Infertility Tests – wands, needles & fishy dye

January 28, 2015January 28, 20159 Comments

I scheduled my initial round of infertility tests as soon as I could, but due to work commitments and travel back to the UK for Christmas the tests ran over two more cycles. Over December 14 and January 15 I had a vaginal ultrasound, cycle day 3 blood work and HSG. Chris booked his sperm analysis in January.

Vaginal Ultrasound. An ultrasound wand was placed in my vagina to check if I had follicles in my ovaries. And I had many! The ultrasound also showed that I was just about to ovulate from my left ovary (which is the ovulation pain I had been feeling earlier that day – it’s nice to know that I can tell which ovary I am ovulating from!!). The doctor confirmed everything looked healthy and normal. Woohoooo!

Cycle Day 3 blood work. I was horrified at the amount of boxes that had been ticked on the blood paper work….I calculated at least 4 vials of blood. I am not good with needles. I cannot bear to look at them without feeling faint. Just before I deployed to Iraq I had to ensure all my vaccinations were up to date (all four million of them). The army nurse asked me how I was with needles. I replied ‘not particularly good’. He said ‘well now is the time to overcome your fear, I’ll tell you when you can look away’, and then immediately proceeded to jab me four times, after he just laughed, ‘see? I told you would overcome your fear!’. I walked away dizzy and attempted to find the toilet to be sick. I also have donated blood once, and passed out after giving 1/2 a pint. Apparently even when I voluntarily want to give my blood away my body won’t let me! This time, for these particular blood tests, the nurse was lovely (despite him coming to the conclusion that I ultimately kill people for a living), he put me at ease straight away.

A big difference between the UK and the US, is that here in the US it is possible to get your blood test results online before your doctor sees them and discusses what they actually mean. I am not a doctor and I can barely pronounce the name of the tests, so using the internet to help me decipher the results was a TERRIBLE idea! In the UK you call up your doctor and then a receptionist will tell you if the results were normal or you need to book an appointment. I am not sure which way round I prefer!! Anyway, my results were normal.

Hysterosalpingogram also known as a HSG. I’m not sure any human being would want to have this test performed out of choice. This procedure is where dye is injected through the vagina into the uterus and by using x-rays to see if the fallopian tubes are blocked. I was given an information sheet about the procedure, I felt prepared, and took the 800mg of Ibuprofen as prescribed an hour before. My friend accompanied me as it recommended that you have someone drive you home afterwards. I am very pleased she was there with me, I couldn’t have gone it alone.

I was a bit nervous, naturally, but it wasn’t until the nurse asked me ‘Are you familiar with the procedure?’, I said, ‘yes, I read up’. The nurse looked a little worried ‘uhoh you haven’t been reading the internet have you?’. Now that part made me nervous! I had not thought to look up the procedure online because the info sheet given to me was sufficiently detailed.

The procedure was very uncomfortable, and painful at parts, it felt like my insides were on fire and I had immediate cramping. I could just about see the screen with the x-rays on it and could make out that my tubes were flowing freely. Great news!!!! But the doctor asked me ‘did you know you have a retroverted uterus‘? Nope, no I did not know that. Well everyday is a school day after all. The only question I had on my mind at that point, was what does all of these results really mean? What will Chris’s results be? I felt sad and guilty that Chris would be feeling more pressure about his sperm analysis.

Google – Jekyll & Hyde? After my final test, I went home intrigued, and googled “HSG”. I am so glad I did not read any forums before going for this procedure, there are some sad and terrifying stories out there. The nurse was right to look so worried. A lesson was certainly learned here – I’m going to keep trusting in the people I am paying lots of money for to look after me. Maybe I’m being naive, but google isn’t always your friend.

Diagnosis – Taking The First Steps

January 27, 2015January 27, 20152 Comments

When do we seek help?

The typical time to see a doctor when you are concerned about infertility is after a year of TTC (Trying To Conceive) if you are under the age of 36. Both Chris and I are 32, we had discussed when we would seek advice, which was of course as per the guidelines suggests. But ten months in, Chris had a new doctor’s routine physical where he explained our dream of becoming parents. The doctor recommended a routine blood work up; this is when we found out that Chris’s testosterone levels were very low. And so as our doctor provided a suggested specialist fertility clinic.

In the UK, things may have gone a little differently. We probably would have had to wait a year and at least one minute to be able to get any tests unless we had symptoms.

Research….research….research

So after a serious amount of research, including finance checking, we made an appointment with the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine – this organisation was the pioneers of IVF. We took the first appointment we could get, and so after 11 months of TTC we were taking the first steps towards a diagnosis. This was pretty scary. I was in denial, I really did not want to go to the appointment. Chris was eager, with his testosterone levels being so low, I understood why it was important for him. Within the last eleven months we had experienced twelve of the dreaded two week waits. (Those two week waits deserve a whole blog on their own, so I won’t talk about them right now.) I can have a very short cycle of 22 days so we were able to pack a few extra chances in 🙂

A bad history with doctors

Why was I so nervous? Well my history with the doctors in the UK is not a great one. I spent several years in my early twenties making numerous trips to the doctors to diagnose the cause of my sharp, random, abdominal pains, painfully heavy periods and diarrhea. After many tests ruling out anything serious, my doctor concluded that my pain was either IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) or Endometriosis. To diagnose Endometriosis I would require a laparoscopy – the last resort – and not a favoured diagnosis method for someone so young. Therefore, she recommended I first try an exclusion diet to rule out foods that might cause the pain. After four weeks of experimenting with my diet I discovered a notable correlation between my pain and eating potatoes, wheat and acidic type fruits such as pineapple. The pain also got worse with stress a notable IBS symptom. There is no test you can take to diagnose whether you have IBS or not. But it fitted my symptoms and so I tried many treatments. My IBS was very bad at university – I had spent two days out the field training with the Army, eating the Army freeze dried ration packs (packed with potatoes and wheat!!!), this plus a particularly stressful moment tipped me over the edge, the pain was so excruciating I passed out and woke up in hospital. When I told the hospital I had IBS, they discharged me immediately with no further questions. And since then I have managed my IBS through diet (and recognise that stress is likely to be a bad day for me!!).

So why do I not like the doctors? My experience with doctors in the UK has always been one of a feeling that I am wasting their time. I have yet had the opportunity to experience them here in the US as I have in the UK. So far so good…..the major difference is that I am paying a lot of money for the doctor here in the US and I have a choice, but in the UK it was ‘free’, and beggars can’t be choosers (although much has changed in the NHS over the recent years, there is more choice available now)!

Our first appointment with the Fertility Clinic

I can tell you that I felt sick to the stomach about going to our first appointment together, I must have gone to the toilet at least three times in the hour before. I knew it was a ridiculous feeling to be having, but this time I had Chris to hold my hand with me, and after discussing the first steps with our new doctor, it wasn’t all so bad. In fact, I left with a feeling of huge relief.

The beginning? Or the beginning of the end?

January 25, 2015January 26, 20152 Comments

Is this post the beginning of my hunt? No. But it feels a little bit like the start. This is my first blog post, and the first time I am sharing with the world that we are on the hunt for the pudding club. But this is by no means the true beginning of our journey.

Our journey began a long time ago. It started in 2011 with a trip to the Dolomites, Italy, where Chris romantically proposed to me at the top of a mountain. He proposed 2 hours into the start of our four day hike into the remote mountains. A very risky proposal considering I had been giving him signals that I was not interested in getting married (mis-read signals, I will add!). It could have been an awkward four days if I had turned his proposal down. But it was after accepting his proposal on this four day trip, that we spent quality time discussing our future together. As you can imagine over four days in the wilderness, it was many hours of discussion. But it was clear that we had similar dreams, goals and desires in life. Including having children. I think this was the true start of our journey, our hunt.

We married in 2012 and moved to Virginia USA in 2013. I had my birth control IUD removed in 2012, but the real deciding moment to make our family bigger was in December 2013. This was the defining moment when we realised we were on the right path, and this was our greatest dream. Life since then, for us both, has been amazing, and blessed in many ways. Our journey has been beautiful, but it is getting tiring. I am a glass half full type of girl, and recently my glass has been looking a little half empty.

Last week our doctor diagnosed us with ‘unexplained infertility’. This was a huge relief to both of us. We have no serious ailments preventing a natural conception. However, this is a diagnosis given to almost 30% of infertility cases and often all this means is that there is some other unknown cause of infertility. Pinpointing exactly the cause is very difficult for medical professionals. The art of conception is an amazing feat of nature. So the doctor recommended that we focus on treatment rather than causes. Chris jumped straight in – when can we start? The answer, was right away.

So is this the real beginning of our journey? Actually, this blog post is the beginning of our journey, for what I hope is the start of my glass returning to being half full. Maybe the hunt will be over next month, and this is actually the beginning of the end. But the turns keep coming at us, and so our journey continues for now….