SHG

This month/cycle I’ve scheduled the rest of the tests and procedure I need done before we can move ahead with our IVF cycle this summer. The first test was today, the SHG. I’ve never had this one done before and was told over the phone that it was “quick & painless.” I arrived at the RE’s office about 10 minutes early and waited about 10 minutes past when my appointment was. I was then escorted to a room and told to disrobe from the waist down and that the nurse would then knock on the connecting door when it was ok for me to go into the U/S room. I went in and she asked me to sit and she got the RE. This is an RE I’ve not met before and she seemed really nice. She showed me all the implements, and I was familiar with almost everything. She then described what she would do and went ahead and did it. Not surprisingly, she had difficulty getting the catheter threaded into my cervix. She had to get another tool to make the tip stiffer to thread it in. This caused some MAJOR cramping and pain. She apologized and then she went ahead and filled my uterus with saline and proceeded with the U/S. I was super nervous that they would find something wrong and that we wouldn’t be able to proceed with IVF, however everything was fine. My uterus looked “perfect” and my ovaries each had 8-9 follicles waiting to develop and everything was on track for where it should be. After the U/S she apologized again and I went back next door and got dressed.

I stopped at Trader Joe’s on the way home to get some dinner and then went home and called DH (he’s at a friend’s wedding in CA) to fill him in. By this point I was freaking out that I cramped during the procedure. From everything I’ve read it is CRITICAL that the uterus not cramp when the ET is done. I can only remember 1 or 2 IUI’s that did NOT have cramping involved. My cervix apparently is very difficult to locate and thread a catheter through. DH calmed me and we discussed me asking about this issue at my scheduled “trial transfer” later in the month.

I have the next test scheduled for Monday and it’s the HSG. I’ve had this done before and from what I remember it hurt a LOT, and I was out of commission for the rest of the day. Dr. Opie assured me that they are much better at it, and I won’t feel a thing, but I’m going to call in sick to work just in case and lay around all day. Luckily, I have 1 pain med left from my diagnostic lap and I’m going to take it right when I get home on Monday.

Now that I’m home, I’ve read a bit more about SHG’s on the internet and it sounds common to have cramping and spotting so I’m not as worried, but I still will ask about the cramping and ET.