Well, our appointment on Tuesday went really well!
The first thing we did when we got there was the
Sonohysterogram
aka Saline-Infused Sonogram (SIS)
but the RN referred to it as the
"Water Ultrasound"
I was warned by a friend who'd had it done before about it being pretty uncomfortable,
so I was pretty nervous for this part.
Feel free to google the term for the exact procedure,
but basically they perform and ultrasound on your ovaries and your uterus
and then they inject sterile water through a catheter into your uterus
so they can make sure both Fallopian tubes are open and functional.
(again, this is not my ultrasound, but this is what we were looking at - that's a uterus!)
Dr. Mass was SO great about the whole thing,
probably because I was starting to look pretty nervous. :)
He let me know what he was doing while he was doing it
and what to expect.
Honestly, it wasn't as bad as I thought.
The worst part was when he inserted the catheter.
(I know, TMI)
As he was doing it, he let me know that I would feel some pressure like menstrual cramps,
which I did, but that's about as bad as it got.
He counted my little egg follicles again,
and he got that excited look on his face just like before. :)
He said I was consistent in count, which is a GREAT sign!
That was pretty encouraging, and made the experience a lot more bearable for me -
- because it reminded me what all of this was for:
I'm doing this for you, Baby Washburn! :)
He/She is SO grounded for life for putting me through this. ;)
Anyway
After the SIS was done we had a consult with our RN, Jenn.
FUN FACT: we found out that she actually worked with my older sister at Mercy Medical!
That definitely made me feel MUCH more at ease. She is super nice and had been through IVF before, so she was very knowledgeable about the whole process.:)
During this consult, she gave us a folder with all of the information we needed
in detail, which has been super helpful.
I got a list of all the medications that I'll need to take,
as well as a detailed calendar showing when and how much to take.
(the med list was three pages long, I'll have you know)
This is where I experienced a SLIGHT disappointment.
I had gotten my hopes up so much,
thinking for sure that I would stop taking the birth control that day and start the injections,
but it turns out the injections don't even start until March 30th.
Ugh, I guess I just get ahead of myself sometimes.
One thing to remember about the IVF process...
don't do that. be patient.
be willing to wait the extra couple weeks to find out exactly when things are going to happen
before telling your friends and family anything.
I tend to do that sometimes, so I apologize.
But it's okay, because it's still happening!
Anyway, for now I'm just taking Pre-Natal Vitamins and my birth control.
Then on the 30th I will start some of the hormone injections
(there are 3 different kinds, I believe)
as well as baby aspirin, which I thought was kind of funny.
Apparently it's supposed to help with the inflammation/sensitivity
from the injections...
yikes!
Again, grounded for LIFE.
The last thing we did at our appointment was meet with their financial coordinator
to figure out how the heck we're going to pay for all of this.
(Colin and I are SO blessed to be a relatively easy IVF - as much as I like to complain,
it could've easily been twice or even three times as much as we have to pay)
After the appointment, my head hurt.
That's what happened after our first consultation as well.
There's just so much information given to us, and I exhaust myself by trying SO hard to process every last bit of it. Last time I took a three hour nap after my appointment.
This time I stayed awake long enough for Colin to bring me to IHOP for free pancakes
(it was that free "short-stack" day)
before going home and crashing on the couch for about three hours.
Hey, at least I'm consistent.
Everyone handles these appointments differently, I'm sure.
But my advice would be to allow yourself to process everything before returning to the real world-
-and sleeping that headache away.
:)
So, that's pretty much it for now.
It may be a few weeks before I have anything important enough to blog again,
but I may do a short one here or there if I feel like I've missed anything.
I edited the post a few times before publishing it,
mainly because I put WAY too much information in it at times.
If you are about to go through the SIS and would like more gruesome, gory details
just message me on facebook and I'd be happy to oblige.
I just didn't want to gross anyone out too badly. ;)
I hope you all have a great day!
Enjoy this beautiful sunshine today!
Chloe and I had a GREAT walk on the greenbelt today.
I'm so excited for warm weather! :)
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