HSG

Finally! All the testing is done! I got my HSG on Friday and everything went according to plan (sort of). I got to my PCP’s office at 8:20 and the nurse was there and ready to give me the toradol shot. She made it sound like it was going to hurt like hell so I was a little apprehensive but I figured since I am doing this IVF thing I’d better get used to huge shots. She had me bend over a stretcher and pull down my pants on the right side a little. She told me to be prepared for a very intense sting (my GYN told me the same thing), funny thing was, I didn’t even feel her give me the shot! For those of you that don’t know, I have a herniated disk in my back and more often than not my right butt cheek is completely numb, sometimes even my left. So, I didn’t even know she gave me the shot and I never did feel the intense burning that she said would come about 15 min after the shot. Hmmmm, I will have to remember this when we begin the shots for the IVF. Then we were off to American Radiology for the dreaded HSG.

When we arrived at American Radiology at 8:45 a.m. (right on time) there were tons of people in the waiting room and a line waiting to check in. The funny thing was there was three people at the front desk but only one person checking people in, the other people were doing God knows what. When I got up to the desk to check in and gave the girl my insurance card she very rudely asked me if I had the original signed copy of the referral from my doctor. I told her that I did not and that the doctor made the appointment over the phone and told me all of the information would be sent over to American Radiology and that when I called to make the appointment for the HSG I gave them the referral number my doctor gave me. They never told me I needed the original signed paper. She told me that they most likely would not be able to do the procedure because Kaiser requires them to have the original signed referral before they can do it. I flat out told her to do what she needs to do, call Kaiser, whatever, because the procedure needed to be done that day. I guess she didn’t want to mess with me because they called me back 10 minutes later.

When they called me back I was a little nervous but for some reason I was fairly confident that the toradol shot was going to help. When I walked into the room the nurse handed me a gown and told me to change. When I came out they had me lay on the table with my butt on a pillow. Then the doctor came in. She was very nice. I told the nurse and the doctor about my bad experience and they looked at me like I was insane and said they had never heard of anyone passing out during an HSG. I swear, I am not a big baby and I actually have a pretty high threshold for pain! The doctor told me that she has never heard of anyone passing out and that she would make sure to be gentle. The most uncomfortable part about the whole procedure was the inserting of the catheter. I got a little cramping from that but it was very light and definitely bearable. I didn’t even feel her insert the dye. The whole procedure took about 10 minutes. It took a little longer because for some reason initially they couldn’t find my left tube. Finally she found it and told me that my left tube was significantly higher than my right tube. But both tubes are clear and no abnormalities in the uterus. This is good, but in my case it doesn’t really matter because I don’t ovulate anyway. All in all it was a MUCH better experience minus the b*tch at the front desk. I’m really not sure if it was the Toradol that helped or if it was just that the doctor was much more gentle but either way, I’m glad it was less painful than before.

Now we wait, (AGAIN) for Kaiser to approve the referral which should hopefully be within the next week or so. Then I will need to bring on another cycle and start the BCPs. I’m only on CD10 so I will need to wait to take the provera. Stay tuned…

Stressed!!

Yes, that is how I am feeling right now…stressed! Lets see if I can recap the latest events:

Shawn got his SA results back. The motility wasn’t great but we think that is because they made him wait over an hour before they took the sample. We have never had a problem with the SA results before so hopefully this is the case.

I got my day 3 blood work done and everything came out fine.

So, the ONLY thing left is the dreaded HSG. I called my GYN and explained to her that I would NOT even think of doing the HSG unless she gives me something stronger than Motrin to take prior to the test. So she prescribed a shot of Toradol which I will get at 8:30 tomorrow morning. Herein lies the main source of my stress, my HSG is scheduled to begin at 9:00. They told me to be there by 8:45. That leaves me 15 minutes to get the shot and go to American Radiology. Now, Kaiser has not been known to be the most reliable. I am concerned about this short time frame considering they open at 8:30. I called and spoke to the nurse today who is supposed to give me the shot and explained to her that I was worried about the timing and getting to the HSG on time. She said she usually arrives at 8:15 and that she will give me the shot right away. Then she went on to explain how she was an hour and a half late to work today because of traffic due to rain. NOT so comforting after you just got dome telling me that you will be there at 8:30. So, my pan is that if for some reason she is late, they don’t open on time, or whatever other lame reason Kaiser has for once again pissing me off, then I am just going to get the HSG with no medication at all. I don’t want to wait another month to do this because it will push the IVF back two months. So, come hell or high water I will be getting the HSG. And, if I pass out on the table (again) then it is Kaiser’s fault and they will just have to use what ever results they get and approve the referral.

The other source of my stress is AF herself. She is here, like I wanted her to be so that we could do the day 3 BW and the HSG, but now she wont leave! She is playing peek-a-boo with me all day. They made it clear to me that all signs of AF must be gone when I get the HSG or they cant do it. It is day 7 already! Go away! So, it seems that so many things are stacked against me while I am trying to get this stupid HSG which Kaiser wanted me to get I the first place. My RE did not require me to get the HSG. So, like everything else that sucks in my life, I am blaming it all on HMO’s!

Stay tuned…

Gettysburg Weekend

Well, we got back from our Gettysburg trip late last night. We had a great but interesting time. When we left Friday night it began to pour down rain. So bad that we could barely see the road! When we finally got to the hotel we were supposed to stay at, which is this one:

The girl at the desk spent several minutes looking on her computer and asking again and again how to spell our last name. I knew something was wrong when after five minutes she still hadn't found our reservations. Then she finally found our reservation but told us that they had us booked for NEXT weekend and not this weekend. She then went on to tell us that they had no rooms available that night. So, we had to cancel our incorrect reservation and back out into the rain we went! After stopping at several hotels and being told over and over that they had no rooms available we began to worry that we were going to be sleeping in our car, or turning around and driving all the way back home. Finally someone working behind the counter at the last hotel we stopped at told us that there was only one hotel in town that had available rooms. So, we drove 5 miles outside of Gettysburg to the Eisenhower Hotel. We found the hotel but the parking lot was confusing. We ended up driving around a circle that lead to nowhere with several other cars before we finally figured out how to get to the entrance of the hotel. By this time we are both starving. We were finally able to get a room but we had to pay about $50 more than what our original hotel room was. The room was really nice and actually pretty large:

After we put our things in the room we headed off to get something to eat. While eating dinner we were both exhausted and giggly. Anyone who knows me knows that I sometimes have a tendancy to talk loud, especially when I am tired. We were discussing what I packed in our suitcase and I made a rather loud comment about how Shawn had a pair of holy underwear. Basically the whole place heard me and Shawn turned red! lol! (That's what he gets for not letting me throw away the holy undies!)

The next morning we decided we were going to have breakfast in the hotel. We could smell breakfast but darn if we could find where we were supposed to go! The hotel was like one big maze (just like the parking lot). We never did find where they served breakfast so instead we had breakfast at the Avenue in town where we sat behind a couple who was very loudly discussing child support payments (we are so nosy!).

After breakfast we spent the day driving around the battlefield. We took some beautiful pictures. Here are a couple of them.

This is Shawn checking out the inside of a cannon. Do you see anything in there Shawn?

Actually, yes, he did see something in there! Have you ever seen the inside of a cannon? Pretty cool huh?

Obviously I did a little editing to this picture. I thought it was pretty neat though. This was on the corner of the field where Pickett's Charge took place.

I was impersonating a squirrel here.

Here I am listening to the cannon...don't ask..really.

Here is a picture Shawn took of me.

Here we are together.

And again.

After driving and walking around the battelfield all day we were ready for dinner. We had planned on eating at General Pickett's Buffet. They have great food and we have eaten there a few times and were always pleased with the food. While we were waiting to be seated a tour bus full of 45 people showed up and apparently had reservations. Then another tour bus of 45 showed up too. They also apparently had reservations. At this point we decided it would be no fun having to wait in line for food with so many people in the place so we decided to try to go somewhere else. Bad idea! We drove around Gettysburg for another hour trying to find a place to eat only to find out that everywhere had a 45 minute wait or longer. We couldn't wait because we had scheduled to go on the Ghosts of Gettysburg tour at 8:15. So we finally decided to get dinner at Wendys and drive back through the battelfield in the dark and do some ghost hunting. It was really neat to be out on the battlefield in the dark and also a bit creepy. There were several other people out there taking pictures also. You could look out over the battlefiled and see camera flashes everywhere. By the way, we didn't catch any ghosts on film. Oh well..

Then we went on our ghost tour. We went on the Seminary Ridge tour and met the guide and the rest of the people going on the tour (all 120 of them!) There was a group of about 10 very annoying boyscouts in front of us. They split our group into three smaller groups and I specifically told Shawn that I hoped that we didn't end up in their group. Guess what, we did! But they were actually pretty quiet besides asking some lame questions. The tour was pretty cool. We walked throug the grounds of the seminary and heard some ghost stories. I told Shawn as we walked through the fields that I hoped that we didn't step on dog poop, guess what...I did! I swear, I am not going to say anything that I don't want to happen because apparently God has a sick sense of humor! I ended up riding home with no shoes and no pants and a blanket over my lap!

We took a lot of pictures during the tour but because it was so dark most of them didn't come out. I did take one picture of a building that was used as a field hospital during the war. The story was that people still hear the screaming of the soldiers that were in the basement of the building getting amputations. I got a pretty cool picture although my personal opinion is that it is just matrixing. But anyway, here it is.

Do you see a screaming face in this picture? If you dont I took the liberty of circling the face that I see.

Now, let me make it clear that I do NOT think that this is a picture of a ghost. Even an amiture ghost hunter knows that you never take pictures into mirrors or windows because of the reflections. But it is a creepy picture either way.

Well, that's about it for our trip. We had a lot of fun and got the relaxation that we were looking for prior to beginning our IVF cycle. Now we are well rested and ready to go. By the way, since this is technically a blog about IVF, I got AF on Saturday so today is CD2. So tomorrow I will need to call American Radiology and schdule my HSG! Then maybe we can finally start! Stay tuned...

Hormonal Mo

Today I have been really antsy and grumpy. I think it is a combination of a lot of things. I am such an impatient person so all of this waiting and nothing happening is really hard for me. I feel like I have waited long enough already! I have taken 4 provera and will take two more tonight. By Sunday night I will be done the provera and I will just need to wait for AF to show up. Assuming she does, which she usually does after I take the provera, then I can schedule the dreaded HSG for CD 5-10. Then I will be calling my GYN and insisting on a prescription for some valium! That is the only way I can justify putting myself through something that was so painful the first time. I really wish I wasn’t such of a pessimist! I blame it on my mother. Yes Mom, I know you are reading and you and I both know that I got my pessimism from you! It is almost impossible for me to imagine that this will ever happen for me. I just can’t imagine myself having a baby. After all these years you would think that I would be able to imagine it but the fact that it has been ALL these years makes it seem less and less likely. But, then I tell myself to think logically (which I am usually pretty good at) and remember way back when I reached all of those other milestones in my life which I could never imagine doing. I remember when I was still in high school thinking that I couldn’t picture myself actually going to college, then I remember thinking that I couldn’t picture myself actually getting married and being a wife. Well, here I am, a college graduate (for what its worth) and happily married for five years to this most amazing man in the whole world (no, I’m not biased, its true!) I think part of my irritation today is probably also caused by the provera. Introducing more hormone into my body always makes me moody.

Shawn and I scheduled a mini vacation to Gettysburg for next weekend. We are staying overnight on Friday and spending all of Saturday there. I really, really, need a vacation, even if it is for a short time. I love Gettysburg in the fall and I cant wait to take a ghost tour!

I also found two interesting links I want to share:

The Visible Embryo is a visual guide through fetal development from fertilization through pregnancy to birth. This is a cool website! If we ever get pregnant I am sure I will using it a lot!

Making Baby the High-Tech Way: Click on the In vitro fertilization link at the top and it tells you a little about IVF.

So, that’s about it for me today. I have convinced myself that having a pumpkin spice latte after lunch will make it all better! We shall wait and see…

Confusion Continues..

I am really starting to wonder if the whole IVF experience is this confusing for other women or if it is just because I am dealing with an HMO. I called Shady Grove (my RE) and spoke to my nurse. I asked her about the doctor possibly writing me a prescription for a pain killer prior to the HSG. She said that they can do that. I then stated that obviously I need to take provera to bring on AF since I never get her on my own. I told her that my GYN had given me a huge bottle of provera to bring on AF every couple of months or so. She was surprised and said that I should really have a “no menses work-up” (AKA more blood tests) before I take provera on the off chance that I might possibly be pregnant. HA! I have heard this a million times, and I know that I have never ovulated on my own through this whole five year ordeal and I seriously doubt that I have this month either. So, I have decided on my own that I will take an HPT and start the provera on my own. I really do not want to get any more pointless blood tests that I have to pay for. Once the ole’ bat (AF) rears her ugly head I will call the doc and request a pain killer for my HSG. The HSG is done between day 7 and 10 of my cycle.

Not that I think any part of this experience is going to be fun but this part is really tedious. I am so tired of dealing with Kaiser, I just want to get on with the whole thing. I mean seriously, it seems like Kaiser does EVERYTHING at a snails pace. That is the worst part about IF in general, the waiting. It seems like that is all we ever do!

It never ends...

So, my GYN caleld yesterday, Kaiser denied our referral because they said we need more tests done. They said Shawn needs to do a semen analysis which we knew they might require. But, they also said that I need to get another HSG done. Now, let me tell you that three or four years ago when I got this test done it was the most painful thing I have EVER had done. I would get my gallbladder out again before I would get this test done if I had the choice. The last time I had it done I was in so much pain duing the procedure I ended up passing out and they had to stop the procedure early. For those of you that don't know what an HSG is here is the rundown:
Hysterosalpingogram (HSG)- an x-ray procedure performed to determine whether the fallopian tubes are open and to see if the shape of the uterine cavity is normal.
http://www.asrm.org/Patients/FactSheets/hsg.pdf
I honestly have no idea why it was so painful for me but my GYN said the pain could have been caused by a couple of things, spasyms in my tubes or blockage in my tubes. Lets hope it's number one. Not that blockage in my tubes would make a difference at this point considering I do not ovulate anyway, but she said sometimes if there is scarring in the tubes they will remove them prior to IVF. I really don't want to have to get another surgery so lets hope it is number one.
Honestly, yesterday I was kind of upset because I was ready to start and now we have to get more tests. Plus, I am obviously not looking forward to a procedure that caused me so much pain last time. But, I guess pain, both physical and emotional, are part of this journey. So here we go, making more appointments and the poking and proding continues...

Still Waiting...

So my GYN called yesterday to let me know that our referral is still being reviewed. She said we should know something this week. She said that they may deny it because they may require Shawn to do a SA. If they do we will do the SA and they should approve the referral. Either way, hopefully it won't be long. I also just remembered that the medication I am taking for my acid reflux is known to cause birth defects so I have to call my PCP and have him switch it to something else. Once we get the referral I will then start the first step which is 3 weeks of birth control so nothing exciting happening in the month of October. Keep checking back for updates...