Following on from our amazing GP appointment, now it was time for us to begin our initial tests to see if there was a reason we were struggling to conceive and now labelled as ‘infertile’.
I have to be honest, I was scared. Like really scared. When I was talking to my mum and my sister before the tests, I didn’t know if I wanted something to come up or not. I had loads of questions and thoughts…
All clear would mean that we stand a higher chance of becoming pregnant naturally, which ultimately we want.
But all clear could mean that we will be infertile for no reason and I can’t live without children for no medical reason at all.
If there is a problem with either of us, maybe we will never be able to have our own blood children.
They need to find a problem so they can fix it.
What if they can’t fix the problem so we have to have IVF? I am not sure I can go through that…
Is all clear better? Or would I prefer there to be something to treat?
All of these thoughts plus a thousand more going around my head at 300mph.
So the tests began.
They started with a gynae swab for me. A bit like a smear test (ladies – get your smears!) but looking for general infections and STIs. Lovely. This was one test I was hoping (and expecting) to be all clear. Thankfully this came back quickly to say it was clear. Phew!
The second test I had was a day 21 blood test. By day 21, what I mean is a blood test on day 21 of my cycle. The first full day of your period is day 1. Roughly on day 14 you ovulate, meaning you will be most fertile around day 14. Around this time the hormones change ALOT in your body to get it ready to release the egg (ovulation) and to prepare for implantation (after an egg and sperm have met, they become an embryo which then travels into the uterus for implantation into the uterus lining). If on day 21 the hormones are as expected, then this means that you are ovulating. Side note: You can still ovulate but there may be a blockage in the fallopian tube which will prevent the egg and sperm meeting. So ovulation is great, but doesn’t mean all is as meant to be.
After this my husband had to have blood tests too.
My final initial test was the internal and external ultrasound scan. As a baby I had open heart surgery which meant that forever I have been getting my chest out for all the doctors and nurses to see when they have been doing tests and scans. Then I started having my smears so a little more of my dignity went.
And then I went for this internal scan. SOMEBODY SHOULD’VE WARNED ME…
It was not pleasant. I am sure all women who have had a baby will say that giving birth is much worse and all the ways you are poked and prodded to check you and baby are fine is worse than the scan I had, but surely you are warned about that in pregnancy from every other mother. I had zero warning. It was uncomfortable and stole even more of my dignity.
So anyway, the end of my initial tests had come. And now it was time to wait for the results.
Journeying to Family 