If you need to catch up, you may want to read these blog posts first:

• Infertility: Infertile Myrtle
• Infertility: Ultrasound and the Next Step
• Infertility: First Appointment with the Infertility Specialist
• Infertility: HSG Test
• Infertility: Male Testing and How I Support my Wife

In reality the wait was rather brief, however I felt like it took forever to come.  During the short almost week and a half in between the HSG and the follow-up appointment, I feel like I went through the five stages of grief – denial, anger, depression, bargaining and acceptance – although not at all in that order.

We took the afternoon off work to mentally prepare and to ensure that we got to the office in time for the appointment.  Despite our planning we hit wonderful LA rush hour traffic.  There were literally five accidents on the three freeways we had to take to see our RE.  There was no way we were getting there in time.  I began to have a melt down, I could not miss this appointment, there was just no way.  I couldn’t imagine having to wait another week or however long it would be before I could get another appointment to learn the results and figure out what we could do.  Jon did his best to calm me as he was weaving in and out of traffic in his last-ditch effort to hurry us there.  Regardless of his efforts, it wasn’t going to happen.  Realizing that we weren’t going to make our appointment on time, Jon tried calling the 1-800 number.  I know I always rave about how great Kaiser is, but in this case it isn’t.  You cannot just call your Doctor’s office to let them know you are running late, it’s impossible as the only phone number available is the 1-800 number that is essentially 100% automated.  He managed to get through to an actual human being who told us that unfortunately our RE’s office is one of the specialty offices they cannot transfer us through to.  She explained that they have a 15 minute grace period, but after that it is up to the discretion of the office.  We knew we wouldn’t make it in 15 minutes, according to our GPS we were 20-25 minutes away.  I lost it.  Jon continued to drive like a bat out of hell, trying to make it in time, we pulled into the parking lot a few minutes after the grace period.  He dropped me off in front, and I ran to the office where he would meet me after he parked.  Out of breath, I approached the front desk profusely apologizing, hoping that I would get an understanding and kind person to let me be seen.  Luckily I did, I almost broke down again, just so happy that I didn’t have to wait any longer to hear the news.  Just as I was called in Jon walked through the door and away we went to hear the results…

We waited quite a bit in the room before the Doctor came in, probably because we were late, but I didn’t mind.  He started by telling us that all of our tests came back normal, including Jon’s semen sample which we were wondering about and my egg supply test which I was worried about for some reason.  Great news!  Then he proceeded to tell us about the HSG results, I thought to myself, here we go.  It came back inclusive, he said.  What?  Inconclusive?  He explained that the dye had went in through my uterus but instead of reaching up to and into the tubes it began going through the muscle of my uterus.  Ah, that is what she meant by through the veins.  It would have been nice for her to explain that.  Anyway, it was inconclusive, so there was no telling whether or not they were actually blocked.  We were given two choices:

• Another HSG test, hoping for different results, or
• Begin IUI treatments (intrauterine insemination)

I looked at Jon, and he looked at me, as we tried to decide what to do.  I really didn’t want to put myself through another HSG, it was so traumatic and excruciatingly painful.  I proceeded to ask the Doctor whether there were other pain management options, no.  How likely is it that the results would come back inconclusive again, no telling.  We knew then that we wanted to proceed with IUI.  The Doctor suggested that as well, saying that we could always go back and do another HSG if we wanted to, or would have to after three unsuccessful IUI cycles.  We felt good about it, especially after he explained that because of my irregular periods, it was pretty much a fact that I wasn’t ovulating.  That could be it, I thought, I can’t get pregnant if I am not ovulating.  As part of the IUI cycle I will be given medication will force me to ovulate, problem solved, that is if my tubes aren’t blocked.  It just made sense to us, the cost of another HSG was pretty much the same as each IUI cycle, so the decision was made and we were set to start at the beginning of the next month.

I was elated, all my fears started fading away and my hopes and dreams were becoming a reality again.  There was, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I will say this, I wish that the OBGYN who had performed the HSG had been more clear.  I didn’t expect her to give me the final results, but I feel she could have and should have defined what going through the veins meant especially after she made it sound like my tubes were either not there at all or completely blocked.

With that begin said, we are truly blessed and I am so grateful.  IUI is much more affordable than IVF or tubal surgery which we thought were our only options.  Although there are no guarantees that the IUI will be successful but we are staying positive and praying everyday.  I truly hope that this works for us, that we get our miracle baby!

And so, our journey through IUI begins and as we venture through this new territory we hope you come along for the ride.  Until next time, thank you for your constant love and support.  We appreciate you joining us on our journey to babyhood.

xoxo – angie