An Unexpected Surgery

So I kinda left you all on a cliff hanger in my last post. Sorry about that, but I had to write a whole new post so you weren't reading a novel! Anyways, we left off waiting for the phone call from my doctor to go over her thoughts on the water ultrasound.

Unfortunately, since we live about 7 hours away from my RE, we missed her phone call because we were driving and did not have service. She left a message saying that my ultrasound did look irregular to her and that she wanted to do a procedure to clean it out a little bit before proceeding with IVF. One of our main concerns was that this surgery would push back our timeline for IVF. If that was the case we would have to wait to do IVF in the spring due to snow amounts and driving hazards.

This is kinda how I felt after hearing that I needed to have surgery. 

We knew we needed to do the surgery in order to have the best chance of getting pregnant. 

We knew if we didn't do the surgery that there was a possibility that whatever was irregular about my uterus could cause IVF to not work or if it did to cause me to have a miscarriage.

Within a couple of days I received an email from a surgical coordinator. The coordinator explained a little more about the procedure and what was to be done. I was to have a hysteroscopy. This is pretty much just a fancy term for the would go in with a scope to look at the inside of my uterus and use different tools to clean out what they found there. She answered our worries and said they would make sure to get me in to get this done before I began my meds and began our IVF cycle. This was great news. She told me I would get a phone call with the day and time for my surgery.

After waiting for what seemed like days, we finally received that phone call. I was to have surgery August 17 first thing in the morning. So we made plans with my mom and some friends in order to get me there. My friends drove me to my parents house (about a 3 hour drive) while they were on their way to a wedding. Then my mom drove the rest of the way to where my surgery was to be. Randy was unable to come due to work obligations.

Leading up to the surgery, I was nervous. I had no idea what to expect and so I did as much research as I could about the procedure. I also did research about the recovery based off of different possibilities that they could find when they got in there. It eased my mind just a little bit. I knew I could trust my doctor and that she wouldn't have me do this procedure if it wouldn't be beneficial to our upcoming IVF cycle.

This is what a hysteroscopy tool looks like. 

It has a small camera on the end in order for the doctor to see what they need to do. 

It also has a place where different tools can be inserted through in order to correct whatever they find while in there.

The morning of my surgery went pretty good. I couldn't eat and I was told to wear comfortable clothing. So I pretty much just rolled out of bed and we went to the fertility center. When we got there we waited for a bit before they took me back. They had me empty my bladder and then change into one of those lovely open back robes. Then the anesthesiologist placed the IV in my vein and explained that he would give me a low dose of the anesthesia and then my doctor would come in and talk to me for a bit and then he'd put me completely out. Well, that little bit knocked me out lol.

When I came to they had just sat me down in the recovery room in a chair. I have no idea how they got me there. I could have walked and I just don't remember but I guess I'll never truly know. They had brought my mom into the recovery room and instructed her and I that I needed to drink the cup of water they had given me. Then they said that my doctor would come in in a bit to go over how the surgery went. The nurse explained that I would probably have some spotting and cramping for the next couple of days but that it would go away.

When my doctor came in she explained that the surgery had gone very well. She said that when they got in there the best way that she could describe what my uterus looked like was that it was very bumpy. She said that I had multiple polyps. She was able to remove them and she said that now everything looked smooth! This was great news because smooth is a ton better than bumpy when trying to get pregnant.

I honestly don't remember much about after the surgery. I know we got breakfast, I got a small smoothie. I also know that we went to a couple of stores and then traveled back to my parents house. But most of that is a blur as I was still recovering from the anesthesia.

The next few days of recovery went like this. Day of- I was mainly out of it due to recovering from the anesthesia, no pain that I remember, small amount of spotting. Day 2- I was bloated but not painfully, little to no cramping, small amount of spotting. Day 3- I traveled home, a little bloated, little twinges here and there, little spotting. Day 4- It was like I got hit by a bus, cramping got pretty intense, spotting increased to almost period like. Day 5- Worst day. So much cramping, nausea, period like spotting, bloating came back Day 6- Started to feel better which was good because we had family pictures done. Bloated, little crampy here and there, and spotting lightened up.

I am so grateful that the surgery went so well! The recovery wasn't as bad as I was expecting, especially after being told I'd had multiple polyps removed. Thank you all for your support and prayers!

Til next time!
Becca

IVF Prep/Water Ultrasound

So, I've honestly been putting off writing about all of this. Don't ask me why, I just have been avoiding it. I realized that if I don't get it written all down soon, that I would forget all the little details. The details that I think would be helpful to others about to embark on this journey.

At our last appointment back in June we were told that we would most likely have to do IVF in order to get pregnant. After our doctor got some results back she called us a couple days later to tell us that yes, we would have to do IVF. She told us that within a week we would get a phone call to begin the IVF process.

Well, a week came and went. Then another. And part of another. I was talking (probably more like complaining) to Randy. He told me to just call them. So I did. The front office lady was very helpful. She asked if we had been in contact with our IVF coordinator. We were like, "Who?" She said that we have a coordinator that sets up everything. Then she told us that she would find out which coordinator was mine and have her contact us via email.

By the next week we had an email. She asked us if we had set up our Plan of Care appointment. We told her no and she asked us when we'd be available to come for that. We told her July 24th would work. Which was a couple weeks away.

During those two weeks a lot happened. I emailed our coordinator multiple times getting all the information we needed. -Which medications I'd need and how much of each. -Total cost of what we'd owe them. -Pharmacy names and numbers. and -What I needed for the Plan of Care appointment.

Once we had all of that information, I started calling pharmacies to get prices in order to price check so we could get the best price for the medications I'd need. Once we knew which pharmacy we wanted to go with we then began to look up places to get loans. We tried one loan place which denied us because we supposedly didn't have a high enough credit score (we checked and we did). Then after crying and getting frustrated we tried again with another company that had stuck out to me in the first place. We were immediately approved.

I seriously feel like Heavenly Father was guiding us throughout this whole process. Things just continued to click into place and seemed to work out exactly how we needed them to. And that definitely did not stop throughout the next couple of weeks.

At the Plan of Care appointment, I had my sisters and my mom there with me for moral support. (Randy had to work) Our coordinator gave us a TON of information that day. All about the IVF process and how and when to take medications, and so much more. Luckily she gave me a folder containing all this info so that I could go over it later. She told me what day to start my birth control and what day to end it. (Birth control is used to line up my cycle with their timeline.) At the end of the appointment she explained to me that I'd need to get a water ultrasound done and that the check out lady would get the appointments for that, for blood work, and for monitoring ultrasounds set up.

The check out lady did just that. She made all of the appointments for the days I'd need them. Then she asked what day would be best for the water ultrasound. She told us it needed to be after I'd finished my next period, while I was still on birth control, but before we began any of my injections. We knew that we'd be visiting family the weekend of August 6th and so we made the appointment for the 7th.

Well, August 7th came and we showed up for our appointment. For those who do not know, a water ultrasound is where they fill up your uterus with water and check the shape and lining so that they know where the best placement will be for when the do the egg transfer. I was a little nervous about this ultrasound because I had heard it was as painful or more painful than the HSG, especially for women who had already had a painful HSG. Well, for me it wasn't as painful, thank goodness, although it was definitely still pretty painful. I was also a little nervous because I just had this feeling that something was going to go wrong.

They checked everything out and noticed that my uterine lining was really thick. I had finished my period about 3 days prior, and I had been on birth control for over a week. So this was unusual to them. The ladies doing the ultrasound told us not to worry and that they'd have my doctor look over it and let us know the results within a couple of days, if not later that evening.

We had to travel back home right after the appointment. When we got home, I of course couldn't sleep and so I started doing research on google. By the way, late night, being tired, and doing research are never a good mix. I read on one of the websites on google that it could mean that I had uterine cancer. So I cried myself to sleep. The next day I confessed to Randy what I'd done and went to show him where I'd read it. Well, it turns out, it said that it was NOT a sign of uterine cancer. Whoops.

Anyways, keep on the lookout for my next update. Where we get a call from our doctor about her thoughts on my water ultrasound.

Til next time!
Becca