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Taking care of business

September 18, 2007

This month we took a cycle off from trying to conceive so I could have my HSG done. I was pretty scared about it, and although it was scary and yes, painful, it wasn't too bad.

The HSG (which stands for hysterosalpingogram) is a test that evaluates your fallopian tubes and uterus for possible causes of infertility. The doctor flushes your uterus and tubes with a dye and then they take x-rays of you so they can see any structural problems or abnormalities in there, like blocked tubes, polyps or fibroids, or abnormal shape or structure of your tubes or uterus.

Jeff was able to come into the room with me while they did it, and that made a huge difference to me. The room they did it in was huge and had lots of big machines in it. I had taken 600mg of ibuprofen beforehand to hopefully help with any cramping. They had me undress from the waist down and lie on a metal table covered with pads and blankets, but I was still freezing so they covered me with another blanket.

The doctor spent a long time cleaning my cervix. I had an ectropian area (a tender spot that bled when touched) on my cervix, so it probably took longer than usual. He inserted a larger-than-usual speculum, which was a little uncomfortable but still not painful, although I felt like I was open very wide. Once I was all cleaned and examined, he inserted a balloon into my cervix to fill my uterus with air so that when they inserted the dye, it would flow through and up instead of back out through the cervix. This was the most painful part--the pressure hurt quite a bit. There was a wonderful nurse there who helped so much; she was very reassuring.  They gave us all heavy protective covers to wear because of the x-rays.

Then the radiologist came in with several other people who I think were medical students. They moved a big machine over me, I think to take the x-rays.  The nurse moved a TV screen over by us and Jeff got to come over with the doctors and watch as my doctor flushed the dye into me. I saw later it was iodine and rusty-colored. I didn't feel a thing when he inserted the dye. Right away, everyone said "Ohh!" at the same time. It was over in a matter of seconds. The dye flushed through my uterus and tubes very quickly, leaving us with a picture up on the screen of my apparently perfect-shaped uterus and tubes. There seemed to be no blockages or any other abnormalities. So that was excellent news!

When I sat up afterwards, it felt like warm liquid rushed out of me, and I had to wear a pad.  Later that day, I experienced bleeding similar to my period, which tapered off into spotting the next couple of days. Probably the worst part of the whole thing, aside from the pain during the procedure, was the antibiotic I had to take as a precaution against infection. It was called doxycycline and I had to take it every 12 hours for 4 days. It made me feel queasy and when I took it on an empty stomach, it made me throw up.

Another thing we just got taken care of this month is the ectropian spot on my cervix. My doctor has been complaining about it a lot and even though every other doctor I saw said it was perfectly normal and nothing to worry about, I finally had it biopsied and cauterized today. The biopsies felt like little small pinches slightly worse than a Pap smear, and the cauterizing felt like a minor burning. It's a little uncomfortable since I've been sitting down most of today, but hopefully now we will be clear to try another IUI next cycle.