Deja Vu

I'll admit it.  I was a nervous wreck this morning.  A mix of excitement and feeling like I was going to vomit.  We dropped Gavin off at preschool and were on our way to Nashville for our consultation appointment when the most beautiful thing happened...it started snowing.  No forecast predicted it.  It just happened.  Suddenly, the nerves went away and we drove on through our own little snow globe.

When we arrived at the clinic, it felt like we never left.  We walked in and were welcomed by many familiar faces.  It speaks to how much time we've spent at Nashville Fertility Center --- five whole years.  These folks are family to us.

First, we met with our cycle nurse, Tina.  She took a few vitals (BP 100/72, Pulse 84) and reviewed my medical history.  Soon after, Dr. Hill came in.  He greeted me with a hug and jumped right in to his ideas for this next cycle.  But, before we can officially start, he expressed a few concerns stemming from Gavin's delivery.

When Gavin was born, he came via c-section after I labored for 18+ hours.  Within a few hours of his birth, I suffered a severe postpartum hemorrhage, which required a blood transfusion of 2 units and an emergency D&C.  The dilation and curettage (D&C) was done to manage my excessive bleeding.  A possible complication of performing a D&C after pregnancy is intrauterine adhesions.  Adhesions (areas of scar tissue) can sometimes form in the uterus after this procedure.  In some cases, it can lead to infertility or miscarriage.

See, our only option for pregnancy is through IVF, due to Jake having Cystic Fibrosis.  CF has lots of complications, with one being the absence of a vas deferens, aka natural vasectomy.  Great for birth control (Sorry Mom!) but not so great when we want to make a baby.  To hear that I, too, may have an obstacle affecting my fertility is not the news we were hoping for.

So, when my time of the month rolls around in a few days, I will be immediately scheduled for a sonohysterogram.  This is an outpatient procedure designed to help the doctor check my endometrial cavity (the inside part of the uterus) and endometrium (the lining of the endometrial cavity). A saline solution is slowly injected into the uterus to examine through ultrasound.  The saline helps distend the uterine cavity and improves the ultrasound image quality, providing a more detailed view.  He will look for scarring inside the uterus (adhesions) from the D&C, abnormal growths/masses or an abnormal shape/structure.

If adhesions are extensive, surgery will be planned to remove them.  Additional hormone treatment may also begin to help to encourage growth of healthy uterine tissue.  But, I'm not going to elaborate on the surgery or hormones.  Instead, I'm focusing my energy on praying this is not the case.  I pray he will find a clean slate and perfectly lined uterus ready to hold a pregnancy.

Like every appointment, I couldn't leave without a little bit of blood work.  They tested my TSH and DHEAS levels, both of which play vital roles in fertility, pregnancy and IVF.  Results should be back within the next week.

Despite the whirlwind of this appointment, we left feeling really optimistic.  Jake keeps me laughing, so a bad day is nearly impossible.  We know God's got this.

I can do hard things.