Uterine Fibroids

I had my vaginal ultrasound and sonohysterogram on Tuesday. As I mentioned in my last post the sonohysterogram is a painful procedure, but one that can help doctors to discover why a woman may be experiencing infertility.

Not only did I discover that I have fibroids, but I also received some unexpected news. It turns out that one of them is spanning almost the full way across my uterus. Although the doctor isn't concerned about it for my health; she did say that it could possibly interfer with an embryo implanting.

If like me you don't know what uterine fibroids are I looked them up on trusty old google and here is what I found out:

"Uterine fibroids are noncancerous growths that develop in or just outside a woman’s uterus (womb). Uterine fibroids develop from normal uterus muscle cells that start growing abnormally. As the cells grow, they form a benign tumor...  Uterine fibroids are extremely common. In fact, many women have uterine fibroids at some point in life. Uterine fibroids in most women are usually too small to cause any problems, or even be noticed." WebMD

She then told me it was up to me whether I wanted to go ahead with our last round or have surgery to have it removed first. In order to have the best possible chance she recommended that I have the surgery.

So that is exactly what I have decided to have done.

I received a phone call from the clinic today to let me know that they have scheduled me in for March 2nd. They are going to send me an information package to let me know more about the procedure and prep.

I know that it is only a day surgery so although I'm a little nervous I feel pretty good about having it done. I will probably only have to miss a couple of days from work and there should be minimal pain and/or cramping.

Part of me wonders how long I've had this particular fibroid and if it is the reason the last two sessions didn't work.

I'll be glad to be going into the last try knowing that I have done everything I possibly can to make this round successful!

Next Steps

I've had quite a few people message me to ask what our next steps are going to be.

Let me start by apologizing for not posting sooner. As I have been using this as a personal journal, I forgot about friends who don't see me every day who have been following my blog to keep informed of our fertility journey.

At my last appointment I told our fertility specialist that Chris and I were going to give IUI/IVF one last try.

Our doctor suggested that before we try another round that I get another ultrasound as well another sonohysterogram. The ultrasound I was not concern about, however, the sonohysterogram is another story. The last time I had it done it was really painful and I was hoping that I wouldn't have to do it again.

If you have never had to experience a sonohysterogram consider yourself lucky! Here is a run down of the procedure: After a vaginal ultrasound my doctor will inject sterile water into my uterus and fallopian tubes via a narrow tube inserted through my cervix. The procedure checks for polyps, fibroids, lesions, masses, defects or scarring which could interfere with fertility.

I read online that most women don't experience very much discomfort with the procedure. I believe the reason I experienced so much pain was because my left fallopian tube seemed to be partially blocked. By having me move around on the table they were able to get the water out of it, but to say it was not fun would be an understatement.

I don't really need to prep for the procedure other than to take an antibiotic twice a day starting the day before the procedure. They also recommend that you take two Aleves an hour before.

I had to call them on the first day of my period to book the appointment. I got the call yesterday that they were able to get me an appointment for next Wednesday. Until then we need to prevent pregnancy (shouldn't be a problem!) and I also need to take a pregnancy test the morning of the procedure just in case.

If everything looks ok after the procdure we will go ahead with another medicated IUI round with the understanding that I would switch to IVF if we got enough egg follicles.

Here's hoping that the third time's the charm!