One of the interesting things I wasn’t ready for with this experience, and especially this blog, is how many people have gotten in touch with me about their own situations – working through fertility treatments, doing IVF, IUI, etc. – and not just ladies.

A friend of mine that I know through roller derby recently got in touch with me because of the blog to share her own experience – and it turns out that she had her HSG (hysterosalpingogram) the day before I had mine! Which meant she was able to tell me that when they say “mild discomfort” during and after the process, they don’t mean it the way most doctors mean it (ie – general misery).

She and I texted back and forth about the HSG on Monday after she had hers, and so I was pretty well prepared on Tuesday around lunch when mine was scheduled. At this point, the HSG was my last big “test” that needed to be done before regrouping with Dr. Scotchie and laying out an actual plan. Dr. Murray turned out to be the one doing the work that day at the imaging center (and he had on some rocking pink pants), which means at this point he’s the only one that has gotten up close and personal (he did the ultrasound and counted follicles) and now he’s the one doing the HSG, which I originally thought I’d be uncomfortable with, but he’s a great doctor and I’ve not felt the least bit nervous about any of it.

The imaging center was interesting – they led me to a room with a bunch of changing areas with curtains, handed me a robe, and told me to get undressed and hang out. There were some chairs and magazines, and I waited with a few other women to get miscellaneous scans done. It was a little bit weird, being corralled in that room together in nothing but these gowns (which, by the way, open in the back – I didn’t know for sure, but there was a sign RIGHT next to the door out – seems a little late by then), but it was fine.

The scan itself wasn’t bad – the speculum was really the worst part. When I told the tech that it really ruins my day, she said she thinks it ruins most people’s days. They used dye to see if my uterus and fallopian tubes looked healthy and normal, which he said they did. He also had me do some awkward tilting and scooting. He said he was going to talk me through the process but added that if that made me uncomfortable, to let him know. When the procedure was being done he said “okay, your uterus is filling up nicely” to which I responded “you’re welcome.” I wasn’t sure what to say, but we all laughed. The tech was like “I’ve never heard that before.” She must’ve been beside herself with how funny I am – Sooooo funny. He turned the screen toward me, but really I couldn’t tell what was what, so I just took his word for it.

So the general consensus is that all things are in working order. I called to schedule my next appointment with Dr Scotchie and the first time she had available was June 30th. I was sort of surprised – it seemed like a long time away. But, as usual, I can’t ever be happy – when the other appointments were so soon, that surprised me too. At that appointment, we’ll go over all the tests that have been done, scans, etc and figure out where we stand. Since I still have to get my second chicken pox vaccine (July 5th), it looks like everything is on track to start in August.

But what really matters is that for all of my hard work, I decided to get some Chik Fil A for lunch on the way back to work. If you haven’t had their frosted coffee (cold brew coffee + ice ceam), you should. And if you haven’t had their frozen lemonade, you should. I figured, you know, at some point soon I won’t be able to have this delicacy, so I’d better make use of it now.