experiencing infertility, removal of the polyps might boost your fertility. In one study, infertile women who underwent surgical polyp removal (hysteroscopic polypectomy) had much higher pregnancy rates — 63 percent versus 28 percent — after intrauterine insemination (IUI) than did women with uterine polyps who underwent IUI alone

If guess I will look into it more if we end up having to go the IUI route. For now I’m just going to do some hoping and praying.

Tomorrow the hubby has a follow up appointment with the urologist.

5 comments:

  1. Great news that your tubes are clear. That's one less thing to worry about.

    Best of luck for your hubby for his follow up appointment tomorrow. I hope there is more good news for you to share with us.

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  2. YAY!! For the tubes being clear. I am so glad you got good news. I so hope the polyp doesn't turn into a major issue. Look forward to hearing good news after hub's appointment - I'm crossing fingers and toes for you!

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  3. Wow... that must have been comforting. We're just going to stretch your uterus in a way that will make you feel like you've gone from zero to six months pg in the space of a second... but without all the time to stretch natural etc. *injects solution*

    Despite the nasty bit, really glad to hear that everything went well and the egg channels are clear. If it is hanging down then I'd assume the polyp thing is at the front... I think generally for some reason eggs tend to make their way down the back more often than the front but I agree... cross that bridge with removal if you have to.

    Next stop, the boy's swimmers! :-) Good luck!!

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  4. That's great news about your tubes! Hopefully the polyp doesn't affect anything too much, and I'll be cheering for great swimmers on your husband's SA. Let us know how it goes!

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  5. I have my HSG test tomorrow - not quite the same, but gets the same results! :)

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