Hysterosalpingogram

September 11, 2007
Well we have been trying to conceive now for 15 months. This sucks!!

I have been to the Reproductive Endocrinologist now (the Fertility doctor) and had a consultation ($275), and a blood hormone test for fsh and entradiol (both normal). Evan has had his spermies tested, and with the exception of some abnormal shaped guys his test was normal.

The next test (which I had last week) was the hysterosalpingogram. A girlfriend told me it wasn’t a big deal, but it really really was. Cost of test: $350.

I went to the radiologist’s office and was given a bag to put my bottom-half clothes into, along with an open-back robe to put on. I went into this large radiology room with lots of equipment, and a table in the center that resembled an autopsy table. I got on the table and the lab assistant explained the process to me, and gave me a box of CDs to pick one. I picked Stevie Nicks Greatest Hits.

The doctor came in, and they had me lay down and they propped a pile of sheets under my rump to lift my bottom in the air. No stirrups here, but I just had to spread my legs wide. They did a couple of “before” x-rays of my abdomen, and I could see the screen from where I was laying. My belly-button ring became the only real point of reference.

Next came the speculum. Most women are familiar with the pain associated with this metal “jack” being inserted into your vagina, usually during pap smears. During pap smears this device is only in for about 15 seconds. Well I had it in me for an hour! So he put speculum in and started screwing it open, literally like a car jack. Not cool. Then he got the catheter and started feeding it through my vagina. The goal is to get it in through the opening of my cervix into my uterus cavity. No such luck. Apparently I have a very small cervical opening, along with a uterus that is tilted forward and off to one side. He spent about 20 minutes trying unsuccessfully to get it through my cervix before removing it. Next came the French dilator. This knitting-needle like instrument is used to irritate the opening to your cervix into opening. I sat with that inside of me for about 10 minutes before he removed it and stuck the catheter back in. He thought he had it in, and thus removed the speculum, but it wasn’t positioned right and he had to reinsert the speculum. FINALLY he got through my cervix with the catheter and injected the dye into my uterine cavity, and up into my fallopian tubes. This didn’t hurt at all, but I’ve heard it does hurt some women. A series of x-rays were taken while the dye was moving through.

The Dr. told me he believes that one of my tubes had been blocked but had subsequently been power-washed clean. The bacteria gets pushed further up into your tubes, so he wrote me a prescription for doxycycline to clear up any potential infection.

I left with a CD-R of my images, and I mailed them to the Dr. A lot of women claim to have gotten pregnant just after this test, so we’ll see what happens. I’ll let you know what the Dr. has to say next.