HSG

So yesterday was the day my fallopian tubes went on show.

I was seriously nervous before it, but managed to get to the hospital safely, bought the "equipment" for the procedure (seriously!) then waited for my turn. I was the first one in, and as I was lying on the table, knees apart waiting, the doctor and nurse were having a fine old chat and laughing and joking about something, it was in Hakkanese so I couldn't understand it, and I just thought "I'm lying on a table in Taiwan naked, with my knees apart about to get a catheter in my uterus and the doctors are laughing... My life is never dull." And I had a chuckle to myself as I thought about how wonderful my life with Mr Man is and how, even though I was about to be stabbed in the uterus with a catheter, that I wouldn't change a thing. And I was happy.

And then the stabbing began and I wasn't so happy.

So I had heard that it was like a long papsmear. Well I'll agree the beginning of it was, and then it just really hurt.. I felt the catheter enter my uterus, and the die being injected, I felt the die moving through my fallopian tubes (I now know exactly where they are!) and it felt like everything was being burnt, but not in a seering pain way, more a sharp cramping way.. It's hard to explain. I guess it felt like really bad period pain?
After about 10 minutes of the table moving one way and the other, it was over and I was told everything was OK but that the doctor would have the full report in about a week.

I still felt in quite a lot of discomfort/pain so I decided to hang around the hospital for a bit, until I felt well enough to sit down on my scooter and drive to work. It was a pretty uncomfortable night at work, but today I'm feeling MUCH better! My uterus and I are both feeling relieved..

So I can check "blocked fallopian tubes" off from our list of possible reasons for our infertility!
Yay!

Wanting to not know.

Tomorrow is the day of my HCG..
When the doctor first referred me for it, I really didn't think much of it. I had read it could in some cases assist with fertility as it was thought to "clean out the pipes" a little, but that was all I knew.

Thanks to Dr google, I now know how painful it can be..
And to be honest, I'm really really dreading it..

I'm dreading it for 3 reasons..
Firstly, the hospital is in a really busy part of town and usually Mr Man will drive us there but he has to work. Which means that I get to tackle the craziness by myself, on my dodgy scooter that has a habit of stalling at really inconvenient times.. Oh, and I'm not exactly looking forward to riding to work on the bumpy roads after the test either..

Secondly, well, I'm a bit of a woos when it comes to pain. I've had loads of dye tests before for my heart and my vascular system and my eyes and well, most things, but the idea of someone putting a catheter into my lady bits is just not fun.. I've heard it kind of feels like a really long papsmear - which is great, except I HATE papsmears....

And Thirdly, well I just really hope everything is okay.. I really don't want blocked fallopian tubes.. I've looked into treatments (thanks again Dr Google) and they say it is repairable by operation.. Which I really don't want.. And that afterwards you have a seriously increased risk of ectopic pregnancy.. Oh yay..

I know there is no point worrying about something that is only speculation, but in a way, I just don't want to know.. But I do want to know why we are not pregnant yet. I just don't want to know that there is anything wrong. But if there is nothing wrong, then why are we taking so long? I want to know! But I really just don't want to know..

aha.. The conversations in my head are entertaining even for me..

Hello Mr Fertility Specialist.

So today was the day we finally bit the bullet and took ourselves off to the hospital.

We did try this once before, about a year ago when we were still living in Australia and were told to "stop wasting their time and come back if we were still baby-less after 3 years." I pushed the point that we were both well and truly in our 30's and managed to get a swimmer test done for Mr Man (which came back perfect although I doubt they ordered any in-depth tests) and so we walked away gutted and furious.

As we are coming up to our 2 year anniversary next month, we decided to get some tests done. We just want some answers.

Not really knowing where to go, we headed to the OB/GYN department of the local hospital here in Hsinchu and waited with all of the heavily pregnant women to see the doctor.
I explained that we had been trying for nearly 2 years and showed him my temp charts etc. He sent me for an ultrasound of my ovaries and uterus straight away which came back clear. YAY! No PCOS for me!

After seeing my ultrasound results, he promptly ordered a fresh semen sample from Mr Man to check for not only sperm quality, but quantity and motility; a blood test from me to test my hormone levels AND my ovarian reserve amount (apparently you can do this from just a blood test!?!); and an HSG test.

Literally, within 1 hour we had 4 tests booked in for within the next 2 weeks. Now that is Taiwan's efficiency at it's best! The only problem is that they can only do the HSG on a Tues or a Thu at 3pm (And I work both these days) so I will have to talk to my boss tomorrow and organise for the afternoon off (after 16 days off 2 weeks ago, i'm sure she will be thrilled!)

Total cost:  2640 NT (AU$80) for EVERYTHING! All tests, medicines for before the HSG and consultation!! I feel almost guilty that I have been able to organise this many tests so easily and quickly and that they cost less than 1 test would in Australia!!

Here's hoping all comes back okay, and that there is a simple reason for our lack of baby.

Pretty happy to have taken the first step to knowing more..
Just upset that I will have to take more time off work..

The joys of a normal cycle.

So, after having a mini freakout when I started to get AF like pains around day 21, here I am at day 26, period-less! YAY! This is literally the second cycle since we began Chinese Medicine 6 months ago that I have actually had a normal cycle!
I Ovulated on day 14, and so far have had a 12 day long Luteal Phase! Now that is pretty impressive in my books! So yay!

Maybe I spoke too soon? Maybe I should give Dr Sun another chance?

Now if I could only manage to have a 250 day cycle, I would be extremely grateful!

And no, even though technically AF is almost late, I am nowhere near confident that this our month. I had a temp dip this morning and have been feeling very much AF like all day. So I'm almost 1000% positive she will arrive tomorrow. But that is okay. It will take a while for these new vitamins we are both on to kick in, and well, I'm honestly just relieved to have finally had a semi-normal cycle again!!

Breaking up with the doctor?

So, after my stupidly short cycle again last month, I took a good look at my cycle data on FF yesterday and wow, low and behold, my cycle has actually gotten worse since starting with Dr Sun.
This is my 6th cycle, and even though I have seen some positives come from the treatment, there also seem to have been some very big negatives.

Positives
* My previously irregular ovulation has now stabilised to around CD14.
* My temps have stabilised (although this could also be because our daily routine has also stabilised...??)
* My period pain has improved

Negatives
* My LP hasn't improved. Previously average 11days. Last month 8 days...
* My actual cycle has shortened by about a week.. Before TCM I would very rarely get AF before CD26 - maybe once every 6 months it would come early.  After TCM my cycles have been: 30days, 25 days, 24 days, 25 days, 21 days and today CD22 I am feeling very PMS like.

So am I just replacing one problem with another?

Is there a point in continuing if my cycle is just going to get shorter and shorter??

Or does my body need to focus all of it's energy into healing one area before it can move onto the next, even if that means leaving other areas to suffer in the meantime?

Mr Man wants me to find a different TCM doctor and get a different opinion. TCM is just so cheap over here and as we would really like to try to remain as natural as we can..

Feeling slightly disheartened and lost as to what to try next..

gutted

Mr Man and I were both pretty upset to get AF.. We both wanted nothing more than to be able to announce our pregnancy to friends and family when we were back home, but alas, the baby gods had other ideas yet again..

We are both getting pretty over this rollercoaster and just want off. Whether that means we get to jump off it with a miniature sized third person, or whether that means we jump off it with our aunty and uncle pants on tight, to be honest, we are almost at the point of not caring anymore!

We just want off!!

We have decided to go to the hospital here in Taiwan and talk to someone. I'm not even sure who you talk to about things like this over here but I guess we will find out! I think it is time for some serious tests and answers.

Imagining the non-existent..

So obviously I'm not pregnant.

In actual fact, the only thing that all of those omens pointed to was a Big Frickin Poo..

I ended up getting AF on CD 21, after a mere 8day long LP.. So much for all the warnings and omens.
I ended up getting my shortest cycle ever!

So I officially refuse to ever believe in EPS or omens again..

I think I am entitled to say that after experiencing literally every EPS in the book (and a couple I probably created all by myself) during the last 23 months!