I’ve been thinking for the last several days how I wanted to start my blog out for this day. If you’ve been following up to this point you know that today is the big day, and I have my first appointment with our fertility specialist in Dallas. I got to the clinic suuuuuuper early because I was so afraid Dallas traffic would be a nightmare, and it was bad at first, but PTL for express lanes because I was able to bypass a 6 car pile up. My sweet Uncle called to let me know about the wreck so I could get to the express lane quick. My sweet aunt and uncle also sheltered me last night in their home so I wouldn’t have to make an early drive from home this morning.
The verse of the day on my bible app today was 1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxiety on him because He cares for you.
Can I get an “Amen?!”
I can not not thank my sweet friends/family enough for sending me texts and messages this morning letting me know they were praying for me and wishing me well. I definitely felt the prayers because I had unexplainable peace as I was making the drive. Even now as I sit in the waiting room I feel so relaxed.
Right before I walked into the hospital I couldn’t get “Lose yourself” by Eminem out of my head. If you know me then you know I am definitely not one to listen to rap. I’m a
K-Love girl through and through!
Anxiety attempted to creep in and my palms were getting sweaty so I decided to put my earbuds in and go ahead and listen to “Lose yourself”.
Y’all….
If you are needing a boost of confidence and something to get you hype this song will not fail you! It took me straight back to 2002! I walked through those front doors with head held high and strutted like John Travolta in Saturday night fever. I am feeling so good about today.
I know God is over this because He is already answering so many prayers.
I will give thanks for every answered prayer along the way. The most simple one of the day so far was when I found out they had peppermints by the sign in desk. I of course drank a big ole cup of Starbucks coffee before my arrival and I kept wishing “I sure hope they have peppermints because I’ve got terrible coffee breath.” Sure enough I walk in and there was a sweet little bowl of peppermints. Call me crazy but I think that was an answered prayer.
I’ve been following a devotional plan on my Bible app, and it’s called Infertility Encouragement from Sarah’s Laughter. Today’s devotional content involved the author sharing her experience of arriving early for a Dr. appointment. She decided to browse through old photos on her phone and as she looked at each picture stories began to flood her mind and she began to realize every picture represented an answered prayer. Technology and social media can be used soooo often for bad, but oh how it can be used for so much good too. The devotional was spot on, because yesterday I found myself browsing through my phone and videos and smiling at memories and was able to thank God for His blessings attached to each photo. Like I mentioned a couple blogs ago, sometimes all it takes to make the storm seem a little less scary is being able to come to a place of gratitude.
Psalm 77 says, “I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.” God has blessed us richly. Not with material things but with the relationship He allows us to have with Him. I hate that my faith is so lukewarm at times. Going through this though has made me truly begin to count my blessings and my prayer is that as God has been faithful all along to me that my faith will continue to grow and I will act in more obedience because of my faith and love for Him.
Dr. Saleh called me back while I was writing the first part of this blog. I love that it’s him who came to get me from the waiting room. He seems so involved in the whole process and that makes such a big difference in the quality of care you feel like you’re getting. I’ve heard that you can sometimes spend 5-6 hours in the waiting room at our local clinic, and while that’s understandable considering IVF and IUI are procedures that have to be completed in a certain time it can seem especially daunting and nerve wracking waiting in an already emotionally charged state. This clinic in Dallas only performs IVF dates once a month to avoid such long wait times for new patients. The efficiency and attention to detail was worth the 3 hour drive. I was in and out with consultation, blood work, and HSG test within just under an hour and a half. AMAZING!
As I was expecting, his recommendation was to complete an IUI (intrauterine insemination). I just finished my first round of femara through my OBGYN so he wants us to try naturally this month and then if I am not pregnant I will go back to clomid and we will travel to Dallas again at the end of November to have follicle development measured. If my follicles are big enough we will trigger with Ovidrel injection (what I needed to get pregnant with SG) and then IUI will be completed next day. If the follicles are not quite big enough but close we will wait a couple days and then trigger and do IUI.
Before preceding with IUI treatment an HSG test must be performed to assess if the fallopian tubes are open. I mentioned last blog that infertility post C-Section indicated the need for an HSG. It just so happened that I was at the perfect timing in my cycle to have this done today. (ANSWERED PRAYER! Yay for expediting the process in a timely fashion)
I can’t say I really enjoyed the HSG test. Think of the position you’re in for a pap-smear but legs 90 degrees over stirrups and hands over head! So uncomfortable. I was told the procedure should only last for 5 minutes but we ran into some complications. Dr. Saleh could not get the catheter to balloon properly and stay in my cervix and went through 3 catheters!!!!!!!!!! He asked me after the 2nd one came out if I had any previous cervical surgeries. I have a history of atypical cells on paps and about 13 years ago I had a cone biopsy and cryotherapy. Apparently this is the reason he had trouble keeping the catheter in. He was finally able to get the third one in by placing it manually and holding it manually. My heart was racing a million BPM. As he injected the contrast I began to cramp. Nothing unbearable, especially compared to the pain of 32 hours of unmedicated labor. The most pain/discomfort was the catheter being removed. The X-ray showed that both fallopian tubes were open (PTL ANSWERED PRAYER). Unfortunately it did show I had some scarring around my L ovary which is common after C-sections. This may be causing the ovary to be torqued/twisted a little which could make this process take a little longer (3-4 months according to Dr. S, but that’s nothing compared to the already 11 months of trying). He also said there is a chance just having the HSG could increase my chance of pregnancy. I’m not getting my hopes up but I also know God makes all things possible (Mark 10:27).
I tend to have BP drops after medical procedures so of course when it was all done I got a little sick to my stomach and my BP was 100/60 which is pretty low for me. After laying down a little while longer I was able to get up without the sickness and then met with the nurse to talk about our plan going forward.
We have a solid plan in place. God has shown up in every encounter so far. I learned that we do have 90% coverage for all procedures and that is a huge weight lifted. I will not take for granted what we have been provided through our insurance.
God provided safety to and from Dallas.
This was my longest time away from Sara Grace and my first time being away from her out of state. When I picked her up today she gave me the longest and biggest hug she has ever given me and it was just the icing on top of the cake.
God is so good and today was full of answered prayers. Again, I can not thank you enough for those of you who have reached out to me today. Thank you for the continued prayers.
Prayers going forward:
-Pregnancy will occur naturally this month before the IUI is needed and the scarring around the left ovary will not cause any issues
-Continued patience and that my hope will not diminish
-Prayers that AMH blood test will come back good (this shows if I have a good number of eggs still remaining in my ovaries)
As always I would love to pray for you in return so please message me any time!
Making a Myers 