So It Starts

Hello Dear Friends. I think it is about time I updated this blog. Not too much has been happening in the last few months on the baby path. But, now that its November things will start going.

Tomorrow I go to the hospital for my pre-surgery check up. It is a general health check (I think!) Luckily I wont be having the surgery at Peterborough District (it is sooooo messy and dirty there) – it will be at Stamford, which is outside of Peterborough. I am starting to get more and more nervous as the time gets closer. It is my first ever surgery and although I am quite blessed that there aren't many possible complications – but, I still worry. Chris will be there with me and so will Pam, my mother-in-law. The only thing missing is my mom.

The surgery is called the lap and dye. What they do is make an incision in the right side of my abdomen, in my belly button (my BIGGEST fear – it makes me sick to think about), and then they insert the dye through my cervix. They will go in there with a camera and see if the ink goes through my fallopian tubes. They are also going to look to see if I have endometriosis – and if it isn't too bad they’ll get rid of it, if it is bad I’ll have to have more surgery.

I haven't even met the Doctor who is going to be performing the surgery (that makes me nervous as well). I have been working with the fertility nurse and haven't needed to see him so I don't know what to expect at all.

The most common side effect is shoulder pain. Strange hu?? Apparently when the pump my abdomen full of gas (so they can get a better view) sometimes it affects the diaphragm which has a nerve that is connected to the shoulder, which in turn causes horrible shoulder pain.

It is an outpatient surgery and hopefully I will be feeling good within a few days. I am not supposed to work for a week and cant lift anything heavy.

This will get me closer to the answer of the question: can I have a baby naturally or not? If the tubes are blocked then IVF is the next option. I am hoping that at least I get some answers so we know what way to go.

If my tubes are blocked then we are eligible to have a FREE IVF on the NHS (assuming that my weight wont hold me back – they are quite picky about letting overweight women have IVF – not cost effective apparently). If we do get IFV then we’ll do that while I am here in England, despite the fact that I might end up pregnant when I get to America (minus health insurance). We’ll just have to see how it goes.

Anyway, the surgery is on the 26th (Happy Thanksgiving!!). I am hoping that I don't stress out too much before then and that everything goes fine. If anything of note happens tomorrow at the Dr. I will post more.

In the meantime…. just thought you might find some facts about my Fertile Facebook Friends interesting:

29 of them (or their wives) are currently pregnant and within the last year 33 babies were born to my friends….. I guess you can tell I struggle with infertility – not many people would even notice.