Stirrup Appointment #1

From what I understand, I'll be spending a lot of time in stirrups over the next several months, and stirrup appointment #1 went about as well as could be expected.

I was nervous, as I generally tend to be, particularly when there are plans to insert various foreign objects and liquids inside my body.  Anyway, I didn't sleep very well the night before.  I was up until 2:45 AM catching up on Homeland, which Jared has been telling me to watch for weeks now.  It could probably go without saying that watching multiple episodes of Homeland in the wee hours of the morning did little to calm my nerves.

7:30 AM at the Reproductive Center is kind of weird.  There are actually a lot of people there, and I had to wonder who they were and why they were there.  Were they recently diagnosed with infertility?  In the early stages of treatment, like me?  Visiting daily in advance of their retrievals?  Coming in for Beta testing after getting a positive test at home?  I was most intrigued by the ladies who the nurses seemed familiar with.  How long will it take for me to be a familiar face?

I was pleasantly surprised to be brought back to the ultrasound room by one of the doctors who had won me over on our first visit to this practice.  She's actually a resident at the hospital, specializing in Reproductive Endocrinology, and she truly could not be any more pleasant, caring, or compassionate.

She performed a few procedures on me, with the assistance of another resident:

1. Vaginal ultrasound to check out developing follicles.  I hadn't had this done in a year, so they wanted to take another look.  No biggie.  The wand is a little weird, but it is what it is.
2. Trial transfer to measure my cervix and uterus and figure out which instruments to use for future procedures.  This was very much like having a pap smear.  There was some pressure, but no pain.  Strangely enough, the second resident also performed an abdominal ultrasound during this procedure.  I guess to get a better view from all angles?
3. Finally, the sonohystogram, or saline ultrasound.  I was warned about some cramping during this procedure, since the doctor actually inserts a catheter through the cervix, fills the uterus up with saline, and then inserts the vaginal ultrasound again.  NOT PLEASANT.  It wasn't anywhere near as bad as the HSG, which was my main fear going in to this appointment.  Still, there was a distinct feeling of "there's something in my body that isn't supposed to be there, and I want it out NOW."  I started to sweat, and I thought for a couple of minutes that I might pass out.  Deep breaths and intense scrutiny of the ceiling tiles was about all I could focus on.  Finally, after about seven or eight minutes of mild to moderate discomfort, I was finished.

The doctors didn't really give me much detail about what they saw, although the doctor I like did say to me that everything looked completely normal.  There was also a couple of minutes of conversation during the sonohystogram about a shadow in my uterus, and they weren't sure what was causing it.  They seemed to finally agree that some debris from my uterine wall may have come off when the catheter was inserted, and that was casting a shadow.  I'm seriously hoping that's the case, and not that we're looking at the added complication of cysts or polyps. 

So, that's all we know until next week, when we have our IVF orientation.  I'm looking forward to getting all of our information, setting up a schedule, and NOT putting my feet in stirrups that day.  Until then, work and social life have me buried, so hopefully my anxiety won't be as bad.

Anyone else out there had both an HSG and a sonohystogram?  How do you think they compare?