"they shoot the dye WHERE?"

Ahhhh...the many painful procedures us infertiles must endure....the HSG being one of the worst. HSG is short for hysterosalpingogram...or more commonly referred to as "the dye test". Basically the doctor inserts a soft catheter through your cervix and shoots a radiopaque dye through the fallopian tubes and into the uterus and take x-rays. And it HURTS. I had my first HSG in August 2009 and I'm having my second one tomorrow :(

Most women have their HSG done at the start of their fertility testing, to make sure the tubes are open and working and that there isn't any blockages, polyps or growths in the uterus. I read on a few infertility message boards about this horrid, horrid procedure. People continuously posted stories about their HSG test...and the sheer amount of pain they were in during the test. I was terrified.

I worked myself up into this tizzy and was scared out of my mind. Come to find out the procedure wasn't that bad. It wasn't fun, it hurt and I was so happy I would never have to go through it again but it wasn't the most pain I had ever felt. Little did I know my RE would want to repeat the HSG prior to starting IVF.

FANTASTIC.

So I get to have this procedure again tomorrow. I have to go to the main clinic for the procedure because it is done in the outpatient surgical center. The one little tiny positive about this? The Coach said we could get lunch at Chipotle. Chipotle is my absolute FAVORITE fast food restaurant and we don't have one near by. Yessssssssss...

I also have my SIS scheduled for next Monday. An SIS is a saline infusion sonography. This procedure is much less painful than the HSG. I also had an SIS done back in 2009 and for this test the doctor injects saline into the uterus while monitoring the procedure by ultrasound to check for any issues. To me it didn't really feel different from a regular ultrasound.

I'm hoping I have better results from these tests this time around. During my first HSG my RE saw some sort of growth in my uterus and it was confirmed the following day during my SIS and I had surgery shortly thereafter to remove the growth.

Please, please, please let the tests come back clear. I DO NOT want to have surgery again and postpone this IVF cycle.

I also got the results back from my baseline blood work from Friday...my E2 was 35 and my FSH was 9.5...both great numbers! So as long as I get good reports tomorrow and Monday, this cycle will officially be on!!