I went to the gynecologist on Tuesday for my annual exam. He checked me out and said everything was fine on his part. Did the usual PAP and a few other tests. As he put it “since I’m already in there…”
He is also sending me for preliminary blood work. He said I might as well have it done before I even go to the fertility doc. He wants hubby to go for his tests first and said I should hold off until after hubby goes…his tests are easier than mine.
Now that this is all underway…I wanted to hear from people who know what the next steps are. What should I expect? What is the usual order for this type of stuff? Did you go under general or local anesthetic for your “procedures”?
I’m just very curious how all of this works. Thanks!!
Well, you already know the obvious first step. Be sure the l’il swimmers are as healthy and plentiful as they should be.
This is going back a ways, but among the other tests I recall are:
Have sex and then go *immediately * to the doctor (wearing a sanitary pad). Tests of body fluids captured may indicate if something in your chemistry is killing off sperm.
Temperature check for ovulation: You take your temperature first thing in the a.m., before even getting out of bed, with a special very sensitive thermometer. Do this for a month or 2 and chart the exact temperature every day. Temperature fluctuations can often indicate if you’re ovulating or not. There is a specific body temperature change pattern that indicates ovulation. If you conceive, incidentally, this also shows up.
Check for blocked fallopian tubes. This one is not fun. Basically, a substance that’s opaque to xrays or some such thing is pumped up through the cervix and uterus, and, hopefully, through the tubes. If a tube is blocked, it will show up. Sometimes this or a similar procedure can also un-block a tube. These days maybe they use twilight sleep, but when I had it they did not. As I said, it was not a fun day.
In my case, the culprit turned out to be very irregular ovulation. Couple of months of, I think Clomid, and voila!
I don’t know what the blood work would be for, and I’m sure there are lots and lots of improvements in the 25+ years since my experiences.
Mine was about seven years ago, so things probably have changed.
An RE will probably want to do their own blood work, probably a couple of times. Mine also wanted to do their own sperm counts, etc. So all the prelim work done by my doctor was pretty worthless
You go to the doctor alot. Get lots of ultrasounds.
In addition to the test for blocked fallopian tubes, there is another not fun test to check the depth of your lining.
I never had anethetic for anything other than general for surgery when they did an explorartory number to look at my ovaries.
The general sequence for ovulation related problems is a few months of Clomid, followed by a few months of something stronger (in my case Fertinex) which you give yourself in the butt. Also we did a lot of AIH (artificial insemination by husband) because artificial insemination is though (or at least was at the time) to up your chances over plain old sex.
We gave up - the hormones were making me nuts (PMS on steriods). And they never did know exactly what was wrong (my hubby wasn’t Captian Spermcount - but on the low end of normal, I had some odd hormone readings, but nothing completely off kilter, and I ovulated - though they still put me on drugs to up the chances one would take.) Three years later we had a surprise baby.
We have been doing temperature charting for about 3 months now. I get woken up each morning by hubby shoving a thermometer in my mouth. I don’t see a pattern. I don’t know if the doc will, but I certainly don’t.
I guess my biggest fear is the tests. I have heard that they can hurt considerably and I am a big baby when it comes to pain. I have read several websites that said some docs use a local anesthetic while doing the procedures, while others use general. I would much prefer general as I will probably not be a fun patient if I feel even the slightest twinge of pain. (Yes, I know, labor is painful…but I figure at that point…I don’t have a choice )
All of this is very nerve racking. I am scared out of my mind at this point and I don’t understand why this is happening. You spend most of your life trying not to get pregnant and then when you want to…you can’t. I feel like I’ve wasted tons of money on condoms and birth control pills over the last 10 years.
I’m sorry if I’ve been babbling…I am just having a very hard time with all of this. Thanks again for the replies!
Yeah, I thought the same thing about spending oodles on various birth control methods only to find years later that I had to take pills to ovulate. Great. Why couldn’t I have known that when I was 18? Of course, maybe when I was 18 I did ovulate. Who knows?
One thing about those tests that are, as the doctors say “uncomfortable.” They are also very quick. It’s not like they go on for hours and hours. Ask your doctor about various sedation methods. There are some now, like conscious sedation, also known as twilight sleep, that don’t have the afterwards side effects that general anaesthesia has, but you also don’t feel anything. I had that for a colonoscopy and endoscopy (basically checking out anything reachable in the digestive system from both ends) and recall absolutely nothing of the procedure. I don’t know if that is used for the tests for tubal obstruction or not.
As I recall, the temperature pattern is easy to recognize. The morning temp goes along pretty much the same and then one day it dips a few tenths of a degree. That means you just ovulated. Then the temp goes up a few tenths and continues just above the starting baseline. It drops again when you are about to menstruate. If you’re preggers, it stays high. “High” and “low” are, again, in fractions of a degree. That pattern never showed up for me until I was on the Clomid for a couple of months. YMMV, IANAD, etc.
Again, I’m sure a lot has been learned in the past 20 years, and of course you’re listening to your doctor first.
And after you do conceive and carry to full term a wonderful child, then a few weeks later when she won’t sleep, and you’re almost insane from lack of sleep, or still later on when you give up vacations, dinners out, and quiet nights alone, you will remember, “This was all voluntary. I went to a lot of trouble to get this child.” And you will never complain.
I am obviously very emotional about this whole thing…this part of your post actually brought me to tears. I have said similar things before. I once had a co-worker who would complain about her daughter all the time (right in front of me, knowing I was having a hard time conceiving)…one day I finally turned around and said “you have no idea how lucky you are to have a child. Cherish her. Some people aren’t as lucky as you” and I started crying and walked away. She never complained about her daughter in front of me again.
Here’s how they check for a blocked fallopian tube, if I am recalling right.*
It’s set up like a regular pap exam. It’s really not too different. I was told that I would have a strange metallic taste in my mouth, and yup, I sure did. It’s a bit painful, but not really bad. Watching the machine (sono?) made it pretty interesting and distracting for me.
At the place I went to, the first step was talking with a Doctor. We then had to go to a seminar. From there, all the tests happened.
My doctor’s advice was to relax and try not to obsess over the whole thing. I know, it’s easier said than done. Remember to not put your life on hold while you do the procedures. I know that this path has consumed more than one person’s life. Remember to enjoy the here and now. It is too easy to get caught up in this, what with the constantness of the testing.
I would also at this point have a frank discussion with your husband. Discuss the following with him while you still have an objective view.
How long do you plan to take tests? In a LOT of cases, the results happen quickly. In others, it can take years and years. In others, sadly, there are no solutions. Do you plan on doing it until there is a pregnancy, no matter what? Do you plan on doing it until you hit X amount of money? Will you only do it until X amount of time?
2)Are you willing to accept multiple births? If so, how many? What if, say, you have 4 take? 5? 6?
3)If all fails, then what? Are you open to adopting?
Fertility issues can be really hard on a marriage. It’s not unfeasable that a marriage won’t stand the stress and heart ache.
Now then, please don’t take me wrong. I am NOT trying to horrify you. I am NOT trying to scare you off. I just really want for you to know what’s ahead.
*It’s really amazing how quickly you forget about this stuff. This happened about 1.5 years ago and I already have forgotten a good chunk.
All very important. In addition, reserve the right to change your mind about these things. For instance, if hormones make you crazy, you may change your mind early.
Oh, and I complain about my children all the time. Unfortunately, wanting them, working for them and not taking them for granted does not keep you from regretting doing it when you’ve had three hours of sleep in four days, or your daughter has an hour and a half long tantrum, or you really want to just have forty minutes to yourself, or read an entire book in a sitting, or you are looking at the bank balance and realizing that you need diapers far more than you need new shoes for yourself. The regret never lasts long, but there is no guarentee you’ll never feel it.
Some of this stuff has been talked about and other stuff I never even considered. We are willing to accept multiple births. Actually, with my condition (bicornuate) I have an 85% chance of multiple births. So, that is certainly a possibility in our case. I would prefer 2 or 3, but if it winds up being 4, 5, or 6 - I think we would be alright with that.
Adopting is certainly an option. We have discussed it many times and are almost to the point of being excited about it. I can see us adopting at some point, even if we do manage to conceive. My father is adopted and my grandmother was a foster mother for more than 400 children through the years. So, that is not even an issue for us.
How long or how much $$ we are willing to spend was something I never really thought about. $$ isn’t too much of an issue b/c all fertility testing and drugs are covered by our insurance. They don’t cover IVF, though. So, that would be a problem.
Absolutely! I know that all people complain about their children. My problem was that she would complain about things that I would give my life to experience. She was always complaining about not having any time. I have to go home, get Samantha off the bus, start cooking dinner, help her with her homework, yadda, yadda, yadda. And she would finish with “You have no idea what it’s like”. Yeah, but I want to know and there’s nothing like rubbing it in my face that I can’t have children. :rolleyes:
And I really do appreciate everyone’s help. I was just getting worried about all of the testing and pain. I have calmed down some today, so I am feeling a little more optimistic about all of this. And hubby and I are in on it together, I truly don’t see this being a huge threat to our marriage. This message board, on the other hand…
You might want to find out if your insurance covers Intrauterine Inseminations.
Most treatments start off with this as opposed to IVF as it is much much cheaper.
(think $1,000 to 2,000 compared to $8,000 to 10,000)
The seminar we took was interesting becaise it brought up all the points I mentioned. I guess they want you to discuss now before you find out you’re having octuplets!
Another bit of advice:
Don’t lose your humor! It’s what will keep you sane!
