Update II aka...Why There Ain't No Baby Yet!
My best intentions to update this blog got sidetracked by life…namely me getting food poisoning from my Valentine's dinner. Went for sushi with the hubby and had a fabulous night, just didn't expect to pay for it for a week afterwards. This is the second time I've gotten food poisoning in a year and I really hope that is the last of it for a very, very, very long while.
Sooooo….part two of the update is really centered on one thing…why I haven't been able to get pregnant thus far. We had been trying for about three years, but with no real commitment to pursuing it heavily as I was still finishing university. I finally graduated in May of 2008 and we decided we really had to start concentrating on why I hadn’t fallen pregnant after all of this time. I hadn’t really gotten serious about it because like everyone before infertility strikes, I had assumed that I’d be able to easily get pregnant. Obviously that wasn’t the case. The last time I wrote about it I was hoping it was something minor that would be easily fixable. Maybe a pill or some nice relaxing massages...hahaha. Well life really isn't that kind. At least mine isn't. The specialist my doctor sent me to was really nice and put me through a battery of tests which ended with a hydrosalpingogram (HSG) which is a fun little X-Ray test where they shoot dye into your uterus and watch it's progression out of your fallopian tubes. It is designed to determine if there are any blockages in the fallopian tubes that may hinder conception.
As it turns out I seem to have won the 'fallopian suckage lotto' because my results came back with a big fat FAIL. Turns out I had bi-lateral hydrosalpinges, which meant that my fallopian tubes were scarred, blocked and just a big ol' mess. Both of them...and with no indication as to why this had occured. The day that I got the news back from my doctor has probably got to be the most heartbroken I have ever been in my whole life. I had to sit down on the sidewalk outside the doctor’s office because I was balling so hard, while I told my husband the prognosis over the phone with people wondering if I was going to need to be hauled off by mental health workers. I was devastated to say the least. When I had asked the doctor what my chance of conceiving naturally was, she just shook her head. I kept throwing lower and lower percentage odds at her and she just kept shaking her head. She said for me to be able to conceive naturally would be a miracle.
So the next step was to determine what to do. Our only option was (and is) invitro fertilization (IVF). Since there was fluid in my wrecked fallopian tubes which is thought to be embryo-toxic, the doctor also advised, that it would be a good idea for me to have my fallopian tubes removed. While I was waiting the five months for my surgery date, the doctor sent me off to a well know local fertility clinic to have a consultation about IVF. Wow…all I can say is private medicine in Canada is purdy! I have never been in a doctor’s office which was so nice looking. We were seen within two minutes of the scheduled appointment...no waiting. And all my charts and info were located on the doctor’s computer, so when we went in for a consultation he was able to show me my HSG X-Ray results off the computer screen. Neat!
So we got all the information about timing, statistics, pricing and such and then went into a holding pattern. Our trip to Mexico was scheduled for September, a much needed break in the midst of all of this crap. Although I really could have smacked the dozens of people who said “Oh you guys will get pregnant from this vacation…all you need to do is relax”. At the time I wasn’t being very forthcoming about our infertility battles so I laughed off all but the most annoying, although I have to admit a couple of times I just lost it and snarkilly replied “Yah…I don’t think so…my fallopian tubes are ruined”. That’ll shut a person up right quick.
Mexico was fantastic and just the break we needed. We went first class all the way and I don’t regret it at all, even with the expenses we are now covering for fertility treatment. We needed this vacation to regroup before the hard stuff started. My surgery happened a month after we got back. I had laparoscopic surgery to remove both of my fallopian tubes – the doctor had said they were going in to determine if they were fixable but would remove them if they weren’t – and recovery was somewhat painful but pretty quick considering. After surgery was complete the doctor advised me that she was very pleased with the condition of my ovaries, which seemed to not have suffered any ill affects from whatever killed my fallopian tubes. Further testing by the doctor at the fertility clinics advised me that my uterus was in good condition as well.
So in December, we made the final decision to proceed with IVF. We contacted the doctors at the fertility clinic and started proceeding with everything at the beginning of February 2009. I started birth control pills (BCP) in mid February and started Lupron injections – Lupron is a pituitary suppressant – at the end of February. And that is our journey so far in a nutshell.
Sooooo….part two of the update is really centered on one thing…why I haven't been able to get pregnant thus far. We had been trying for about three years, but with no real commitment to pursuing it heavily as I was still finishing university. I finally graduated in May of 2008 and we decided we really had to start concentrating on why I hadn’t fallen pregnant after all of this time. I hadn’t really gotten serious about it because like everyone before infertility strikes, I had assumed that I’d be able to easily get pregnant. Obviously that wasn’t the case. The last time I wrote about it I was hoping it was something minor that would be easily fixable. Maybe a pill or some nice relaxing massages...hahaha. Well life really isn't that kind. At least mine isn't. The specialist my doctor sent me to was really nice and put me through a battery of tests which ended with a hydrosalpingogram (HSG) which is a fun little X-Ray test where they shoot dye into your uterus and watch it's progression out of your fallopian tubes. It is designed to determine if there are any blockages in the fallopian tubes that may hinder conception.
As it turns out I seem to have won the 'fallopian suckage lotto' because my results came back with a big fat FAIL. Turns out I had bi-lateral hydrosalpinges, which meant that my fallopian tubes were scarred, blocked and just a big ol' mess. Both of them...and with no indication as to why this had occured. The day that I got the news back from my doctor has probably got to be the most heartbroken I have ever been in my whole life. I had to sit down on the sidewalk outside the doctor’s office because I was balling so hard, while I told my husband the prognosis over the phone with people wondering if I was going to need to be hauled off by mental health workers. I was devastated to say the least. When I had asked the doctor what my chance of conceiving naturally was, she just shook her head. I kept throwing lower and lower percentage odds at her and she just kept shaking her head. She said for me to be able to conceive naturally would be a miracle.
So the next step was to determine what to do. Our only option was (and is) invitro fertilization (IVF). Since there was fluid in my wrecked fallopian tubes which is thought to be embryo-toxic, the doctor also advised, that it would be a good idea for me to have my fallopian tubes removed. While I was waiting the five months for my surgery date, the doctor sent me off to a well know local fertility clinic to have a consultation about IVF. Wow…all I can say is private medicine in Canada is purdy! I have never been in a doctor’s office which was so nice looking. We were seen within two minutes of the scheduled appointment...no waiting. And all my charts and info were located on the doctor’s computer, so when we went in for a consultation he was able to show me my HSG X-Ray results off the computer screen. Neat!
So we got all the information about timing, statistics, pricing and such and then went into a holding pattern. Our trip to Mexico was scheduled for September, a much needed break in the midst of all of this crap. Although I really could have smacked the dozens of people who said “Oh you guys will get pregnant from this vacation…all you need to do is relax”. At the time I wasn’t being very forthcoming about our infertility battles so I laughed off all but the most annoying, although I have to admit a couple of times I just lost it and snarkilly replied “Yah…I don’t think so…my fallopian tubes are ruined”. That’ll shut a person up right quick.
Mexico was fantastic and just the break we needed. We went first class all the way and I don’t regret it at all, even with the expenses we are now covering for fertility treatment. We needed this vacation to regroup before the hard stuff started. My surgery happened a month after we got back. I had laparoscopic surgery to remove both of my fallopian tubes – the doctor had said they were going in to determine if they were fixable but would remove them if they weren’t – and recovery was somewhat painful but pretty quick considering. After surgery was complete the doctor advised me that she was very pleased with the condition of my ovaries, which seemed to not have suffered any ill affects from whatever killed my fallopian tubes. Further testing by the doctor at the fertility clinics advised me that my uterus was in good condition as well.
So in December, we made the final decision to proceed with IVF. We contacted the doctors at the fertility clinic and started proceeding with everything at the beginning of February 2009. I started birth control pills (BCP) in mid February and started Lupron injections – Lupron is a pituitary suppressant – at the end of February. And that is our journey so far in a nutshell.
posted by La Generalissimo at 3:19 PM
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