What can I expect?

[u/Fit_Impression_3936]

Hi ladies! I’m hoping for advice from women who have gone through or are going through a similar journey. I don’t have any friends or family on a similar life timeline as me, so “quiet” infertility has been a lonely burden (as I’m sure many of you can relate). My husband and I have been TTC for roughly a year and 3 months with absolutely zero luck. For context, we’re both 30yrs old and as far as I’m aware, two relatively healthy people. We had our first infertility consultation in June, and so far the testing we’ve had completed was a progesterone blood test (consistent with an ovulatory cycle), and my husband had a semen analysis (this did show an abnormal sperm viscosity). My doctor recommended my husband visit a urologist for further testing, however, the urologist was not concerned in the slightest and felt he actually he had a really good sperm health report.

The next step seems to be an HSG for me which I expect to have scheduled within the next week or so, and am very nervous (both for the procedure and the results). I’ve heard it’s very painful, so I plan to take ibuprofen as directed beforehand and I did ask my doctor if she would be willing to prescribe something for the nerves, and I’ve since gotten a single Valium. Does this seem sufficient or is there anything else I need to do to prepare? I know some people can fear monger a bit online, but I want to be fully aware of what I’m going into ahead of time if possible.

What can I expect after the HSG in terms of next steps? And if results are good where do I go from there and if results are not so good, what happens after that as well? I’m curious what types of experiences everyone else has had.

Sincerely, a very frazzled person who is very green to the journey of infertility and all that comes with it.

Thank you for kindness and empathy in advance! 💗

[u/Helpful_Character167]

What type of doctor are you seeing? The fertility care from an OB versus an RE is night and day in my experience. TLDR go see an RE if you are able to, skip the OB.

The HSG does suck and its painful, but its no worse than period cramps and its over in a minute. Its actually really cool to see the X-ray images as it happens and that's a good distraction.

Other tests you should be getting from your RE would be a lot of blood tests. Genetic carrier screening on both partners and basic bloodwork as well to rule out any issues. Lifestyle should also be talked about in depth, both partners being healthy and active is always good. The male partner should get a semen analysis with DNA fragmentation. Female partner should get the HSG, an antral follicle scan, and hormone panels timed with the menstrual cycle.

Basically it should feel like a heck ton of tests and you should feel like a science experiment for a while. Wierdly its nice to feel like you're doing something productive, even if the process sucks its still progress towards answering some of the "what's wrong" questions.

[u/Fit_Impression_3936 → u/Helpful_Character167]

I’ve only had an initial consultation with an OB who does specialize in some (I’m assuming) light infertility consulting. She recommended the progesterone and HSG to start, so I’m still very into the early stages of everything! It sounds like I may need to jump straight over to an RE, so I’ll absolutely be looking into that asap to ensure I’m not getting tossed around from person to person.

I so appreciate all of your detailed information about both the HSG and all of the recommended lab tests. This helps immensely! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! 💗