A Bump in the Road

The doctor got so quiet all of the sudden. She had been talking us through everything up to now, so I immediately began to panic. What could possibly be wrong now? Or maybe she has found something that has been causing this whole mess and we are about to have our answer! Whatever is was...I was ready to hear it.

She began by saying, it was not the worst thing in the world, just a minor set back.

Aaahhh!!!!!

There was a small cluster of something that was showing up on the ultrasound, in my uterus. It was hard for her to tell what it was exactly. She spent a little more time looking around to make sure there wasn't more. I was calm on the outside, but freaking out on the inside. Bud was extremely quiet, meaning he was silently freaking out, too. The doctor ended up seeing just a few smaller clusters near the bigger one. Even though it was hard to tell what they were, she was confident when telling us they needed to be removed.

WHAT? REMOVED? WHAT THE HELL? IT IS THAT BAD? WHAT ARE THEY? HAS THIS BEEN THE REASON I HAVE BEEN STRUGGLING THE WHOLE TIME?

So many questions going through my head. I felt my emotions getting all rattled up as they started to clean me up from the ultrasound. The doctor told me not to freak out, that everything was going to be fine. It was still hard for me to calm down. The doctor and the nurse were being as caring as possible and trying to make sure we did not start stressing too much. They had me get dressed and head out to the waiting area to begin filling my bladder for my next scheduled ultrasound. After that one, we would then sit down with the doctor to review both and go over what was found in the first.

When they both left the room, I lost it. I fell into Bud's arms and cried. He was at a loss for words, but I didn't want him to say anything. I was just scared. He rubbed my back and reassured me that everything was going to be fine! Gosh I hope he was right!

Once we got out to the waiting area, it wasn't long before the nurse that was in the ultrasound with us, came out to check on me. I think she could tell I was upset and had been crying, so she kneeled down beside my chair, placed her hand on back and said...

"Don't worry sweetie... this is just a bump in the road. We will fix it and get you that baby!"

It was so genuine and made me smile. They really made me feel like they cared, which was such a relief! While I was discouraged, I was also grateful. Grateful that, whatever this was, was found! Maybe once it is removed, we will get pregnant with ease. Hopefully!

The second ultrasound was normal, thank goodness. Once we got to the doctors office to review everything, my nerves slowly calmed down. She believed the clusters that were found were Uterine Polyps. Ninety nine percent of the time they are noncancerous, but they needed to be removed as soon as possible. I asked her if this would affect my chances doing IVF, but she assured me once they were removed, our chances were as good as they were before we knew they were there.

Bud then asked her if this could have been the reason we have had complications all along. While it was hard for her to say if this was our problem every time, it could have definitely played a big role in our struggle. Whenever the embryo was trying to attached to the uterine walls, these polyps could have been in the way and caused them not to be able to attach. Again, hard to say if that was the case every time though.

I cannot believe this was never found before. I have had so many ultrasounds done, it just amazes me. However, I am so glad we came here and figured this out. Now we just needed to get them removed and then we could start the IVF process. The doctor wanted to schedule the removal procedure for that following Monday, however I was scheduled to be out of town for work that day. So we scheduled it for Wednesday, August 10, 2016.

Another day, another procedure!

Since I was out of town that Monday and missed work, I had to figure out how to explain another day out, so unexpectedly. Luckily, I was out of town on business with my manager, who somewhat knows what we are going through, so she knew why I had to miss work that Wednesday. I would just "be sick" that day. Again, I was so lucky to have such an understanding boss. I REALLY don't know what I would have done otherwise.

| August 10, 2016 |

Today was the day of the Hysteroscopy procedure, to remove the polyps. I was given two different pain medications to take for the procedure. Keep in mind, I do not do well with pain medications, so this should be interesting. Bud was able to take the morning and afternoon off to come with me and be my driver!

On our way there, I kept thinking how happy I was that we were not having to drive to Cincinnati for this. Once the procedure was over with, I could be home in 30 minutes to rest. However, I was still nervous about having this done, but I knew it was the best thing for me in order for us to be able to move forward.

I was instructed to take the pain medication not long after we arrived. Our doctor went over how the procedure would play out. Over all it could take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. I wouldn't be put completely under because the doctor had to be able to tell if something goes wrong by my pain level. So the pain meds were all I had, and they were starting to kick in while they were prepping me for surgery. The nurse was talking to me, asking me questions and apparently my responses were getting a little loopy. Bud warned them that I didn't do well with pain medications, but I was quick to correct him by saying, "I feel great!" They were both laughing at me. I was definitely more relaxed about having this thing done and was ready to get it going.

I was taken back and Bud had to go wait in the waiting room. Our doctor came in, asked me how I was feeling and I assure her as well that I was feeling great! She smiled and said, good the meds are working then. She went over everything she was going to be doing during the procedure and that at any point if the pain became too much or something felt wrong I had to get their attention immediately.

Before I knew it, we were starting! I couldn't tell ya how long we really were in there, but it felt like forever. I was not feeling so great anymore. It was extremely uncomfortable and could not wait for it to be over! The doctor and nurse kept checking on me every so often. I barely wanted to talk when they were "in there" so I would give them a thumbs up! They were telling me I was doing great and to keep hanging in there.

Finally we were finished. The nurse went out to the waiting room to let Bud know we were finished, they got all of the polyps out and I was doing great. The took me out to recovery and had me stay there for about a half an hour. I was DEFINITELY not feeling so great. The pain meds were wearing off and I was very uncomfortable. They let Bud come back to the recovery room with me and sat beside me while I rested. He kept telling me he was so proud of me and that we were one step closer to getting our baby!

The nurse came back to check on me and asked if I felt I could walk to the bathroom to get changed? I honestly felt like I could, so they helped me back there. I was in the bathroom trying to get dressed and I immediately began to regret my decision of getting up. I started throwing up like crazy. The nurse heard me and came running in there, holding my hair. Damn pain meds. They make me sick every time! She had Bud come in there and me get dressed while she went to get a wheel chair, crackers and some water for me. Bud kept trying to get me to go lay back down, but I felt better now that I had thrown up. They sat me in the wheel chair and let me hang out for a few while I drank some water and ate a few crackers.

They then wheeled me out to the car. I couldn't wait to go home and sleep! Bud asked me on the way home that if I felt like eating anything, he would pick me up something before we got home. Food did not sound that great, but I knew I needed to get something on my stomach. I told him the only thing I could eat was some soup, so we stopped at the Panera Bread drive thru. Right after he ordered our food and we pulled around, here it comes again..I had to hop out of the car and throw up again. Right there in the middle of the drive thru line. How embarrassing!! Bud even told me I was embarrassing him once I got back in the car (he was only joking)...haha! Oh well.

I got sick one more time after we got home and then pretty much slept the rest of the day. I was so glad this step was over with! Now we got to get going with the whole IVF process! All of my medications got ordered and were shipped to our house. And holy hell it was A LOT of medication. I was in shock at how much medication that was about to enter my body within this next month.

This whole process was already way more work than those IUI treatments. It was extremely overwhelming. The doctors and nurses at KFI were very helpful, however. I would get an updated calendar from them each week showing me what appointments I had that week and which medications/injections I should be taking each day. I was going to be taking way more shot injections at home so Bud was going to have to get over his fear of needles soon!

We have a busy next couple of months coming up, so I needed to remain as focused as possible and not so stressed out. We were moving in the right direction!