Testing One Two

Today brought the joy of my third HSG. For anyone not familiar (but my suspicion is that if you are reading this blog you are quite familiar) it is a test done to check if your tubes are open, etc. A speculum, some dye, an x-ray machine, you get the idea. It's just your run-of-the-mill uncomfortable infertility exam, most often done at the beginning of an IF work up. I was the lucky recipient of a second, and now a third because of the propensity of my pregnancies to get hung up in my tubes. Incidentally, a friend who recently had an HSG had her tubes compared to "cocktail straws" by one of the medical types in the room. I couldn't agree more. No wonder our embryos have trouble traversing them...cocktail straws aren't exactly roomy. Anyway, I made the error today of forgetting to take ibuprofen beforehand. OUCH. The tech remarked that I was "in the zone" i.e. staring at the ceiling and not speaking. I don't know about a zone, but I do find it hard to carry on a conversation when experiencing the sensation of a Mack truck being driven through my reproductive plumbing. The good news is, all is clear. What that really means is is all they can SEE is clear. I've been told before that any tiny imperfection in the lining of the cocktail straw can create a roadblock (and don't I know it). At any rate, it's the best outcome we could have hoped for. It was also the last check on my list of things to do to see if we qualify for our clinic's shared risk program for IVF. Now husband needs to visit the clinic to leave behind what they need for his SPA test. His - ahem- contribution to our shared risk quest will happen next week. Slowly but surely we're reeling in the big fish that is in-vitro. On one hand we're excited at the prospect, on the other we're apprehensive and upset that we're even in the boat.