Looking for another clinic..

I am looking into another fertility clinic. I am in the process of switching jobs and I am leaving the area. I will be in Atlanta, GA and I contacted many of the clinics.
I just started calling..


*Note - Fertility Clinics range in price so be sure to shop around.

Example -

Knoxville TN = The doctor I am going to 975.00 for IUI procedure. (medical insurance pays for labs and meds)

Atlanta GA =  IUI (496.00 insemination, 220.00 for ultrasound) - $716.00  (medical insurance pays for labs and meds)

Difference of $259.00

It pays to shop around. Always remember to go to the best doctor at the best price. Reputation, live births and all that is important. Money is a factor, but not the only one.

*Also remember to ask about the hours. Some clinics stay open late to acommodate working adults.

Here is information regarding HSG -

HSG - What is this?

 - The hysterosalpingogram is an x-ray picture of the uterine cavity and the inside of the fallopian tubes. The test is performed in the radiology suite and involves instilling x-ray contract material (dye) through the cervix.  As the dye fills the uterus and tubes it creates an outline of the inner surfaces of those structures.  By watching dye spill into the pelvic cavity, we can determine that a tube is open.

Does it hurt?

-Unfortunately it will be uncomfortable - much like bad menstrual cramps. However, the discomfort is short-lived and the medications you will be given to take prior to the procedure will help.

(I did have a take a ibuprofen (helps against uterine cramps - make procedure more comfortable), Valium (this relaxes your tubes) and I believe a couple of antibiotics. Remember your fallopian tubes are used to things coming out of it, not going into it.)

Antibiotics - Doxycycline  - provide coverage against most bacteria commonly found in the vagina.
                      Metronidazole - provides coverage for organisms resistant to doxycycline.

What does this tell us?

- For women with difficulties becoming pregnant, the test will tell us whether the uterine cavity is normal, whether the fallopian tubes are open, and will give us a general picture of the condition of those tubes.
- For women with abnormal menstrual bleeding, the test will help determine if there is a structural problem within the uterus such as fibroids, polyps or scar tissue present.

The risks?

- Any procedure has some risks to it. When something is placed into the uterus through he vagina na dcervix there is a small chance that bacteria may be introduced at the same time and in rare instance result in a infection to the uterus and tubes.  Fortunately, this risk is small and you will be given a short course of antibiotics as a preventive measure.  However, if you have persistent pain or a fever after the procedure it is import to notify your doctor so that they can aggressively treat you before any tubal damage occurs.

- Another risk is an allergic reaction to the dye and may experience problems ranging from a skin rash to severe difficulties in breathing.

(None of this happened to me - I was perfectly fine)

DAYS AFTER MY OP

I managed to get home and I laid down. I took a couple of my pain medications but I wasn't hurting much at all. I really didn't need the medications, but I took one of each
that night and the next couple of days. What was uncomfortable was that my throat was scratchy due to the tube. I took about 3 to 4 days for my throat to feel better but
I ate lots and lots of Popsicles and that made my throat feel much better. I almost felt as if I have a sore throat.  Anyway, pain-wise it was very tolerable. I really didn't
need much pain medication at all.  I was able to walk around that night.

One thing that  I need to let anyone know is that pain medications makes you CONSTIPATED!!!!   That is very uncomfortable. That was the worse!!!
I mean, it just stops for days. Absolutely nothing. After the third day I was very concerned and I had my husband to get some medications that would make me go...
and it did but I had the urge but nothing came out... Needless to say, straining and beginning to become very upset (near panicking), I contacted the pharmacist to ask why I took
the medication to have a bowel movement but nothing came out. You can feel it being pushed to the end of your colon, but not coming out. Which was very uncomfortable.
I was then told that I need a stool softener. After I took that, it took a little while I was able to go and I felt much better.

Note: Don't buy the cheap laxative. I did and it takes a really long time to work. The pharmacist told me to duculax laxative and a stool softener. It should start working within ten minutes.

Post OP

I was really groogy when I awoke from being under anaesthesia.  I really wasn't awake.. I was coming out being drugged. I felt myself gag automatically with no warning.   Even though I had no food in my stomach, I remember waking up and vomiting..I felt my head turn to the right side and then the left, spitting up. Then I heard nurses voices and I felt asleep.  I am not sure how long I was asleep,
I heard a nurses voice trying to awake me and I opened my eyes.. I looked around and I feel out.  Right then I heard a voice say "Gosh! She is out like a light". Then after a while, not sure again how long it was, I finally started waking up. I was feeling nauseated and I was in that  "holding room"  as before.  I didn't feel pain even though I was prepared to. I felt sick to my stomach and they
gave me something for it and it made it instantly better. They put a breathing tube down my throat and that hurt the most. Considering I was just cut on. I was thinking that tonight I was really going to feel it once the medicine has worn off.   Once I was completely awake they took me to another room, where I was there alone. It had a bed, tv and chair. My husband and family came back to see
how I was doing, I was still coming out of the effects of the anesthesia and I was still a little nauseated.  Beside my bed, I had graham crackers, peanut butter, seven up.. My mother came in with a
pretty candle.  The nurse eventually came in and asked if I needed to go to the bathroom.. Which I did. I forgot!  Anyway, she helped me to the toilet, undress and go. It wasn't difficult to get out of the bed, but I felt a dizzy but not in pain.  I would have thought that I would feel pretty weird with a stranger helping me in such an "intimate" situation but I really didn't care.  I laid in the bed for a couple of hours, I felt pretty good and ready to go home except for a scratchy throat.  I finally was ready to go home and when I go to the car I had to kind of lay down in the passenger seat and not sit up because that did hurt.

More later..

My Corrective Surgery

I had corrective surgery on March 8, 2007. I was really scared because I never had any surgery before. I talked to the doctor and he sated that it was out-patient so there should be any problems at all.
They would take care of me.  My procedure was a laproscopy.

This is how it went -

I had to stop eating by 12:00 p.m. the previous night and that means no food or water. They told me that I would vomit if I had any food or water in my stomach.
I got there at 6:00 am and the procedure started at about 8:30 a.m. and it took only one hour and a half. They checked me in and my husband and I went into a room
where they made me change clothes to a hospital gown and lay in a bed. When I get nervous I have to pee.. just like a child so I think I peed about 7 times in the adjoining bathroom.
I waited for a while and then a man came in a wheeled me out into another room.  He was really nice and
cracked jokes and made me laugh and feel less nervous. It was surreal just like in the movies where you see the camera following the person on a "gourney???"
being wheeled while doctors are working on them, like ER or something.  While he was wheeling me through the halls, he was telling me that he just got his drivers license and he is going to try not to hit the walls.

We went into a room where there was a lot of people..I guess the "holding" room. Anyway, there were lots of nurses there and people waiting for surgery.  He wheeled me
toward the area where they wanted me and a nurse came over and took my blood pressure, vitals, then another nurse started an IV and was looking for my veins. I have great veins
so it was pretty easy for her..  Can you believe, I was so nervous.. I had to pee again!!!  I tried to forget about it and listen to the nurses talking around me.

This is something that I didn't know.. They take a swab of some anethesia and swab my arm. It numbs that area and when they put in the IV I could feel NOTHING!!!
Amazing, that was great!!

The nurses talked to me and explained everything that was going to happen. That gives me a sense of peace, to have information. I dont like the unknown.. at all.
Before I had the surgery, I looked up the procedure laproscopy to see what they do in the operating room..

Ok. A nurse gave me something like a "valium" in my IV and it only took a couple of minutes to work. Really fast. I forgot about everything, I began to relax and
not care.  Worked like a charm!

Another nurse grabbed my hand and told me that she would be there the entire time with me.

After that, the new guy came and rolled me into the operating room.

It was very cool and sterile looking. They pushed my bed to this stationary table and told me to scoot onto the table, which I did. Something else I didn't know. The
table was stationary and didn't move. Ok. I also noticed that it was a small table. I am not a very big person but it wasn't very wide. I wonder what they do for bigger wider
people?? they wouldn't be able to fit. My arms almost started to dangle but I put the over my waist.

I saw my doctor and he smiled at me and I said hello.

There was three other nurses there and the one that came with me. They started to talk about something wierd - We were in this conversation about snoring..
Do I snore, do they snore.. amusing.  My mind was wondering.

Then I awoke in the recovery room.

Sperm Testing

Sperm Testing

The fertility doctor had to also check my husband’s sperm. He needed to get a sample of the sperm and one day we had to go pick up a small plastic container with specific instructions to keep everything sterile. The specimen had to be taken and then within 30 minutes, it had to get to the lab for diagnosis.

My experience – Once we read the information about the sperm sample, I guess some men worry if there will be enough, etc. He only needs to ejaculate one time and that should be enough for the sample. There are certain things that he cannot do to get the ejaculate. He can only masturbate to get the sample and everything has to be clean. He has cannot touch in the sides of the container. (Make sure that you read all the directions).
Once you have the ejaculate, you have to take the container and make sure the sample stays at body temperature. So you have to put it in the brown bag, and not put the sample in your purse or on your car seat, you have to literally put the sample under you clothes near your skin to keep it warm. Once you get to the lab you take it out from under your clothes and give it to the lab. –

We will talk more about sperm tests and outcomes later.

HSG

I took a HSG (trying to get the definition) and they wanted to look at
my fallopian tubes.

This is the procedure - This is what happened to me:

I went into a room and changed my clothes to a hospital gown, everything off including underwear but I could wear socks.

I laid on a table underneath an x-ray machine. They insert a thin tube into your
uterus and send some methyl-blue dye up into your tubes. If it goes out through
the tubes it is not blocked, if it doesn't it is blocked. Because things go outside your tubes in not up through your tubes it may be a little uncomfortable.

Ok. This is completely my experience. It was painful..for about 1 minute I had deep
cramping. Now this is coming from someone that has had very bad cramping all of their life due to menstrual periods. So I should have been somewhat used to it. I held the hand of the nurse and gripped the table with all of my might.. The were counting down..10 more seconds, 9, 8, 7..I felt as if I wanted to rip the tube out from between my legs.. but I wanted to finish this so I just tried with all my might to deal with the pain. The test was pretty quick.

Finally it was over and the doctor started talking to me and showed me that
I had a left blocked tube. When I looked at the x-ray machine I could see the picture of the dye coming out of one side but not the other.

The nurse later while I was walking out of the room and was dressed, asked me
how I felt and I said ok but it hurt a lot. She said that some women feel as if
it hurts and some women it doesn't bother them at all.

I guess I was the unlucky one.

next thing my doctor wanted to do was to unblock the tubes (left side), check the other side (right side) and check my uterus.