water sonogram

Have you ever had a sonogram? If the answer is no then I will paint you a little picture. You go the lady doctor..put your feet in the stirrups and they bring out an EXTREMELY large wand type thing and I think you can figure out the rest. If you could’ve seen Captain Awesome’s face the first time we had our 8 week sono…HA! Priceless. I shouldn’t pick on him since I am sure my face looked pretty surprised too.  Anyway, now I can honestly say the little wandy thing doesn’t scare me anymore. That is until they told me I was having a water sonogram….What the heck is that you ask? Well I’ll tell you…

What Is A Water Sonogram

hysterosonogram or HSN is also known by the names sonohysterogramsaline ultrasound, saline sonogram, or saline infusion sonogram. A hysterosonogram is an office based ultrasound procedure that can determine if there are abnormalities inside the uterus that might interfere with pregnancy. It is important to have an evalaution of the uterine cavity with a sonohysterogram or other  method before proceeding with an IVF cycle. This test involves no radiation, and there are very few risks from the procedure. Compared to a regular ultrasound, a sonohysterogram is better at detecting abnormalities on the inside walls of the uterus because it involves infusing sterile fluid inside the uterus. This way, the walls of uterus separate from each other and any abnormalities that might have been hiding right along the sides of the walls will be easily identified.

How Is A Water Sonogram Performed?

The procedure for performing a sonohysterogram is very simple and usually takes about 5 minutes. In order to schedule a sonohysterogram, you will need to call with the first day of your period. You will be given an appointment for some time point after the bleeding from the period has ended but before it is thought that ovulation might occur. This ensures that the uterine lining is as thin as possible. This is important since it will assist the doctor in visualization of the cavity. The hysterosonogram is performed in the office. Using a speculum, a very then, soft, flexible plastic catheter will be inserted through the vagina and cervix into the lower part of the uterine cavity. The speculum is then carefully removed so as not to disturb the catheter. A vaginal ultrasound probe is then placed into the vagina. Through the catheter, a small amount of saline (sterile salt water) is injected into the uterine cavity to separate the walls.

So there is the technical aspect of it. I honestly didn’t look into the procedure before going. I have learned to hate the google machine when it comes to medical procedures. So I went in blind. I was nervous and didn’t know what to expect, other than I was told it wouldn’t hurt .And it didn’t. It was just uncomfortable.

As I laid there I was forced to laugh to myself. It is absolutely amazing what women put themselves through. I was laying there getting really up close and personal with Mr. Wandy, and could feel all the liquid making its way back out of my body. “here’s your ovaries” the doctor would say and uncomfortably move the wand. I’d say “oh” and pretend I knew what I was looking at while I thought “can you please stop poking my ovaries!”.

The bad news is that the doctor saw something in the sono (sad face). She saw some sort of line which could be scar tissue, lining, or nothing, and with my history she wants to do a procedure which would find out. It would be similar to my D&C. That means another outpatient surgery (sad face). They will go in, determine what it is, and if it’s something it will be removed. She reminded me that I want a healthy uterus. And I do…but another procedure just feels daunting. It means a whole month we can’t try to get pregnant, and it means emotionally going through another procedure.

How Scarring In the Uterus Can Hurt Your Fertility

Scarring inside the uterus causes infertility by limiting the healthy surface area in the uterine lining where an embryo can implant.

I guess finding out what in there is best. I am not going to lie. If it’s nothing then I will be upset that I had to have the procedure. My guess is that that doctor wouldn’t put me through the procedure if she didn’t really believe something was wrong in there. So we will do it. I have to wait till after AF comes next month…if it comes….it probably will (sad face).

So that’s what is going on with me! Knowledge is power right? And we know this could be a problem so we will fix it.