HSG

     This morning I had the hsg procedure. Flaco went with me, in case I was unable to drive home, but also because I wanted him there. He got to wear a pretty magenta protective apron while he was in the room with me. He wanted to leave, but I asked him to stay. The room was full of x-ray machines and even the entire ceiling moved! The nurses (both named Kim!) were very nice but the doctor was a little hard to understand (he had a pretty thick accent - at one point he told me I might feel some "clamping" which the nurse then whispered, "He meant to say "cramping."). So, basically I am on a very long metal bed with the million and one machines above and all around me (or so it seemed). I have to slide all the way down to the bottom to slip my legs over the stirrups (not for your feet, for your legs - it fit under my thighs). The doctor first swabbed everything with some kind of iodine or something (I hate that smell), then inserted this unique speculum - it was plastic and had some kind of battery that made it light up. It was a spec glow stick! Then the doctor shoved the catheter up inside, which was a slight pinch. I had to scoot back up the table back under the x-ray machine, at which point the doctor began pushing the dye into my uterus and fallopian tubes and the nurses began snapping photos like crazy. I was hit by an intense wave of cramps that felt like I had Giardia again (this is a parasite and I got it when my husband and I went to visit his family in Nicaragua - I had two weeks of terrible stomach cramps that made me feel like my stomach was about to fall out when I tried to stand up - quite painful). The doctor told me to rotate to my left and then my right and the cramps intensified. At this point the nurse announced that my tubes had indeed been blocked, but the doctor was able to open them with the dye. He had to use a lot of dye, which was why it was so painful. She told me I would get a full report from my Infertility Doctor on Friday.
     So, after I cleaned myself up (as you know, what goes up the whoo-haa must come down. . . .) and we found the car again (there was some question as to where we had parked), I called my mom. I told her what the nurse said and her response was, "Yeah! Oh, that's great! Oh, wait, how are you? Was it terribly painful?" She had this procedure done when she was struggling with infertility over 30 years ago and remembered how painful it was. She was excited to hear that my tubes were opened by the procedure and that there was no scarring that might require surgery. So, apparently it doesn't matter how many times I ovulate, if the little eggs can't meet up with some sperm in the fallopian tubes, then pregnancy cannot occur. I am not willing to get my hopes up, not willing to think "this is it!" and start celebrating a pregnancy. I am not taking any medication to make me ovulate this month, so I'm not sure if my body will manage to do that all on it's own. But, I am thankful that I did this procedure (I was worried I would have gone through this pain for nothing) and very very thankful that the doctor was able to open my tubes with just the dye. The nurse could not answer if there were any other abnormalities with my fallopian tubes or uterus. I suppose I will find out on Friday from my Infertility Doctor. So, the plan is still the same at this point. This month is a bye. Next month as well. Then in May we will try the Clomid again, hoping that the fallopian tubes being open, the metaformin regulating my insulin, and the Clomid to make me ovulate will be the winning team. Only time will tell. Right now I am just thankful the hsg is over with.