I apologize for the delay in posts. There was a slight delay in the process moving forward due to waiting for insurance to approve me seeing the fertility Dr. and then approve the procedure and things. This is going be a long one to catch you up on all the things.
My initial appointment with Dr. Cindy Duke was amazing. I love that she’s a badass who has her own practice. She was also super to the point and ready to attack my getting pregnant. Due to my only having 2 vials of sperm left, I want to be aggressive. I initially wanted to do it as natural as possible but I got some reasons and answers as to why that probably didn’t happen. She had me immediately do blood work. We tested my levels to check on everything, as well as the genetic testing to see if I’m a carrier for anything.
She also ordered an HSG for the following morning. I had heard about them in some of the single mothers by choice groups but not the extent of it. An HSG is a hysterosalpingogram (check spelling). They put dye into your uterus and X-ray to make sure your tubes are open and everything is functioning as it should.
I was told to take 600 mg of ibuprofen an hour before. I took 800, lol. It was a bit nerve-wracking being there alone laying in the backroom waiting to go into the operating room. Although she gave me a blanket from a warmer and it was glorious. It feels more surgical than I thought it’d be. Legs strapped in stirrups, in a sexy hospital gown, with a nurse manning the X-ray machine, and one standing beside me in case I need to be talked through the pain.
This is a good place to turn back if you don’t want to read about my uterus and shit. You’ve been warned.
The doctor then inserts a catheter into your uterus. I wasn’t dilated enough, which made sense because I wasn’t far enough along in my cycle for my uterus to be lower. She had an issue getting into fully into my uterus so mostly put it in my cervix. Here’s the thing, when that dye goes in, it is fucking painful. Your uterus contracts at the foreign substance and it suuuucks. Hence why your legs are strapped in, your body wants to fetal position like a motherfucker. Although I was told that I handled it better than most. :: pat me on the back::
HSG results:
My uterus is tilted up and to the left which could be why I didn’t get pregnant at home. Also, my left Fallopian tube is inflamed/blocked. You can see on the image that the dye is just in a pool outside my left tube. The right only shows dye at the very end, which is what you want. That sucks because it basically means each month I ovulate on the left, it’s a waste. If you didn’t know, everything month your ovulation switches sides. For the IUI process, the tube thing isn’t an issue. If I ever have to do IVF, I’ll have to have the tube removed.
Blood test results:
My blood test said I had a vitamin D deficiency which I attribute to the fact it’s 9 million degrees here and thus I don’t spend as much time in the sun as I used to. Truth? Who knows lol. She prescribed me a high dose Vitamin D supplement that I take once a week for 5 weeks. I’m almost done with those.
Genetic testing results:
I also got my genetic testing back. I wasn’t even going to do it initially because it’s fucking expensive. It was $347 I believe? And like, people get pregnant allll the time without even worrying about genetic markers or being a carrier of something. However, my Dr wants everyone to do it. So I found out that I’m a carrier for 3 things.
Biotinidase deficiency: if I have a baby with someone who is also a carrier, there’s a 1 in 4 chance the baby gets the deficiency which is metabolic disorder in which the body cannot process the vitamin biotin due to a deficiency in the enzyme biotinidase. Children affected with biotinidase deficiency can experience seizures, poor muscle tone, difficulty with movement and balance, developmental delay, vision problems, hearing loss, and skin abnormalities.
Creatine Deficiency: if I have a baby with someone who is also a carrier, there’s a 1 in 4 chance the baby gets the deficiency which is the mutation in the creatine transporter gene. Speech delay may be particularly severe and is present in all affected children. Intellectual disability of variable severity is typically present in all older children and adults. Additional symptoms may include seizure disorders, muscle weakness, behavior disorders, autism-like behaviors, movement disorders, gastrointestinal problems, and failure to thrive.
Usher Syndrome Type 1c: If I have a baby with someone who’s also a carrier, there’s a 1 in 4 chance the baby gets it and is born severely blind or deaf. It’s a recessive gene which means I got it from one or both of my parents. Not sure because prior to the last handful of years, no one ever had genetic testing before making a baby.
To be honest, they all scare me. He has to be a carrier to for it to be an issue but still. The shitty thing is my donor didn’t have expanded genetic testing. So I don’t know if he’s a carrier for these. I can do the analysis but it will cost an additional $600-700 just to do that. Ugh. I don’t know if it’s worth it? People take a shot at pregnancy and have babies without genetic issues every single day. So not sure I want to spend the $.
Next steps:
On the first day of my period (in about 2 weeks), I’ll call my doctor to let her know that I’ve started my period. I’ll go in the following day for an ultrasound to verify which side I’ll be ovulating on. Again if it’s the left side, then we skip this cycle and do it next month.
If I’m ovulating on the ride side, then cycle day 3-7 I’ll be taking Clomid which is a drug that helps your eggs mature to the best of their abilities?? Then I’ll do FSH shits (follicle-stimulating hormone) to get my follicles and shit as strong as possible to release the egg and all that.
Then I track ovulation and we’ll do a trigger shot before the IUI. Typically it’s done 24 hours-ish before the ovulation. That basically jump starts the egg to release st the right time before the IUI so the sperm can meet the egg and hopefully make a fucking baby.
So that’s where we’re at now. I’m basically waiting for my period to start so we can get this process started. Since I only have 2 vials left, I want to be aggressive about it to hopefully have it work asap. Again, I apologize for the fucking month delay! Thank you for being along this journey with me. It means more than you know.
As always, follow on Instagram for more up to date info. I tend to share some things as they happen and then expand on them here, so it’s a good follow.
